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

Tensioner and thread guide

I have had several requests for more information and images of this piece of equipment. So I decided to take a spontaneous quick trip over to the shop. Eddie set up a tensioner and thread guide on a loom for a photo shoot. What a great guy!!

I also have scanned a copy of the set up directions for the tensioner/thread guide.

I hope this helps those of you that are sectional warpers!

Sarah

At home in the studio

Greetings everyone! I am home now, for a long spell. Grounded in the studio, preparing for the fall semester at the NH Institute of Art (Manchester, NH) where I teach a course to all BFA candidates that helps prepare them for the "real" world.

I am pleased that so many of you email me with your questions about your Macomber equipment. Thanks to all for your orders for part and looms.

My big news is that my Global Community Art Project: "Woven Voices" has received The Sarah Farmer Peace Award from the Baha"i's of Seacoast NH. I hope to post images of this award ceremony soon!

Please keep in touch, and HAPPY weaving!

Sarah
PS. The images is a detail from "Seed Root" series

Brief touch down

Greetings from Vacationland! This is the nick name for the glorious state of Maine. I must say that at long last we are indeed living in the land of vacationers. My little village of York swells with folks from all over the world who enjoy our beautiful coastline and beaches.

I have heard from many of you that you are getting great info from the blog and that you appreciate the support for "all things Macomber". Thanks to all for staying in touch.

I also really appreciate all the orders for parts and looms. Let me know how I can continue to help you.

I will be away from my phone and email from August 15 - 22. So hang on to those questions and orders until I get back, or rush them in before 9 AM 9/15.

These pictures are from my last few weeks of living large in the great state of Maine. I will be grounded back in the studio on August 24th. Look for more tips and photos about weaving after that!


Peace, Sarah

Blog on vacation !

Summer......at last! I will be away for three weeks from July 18 through August 9th. I will have sporadic email during this time. The first week I will be with dear women friends on a 200 acre private island off the coast of Brunswick, ME. I plan to draw, read, sleep, swim and eat. The second week I will be taking a graduate course out in Oakland CA, working towards my Masters in Art and Healing from Wisdom University. And the third week I will be sailing in Penobscot Bay Maine.

There might be small smidgens of time for me to respond to emails. But most queries will have to wait until I return.

Hooray for summer!! I hope that each of you find a time to rejuvenate your creative energy, to feed your spirit and to play in nature. Summer here in Maine is SO brief that I find it important to seize the moment.

Here are some photos of my current work in progress. You can see how I thread the reed. It looks like the reed is bending, but trust me it is fine in this position for short periods of threading.
These skeins of dyed weft await my return.

Keep weaving, and stay curious. I am always happy to listen and help.
Peace, Sarah

Little tid bits and more

I was over at the shop this week, and picked up the closest thing to a manual that Macomber has. I have scanned the set up instructions for both the Type B and CP Looms. I hope this helps those folks that are restoring older looms. I am happy to post images if you send them.

I spoke with Eddie again about those tie-up super hooks. His advice for those of you using the newer hooks on the older lamms, is to be sure that they are "crimped" tightly at the bend. Since the older lamms are fatter, they will tend to push out the hook. Thus you will have troubles with the hooks falling off or catching on adjacent lamms. Hope this helps!







Here's a note from a reader..a historical tid bit for fun: " I don't know if you are aware of this, but 'way back "when" Macomber used to supply a hex beam that made it possible to use the Structo ready-wound spools with a Mac! Last Summer I purchased a 50-yr-old "baby" with all the extras still with it and, lo and behold, one of the hex beams! I used a lot of Structos in my teaching and had worked out a way to re-fill empty spools as if they were sections of a sectional beam. I had had the tension box on the back beam of my big Macomber and a small metal Structo clamped to the breast beam, but am going to experiment today with using the Baby Mac to do that.Anyway, just a little Macomber trivia for you!!!
Nancy C.















That's it for now...gotta get back to threading, half way done!
Peace, Sarah

The price list

Here it is...the Macomber Loom price list. Of course you can't read it unless you click on it to get it a readable size.

As you can see this copy has been well loved; spilled coffee, marked up. Rather lived in, I'd say. And also please note that the prices have not changed since 2004. So buy now!

Any questions?? From (still rainy) Maine~ Sarah