Excellent explanation of the shuttle, shuttle set up, and the race functionality. So much better understood through this explanation. Thank you for taking the time to do so. @4:29
I love the overhead beater - for everything except the flying shuttle. The arc is is all wrong and adds to the likelihood that the flying shuttle veers into the shed. Otherwise, the overhead just feels great. I have the flying shuttle attached to my underhand beater and swap the beater/fly shuttle out for my overhead hanging beater when I do other projects.
I don’t have, but was considering getting a fly shuttle, but I don’t have the extra foot and a half to either side for the box to protrude. These are all the things that I sort of wish I knew when I was trying to make the decision, so thank you for this video. I ended up going with the option of arranging my space in a way that didn’t have room, so it made the possibility moot, but this was all the stuff I didn’t know and was desperate to understand. I’m going to point this at some of my weaving guild Mates. Some of what you’re talking about seems like it answers some of their fly shuttle horror stories that were sort of putting me off, despite certain TH-camrs being in love with theirs and encouraging it.
Yeah - it certainly takes up space, and really only necessary for wider projects. But… when you find the flow with it, it is certainly addictive 😁 I’m glad the video helped answer some questions. I’m still trying to figure stuff out. It seems like there are a ton of resources for beginners to weaving, but we seem to be missing the next stage of things?
Hey I'm in the process of shopping for a new loom right now and I was already leaning towards the 12 shaft colonial 60" before I found your channel. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
I love it. As long as you have the floor space and money - I can’t imagine doing anything different. 1. It is a gorgeous work of art itself. Very well engineered, elegant solid hardwood, well finished. Excellent company to deal with. 2. Love the overhead beater for everything other than flying shuttle. 3. 12 shafts give such a diversity of possible patterns. In doing 8 shaft twills, I often sley the floating selvedges on shafts 9&10, and weave 2-3 picks of plain weave at the selvedges to make it faster and better weaving flow. Also would allow for triple weave in a 4 shaft pattern, allowing for a 15’ wide piece hypothetically. On my bucket list to try 4. Not cheap, but compared to other leading loom manufacturers, way more loom for the price. 5. Flying shuttle for being able to use the full 5’ width (or really, anything over 45” or so). Very fast and efficient. 6. Love the sectional warping for anything other than irregular stripes (eg Tartan). Those still require warping mill. But… sectional warping allows me to beam the warp much faster, by myself, with more even tension. The only issue I have had with mine is the rocking bench. The welds on the pins broke, so the sound you hear in my videos is a combination of the mic issues on my phone and the squeak of the rocking bench. Weaving noise is really not a problem. Now that I’ve fixed the bench (drilled out and installed 2 roller bearings - $10 on Amazon?) Some upgrades I’ve made: - LED light strips around the top of the castle - fold down workbench casters ($50 on Amazon). Makes it effortless to move the loom around for cleaning underneath - 2 more bearings for rocking bench (came with 2, should come with 4) The only place to move from here would be to a computer controlled system and then 24 or 32 shafts… that’s not where I’m at however.
@@YetiWeaves Thank you so much for the detailed reply! 1. I do love the look, really reminds me of all those old hundred plus year old looms. 2. Regarding the overhead beater, what are the advantages / differences vs a standard beater? I've never used an overhead beater. Is it easy to swap the two different beaters? One advantage I could see would be keeping the flying shuttle permanently installed on the standard beater and swapping to the overhead when you don't want the flying shuttle. 3. We think a lot alike! I am very much wanting to try a triple wide twill. (I'm most interested in twills) Or, if we want to get really crazy, 6 layers of plain weave........ 6. I've been wanting to start some Tartan projects, and I will be getting the sectional warping setup on the loom. Is there any particular reason that sectional is hard with tartan? I can imagine with the irregular stripes it could be harder, but seems it'd still be manageable? I don't know. Have you tried Tartans with sectional warping? Have you woven much linen on it? I've been wanting to do some linen (and almost all my projects are fine thread, 16/2 is common, 8/2 is the largest), but I've read some places that the jack loom mechanism can make that difficult. The owner over at Camilla Valley Farm said that it wouldn't be an issue, that tensions and shed can be adjusted and it's within the weaver's control. I'm also aware that historically jack looms were the standard, and people have been weaving linen on them for a very very long time. But I am curious what your experience has been. I will weave mostly cotton and linen, and mostly finer threads. The casters are a great idea, I was thinking I'd need something like that, especially because after doing a sectional warp, I need that 3-5 feet behind the loom back! While some day I may get a dobby, I'd want the mechanical one personally. Something about weaving that always intrigues me is the pure mechanical aspect of it without electricity, computers, etc. And the idea of a purely person powered 40 shaft dobby is very exciting in its own way.
