This question is regarding my 20" Baby Mac.  I've had occasional problems with shaft #6 (counting from the front) not coming all the way down when changing sheds.  Looking down and around I couldn't see anything obvious and discovered a workaround (about 90% successful) by putting the heddle hooks (the ones that slide over the top of the lamm) on backward for that shaft.  I finished my scarf that was on this loom and looked more closely at it to see what might be the problem.  The lamm for shaft 6 bows towards the front and nearly touches the lamm for shaft 5 in the middle.  I have no idea what was done to the poor loom to get this lamm bent.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to fix this?  I don't even know how to get it out of the loom to fix or replace it.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Comments

Michael White

The lamms are made of aluminum and steel bars. I would put a little pressure on the center of the flat AL piece and see if it will bend back in place.

Michael

TinaHilton (not verified)

We tried pushing on the lamm but it kept wanting to pop out of the slots. What do you mean by AL?  Is that just an abbreviation for aluminum?

Michael White

Yes on the AL question. On this 20" Mac does it have a wooden lamm guide in the middle of the lamms?

Michael

TinaHilton (not verified)

There's nothing in the middle.  There are the wooden slots along the side that the lamms ride in.  Here are 2 pics, both looking up from underneath while the loom is folded.  You can easily see the bent lamm (3rd from the bottom) and the slots on the side.  

I've pushed on the bent lamm in the middle, but it just goes back to where it is.  I wonder if at some point it popped out of the slot and stayed bowed too long.

   

Michael White

I have a lamm spacer that may fit. Measure the inside space. If it fits it is yours, just pay the postage.

Michael White

Tina here are pictures of lamm spacers. The distance between the supports is 6 5/16 inches.

TinaHilton (not verified)

I see how that works.  But the treadles on the Baby Mac are much closer together.  I don't know if that would work right.  I think maybe I'll ask Sarah Haskell and see what she suggests.  I'll let you know.

Michael White

Tina, let me know. It nothing else I can cut you a board to fit.

Michael

TinaHilton (not verified)

Sarah Haskell checked with Macomber and they say the best thing to do is replace the lamm.  I ordered it today.  I wish I didn't have to spend $35 on this repair, but it will be nice to weave without that problem again. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to replace it.  And maybe I can get the other lamms cleaned up better at the same time.

I'll post the repair results after the work is done.

TinaHilton (not verified)

I got my new lamm & jack in the mail yesterday and installed it today.  All by myself.  Now I'm not a helpless female, but I've let my husband do almost all the loom maintenance for me.  He's very mechanically minded in addition to being a good woodworker, plus he enjoys it.  But I decided I needed to take a more active role in taking care of my looms.  It was no problem at all.  I think the original lamm was bent when they were removing and adding shafts.  This loom used to belong to a weaving guild and was a rental, so when only 4 shafts were needed they would take 4 out in case someone else wanted them.

The only thing I couldn't figure out was how to remove the wires at the top of lamm/jack area.  The instructions said they could be removed to make it easier to add the new lamm.  I probably could have used a small nail to push it through, but one was already bent and I thought it might just get bent more.  It was a little tricky, but I was able to replace the lamm and jack with the wires in place.

Now I just have to get a warp on the loom to make sure it is working fine.

Vicki Allen (not verified)

Congratulation, Tina,

Sounds like you are ready to weave. I know you will enjoy your Mac. What do you plan to weave first?

Vicki Allen

Michael White

The wires can be a real bugger to remove. WE will be waiting to see what comes off your loom.

 

Michael

TinaHilton (not verified)

Well, actually I'm reweaving the last project.  A couple of years ago I wove a black rayon chenille scarf with trellis yarn for my niece.   One of the workers at the day care where she takes her son said how much she liked the scarf, so she asked me to make one she could give the worker. My Conair hair braider I use for twisting fringe was acting up and the fringe wormed when I washed it.  So I'm weaving another one.  I am going to try to undo the fringe on the first scarf and braid it, and if that doesn't work I'll hem it, just to make it usable.  But I wanted to get started on another scarf anyway so I can give her a "good" one.

