The beam card shows metres, the party's order is in takas, and between the two sits something easy to forget: crimp. The warp bends over and under the weft, so 9,000 metres of warp does not make 9,000 metres of cloth — it makes a little less. Here is the full beam-to-taka calculation.
You need three numbers
- Beam metres — the length of warp on the beam (from the beam card).
- Crimp % / WST — how much longer the warp is than the cloth. WST 108 = 8% crimp. If the beam card already gives cloth metres, use 0 crimp.
- Taka cut — the length each taka is cut at (e.g. 110, 117, 120 m).
Full takas = cloth metres ÷ taka cut (whole number only)
Short last taka = cloth metres − full takas × taka cut
Yarn on the beam (kg) = ends × denier × beam metres ÷ 9,000,000
Example 1
A 9,000 m beam, 0 crimp (metres taken as cloth metres), 117 m taka cut, 8,200 ends × 60 denier.
- Cloth: 9,000 ÷ 1.00 = 9,000 m
- Takas: 9,000 ÷ 117 = 76.9 → 76 full takas
- Last taka: 9,000 − 76 × 117 = 9,000 − 8,892 = 108 m
- Yarn on the beam: 8,200 × 60 × 9,000 ÷ 9,000,000 = 492 kg
Example 2 — with crimp
The same beam, but this quality has 8% crimp (WST 108).
- Cloth: 9,000 ÷ 1.08 = 8,333.33 m
- Takas: 8,333.33 ÷ 117 = 71.2 → 71 full takas
- Last taka: 8,333.33 − 8,307 = 26.33 m
Forget the crimp and the plan shows 5 takas too many — 76 promised to the party, 71 in hand.
Put your own beam into the Beam → Taka calculator; every step is shown with your numbers.
What the taka cut changes
The same 8,333.33 m of cloth at different cuts:
| Taka cut | Full takas | Last taka |
|---|---|---|
| 110 m | 75 | 83.3 m |
| 115 m | 72 | 53.3 m |
| 117 m | 71 | 26.3 m |
| 120 m | 69 | 53.3 m |
The party usually decides the cut. But if you know in advance that the last taka will be 26 metres, you can plan to sell it as a short length or use it in the next order.
Finding your own crimp
Your last beam is the best teacher. Take its length and the total cloth it gave:
For example, a 9,000 m beam that gave 8,350 m of cloth in total: (9,000 ÷ 8,350 − 1) × 100 = 7.8%. Each quality has its own crimp — more picks, more crimp.
Things to keep in mind
- The end of the beam. When a beam runs out, a few metres of warp stay between the beam and the healds, and some goes in tying-in at the start. Take your unit's usual figure off the beam metres.
- A second beam. If there is a separate border or patta beam, work it out separately — takas are counted from the main beam.
- Weft yarn too. For the whole beam, weft = picks × panna × weft denier × cloth metres ÷ 9,000,000. At 50 picks, 65.5 inches, 150 denier and 9,000 m that is 491.25 kg. Yarn and cost are both on the Beam tab of Fabric Costing.
- Taka weight. Work out what each taka should weigh with Fabric Weight & GSM — then any gap on the scale shows up at once.
In Loomiro
In Loomiro's Bhidan, enter the taka cut when you load the beam and the expected takas and metres appear at once. A second beam (border / patta) and the spreader, drawing-in and dropper charges go in the same entry. Each Taka Entry then keeps expected against produced, and when the beam is nearly done the loom appears under "beams about to finish" on the dashboard, so the next beam is ready. Beam Stock works out every beam's weight — ends × metres × denier ÷ 9,000,000 — and prints beam cards.
Before loading the next beam, check it once in the Beam → Taka calculator.