Ask Madelyn: Sectional Warp Beam Alternative Uses

Hi Madelyn,

I've come into possession of 36" floor loom with a sectional warp beam. I've not done sectional warping and do not plan to do so at this time. How would I go about warping in this case? Is it necessary to remove the sections or can I wind on a full warp in some way? Would I need to separate the warp with sticks, or is that not necessary—I can't quite figure how that would work.

Thanks so much for a reply. By the way, I loved your warping video; it provided me many great and helpful tips.

—Lynn

Hi Lynn!

I have so been there. I did sectional warping only once and vowed never again even though I can see why people like it.

What I did with my sectional beam (my first loom was a Norwood with wooden pegs in the sectional beam) was make a raddle that I put on the back beam when I wound on (I warp front to back so it wasn't to use it for the usual raddle reason, but to direct the threads into the sections without hitting the pegs). Since it was a 2" sectional, to make the raddle, I put a nail in a board at every 2 inch place and then a nail 1/4 inch away from that 2-inch nail, dividing the raddle into 1-3/4 and 1/4 inch sections. When I wound on, I put the warp only in the 1-3/4 inch sections and placed the raddle so that the 1/4 inch sections were directly above the pegs. The warp then fell into the 2-inch sections without hitting the pegs. If everything went well and the warp went into the sections very evenly, then I didn't need to use sticks to pack the beam. If the warp were at all clumpy, I used sticks to pack the beam--the same ones I use on my regular beams. (You can't use paper, of course, because of the pegs.) This worked really well.

I hope it sounds clear! And thanks for your comments!

—Madelyn