Comfort at the Loom

Benches, Treadling, Weaving and Threading

Benches

Benches are a critical part of being comfortable while weaving. When purchasing a loom, there is a temptation to save a little by not purchasing the bench which is made for the loom. But a proper, adjustable bench is essential for comfortable weaving. Comfort while weaving will give you more accurate, faster and less tiring weaving. The bench should allow you to sit very close to the loom. Sometimes your balance will be the best if you are actually touching the breast beam as this will support your back and you will not be leaning forward. Benches do not have to be as long as the weaving width of the loom, as you generally sit in the middle, and you will be able to get in and out of the loom easier if the bench is not too long.

It is easy to forget to move the bench up close when you are concentrating on other aspects of your weaving. But if the bench is not close enough, you will not be sitting with all your weight on the bench and your balance will not be good. If you must lean forward to get closer to your weaving, your posture will not be good and there will be tension in your lower back. You might get a backache. So remember to put that bench up close. A built in bench would be good but is seldom found on looms today.

Bench Height

To determine the correct height of the bench, sit at the loom and check to see that your elbows are above the breast beam. If your elbows are below or touching the breast beam, you will need to raise your shoulders to throw a shuttle and this will cause tension in your shoulders and perhaps more problems later on. If your loom is short, you may also find that your knees are pushing on the fabric. A knee beam above the cloth beam will prevent this problem.

When you are sitting on the bench, your knees should be much lower than your hips. This gives you better balance and keeps your back straight. If your knees are too high, you are more likely to slump and not sit up straight. And, with your knees too high, it is more tiring and uncomfortable to lift your legs to treadle. This can cause poor posture and backaches. If your breast beam is less than 33" high, it is hard to get the bench high enough to have your knees lower than your hips. In this case, you could try to put blocks under the loom and raise the whole loom higher.

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Weaver's Bottom

Comfort while sitting on a wooden bench suggests the need for a soft cushion. But breast beam height can be far more important to comfort than the cushion. You might have heard of weaver's bottom. This is where the bones which you sit on, have become sore from uncomfortable sitting. We decided to do a simple test to check comfort at different looms. So I sat at different sized looms to test the comfort on the bench according to the height of the breast beam. I am 5'3". If you are taller, you might want a taller loom than I would want. Here are my findings for these breast beam heights:

1. 30" Breast Beam: My knees are too high and I can feel direct pressure on my bottom bones. Ouch! I would definitely need to pad my bench at this loom.
2. 32" Breast Beam: This is definitely better, my knees are a little lower, but I can still feel those bones and would want to put some padding on the bench.
3. 36" Breast Beam: Hey, no pressure on the bones. I couldn't believe the difference. I could weave at this loom for a long time and I wouldn't need any padding. My knees are a lot lower and the treadling is more comfortable too.

So why do looms have breast beam height less than 36"? Portability would be the only logical reason. Looms do not take up more floor space if they are a few inches taller, so it would not be a problem to make them a little taller.

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Fabric Protector and foot rest

These two features can help to prevent getting a backache from weaving. A fabric protector on the breast beam is really a comfort feature. And, it protects your weaving when you are sitting close to the breast beam. If you don't have a fabric protector, you might not sit close enough as you try not to rub against your weaving.

Another comfort feature is the foot rest. It is a cross piece on the loom where you rest your feet when you are not treadling. It is placed at a height that will allow your resting leg to be extended naturally without your knee being bent too much. Having a place to put your feet is essential for keeping your balance when you are sitting at the loom but not treadling. It will prevent the tension which can develop in the lower back when your feet are not resting comfortably. When you tie up the warp, change bobbins, look at directions, reach for tools, you should be relaxed and having your feet on the foot rest reduces tension in your legs and back

Leg Space

The space available for legs is usually not a problem unless you have long legs or have a short loom. It can be very uncomfortable for a tall weaver to sit at a short loom. A short loom is one where the breast beam is less than 33 or 34" from the floor. When I have tall students who want to work on short looms, I put blocks of wood under the feet of the loom, so that the whole loom is taller. Then I lengthen the cords which tie up the treadles. It doesn't help to just raise the bench as that doesn't increase the leg room. If you have long legs, look for a breast beam which is more than 34" tall. Also, a knee beam will give you more space.

