I cleaned the heddles on my Herald loom and used steel wool and wiped the heddle bars with silicone - now the heddles fly! However, the lamms seem a bit sticky on some of the shafts, some more than others. Should I use oil on them, or silicone, or??? Here are pics of the mechanism when I raise a shaft. The beige thing in between the metal parts looks like it is plastic. Thanks so much!!
The only thing I could find was to make sure the bolts weren't too tight. I couldn't find reference to a lubricant.
Good luck!
Alison, do you have a manual for a Herald loom? I've been looking for one, but can't find anything anywhere.
Thanks, Deb
Nope, I searched for sticky lamms and found a Schacht page discussing their's. I also did a google search (which I'm sure you've tried too). Have you tried Handweaving.net? Kris may be able to help.
Alison
Hey Deb,
I have a friend with a Herald loom and the manual. What do you want to know from there? It's just a 2 page sheet which she got when she bought the loom new over 20 years ago. I can find out whatever you need. My friend does email but refuses to get on websites like ours.
Claudia
A drop of WD40 on the moving joints of the lamms may do the trick if they are not bent. It looks like the shafts travel in side slots. The sticky feeling may be coming from there rather than the lamms. If so, try waxing or putting soap in the slots as a lubricant. Check that the little hooks that hold the metal bars in the middle are properly latched so that they don't catch on the next shaft. Happy weaving!
Laurie Autio
Hi Claudia,
I"m really not sure what I am looking for - it's just that I bought it from an estate sale, and wasn't sure that it was set up correctly or that it had everything with it that it should. After bringing it in the house and spending the last few days cleaning it, I think everything is there, and I probably just need to go weave on it!
Thanks, Deb
a couple of years ago I bought a 15-yr old loom that had never been used. The heddles had never even been put on the shafts. The first couple of projects I did on the loom, I had a lot of trouble with shafts sticking. I got some metal spacers from Schacht that fit in the slots and helped balance the shafts. I think more than anything, just weaving helped -- the loom just wanted to be used! I've since removed some of the metal spacers and haven't had any shafts stick in a long time. Good luck!
Did you ever get any documentation for your Herald Loom? I just got an 8 harness low profile jack loom and would love to see any documentation about it.
I got the original stuff with the loom and some more from Janet Meany's Loom Manual Library. What I never found was details of the friction brake for the second back beam.
What do you need?
Oh, now I get it. I never saw your original post.
When I got my Herald 8 shaft, the Previous Owner complained about sticky shafts too. Unfortunately she had lubricated the channels and shafts with beeswax and really gummed them up.
I fixed that by cleaning both the heddle frames and grooves with 0000 steel wool and 91% rubbing alcohol as a degreaser, then lubricating with silicone lubricant, applied with a cloth. Then I discovered the real reason was the jacks had been assembled improperly.
Previous Owner, after beeswaxing the harness frames had her husband disassemble the jack system, clean and reassemble, then lubricate the joints with oil. Too bad he put them together wrong.
But it saved me a bundle and I got the loom for $250 and fixed it.
I looked at Janet's site, but did not see the manual for the Herald Loom.
I am curious about how to set up the brake system in particular. It is different from my Nilus. If yours is working, I would love to see a photo?
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I can send you photocopies of the "manual" if you like. Snail mail or scanned e-mail, but I'd have to wait for my husband to do the scanning...
Many thanks for the photos. If you have a chance to scan the manual and email it, I would be appreciative - but it is not a must if I can get by the brake setup. Your photos help a lot.
Glad to help.
I lubricated the jacks with oil, because that's what was there when Previous Owner had her husband re-work the mechanism. I'd check with Somebody Who Knows if you should be using silicone or oil because of the plastics.
Another Herald question. How well do the wires work for tying up the treadles? I have not seen a loom with this type of tie up before.
Another Herald question. How well do the wires work for tying up the treadles? I have not seen a loom with this type of tie up before.
Wires. Some folks love 'em, some folks hate 'em.
I have no problem with them except they occasionally get crossed up in the treadle slots so I tape a penny between the two wires on the treadle to keep them separated.
Insert the end of the wire with the "L" shape into the treadle, then pull down the appropriate lamm and gently flex the hook end into the hole.
Just be sure not to bend them too far... they are spring steel but they will get bent out of shape.
If you don't have enough wires, most people just substitute string tie-ups.
I have the paperwork for my loom, but it's about 20 pages... please send private message with your mailing address and I'll send them to you.
I have one more question about using my Herald loom. I am stumped for a good way to prop up the harnesses to the right height for threading from the front. My old loom had a castle, so I tied the harnesses to that, but with no castle, I have not found a good solution. Is there an easy solution I am missing?
BTW, I ditched the wires and have gone to string tie ups on my loom. I had trouble with the wires popping out of the holes, plus I only had a few of them - not nearly enough to deal with 8 harnesses. The cord I found that works well is Braided Nylon used for making fishing trout lines that I found in sporting goods at Wal-Mart.
