Shafts (harnesses) not returning to neutral after treadling

[Lea Scherer]

I have a linen warp on my Delta threaded on all 12 shafts. Most of the ends are threaded on shafts 1 and 2, with other ends threaded on shafts 3-12 to provide small weft floats over 4 ends. After treadling only half of the shafts return to neutral (every-other-one). This means that every other treadle also does not return to neutral. Can anyone suggest a reason, and a way to prevent this with future warps? I have tried releasing the tension to no avail. Thanks!

[Jane]

I know this is probably a lame question but have you checked your tie-up?

[Lea Scherer]

Thanks, Jane.  Yes, the tie-up is correct, as I am getting the correct sheds each time – the shafts that lower just don’t rise back up to neutral.  And the treadles don’t either; they alternate low-high-low-high etc with a difference between the low and high of about 1 and 1/2”.  With the locking pin in, everything is as it should be.  It weaves OK, but with the treadles uneven I am having to lift my foot differently for each treadle – there is no smooth transition from treadle to treadle. This is my 3rd linen warp on the loom, and with the first 2 I did not have this issue.  Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Jane]

The only thing I can think of is the density on your 1’s and 2’.  What is size of your warp and what are your ends per inch?

[Lea Scherer]

I at first wondered about that, too, Jane, but I just checked the draft again, and actually only a third of the ends are on 1 and 2, a third on 3 and 4, and the remainder on 4-12.  The warp is 14” wide and at 24 epi, which doesn’t seem very dense to me for 40/2 linen.  I also checked the drafts for my previous 2 warps on the loom, and they were at the same sett and had fully half of the ends on 1 and 2 – but I didn’t have this issue.  Some people use elastic on their jack looms to bring shafts back down, and elastic can be used on traditional countermarch looms to bring them back to neutral; is there a way to use elastic on a parallel countermarch?  I’m thinking that it may pay to experiment with untying the 1s and 2s from all the treadles and see if the other shafts then behave normally.  Thanks!

[Jane]

Well it definitely isn’t a density issue.  Are your tie-up cords coming straight down and attaching on the last hole of the cord….Even one cord that is wrapping the wrong way could cause something like this.  You have never had this problem in the past so it makes me think it is something different in your tie-up and with the path of the cords.  Sometimes another pair of eyes is helpful….so many times I don’t see something and then I get someone else to look at it and THERE IT IS!!!! Arg 🙂

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