CP brakes, something old with the new, and a pronounciation lesson

Thanks to everyone for their questions, curiosity and support for my efforts with all things Macomber.

First off, today I want to explain how to pronounce the name of our looms...it is MAY-cum-ber.  Rhymes with cucumber. I don't mind how anyone pronounces it, but since someone asked me yesterday, I thought I'd share this tidbit with you.

Now for the technical news. A weaver has asked for an image of the back warp brake system for the CP. Here is the way a ratchet brake system is set up, with the release on the castle.

The brake release on the castle.

As you can see the spring is attached to the upright with one screw. The "dog" is attached with one screw also. The dog is the metal part that sits down in the clogs of the ratchet. The spring holds the dog down and engaged with the ratchet to create the brake system.

The chain goes from the dog to the wire brake release on the castle.When you pull the wire forward you pull the chain which pulls up the dog and releases the brake.


And lastly, I have a weaver in NY who has one of the oldest looms that I am selling parts for. I believe that it is a 1950s vintage. It is weaving beautifully thanks to tender loving care by this weaver. Here's a quote for her latest email:
"We took out all the side wires and straightened and cleaned them. When reinstalling the wires, we discovered that there ARE jack bumpers, though perhaps also of 1950s vintage and in need of replacement. Interestingly, they were installed on the vertical side of the wood jack stop block, not on the surface under the jacks — no wonder the jacks were not level! For now we installed them in the right place, and voila, even as can be!

Also redid all the chains so every hook faces the same direction and all the chains are equally long with no twists. It looks so neat!!  And the harnesses line up just like little soldiers. There is a verrrry slight tilt to the back, as you said there would be, but only noticeable with a level, not with the eye.

Speaking of eyes, the heddle eyes are now about 1.5" below the front and back beams. We had to go back and add one link to each chain to accomplish that, but I thought it was well worth the extra time.  All the lamms are in their correct slots now; and I snugged up superhooks, too."

And just to illustrate that you can blend the old with the new, here is an image of the lamms on this older loom, with the new super tie-up hooks. This is what I recommend to all weavers who have the old style lamms and hooks, swtich to the newer super hooks and use them this way. You will be happier. And speaking of which, isn't that what we all long for...to be happier and to be weaving with a well functioning loom!


Happy weaving to all ~ Sarah

Spiffing up your loom!

I have had a few requests lately about how to spiff up (translate as clean or refurbish) a Macomber Loom. Usually one thinks of cleaning as a Spring activity, but here in my studio, I find that winter is the perfect time. I don't have the distractions of the gardens or summer activities and today's weather does not lure me to be out side for long. So here in my studio, the time is perfect to do a bit of loom maintenance.

I blogged about the Vaseline on the B4 and B5 models. Read about this in a March entry.  Similarly you need to occasionally put Vaseline on the CP models where the jack post inserts into the bottom of the harness.

Like so:



Here are some other CP cleaning/spiffing tasks.

Use a small brush to clean the dust and lint out of the wooden harness tracks.

Spray a bit of silicon spray on these same tracks.

 The same steps are followed to clean the tracks below where the lamms slide in the wooden tracks.

Dust, spray with silicon and apply Vaseline to the brass jacks.  

If the wood finish on your loom is looking worn and scuffed. Use a fine grade steel wool to gently rub the surface. Then use a Pledge spray or similar product to seal the wood. I find that weavers often use masking tape to hold down their raddle.  Over this habit over time will build up a gummy deposit on the wood. Steel wool will remove this material and the oil will bring the wood back.
 

If the finish is in very rough shape,  use the steel wool to remove the flaking and chipped varnish. Then apply a satin finish polyurethane such as Minwax.


If the finish is simply dirty (coffee, tea or perhaps wine spills!) use Murphy's Oil soap to gently wash it. Dry and apply the Pledge.

These looms are work horses, but like all animals they need TLC, feeding and tending. Love your loom and it will give you MANY, I repeat MANY years of excellent service. I consistently sell parts to weavers who have looms that are 40, 50 and even 60 years old.

You will be a happier weaver from your time spent caring for your loom. Trust me!

Happy weaving! As always, I enjoy hearing from you ~ Sarah

Next Best Thing

Many folks ask me if there is a manual to go with the Macomber Looms. The answer is no, sadly. One of my efforts with this blog is to serve as a replacement for all topics that might be covered if such a manual existed.

Today, as I was dressing my CP, I realized that many weavers might not know about the sweet little feature on the CP that holds the harnesses up for threading.

This long thin wire with a curve at one end is the tool for this job.

On the front top part of the castle there are two holes. The upper hole is where this wire inserts when you are weaving. It is not imperative that the wire is inserted for weaving, but it keeps this wire from getting lost if you just leave it there!


When you are transporting the loom (it is a portable after all!), it is imperative that the wire is inserted here. When the wire is in position, it keeps the harnesses from sliding out of the castle during travel.

Now here is the really sweet part...when you are threading the loom, you can raise up the harnesses and lock them in this position with this same wire.

To do this ~ raise up all the harnesses, slide the wire out from the upper position, and insert it in the lower set of holes. You will need to wiggle it under all the harness frames.

If I do not have all the harnesses tied up to treadles, I use my hands to lift and hold the harnesses up while sliding the wire underneath.