Very cool - what an exciting time 1. Overhead beater - that's exactly what I do - I keep the underhand beater mounted to the flying shuttle, and use the overhead one for everything else. I wish it was for some higher reason than this, but I just really like the feel and look. It's very easy to swap out, and leaving the flying shuttle mounted saves a lot of hassle. I can't remember exactly, but you might want to check with Nina at CamillaValleyFarm - I think I needed to buy an extra shuttle race to accomplish this? 2. Love the idea of 6 layers of plain weave. 30' wide?!?! I may need to try that some day just to see... I would love to make some wider rugs. One of the real advantages for me of the Colonial is the weight of it - it doesn't move as I beat it. And with the drop down casters I added, it's easy to move when I want to. 3. Sectional warping - I have tried it with irregular stripes once, and found it so cumbersome. The problem is that you need to set up the spools and re-thread tension box with a new combination for every inch. Not insurmountable, but a lot of extra work. If I were to do it again, I'd want to make sure the warp was long enough to make it worth it. If anyone out there has a better system for this, please let us know? I've looked for videos on this and there aren't many out there.. For Tartan, depending on the tartan, they seem to come in at 7.5" per sett +/- depending on the recipe.. If it was always an even 8", you could set up a repeating pattern and wind inch #1, 9, 17, 25.... the same, and then inch #2, 10, 18, 26... but it doesn't work out that way... sigh.. In the end, I found it was better to just use a warping mill, measure out 1" sections, and wind them on. 4. Linen (and thinking alike) ... no - but it is on my list to do. I have bought a couple pounds of long stem flax seed, and plan to plant next spring. I love the idea of growing the flax, making the tools to break it and process it, spinning it, and weaving my own shirt. Perhaps the most amount of effort possible for the least amount of cloth? :) But no... I haven't worked with linen on this loom. One possible advantage of the colonial though, it is slightly longer from front beam to back beam, so the pressure on the threads created by the shed is spread out over a slightly longer section of warp. It isn't a huge difference, but should be slightly gentler on finer threads than other jack looms. What I keep seeing about linen is you want a humidifier going underneath it as you work, but I'm just passing along what I've seen elsewhere. Other people could weigh in and give you better information. Have fun with all the planning and dreaming - let me know what you end up doing!
@@YetiWeaves Thank you again for all of your insight and information! We have such similar ideas, haha, growing flax and weaving linen is 100% a dream. We have a good amount of property (rural) and so we could grow a reasonable amount actually. I was curious on reeds - from talking to Nina at CVF, it seems like the important thing about dpi is that you can evenly distribute the warps threads, which means that ideally the dpi would evenly divide the epi. So she seemed to think that for example, if you're at 32 epi, that a 16 dent would be better than a 25 for example, because you could do 2 threads per dent. I'm just trying to decide what reeds (if any) in addition to the 12 dent I should buy. There's a discount if I buy them with the loom, and free shipping. She advised that shipping on a 60" reed isn't cheap. So I'm trying to figure out what reeds would maximize what I could do. From your tartan video it seemed like using 16/2 yards getting a 32 epi balanced weave is reasonable, and so a 16 dent might be a good idea if I'm aiming for 32 epi, but idk. Any thoughts on reeds?
I used an 8 dent for the 32 epi. The nice thing with a straight twill coming out of the heddles is that they come out in easy groups of 4. One group for each space in the reed makes it easy. I think I had tested a friend’s 18 dent reed for the 36, and it was a bit tight for 2 strands of the 2/16 yarn if I remember right. The more teeth you have, the more space they all take up too. So… if you’re talking a 16 dent reed, 2 spaces will be tighter than 1 space in an 8 dent reed, as there will be an extra tooth coming down in the middle. The problem with it being slightly tight, especially with wool, is that it weakens the yarn through repeated abrasion and you get more breakage. I find I use my 8 and my 10 a lot, and that covers most of my needs? Ok - now you are making me think. Would a finer reed help get a tighter thread count (more teeth condensing the weft…)? Sigh….. more experiments to do… :)
Excellent explanation of the shuttle, shuttle set up, and the race functionality. So much better understood through this explanation. Thank you for taking the time to do so. @4:29
This is really helpful, thank you.
