Hello,
I bought a 2nd-hand Ashford table-top warp mill and just used it for the first time. With no warp on it, it spun beautifully and smoothly, but as I added more and more threads to my warp it started to stiffen up. By the time I finished warping (436 threads of 8/4 cotton, <5 yards long) it would not spin freely at all (I could turn it but it was very stiff). I added some WD40 at one point (hope that wasn't a mistake) which helped a little but the real problem seems to be that as I added more threads and the warp got tighter the cross bars were shifting a bit and pressing more and more on the center metal rod making it harder to spin. I'm wondering how I can avoid this, and if I am just warping too tightly?? How tight should my warp be on the mill? I was trying to use only as much tension as needed to keep the threads from slipping down the frame. I also wondered if perhaps it had something to do with how I distributed my warp across the height of the mill (which was a bit uneven).

Hi Dana - it does help if you spread your warp evenly over the whole mill and add just enough tension as you wind to hold it in place.. That’s a lot of 8/4 cotton to put in one bout on the the mill and it’s a shortish warp. On my “very experienced“ table top mill - I would have wound 2 bouts to give me more control over the 8/4 cotton. You’ll learn as you go what is the best way that works on your experienced mill.

Thank you so much Sandra. Yes, in retrospect and after reading a few other posts about warping I realise it would have been good to split the warp up into two or three sections. It's my first time working with 8/4 cotton (and my 3rd warp ever!). I did manage to chain it off though it's a bit messy :D I probably should have lowered the upper peg bar too. When you comment that it's a short warp - are you suggesting that it's easier to warp in sections as a result?