I am very new to weaving in general and to the Louet Jane 70 cm 8 shaft loom in particular, but I have a question about the materials used in the frames. The wooden cross piece at the top of each frame is very lightweight and loses its rigidity when the warp threads are tightened past a certain point. So even if I would like to use a warp tension which maximises the correct movement of the boat shuttle across the lower shed threads, and minimises shuttle diving etc. I am prevented from achieving the desired tension, as when a frame is lifted, the warp threads going through the heddles pull down on the narrow wooden cross piece so that it bows downwards. If anyone else has found this happening and found some solution ( replacing or reinforcing the wooden cross piece in some way with less flexible wood or metal perhaps?) I would be very interested to hear from you! Thank you in advance!
Some downsides of Louet Jane loom?
Have you had a chance to read the Q&A’s on the Knowledge Base about the Jane?
https://janestaffordtextiles.com/article-categories/jane/
Hello Sandra
Thanks for replying. I just took a look there now, but didn’t see anything dealing with the issue I was asking about….am I missing it in there somewhere? Thanks.
Katherine, I have been weaving on my Jane for close to a year now. Many of my warps have been linen yarns.
I would have to say that it sounds to me like you are tensioning your warp too tightly. If your shaft bars are bowing, I would suggest that you back off of the tension until they are straight. The Jane is not a rug loom, and IMHO should not be subjected to such high tension.
If you are experiencing shuttle dives you might need to use a differently designed shuttle, If your Jane is wider than the 40cm, you can order a shuttle race from your Louet supplier.
Thanks Cheryl. Yes I did what you suggested as otherwise I felt I might damage the loom. I notice that some table looms have metal frames, so presumably more warp tension would be possible on those. I am sure a certain amount of my shuttle diving is just down to my technique, as I am a novice weaver and, for example, when I am putting the shuttle in from the right, with my dominant hand, I am much less likely to have problems. No doubt as I get more practice, the situation will steadily improve. I have ordered an 11” slim Schacht open bottom shuttle and am also trying to locate somewhere that sells the Classic 15” Glimakra shuttle as mentioned by you in a reply that you were kind enough to send me on another thread I started.
I have my first warp on my Jane 8 and have had the same concerns. That cross piece has a consistent vertical “wiggle” when I’m depressing the levers for my pattern. I have a do weight yarn on it and wonder if it is just too heavy/needs too much tension. I haven’t warped a “lighter” fiber yet so don’t have a comparison. I haven’t warped a message in to customer service but have not heard back yet.
“DK” weight yarn
Hi Vicki, are you able to reduce the tension? Like Cheryl mentions above, if the shaft bars are bowing, the tension could be too tight.
Vicki, I'm not sure what you mean by "wiggle in the crosspiece"
In my experience with many different warp yarn types (including tow linen under high tension), I have had zero issues.
Could you post a photo of the issue?