Thursday, September 10, 2009

Strange parts department


This part is one of loose objects that rarely gets passed on from one owner to another. It is the gizmo that you use to hold the brake down so that winding the warp is easier. If you do not have this part any more (and believe me most weavers do not!), you can easily fashion a similar device that does the same job. The goal is to prop something between the brake pedal and the cross piece at the bottom of the loom.

One photo here shows the device in place. Remember that I have an air dobby so my cross piece is cast iron, not wood. The green hose is the air pressure hose to run the dobby system.

Included here is a photo detail of the back brake system on my loom. I have two back beams. The upper beam has a friction brake and the lower beam has a ratchet brake. The friction brake uses the springs and the ratchet brake uses the spring. I hope this helps those of you who are struggling to set up loom that have been disassembled. If you need more images, let me know!

I am back to work steadily in the studio. Making serious progress on the "Tree of Life" commission.

Happy weaving! Sarah

6 comments:

  1. That's great that you're making steady progress in the studio! I need to take a page out of that book!

    I'm making steady progress finishing up outdoor chores (painting and sanding) while we still have the weather for it. Not quite as fun....but have to get it done!

    Enjoy!
    Sue

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  2. That's an interesting break system. Which loom is it? I've had this gizmo amongst my weaving tools for years and never knew what it was for. I simply unhook the break chain from the break pedal while warping and haven't run into any issues over the last 20+ years. Yet! ;-)

    Fun to know what parts are and the proper usage!

    Thanks,

    Beth

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  3. Thanks! I have this gizmo, it came with the loom, which I bought from a master weaver. I never knew what it was for or if it was meant to be with the loom. Now I know!

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  4. Hi curious weavers: The brake set up in the photo is on my 56" which has 2 beams. One is a friction brake and the other is the ratchet brake. It works best to have one of each style brake so that you can adjust the tension more infinitely. Sarah

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  5. Oh, wow Sarah! Nice loom! I was lucky enough to weave on one while at JMU but it only had one beam.

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  6. Sheesh! I bought a Macomber loom a few years ago and have been driving myself CRAZY trying to figure out where this part fit. :-) We had to take the loom apart quite a bit to get it upstairs and I thought I had a piece leftover after putting it all back together. (Although everything seemed to work just fine without it.) Thanks for clearing up my big mystery! :-) Now I can rest easy.

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24" 8 Harness CPJ Macomber for sale

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