When warping our rigid heddle looms, we are careful to pack the back beam as we wind on the warp. This may be done with a variety of materials, and some are more effective than others. It can be a personal preference too!
What a lot of weavers don’t seem to be so familiar with is the idea of packing the front beam. Quite often, when I’m troubleshooting with a student and I ask if they’ve packed the front beam, they seem surprised by the question. Packing the front beam? I’ve never heard of that!
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So, why would you want or need to pack the front beam? And what exactly do I mean by that?
Let’s start with the definition so we’re all on the same page!
Packing the front beam is simply introducing something extra to separate the warp as you weave and it begins to roll around the front beam.
Now we can look at the why. There are a couple of reasons as to why packing the front beam is a really good idea.
When you have finished warping and threading, you then need to tie or lash on your warp onto the front apron rod. Doing this results in knots or bumps on the apron rod.
As you begin to weave and advance your warp, you will reach the point where your warp is rolling around the front roller beam and onto itself. As this advancing of the warp happens, the knots, plus the apron rod ties can begin to have a detrimental effect on your weaving.
Firstly, you will likely begin to see some lumpiness at the bottom of your weaving (note that the white line of weaving that was previously straight is now a bit wavy!)
This is caused by the knots or apron ties pushing against your weaving from the underside. There are two problems with this happening:
- The raised and lowered parts cause a change in the warp tension. The bumps tighten the tension and the dents lower the tension, so you end up with slightly uneven tension.
- The worse case scenario is that your weaving is irreparably damaged because the knots or ties push the weaving apart. This can be more likely to happen when using a slippery thread like tencel, silk or bamboo, where your woven threads can move more easily, rather than something like wool, which is more “grabby” and unlikely to move out of place.
Fortunately there is a really simple solution to the problem, and that is to pack the front beam, or insert something that will separate those layers of fabric and act as a barrier between your weaving and the knots and ties.
Weavers use a variety of materials for packing, and it can really be a personal preference or what you find most effective. Initially I used the cardboard separators that came with the loom, and while they do work well, I find that the brown craft paper on a roll that I now use to be the superior choice.
What I love about the paper on a roll is that it’s thick and sturdy (a thinner paper will not work in the same way as it tends to crumple while you’re trying to advance your warp), you can purchase it to the width of your loom (or if the same width is unavailable, it’s easy to cut pieces to size) and you can use it over and over, so it’s very economical.
The roll that I bought years ago is still going strong and there is still a huge amount left.
An additional benefit of packing your front beam as you advance the warp is that your overall tension will vastly improve, and will continue to do so as you continue to weave.
I pack the front beam, whether I’m weaving on my rigid heddle, table or floor loom, it is beneficial for many types of weaving.
If you would like to see how I insert the paper roll at the front beam of my rigid heddle loom, please watch this video-
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!