Comfort & Looms
Benches
Fabric Protector and foot rest
Leg space
Treadling
Throwing the Shuttle
Beating
Threading the Heddles
Peter Collingwood's comments on Bench Height and Beating
Benches
Benches are a critical part of being comfortable while weaving. When purchasing a loom, be sure that there is an appropriate bench available for the loom. An adjustable bench is essential for comfortable weaving. Comfort while weaving will give you more accurate, faster and less tiring weaving. 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.The bench should allow you to sit very close to the loom. If you find that you feel like you are sliding forward, your bench may be too far away from 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 to weave.
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, and 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. So remember to put that bench up close.
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 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 find that your knees are pushing on the fabric. You may need to raise the loom on blocks.
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. 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.
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.
I sat at different sized looms to test the comfort on the bench according to the height of the breast beam. If found that if the breast beam height is only 30" , my knees are too high and I found that I was uncomfortable, feeing a need to pad my bench at this loom. And I needed to raise my knees higher to treadle.
With a higher breast beam height of 32 inches, it was definitely better. My knees were lower, but I can still feel those bones and would want to put some padding on the bench. And it was still uncomfortable to treadle. Then I sat at a loom with a breast beam at 36 inches tall. It made a big 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.
Fabric Protector and foot rest
These two features can help to prevent discomfort 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. Having a 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. If this is a problem, it doesn't help to just raise the bench as that doesn't increase the leg room. Instead, put blocks of wood under the feet of the loom, so that the whole loom is taller. Then lengthen the cords which tie up the treadles. 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 adjustable cords for tie-ups. You can shorten the cords on the treadles to raise them. If you are very short, you can put blocks of wood on top of the treadles to raise them.
Treadling
Most weavers learn to weave without looking at the treadles. 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 to maintain good posture.
The most important recommendation for maintaining balance and comfort while treadling is to use both feet. 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. You should be able to feel two treadles with your foot so that you know you are getting the correct treadle. And to be able to feel if you have the correct treadle, you can put a rubber band around a treadle.
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, more quickly back and forth, 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 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch shorter than the cavity. Quills are bobbins without sides and are made of paper or cardboard. 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 or a slippery weft, 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 bette
r.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, weaving will be slower.
Beating
Hanging beaters were the standard kind of beater on looms in the past and many find them easier on their shoulders and arms. 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.
Threading the Heddles
It is important to be comfortable when threading the heddles and sleying the reed.
Standard Looms
On traditional 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. 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 remove the breast beam and 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 and knee beam if there is one and the beater. Then you can put a chair or bench in the front of the loom close to the shafts for threading. If you have a jack loom, prop up the shafts about 5".
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.
Peter Collingwood's comments on Bench Height 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."
Peter Collingwood