If your legs are short, look for a loom which has cords for tie-ups. You can shorten the cords on the treadles to raise them. If your loom has a tie up with is not adjustable, you might have to put blocks of wood on top of the treadles to raise them.

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Treadling

Most weavers learn to weave without looking at the treadles to locate the correct one. The first step to achieve this is to take your shoes off. Most treadles are too close together for weaving with shoes on. Wear socks or very thin slippers. You need to feel the treadles and shoes are generally too wide for treadling. If you have to push so hard on the treadles that you must have shoes, then the treadling is too hard. For this problem, you should probably stand to weave and then find a different loom.

The most important recommendation for maintaining balance and comfort while treadling is to use both feet alternately. If you are using only two treadles, tie them up in the center so that you will be balanced and use both feet. If you are using more treadles, plan your treadling so that you can alternate feet. I call this "walking on the treadles." The easiest way to do this is to start with the outside treadles, alternating feet until you reach the center. You should be able to feel two treadles with your foot so that you know you are getting the correct treadle.

With four treadles you would start, for instance, on the far left with the left foot. Next, use the right foot on the far right, then the left moves in toward the center to the next treadle, then the right foot moves in to the next treadle. From left to right, four treadles would be first treadle 1, then 4, then 2, and last 3. If you were using 6 treadles, it would be treadle 1, then treadle 6 with the right foot, then 2, 5, 3, 4. This kind of treadling gives you good balance and you use both feet. Your tie up draft is seldom written in this manner. It is usually written 1,2,3,4,5,6. You need to rearrange the draft to suit the way you want to do the treadling.

Some looms require a lot of pressure on the treadle to make the shafts move. If you are weaving on a jack loom with many shafts, you may have some difficulty with lifting the shafts. This can also happen on a very wide warp or with a warp faced weave which will tend to stick. You might try standing to weave if you have a short loom. But a deeper, taller, counterbalance or countermarch loom will allow you to weave all types of warps while sitting on the bench.

Use the foot rest when your foot does not need to be on a treadle. This will help your balance and your posture. Resting your foot on a treadle while treadling with the other foot can cause mistakes on some looms. Be sure that you are sitting comfortably and well balanced on the bench.

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Throwing the Shuttle

Boat shuttles are fast and easy to use, but require a properly wound bobbin (or quill). If the bobbin catches periodically, you might need to wind the bobbins more carefully, or you may not have the proper bobbin for your shuttle. The bobbin should not fill the whole cavity length of the shuttle, but should be 1" shorter than the cavity. Quills are bobbins without sides. You can make your own quills of paper and they work very well. If you are having problems with your bobbins, try using quills as they catch less frequently on the edges of the shuttle. They also make less noise.

If you are weaving with linen or if you are weaving a narrow warp, and too much thread comes off the full bobbin, try putting some fur, sheepskin or terry cloth fabric in the bottom of the shuttle cavity. This will put some friction on the bobbin and slow the delivery of the thread. As the bobbin empties, it will turn more and not let off as much thread.

If you are weaving with a doubled thread, try a double bobbin shuttle. It is easier than winding two threads on one bobbin. The two threads wound separately will not give you tension problems and they will not twist in the weaving. If you are weaving with fine thread, a small light weight shuttle will be best. When weaving wide, a heavier, longer shuttle or one with rollers might be better.

To get a rhythm while throwing a shuttle, you need to be comfortable on your bench, be sitting close enough, use the foot rest when needed and alternate your feet on the treadles. If you are weaving with more than one shuttle, you will have difficulty weaving as fast. It is possible to hold both shuttles, but most weaves set one shuttle down when the other is being thrown, especially if the shuttles are large, thick or heavy.

Jack looms have a shuttle race to prevent the shuttle from falling through the warp, which is a problem when the warp tension is low. You need to place the shuttle on the shuttle race before throwing it. This is awkward for some weavers, especially when weaving wide widths. The shuttle race can also make the shed smaller. If you are uncomfortable, you can try removing the shuttle race and weaving on a tighter tension. This may require putting weights on some of the shafts. If you cannot remove it, try lowering the beater. This can sometimes make throwing the shuttle more comfortable. On some looms you can take the beater apart and reassemble it with the shuttle race turned toward the shafts.