Hope you enjoy - let us know how it goes and if you figure out any more tricks?
Thanks! I just got a flying shuttle today!
I love the overhead beater - for everything except the flying shuttle. The arc is is all wrong and adds to the likelihood that the flying shuttle veers into the shed. Otherwise, the overhead just feels great. I have the flying shuttle attached to my underhand beater and swap the beater/fly shuttle out for my overhead hanging beater when I do other projects.
I don’t have, but was considering getting a fly shuttle, but I don’t have the extra foot and a half to either side for the box to protrude. These are all the things that I sort of wish I knew when I was trying to make the decision, so thank you for this video. I ended up going with the option of arranging my space in a way that didn’t have room, so it made the possibility moot, but this was all the stuff I didn’t know and was desperate to understand. I’m going to point this at some of my weaving guild Mates. Some of what you’re talking about seems like it answers some of their fly shuttle horror stories that were sort of putting me off, despite certain TH-camrs being in love with theirs and encouraging it.
Yeah - it certainly takes up space, and really only necessary for wider projects. But… when you find the flow with it, it is certainly addictive 😁
I’m glad the video helped answer some questions. I’m still trying to figure stuff out. It seems like there are a ton of resources for beginners to weaving, but we seem to be missing the next stage of things?
Hey I'm in the process of shopping for a new loom right now and I was already leaning towards the 12 shaft colonial 60" before I found your channel. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
I love it. As long as you have the floor space and money - I can’t imagine doing anything different.
1. It is a gorgeous work of art itself. Very well engineered, elegant solid hardwood, well finished. Excellent company to deal with.
2. Love the overhead beater for everything other than flying shuttle.
3. 12 shafts give such a diversity of possible patterns. In doing 8 shaft twills, I often sley the floating selvedges on shafts 9&10, and weave 2-3 picks of plain weave at the selvedges to make it faster and better weaving flow. Also would allow for triple weave in a 4 shaft pattern, allowing for a 15’ wide piece hypothetically. On my bucket list to try
4. Not cheap, but compared to other leading loom manufacturers, way more loom for the price.
5. Flying shuttle for being able to use the full 5’ width (or really, anything over 45” or so). Very fast and efficient.
6. Love the sectional warping for anything other than irregular stripes (eg Tartan). Those still require warping mill. But… sectional warping allows me to beam the warp much faster, by myself, with more even tension.
The only issue I have had with mine is the rocking bench. The welds on the pins broke, so the sound you hear in my videos is a combination of the mic issues on my phone and the squeak of the rocking bench. Weaving noise is really not a problem. Now that I’ve fixed the bench (drilled out and installed 2 roller bearings - $10 on Amazon?)
Some upgrades I’ve made:
- LED light strips around the top of the castle
- fold down workbench casters ($50 on Amazon). Makes it effortless to move the loom around for cleaning underneath
- 2 more bearings for rocking bench (came with 2, should come with 4)
The only place to move from here would be to a computer controlled system and then 24 or 32 shafts… that’s not where I’m at however.
@@YetiWeaves Thank you so much for the detailed reply!
1. I do love the look, really reminds me of all those old hundred plus year old looms.
2. Regarding the overhead beater, what are the advantages / differences vs a standard beater? I've never used an overhead beater. Is it easy to swap the two different beaters? One advantage I could see would be keeping the flying shuttle permanently installed on the standard beater and swapping to the overhead when you don't want the flying shuttle.
3. We think a lot alike! I am very much wanting to try a triple wide twill. (I'm most interested in twills) Or, if we want to get really crazy, 6 layers of plain weave........
6. I've been wanting to start some Tartan projects, and I will be getting the sectional warping setup on the loom. Is there any particular reason that sectional is hard with tartan? I can imagine with the irregular stripes it could be harder, but seems it'd still be manageable? I don't know. Have you tried Tartans with sectional warping?
Have you woven much linen on it? I've been wanting to do some linen (and almost all my projects are fine thread, 16/2 is common, 8/2 is the largest), but I've read some places that the jack loom mechanism can make that difficult. The owner over at Camilla Valley Farm said that it wouldn't be an issue, that tensions and shed can be adjusted and it's within the weaver's control. I'm also aware that historically jack looms were the standard, and people have been weaving linen on them for a very very long time. But I am curious what your experience has been. I will weave mostly cotton and linen, and mostly finer threads.
