J-MADE DIGEST #15

Hi, Everyone,

Having just been through what I thought would be a horror but turned into an easy-as-pie adventure with my J-comp, I thought I would share it with you as an early holiday treat.

Some of you may know that in an attempt to avoid what has become known on the weavetech list as 'windus interruptus', the bane of sectional warping (in which one wiggles the beam just as it goes past the counter and registers two turns instead of one), I tried putting an electric drill on the shaft that turns the worm.  This is a bad idea (i.e., don't do it) because the worm gear (that's the big gear on the beam that the worm turns) cannot take the friction.  So, I decided to replace the worm gear, which meant taking the warp beam off the loom. Oh, horrors!

Turns out it's easy, and if you need to get at the works under the loom for major adjustments, it probably will save your back to do it, either from bending in strange directions or from being scratched by the sectional prongs.   Here is how:

1. Loosen the collar at the end of the beam away from the worm.
2. Loosen the four lag bolts that hold the plate holding the shaft onto the frame .
3. Using a soft mallet or a piece of hardwood, tap the plate until it comes loose from the frame of the loom.  It is not glued on, it just sticks after all these years.
4. Slide the beam all the way AWAY from the worm as far at it will go. It is important that the collar be loose.
5. Remove the lag bolts all the way.
6. With a little wiggling, there should be just enough space that you can lift the beam and the shaft support plate clear of the horizontal beam to which it was attached.  There is only a hair of clearance, so be firm with it.
7. Pull the beam away from the worm end (you will need a person at each end) until the shaft attached to the worm plate is out of the beam.
8. Pick it up and set it aside.

That's it!

To put it back, reverse the process. Be kind to your loom and put some axle grease on both axles before you put it back together. 

Cheers,

Tom.