Weights on Temple Cords and Selvedge Ends

There's been a discussion on WeaveTech about the amount of weight that one should use on a tarp-clamp temple (photos and text in this post). I promised to photograph the weights that are on my loom now, as I weave the pink towel warp.



The two larger weights are 1 lb each, the two medium-sized ones are 4 oz ea, and the smallest is 2 oz, for a total of over 2 lb 10 oz on each side of the loom.

Some weavers prefer to use a bent paperclip instead of the tarp clamp, because it's faster to move along the web. However, I started using the clamps because I specifically wanted to get away from any device that put holes in the fabric, as a conventional temple does. When I weave fine silk, the holes don't always disappear in wet finishing. Plus, I would imagine that a single paper clip would make one big hole instead of the row of little holes the temple leaves. So the clamp really is my "weapon of choice" when it comes to controlling draw-in at the selvedge.

There are times when I want to weight the selvedge threads separately from the main cloth. On this towel warp, I'm using about 4 oz total weight on the selvedges (14 ends on each side) . It's difficult to get a photo, because the warp is on a sectional beam so there's a lot of stuff in the way of a clear view (and of course the camera insists on focusing on the wrong stuff), but here are a couple of shots showing the S-hook grabbing the selvedge ends.

This shot is taken from the right side of the loom, forward of the sectional beam and the black warp separator beam. You can see how much stretch the 20/2 unmercerized cotton has achieved since the beginning of the warp! Without the weights, it's hard to get a clean shed at the selvedges with this soft yarn, and when you weave with a fly shuttle, a really clean shed is mandatory.



This view is from the back of the loom, and is probably more in focus.



The cord extends back from the hook and over the raddle, which is a permanent fixture on the back of my AVL, then down to the weights.



Meanwhile, the pink towel warp is making progress, though slowly because of a variety of non-textile-related distractions. Here's towel #7, with a border of long, elongated diamonds in a treadling of small advancing points. Click the image to display a larger version in which the design is more legible.



And towel #8, with a design based on a Japanese crest. The design is supposed to look like a trio of ginko leaves, but when it's reduced to this small number of threads, it looks more like a simplified flower with two leaves.