Alex McLean documents moving from computer-controlled TC/2 loom to an 8-shaft table loom, covering threading logic, crackle weave, and a live multi-user shaft loom simulator built on MQTT.
Key Takeaways
Point threading on an 8-shaft loom repeats every 14 warp threads vs. 8 for direct threading, trading control for wider symmetrical patterns.
The team built a multi-user shaft loom simulator controlling the TC/2 via MQTT, letting one person adjust threading while another weaves live, with pattern glitches woven into fabric transitions.
Floor loom treadle tie-ups are binary matrix multiplication; shaft looms formalize this so AdaCAD can convert floor loom drafts to table loom lift plans automatically.
Crackle weave re-threading took over a day; overshot technique (thick weft interleaved with plain weave) was needed to make the pattern visible on a striped warp.
handweaving.net recently paywalled Ralph Griswold’s public-domain weaving drafts; author plans to archive them on archive.org.
