Heddle Up! Road Trip!

Adding/removing heddles is easiest with the harness on a table.

Adding, removing and moving heddles is perhaps my least favorite part of setting up a loom. Recently I got a call from one of my customers who was having trouble with her harnesses not raising evenly - and after much detective work it turns out that she had too many heddles on one side of the harnesses.

Long story made very short here ......heddles should be evenly divided (right/left) and you should not have so many extras that they impair a straight path of your warp from front to back. One of the "golden rules" that I tell beginning weavers - is that your warp wants to go from the back of the loom to the front in as straight a course as possible. Too many heddles (or too many on one side) will impede this straight line front to back.

Ok - now you know that adding and subtracting heddles is part of your routine loom program. This past week I had to add heddles to two new harnesses that I added to my 40" loom.

The first step is to remove the harness from the loom by simply unhooking the S hooks and chains. Lay the harness flat on large table. Then unclip the heddle bar from the center and sides of the harness and slide the heddle bar to one side 

Match up the heddle bar on the harness and the transfer bar with the new heddles. Now you can easily slide the heddles on to the heddle bar. Be sure to clip everything back up when you're done.

To remove heddles - follow the same set up steps by placing the harness on a table. And instead of sliding new heddles on to the harness - slid them off - on to a heddle transfer bar.

In June I wrote another blog post about heddles and heddle bars Please explore that entry for more heddle information.


Use a heddle transfer bar to help slide the heddles on to the harness heddle bar.

On another note - and a pretty darn exciting one -- I will be an artist in residence at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA. I will be there for two weeks, plus the long scenic drive from Maine to Georgia. During my time there I will be focusing on embroidering on my hand-woven linens as well as drawing and exploring the environs.

Also please check out my new Face Book public page - just for my art!

10 yds of line to weave before I go!

The Hambidge Center