Shortly after I switched over to the 140/2 weft, I started having trouble with warp threads snapping. After I had fixed the tenth one in two inches (grumbling with frustration all the while), it dawned on me that perhaps there was something wrong with my setup. Mike came in, I explained the situation to him, and he said, “Could something be catching on the threads?”
So I looked at my shuttle, and saw that it had acquired some dings from smacking into the wood of the beater. I smoothed out the dings with 150 grit sandpaper, followed by 220 grit sandpaper, followed by a polish of steel wool. And promptly wove a flawless 2″ of fabric.
Men have hung on less evidence.
I’m still breaking the occasional warp thread, but I now have 10″ woven, and am having WAY less trouble than before!
So remember, boys and girls…sand your shuttles! Keep them smooth!
Weavolution is cranking along…we have less than a week until launch and a lot of things are happening very fast. The help system was just delivered, and the volunteer team (six or seven strong) is starting to make entries. We are turning our eyes from basic site functionality to putting on the polish…making sure the site is as user-friendly as possible before our launch next Monday. There are still quite a few critical bugs to be fixed, though, and I am prioritizing them for our development company to make sure the crucial ones are resolved in time.
This is, of course, taking up virtually all of my time outside of work. I’m starting to get a little stir-crazy sitting in front of the computer for 15 hours a day, but it’s only a week to launch, and maybe one or two crazy weeks after that as things get started and we smooth out any kinks in the process. And I am getting some weaving done, albeit slowly.
Thanks for the sanding reminder. You might also try using some high quality paste wax on the shuttle.
I love the shuttles I sand and finish. It started back several years ago when I picked up a shuttle from a, then, new company. It felt smooth and sleek in my hand. I found out they well finish and polish their shuttles. I started doing the same with each shuttle I bought. I polish them with 4 0 steel wool and then put on a layer of Johnson’s paste wax. My shuttles feel great. Unfortunately I am rough on these shuttles and after some use, I need to give them some TLC. This usually means using sandpaper on any rough spots, then the steel wool polish and re-wax.