A countermarch loom allows individual shafts to be raised or lowered independently of each other when treadled. Compare this with a counterbalance loom, where each shaft is paired with another that moves in the opposite direction.
The advantages of countermarching are that:
- The warp is kept straighter, especially when multiple shafts are raised for a pick.
- You can weave with an odd number of shafts.
- You can use more delicate yarns in the warp.
Counter march also gives you better balance on the shafts when you have a narrow warp in a wide loom or an uneven distribution of the number of threads per shaft.
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