Be sure to slide it all the way across the frame and insert it into the back of the castle.

Over the years, a couple of these wires have been bent due to some misuse or another. This makes it a little challenging to insert it in the back hole. But with persistence, I can get it in. The other alternative is to use wires from one loom on the other. 



Here is a picture of the same set up from above. It is hard to get a photo without a lot of clutter...remember this is a working studio! Avery, the dog (upper right), is waiting for a dog biscuit!

Hope this tip helps!
Happy weaving ~ Sarah

Once in a Blue Moon

Happiest of New Years to each of you! I hope that 2010 brings you much joy, good health and prosperity. I wish you many hours of weaving that offer a deep sense of pride in your efforts.

Yesterday, on New Year's Day eve, I wove this blue linen (left over from last month's small commission with the bird). As I was struck by the coincidence that last night was a blue moon and I wove this delicious blue fabric.

Blue is perhaps my favorite color, and this deep hand dyed indigio blue is simply my idea of perfection.

The blue fabric has been washed, pressed and pinned to hem it into towel. I just love it when I get a little unplanned bonus off a warp. Here is the hand towel ready to be hemmed.

January is my FAVORITE month to be in the studio. It is usually a slow month for teaching, there are no holidays that require gifts or decorating. I have long hours to sink into my work. Maine winters frequently serve up snowy days that require that I stay home in the studio. How sweet.

I hope the same for each of you ~ time to ponder, to reflect and honor the joys of building cloth by intersecting threads.Weave and bring joy to your world.

Peace, Sarah

Back at the shop

I stopped by the Macomber shop yesterday and snapped several images to post here. One of you requested an image of a bench, so here's a couple of shots of a AD-40" bench ready to be shipped to Arkansas.

The bench has an adjustable height seat and a storage shelf underneath. Here you see Rick admiring his work, having just completed this 56" 16H loom with an Air Dobby system and two sectional beams.

Rick is chceking out the Air Dobby system to be sure that it is all working properlly before he ships the loom.

Rick and Eddie are getting the loom ready to ship. The loom will be placed on the large palette behind it, and then wrapped and strapped down. Behind Rick are the bench and the treadle cover. This box serves as a foot rest as well as protects your toes from getting squished when the Air Dobby engages the treadles.

As you can see in this photo the treadle cover slides easily over these treadles.

Happy weaving ~ from bitter cold Maine! Sarah

PS. NEWS FLASH~~ Local newspaper article about my art work in the community. Check it out!

Foster's Daily Democrat ~ Sunday Citizen December 13, 2009

Swinging beaters, words of praise and birds that sing!

Now that I am back in the studio, I can really make up for lost time! I found an image of the completed piece I posted yesterday. In this image the piece is being sewn to the backing and then it will be installed in a custom frame. You can see that the finished piece has the logo (inside the house) of the non-profit foundation that commissioned this artwork for their retiring executive director. The singing bird is a symbolic way of honoring this woman's work for the organization, a work of joy!

I had a call from a weaver who is refinishing a used loom. Her questions concerned the mounting of the beater, which by the way is a very SWEET feature of the Macomber Loom. The beater upright sits on a bolt which is screwed into a small cast iron piece. The small cast iron piece is screw mounted to the base of the loom.

You can adjust the height of the beater by selecting which slot to rest upon the bolt. The other adjustment is that you can swing this small cast iron part forward and backward (might need to loosen the bolt attachment).

When you swing this small cast iron part, it will adjust how close the beater sits against the castle. Often if the floor is not level, this will affect the way the beater rest against the castle upright, causing one side of the beater to hit and another to be a slight distant away. By fine tuning the beater with this small cast part, you can accommodate for any imbalance.

Your warp should rest comfortably on the beater race (the straight horizontal bar). By raising or lowering the height of the beater and fine tuning the left/right position, you can get it perfect!

And finally words from a weaver who has a Macomber Air Dobby System
"I continue to marvel that the system works so well.  My back pain is a memory.  I timed a chenille scarf last week and could weave 90" scarf in exactly one hour.  I think that is probably substantially faster than foot treadling a scarf of the same size.  Yea."

Happy weaving! Sarah

Winter is a time for weaving !

Here in Maine it is a blustery, stormy day. The Solstice in about two weeks away. I love this time of year. It is conducive to long hours in the studio, hunkered down with my threads, color, texture and patterns. I have been away from my blog, and way over-due for a refresher posting. So here's news that's been waiting!

Last month I completed a small commission on one of my CP looms. Here it is in process. And then a photo of the same piece with embroidery in process. I'll have photos of the piece completed soon (waiting for those from the professional photographer!).

At the Macomber shop looms are being built and shipped.  Here's a happy weaver with his new loom!

Keith in New Brunswick Canada with his new 40" 8 H Macomber Loom!

Did you know that you can get reeds in any size from Macomber? Rick was mentioning to me that he can special order reeds, even if it your loom is not a Macomber.

Did you know that you can send your loom back to the shop, where they will lovingly restore it? I had a student who did this with her CP, and she is SO happy!  Her 30 year old loom is like new.


I have promised more photos and will drop in the shop this week to get photos of the current looms in process, as well as a bench photo.


Meanwhile, for a treat check out this fun seasonal video of sheep herding.

Happy weaving to all! Light and hope to each of you ~ Sarah