I'm brand new to the site, so I hope I've found the right place.
My sister left me her 1983 AVL loom, and I've just about got it re-assembled......except for the levers and springs on the bottom of the harnesses. I can't find a picture anywhere on the net that shows how to put these together, and the anciend manual is way-not-clear.
Does anyone out there have an AVL like this and can post a picture of the springs/levers/rods for making this assembly work?
Thank you so much.
I have a 1981 AVL - not sure I can get a good photo underneath the loom though.
The levers come in a pre-assembled package. The levers are attached to the shafts on the 'outside' end of the lever with the short chains, then the levers are attached to each other on the 'inside' with the long chains/springs.
The shafts have the eye hooks for the levers staggered. You need to make sure that you have put the shafts into the loom with the eyes closest together at the front of the loom, then farther apart as the shafts go to the back of the loom. They come in groups of four, so make sure the eyes on the bottom of the shafts line up in this fashion.
The eyes to attach the top cables are all in a straight line so you can tell the top of the shafts from the bottom.
Email me laura at laurafry dot com if you want me to try to take photos.
Cheers,
Laura
Which model of AVL do you have? My oldest AVL is one I bought new in 1987 and it has 16 shafts. They are not all the same. There are 4 sizes of the lower wooden bar. The hooks are closer together for the front 4 and they move in order so the last 4 have hooks spread more apart. This should show in your manual but I agree that the old manuals are not good. There is a short length of chain that hooks onto the bottom wooden shaft bar.
I took a photo but the "insert photo" here is not letting me upload from my hard drive. You can email me for a photo. Those little chains hook onto small wooden pieces which are also arranged in groups of 4 by length. The metal hooks go into the ends of those wooden pieces, and the long chains with springs connect to the hooks.
Once you get it together, it should be a great loom. I am curious about your sister, as I might have known her. I started weaving in 1967. Not many people had AVL looms in 1983. (Hi, Laura!)
Bonnie Inouye
Hi Laura...
My name is Jan. I had no idea about the eye hooks being staggered. Bonnie mentioned that too. I will take a look.
I think I found my problem on the levers. I had them backwards when I tried to put the rod through them. I swiveled them around, and they look like they work.
Thank you so much for the heads-up on the hooks. I'm sure that would make a difference. See my post to Bonnie for more info on the loom.
PS. my e-mail is sonarc@tritel.net. I may need a bunch more help on this loom. I've had a LeClerc Nilus for about 7 years. I don't get to weave anywhere near as much as I'd like, but I understand this AVL does a nice job. We'll see. I need to order an apron for the warp beam before I do much with it.
Thanks again,
Jan
Thank you Bonnie,
Laura also told me about the eye hooks. I would have never known. My sister was Susan Robinson in San Antonio. She bought the 1983 loom (#00451) from Nina LoCasio in Lubbock, TX sometime in the 90's. Susan was killed in a plane crash 3 years ago, and I'm just now setting up her loom in my house-it's been a bit of an emotional trip to get to this point. When clearing out her house, my husband just dis-assembled the loom, wrapped it up, and brought it up here. After 3 years, he had forgotten exactly how he took it apart, and I was in no shape to remember either.
The AVL has only 4 harnesses. It appears to be in excellent shape. All the wood is really nice. There are holes for bolts that I have no idea what to put there. I do have two 'mystery rollers' left over (one labeled R and the other L - both numbered #8). Again, the manual was no help.
Thank you for trying to upload a picture for me. I think I may have lucked into the proper arrangement for those levers. Everything seems to go up and down okay. But I'm not sure what you mean about the little wooden pieces being arranged by length. They all seem to be the same size. Do you mean the chains on each of them? I didn't check those.
Yes, I'll need lots more help with this. It is surely different than my jack loom. I will keep your e-mail addresses. Again, mine is sonarc@tritel.net. I live in Wyoming.
Thank you again,
Jan Sons
Hi Jan,
It sounds like maybe you have a Home Loom? Does it have more than two treadles?
Cheers,
Laura
(Hi Bonnie!)
The manual calls it a 40" standard modular loom....
Yes, it's got 6 treadle.
I have a very old AVL PDL (pre-serial numbers) and was wondering about the purpose of the springs and chains as well. I have them hooked up according to the manual but am not sure if I have them adjusted properly. I assume they are intended to help pull the shafts back down. Should the springs be loose when the shafts are down? The manual said something about setting the springs differently for different types of warp but it was not very clear. Also the manual said to not hook up the springs until after the warp was threaded. Why?
Can one of you experts advise me? I am sleying my first warp now, 420 ends of 8/2 cotton for the towel exchange project.
That I did understand. The springs pull the shafts back down. The heavier the warp, the more tension it takes to pull them back down (thus the 'after-warp' adjustment.
If the shafts are coming back down level all by themselves, you are okay. If they do not come all the way back down even, then you need to adjust the spring a bit tighter to accommodate that... okay???
Towel exchange??? how do I find out about things like that at this site?
thank you...j
I don't bother undoing the chains. If you feel more comfortable following the directions, undo them. But I find leaving them secured means I can thread more easily. The shafts don't wobble around when they are chained.
Cheers,
Laura
Then sending pics of my loom won't like help much. :( Perhaps someone with a modular loom can provide some.
Cheers,
Laura
Hey! Mine's pre-serial number, too. There's a penciled question mark in my manual right after the part where it says to thread your first warp before attaching the springs. I also have some handwritten notes that were written by the first owner (I'm the third), and he mentioned that "too much tension adds to the required pedal pressure to raise the harnesses."
Mine is second owner. The lady I bought it from moved up to a 24 shaft drawloom. Drool!
Erik
There's a Towels group--come on over! The exchange is full for this year, but I don't know that I'll limit participatiion for the next one. This is my first, so I didn't want to get in over my head.
