Hey everyone! Looking for some assistance on our brand new Leclerc Loom. I am waiting for a response from Leclerc but thought i'd reach out to the JS community.

Our brand new loom is properly set up but we are having weaving issues. When weaving plain weave, pressing down on treadle A, shafts 1 & 3 go up, but shafts 2&4 also rise up a bit causing an uneven shed and we then have to push them back down before we throw our shuttle across. I've double-checked the tie-ups and they are all the same length. However, when pressing down on B which raises shafts 2&4, 1&3 barely move. Because of this, when we throw the shuttle we are running into weaving errors. Also, as this is a jack loom and sheds rise, we are confused as to why our warp doesn't lie against the bottom of the reed on the shuttle race when pressing down our first plain weave treadle (A - 1 & 3). Everything is elevated about 2 cm above the bottom of the reed, which again, means we run into issues throwing the shuttle.

Actually, here is a link to videos I took: https://we.tl/t-F0A6rDWgUb
It's a wetransfer so you can safely download them! Thanks in advance, weaving community!

Would love to hear your thoughts
Jess

Actually, here is a link to videos I took: https://we.tl/t-F0A6rDWgUb
It's a wetransfer so you can safely download them! Thanks in advance, weaving community!

Hi, I have an older 8 shaft compact and had some of the same issues and am gradually working out these issues. As Jane mentioned, easing up on the tension may help.
Other things I tried:
- Make sure you are stepping as far back on the treadle as is comfortable for you. I found the further back I pressed the better the shed.
- Tie up just the shafts you need and make sure that none of the tie-up are 'catching' on the treadle next to it.
- For the shuttle race, adjust the beater bar. My beater bar does not adjust so I placed and taped a stick shuttle on the shuttle race which fixed that problem.
- Also, I looked at some of the manuals online, one of the manuals mentioned that there should be washers between the Jacks. I added washers because my loom was older. I would use this as a last resort. Here is a link to the document on the LeClerc website: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leclerclooms.com%2Fdraw_inst%2Fcompact8skit.pdf&clen=1080296&chunk=true .

Also, I don't know if it matters but I remove my lease sticks before I start weaving.

Good luck. It is a nice little loom.

Angela

Hi there,
I am not an expert by any means, but if I were you I would remove the lease sticks and remove the cords that you have going through the beater. Things may be getting hung up. After that you may be able to see if your beater needs to be raised, because yes your warp threads should lay at the bottom of the beater. Again, I wonder if things are just getting hung up. Looks like a beautiful new loom! Hope you get it all running smoothly.
Carrie

Hope you've heard back from LeClerc. Camilla Valley Farm has a page of information on this, "Jack Loom Floating Shafts". I've had this issue with my old 8 shaft Gilmore, especially with Jane's season 5 turned twill, I think because the heddles were not balanced. Initially, I only had enough heddles to thread the project, so shafts 5678 had all heddles on the left and 1234 had all heddles on the right. When I bought more heddles to sit empty of the opposite side, it helped. So make sure you have the approximately the same number of heddles on each side of the midpoint of the shaft. High tension will also cause this issue. Also, have someone look under the loom when pressing the treadles to be sure the treadle you are pushing down is not hitting the top on a resting heddle. https://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/weave/floatingshafts.htm