Warping Frame

Wow, the weeks are flying by like days right now! The weather is grey and cold so it's tough to get up the energy to get my stuff done. I've been doing it, but haven't had the extra energy to write about it.

Today I wet-finished the sample swatches for the new beam, but I've got some other stuff I want to write about before I show them off. First, is the other new piece of equipment that I had to make in order to warp the beam...

The last time I did this, I made due with a reed hung from the ceiling. It was very slow and finicky, partly because I could not get the cones directly below it.

The solution is to set up a device so that each cone feeds to the section of a screen that lies directly above it. This lets cones feed easily without tipping over.

There is one big problem with this setup, though. I wind from the center outward, alternating sides. Since the pattern is roughly symmetrical, I have ended up reversing the cones for each section. This means unthreading them from the screen, reversing the cones, making any changes to the thread order, and rethreading the screen.

Before the next beam, I've got an idea that would cut out a lot of work: I'm designing a rolling cone rack and warping frame. I'll be able to reverse the cones just by turning the rack around, and roll it out of the way at the end of a days' work. It will also have pegs so I can stack a cone with its replacement cone and it won't fall off.

So, this rack worked well enough and showed me how I can make it even better for next time.