The casters are a great idea, I was thinking I'd need something like that, especially because after doing a sectional warp, I need that 3-5 feet behind the loom back!
While some day I may get a dobby, I'd want the mechanical one personally. Something about weaving that always intrigues me is the pure mechanical aspect of it without electricity, computers, etc. And the idea of a purely person powered 40 shaft dobby is very exciting in its own way.
Very cool - what an exciting time
1. Overhead beater - that's exactly what I do - I keep the underhand beater mounted to the flying shuttle, and use the overhead one for everything else. I wish it was for some higher reason than this, but I just really like the feel and look. It's very easy to swap out, and leaving the flying shuttle mounted saves a lot of hassle. I can't remember exactly, but you might want to check with Nina at CamillaValleyFarm - I think I needed to buy an extra shuttle race to accomplish this?
2. Love the idea of 6 layers of plain weave. 30' wide?!?! I may need to try that some day just to see... I would love to make some wider rugs. One of the real advantages for me of the Colonial is the weight of it - it doesn't move as I beat it. And with the drop down casters I added, it's easy to move when I want to.
3. Sectional warping - I have tried it with irregular stripes once, and found it so cumbersome. The problem is that you need to set up the spools and re-thread tension box with a new combination for every inch. Not insurmountable, but a lot of extra work. If I were to do it again, I'd want to make sure the warp was long enough to make it worth it. If anyone out there has a better system for this, please let us know? I've looked for videos on this and there aren't many out there..
For Tartan, depending on the tartan, they seem to come in at 7.5" per sett +/- depending on the recipe.. If it was always an even 8", you could set up a repeating pattern and wind inch #1, 9, 17, 25.... the same, and then inch #2, 10, 18, 26... but it doesn't work out that way... sigh..
In the end, I found it was better to just use a warping mill, measure out 1" sections, and wind them on.
4. Linen (and thinking alike) ... no - but it is on my list to do. I have bought a couple pounds of long stem flax seed, and plan to plant next spring. I love the idea of growing the flax, making the tools to break it and process it, spinning it, and weaving my own shirt. Perhaps the most amount of effort possible for the least amount of cloth? :)
But no... I haven't worked with linen on this loom. One possible advantage of the colonial though, it is slightly longer from front beam to back beam, so the pressure on the threads created by the shed is spread out over a slightly longer section of warp. It isn't a huge difference, but should be slightly gentler on finer threads than other jack looms.
What I keep seeing about linen is you want a humidifier going underneath it as you work, but I'm just passing along what I've seen elsewhere. Other people could weigh in and give you better information.
Have fun with all the planning and dreaming - let me know what you end up doing!
@@YetiWeaves Thank you again for all of your insight and information!
We have such similar ideas, haha, growing flax and weaving linen is 100% a dream. We have a good amount of property (rural) and so we could grow a reasonable amount actually.
I was curious on reeds - from talking to Nina at CVF, it seems like the important thing about dpi is that you can evenly distribute the warps threads, which means that ideally the dpi would evenly divide the epi. So she seemed to think that for example, if you're at 32 epi, that a 16 dent would be better than a 25 for example, because you could do 2 threads per dent.
I'm just trying to decide what reeds (if any) in addition to the 12 dent I should buy. There's a discount if I buy them with the loom, and free shipping. She advised that shipping on a 60" reed isn't cheap.
So I'm trying to figure out what reeds would maximize what I could do. From your tartan video it seemed like using 16/2 yards getting a 32 epi balanced weave is reasonable, and so a 16 dent might be a good idea if I'm aiming for 32 epi, but idk.
Any thoughts on reeds?
I used an 8 dent for the 32 epi. The nice thing with a straight twill coming out of the heddles is that they come out in easy groups of 4. One group for each space in the reed makes it easy.
I think I had tested a friend’s 18 dent reed for the 36, and it was a bit tight for 2 strands of the 2/16 yarn if I remember right. The more teeth you have, the more space they all take up too. So… if you’re talking a 16 dent reed, 2 spaces will be tighter than 1 space in an 8 dent reed, as there will be an extra tooth coming down in the middle. The problem with it being slightly tight, especially with wool, is that it weakens the yarn through repeated abrasion and you get more breakage.
I find I use my 8 and my 10 a lot, and that covers most of my needs?
Ok - now you are making me think. Would a finer reed help get a tighter thread count (more teeth condensing the weft…)?
Sigh….. more experiments to do… :)