September in Maine is a bitter sweet time of year. We have glorious warm days where the angle of the sun illuminates the landscape with an amber glow. The ocean is still warm, the garden is offering an outrageous bounty of vegetables and the tourists have left town!
But yet (here is the bitter part) my heart knows that in a few months we will be living inside peering out at a landscape of gray and cold. This time of year my focus begins to shift from outdoor to indoor activities. My studio is a safe place to root my wandering spirit as the days turn shorter and cooler.
BIG NEWS ~~ Very soon I will have a PDF manual for you to down load. The manual is built mostly from these blogs with the addition of information from older Macomber brochures.
The Macomber news for this posting is all about shuttles, brakes, the lamm depressor and the inserted eye heddle. To begin, here are two images of brakes that I found while searching for pictures that folks have kindly sent to me. This first one shows how to set up a single ratchet brake with a cloth beam.
This second image shows how to set up a ratchet brake for a single sectional beam.
Recently someone asked me about the Macomber shuttles. We offer four different styles of shuttles. The simplest one is the stick shuttle. The measure 22" and 38", selling for $5 and $6 respectively. Eddie says he can cut them down if you want smaller sizes for narrow warps.
Next is the 21" rug shuttle, great for those bulky yarns or cloth strips for rag rugs.
Macomber is running a special on these right now....only $15 each! get them while they last at this price!
Then there is the hand-made by Eddie boat shuttle. These are made from poplar, mahogany, and/or oak. Eddie uses whatever scraps he has around. Each one is hand made with a spring load shaft for the bobbin. They come in two sizes ~ 12" and 9.5" . I am sure that if needed a unique size that Eddie will make it up for you. These shuttles go for $25 and $20.
These shuttles are meant for a fly shuttle unit, which Macomber rarely makes. We have about 20 of these Crossley's shuttles left in stock. They are an incredible end feed with adjustable tension. They are solid hard wood with brass inserts and priced at $60. Apparently this company went out of business in 2006. So I cannot offer a link. There are plenty of weavers who own them and swear by them, just Google
Crossley's shuttle.
Heddles ~ these have been in BIG demand all spring! It appears that there is only one manufacturer in India, and the customs folks in New York decided to impound one shipment this spring! That caused us all kinds of grief!! Hopefully that won't happen again. All the heddles made now are the inserted eye style pictured here. The one pictured here is for a CP style loom.
My last image is of a lamm depressor for the smaller type B floor looms. This lamm depressor is a wooden dowel on a string. It works similar to the metal bar in the larger B Model looms. You use the dowel to depress the lamm while you connect the tie-up hook to between the treadle and the lamm.
So that's all the Macomber shop news for this posting. A bit of my news.....I will be teaching two workshops this weekend (9/11-12, 2010) at the
Fiber College on the shores of Penobscot Bay in Searsport Maine.
One workshop is Drafting and Fabric Analysis Made Fun and Easy and the other is The Amulet Pouch~a heartful pocket. Perhaps I will see some you there! I am really excited about this opportunity.
And lastly..more BIG news!!! Saving the most exciting for last...I am having a one person show at
Maine FiberArts in Topsham Maine. This show titled "Thread by Thread" opens on September 15 and runs through December 1st. I will be offering an artist talk and having a gala opening mid-way through the show on November 6th from 2- 5 PM.
September in Maine is a bitter sweet time of year. We have glorious warm days where the angle of the sun illuminates the landscape with an amber glow. The ocean is still warm, the garden is offering an outrageous bounty of vegetables and the tourists have left town!
Great info, Sarah, as always. Looking forward to your .pdf of the manual/blogs. Always looking for more information on how to best use my Macombers.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a second look at the first photo on brakes. That's my loom! I'm honored that you used my photo. :-)
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I have the same lamm depressor on my 40" B Model as shown above.
I have had my loom for about 15 years. It was given to be by a friend in Tucson, AZ. It get it home to Maryland I had to completely disassemble it and put under the seats in our van. When we got back to Maryland I was able to reassemble it and figured out every nut, bolt and screw. But that funny little stick at the bottom of the loom made no sense to me. Just last month I had to move the loom from one room to another and suddenly I figured out what it was far. Thanks for giving it a name.
ReplyDeletecheers, Dan Klinglesmith
I too have the dowel on a rope for my B model 40" loom. It really handy when your threadling the hooks. Good Luck with the classes and your exhibition, it should be a great show.
ReplyDelete