instructionstwo

Loom Assembly Instructions

Part Two: Setup and Warping

Warping Instructions:

NOTE: If your are warping your loom for tapestry or for bead work without the shedding device, you will be placing one warp in a dent (the space in the spring). If you are warping your loom for bead work using the shedding device, you will be placing two warps in a dent.

1) Adjust the height of your loom: The wing nuts on the threaded steel bars on each side of your loom allow you to adjust the height of your loom and the tension of the warp. Because the warp wraps continuously around the loom, you will be able to weave a tapestry or bead piece as long as one and a half times the height at which you loom is extended. When adjusting to make your loom smaller, leave at least two inches of the threaded bar exposed in order to allow for necessary tension adjustment. When adjusting to make your loom larger, make sure the copper tube covers at least four inches of the threaded bar on the 12 & 16 inch looms and six inches of the threaded bar on the 22, 32 & 38 inch looms in order to guarantee stability of the side bars when the loom is fully extended and to allow for tension adjustment.

2) Attach warping bar: Clip the black plastic clips onto the copper metal side bars on either side of your loom about equal distance from the loom's top and bottom beams. The ends of the warping bar fit in the small indentations drilled in the insides of each clip. In order for the warping bar to stay in the clips, you must press them in slightly so that they are no longer parallel. The warping bar is not too short and it will stay in place! You will only be placing the aluminum bar at this point. The shedding device will be installed after you warp your loom.

3)Choose and install the correct warp coil (the spring at the top of your loom): Determine how many ends per inch (epi) you would like your warp to be. Your loom came with an 8, 12, 14 & 18 dent coil. For tapestry choose the coil that will provide spaces for the number of warps you want per inch. You can use every dent, every other dent, etc. For bead weaving, we have provided the following chart to show you the best coil to use with each bead. For example, 11/0 seed beads work best with the 14 dent coil. The total range of warp coils is: 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 dents per inch and can be purchased additionally. The following chart will help you decide what coil to use for bead weaving. Remember to be gentle when removing the warp coil, which is hooked at either end to the two brass acorn nuts at the top of your loom. Don't grasp the coil in the middle, because it can distort it. The pin that goes through the black tray in which the coil sits and the coil itself is elective. It helps hold the coil in the tray when you advance your weaving.

Bead Type/Size	1st Choice	2nd Choice
Delica: small	18 every dent	16 every dent
Delica: large	8 every other dent	16 every other dent
Seed Beads: 15/0	20 every dent	22 every dent
11/0	14 every dent	12 every dent
8/0	18 every other dent	8 every dent
6/0	14 every other dent	12 every other dent
Cubes 4mm:	14 every other dent	12 every other dent
Triangles: 10/0	12 every dent	14 every dent
8/0	18 every other dent	8 every dent
5/0	12 every dent	14 every dent
Hexes:	18 every other dent	8 every dent
Note: The first choice column indicates the most suitable warp coil for a bead except when the second choice indicates a spring with the half the dents; in that case you use every dent instead of every other dent and both choices are equally suitable.

4) Decide how wide your tapestry or bead piece will be: Center that measurement on the warping bar. Find the left beginning point for your weaving on the warping bar and tie the end of the warp at that point. (Note: if you are weaving two bead pieces at the same time you can put two sets of warp on by balancing the pieces to the left and right of the center of the loom.) Bring the warp up to the front of the top beam, laying it into the coil, and down the back of the loom, up the front of the bottom beam and back to the warping bar. Do a U-turn around the front of the warping bar thereby reversing direction and heading back down to the bottom beam. Take the warp up the back of the loom to the top beam, down the front of the top beam and into the next dent in the spring. Bring the warp to the warping bar, make a U-turn around the warping bar and head back up to the top beam of your loom and through the warp coil and then head down the back of the loom to the bottom beam. Continue this pattern until you have achieved your desire width, trying you best to keep an even, consistent tension on the warp as your wrap it. Tie the end of your warp to the warping bar. It doesn't matter whether or not you've come up from the bottom beam or down from the top beam. You can determine the number of warps you have wrapped by counting the number of times you warp has gone through the warp coil.		Suggestion!: Place a couple of thick books underneath the legs of the loom in order to raise it up so that you will have clearance for the warp ball or cone as you pass the warp around the loom. For the 12 and 16 inch loom you can instead use a C-clamp to attach one leg to a table with the rest of the loom extending off the table. A flat box of beads stuck underneath just the feet of the loom will raise it enough to get a tube of beading warp underneath the loom.
Note: Remember that if you are warping for bead weaving using the shedding device the only difference is that you will pass through the dent in the warp coil twice. You can use either one spool of warp bringing it through each dent in the coil twice. Or you can use two spools of warp, placing them on a thin stick so that they remain in alignment and the threads don't cross, eliminating the need to go through each dent in the coil twice. Some people find it helpful to use two different colors of warp because it makes putting the heddles on a bit easier.
5) Circulate the warping bar to the back of the loom: Remove the black clips and loosen the tension enough that you can rotate the warping bar until it is situated about one inch above the top of the back of bottom beam. 6) Adjust the warp tension: Adjust the wing nuts evenly on either side of the loom so that the top beam rises and tension is placed on the warp. When you feel the warp is tense enough for your liking, stop adjusting. We've included a wrench that can be used to turn the wing nuts more easily or to provide that extra tension required for tapestry weaving.

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