Here's a picture of one I made before.

TinaHilton (not verified)

I finished the scarf and the weaving went flawlessly.  It's so much nicer to weave without having to make sure that one shaft didn't get stuck up. Now I can put my little storage box on top of the castle again.  I had to keep it off when I wove because it blocked my view of the shafts.

I didn't realize how much this problem had slowed down my weaving.  I felt like I blazed through this scarf.

Michael White

Life is so much more enjoyable when you don't have to stop or worry about the little things.

 

Michael

TinaHilton (not verified)

You got that right Michael.  But sometimes you don't realize it till the bothersome things are gone.  It's like getting a cool breeze on a hot, humid day.

spinberry (not verified)

Hey Tina! Didn't know you had a Baby Mac. I've just started trying to use mine again and all of my lams are sticking. The guides jump out of the runners at each shed change. I'm going to use this thread to try some fixed. I think my husband can make a lamm guide using your picture, Michael. Thanks for sharing!

spinberry (not verified)

Tina, What wires are you referring to that were hard to remove? Is my loom supposed to have wires that keep the harness attached to the lamm? Mine loom is old with many previous owners. It came to me in seriously used condition and I wondered if something was meant to go through the hole at the top of the pin that attaches to the harness.

mrdubyah (not verified)

Spinberry, 

At the moment, I own two Baby Macs that work fine, but my friend had one with a couple of lamms that kept jumping the track.  She didn't have the money for new lamms, but I managed to make it work fine by pop-riveting a bit of folded tin (from a coffee can) as an extender on one side of each of the affected lamms (see photo).  Not really pretty, but it works fine!

TinaHilton (not verified)

I apologize for not replying sooner spinberry.  I guess it's been a while since I checked this group!  Here's a picture of the wires I'm talking about.  They're bent, probably from people trying to remove shafts or put them back in.  I think that's how the lamm had been bent.  That's from its days as a rental/workshop loom in a weaving guild.

And here's a picture of what I have currently on the loom.

I'm weaving more wine bottle totes.  You can see the finished item here.

Gnu weaver

Hi Tina, I just got a new-to-me 20" Baby Mac which has the old style lamms and needs some lamm repair or upgrade. One lamm is broken and another is bent so I was trying to figure out how to remove them. I've been trying to figure out how to repair them myself but I didn't want to mess it up. How in the world did you take out the lamms without removing the wires? Punching through those thin wires first to remove then to replace makes me quake in my new weaver boots. I think the bent lamm with its bent vertical metal piece (part of jack?) would be a lot easier to fix once out and separate, but I'm new and nervous.

Gnu weaver

mrdubyah Hmm, clever guy with tools. Did you take the lamms off to do the repair? Any suggestions for an alternate fix without a pop riveter? Thanks!

TinaHilton (not verified)

The Macomber guy told me I had two choices.  Just buy the lamm and attach it to the jack or buy the whole thing.  Since I didn't have the tools to attach the lamm to the jack, I bought the lamm & jack combo. 

My problem wasn't having the lamm jump out of the track, but that it would sit on top of one beside it (due to the bend) and so the shaft wouldn't come all the way down without me pushing down on it.

Gnu weaver

I did remove all eight without removing the small stainless steel wires. It took some time, but with assistance and patience they are out.

mrdubyah (not verified)

Thanks Gnu.  No, I didn't even bother to take the lamms off, I just drilled a hole, put on a folded bit of tin in which I made a matching hole with a punch, and put in a pop rivet.  I suppose you could do the same thing with a very small nut and bolt (as long as there's enough space between lamms) but a rivet tool can be had for only $15-20 at most hardware stores and is handy for all kinds of other repairs.  You may even have a friend or neighbor who'd be happy to lend you one.