If you have further problems with a, click on jack looms and read about adjusting sheds.

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Beating

Hanging beaters were the standard kind of beater on looms in the past. They are good for a light beat or a heavy beat. Today with looms being built very short, the lower beater is more common. If you have a lower beater on a very wide loom, it will be heavy and will sometimes tire your arms and shoulders. If you have a castle, check to see if you could order a hanging beater. When it hangs, the weight is held by the castle and you don't need to lift it at any time while beating. The hanging beater is helpful for developing a rhythm in weaving.

On short looms, the short height of the beater makes heavy beating impossible. Attempting to beat hard may also cause problems with your loom. In this case you need to use a hand beater to weave a tight weave. If you add weights to your beater, make sure they are removable for when you want a light beat. You may also need to have a more open sett (fewer threads per inch) on your warp as it is difficult to beat hard enough to get a tight weave.

With small looms you will need to advance the warp frequently to get a good beat. The best beat is when the reed is perpendicular to the warp. The necessity of frequent advances of the warp makes a friction brake helpful. Friction brakes are not necessary on full sized looms.

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Threading the Heddles

Standard Looms

On Scandinavian looms and some other looms, the frame of the loom is big enough for you to sit inside while you thread the heddles. Place the shafts at the back of the loom, hanging from the castle. There will be a hole drilled into the top of the loom frame where you place a small dowel. This is to secure the beam which is holding the shafts. Place the loom bench inside the loom and sit in the middle of the loom, facing the back of the loom. Later, after the reed is sleyed, the shafts are moved back into their normal position. If you cannot move your shafts, you may have to remove the knee beam to fit a stool inside the loom.

Medium Sized Looms

If you cannot sit inside the loom, then you will need to remove the breast beam, knee beam if there is one, the cloth beam if you can, and the beater or at least the top of the beater. Then you can put a chair in the front of the loom close to the shafts for threading. If you have a jack loom, prop up the shafts about 5".

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Small Looms

On small looms and workshop looms which are put together with screws, it is best not to remove the screws. Here you may have a problem getting comfortable. If it is a jack loom, prop up the shafts about 5" with blocks of wood. If you have a folding loom, folding it slightly will raise the shafts and this might be helpful.

Table Looms

For threading a table loom, put it on a table, release some of the warp from the warp beam and take the castle out. Put the castle in front of the loom frame. Tie the castle to the frame, bring the lease sticks closer to the shafts and sit on a stool to thread the heddles. To sley the reed, prop up the reed in a reed holder in front of the shafts.

Tying up the Treadles

If you can sit inside the loom, and the treadles are attached at the back, place a pillow on the treadles where they attach to the frame. Take your tie up draft, cords and pins and sit on the pillow facing the lamms with your back to the warp beam.

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Peter Collingwood on Benches and Beating.

"I only learnt about these some years ago when I found I could no longer raise my arms sideways sufficiently to throw a ski-shuttle. The chiropractor, who cured me practically in a single acupuncture session, emphasized that the strain on the muscles of shoulders and neck is greatly reduced if the loom seat is as high as possible, so that your arms go DOWNWARDS to the batten, (hence Jason's advice that your thighs should be jammed up against the underside of the breast beam) Obviously the more horizontal your arms are, the more muscle power is needed to hold them up."

"That was the main thing... the other is the oft-repeated maxim of stopping every half hour or so, and stretching your arms in the reverse way to how they are in weaving. The moment of turning the warp on is the obvious time to do this."

"Another help is not to beat by pulling the batten towards you, as you sit upright, but to lean backwards as far as you can with your arms straight out in front of you, gripping the batten. I used to tell students, "Hold the batten and fall off the seat backwards"! This adds some of your weight to the power of the beat; this plus a weighted batten gives you a well-compacted weft."

"Another help is to have the treadles slung as low as is convenient. It requires much less muscle power to push them down, if your leg is almost extended, than if it is bent at the knee."

"Of course we all have different bodies, with different proportions and possible weaknesses.. and rug weaving is a pretty extreme occupation if carried out as a daily profession. So some aches and pains seem inevitable."

Peter Collingwood

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