If you finish warping your loom and don't get a shed when you raise shafts, there are only 3 causes.
First, does your warp go over the back beam? If not, there is an easy solution and you do not have to re-warp the loom.
1. Remove the back beam.
- For a Standard Floor Loom: Lift the back beam off its pegs on the rear legs.
- For a Wolf loom with a removable back beam: Unscrew the back beam knobs and pull them out. The barrel nuts in the back beam may fall out; find them and set them aside with the knobs. Lift the back beam off the inside legs.
- For a Wolf loom with a fixed back beam: You'll need a #2 Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the screws holding the back beam in place. The barrel nuts in the back beam will fall out; find them and set them aside with the screws. Lift the back beam off the inside legs.
2. Loosen tension on the warp.
3. Slide the back beam under the warp. For the Standard Floor Loom, set the back beam on its pegs on the rear legs. For Wolf looms, set the back beam into the slots on the inside legs, then re-attach the back beam: at each end, insert a barrel nut into the beam, then attach the screw or knob.
Second, have you tied up treadles correctly? If all the shafts go up or stay down at the same time, you won't get a shed. Check the weaving draft and fix any mistakes in the tie-up. This is an easy solution that does not require re-warping the loom.
Third, did you thread the heddles correctly? Check the weaving draft and make certain it is not a profile draft. If you have to fix mistakes in the threading, untie the warp ends from the front apron bar, pull the warp ends out of the reed, and re-thread the heddles on the shafts. Press on some treadles to make sure you're getting a shed. Then re-sley the reed and tie the warp ends to the front apron bar.