I've a recently acquired barn loom; it's about 100 years old. I'd like some help with the following:

  • Identifying use/purpose of the 1.5" slot on the upper beam to the weaver's left, located under the place holder for the reed.
  • How do the heddles attach to the heddle holders?
  • How do the treadles connect to all this?
  • Any other info that can be gleaned from these photos. 

It's a lovely piece and I've been reading on this forum about how to restore it. It is thought to have been built in Timberville, VA which is where it came from. The 3 reeds it came with are in wonderful shape, but I'll use metal reeds. The originals will be clean, preserved, and displayed in a safe place.

Thanks in advance for your help,

 

Pat

Back to Front View

 

The Mystery Slot

 

Mystery Slot and Beater Adjustment

Treadle Connection

Heddle Holders

 

Heddle Holders 1

 

What does this adjust?

 

Reed Holder

Comments

Sat, 07/12/2014 - 13:17

sandra.eberhar…

In the photo you have of the treadles, there are two pieces of wood that are attached to the bottom of the back lower cross beam.  A rod goes between them, and the treadles are strung on that.  The heddles are strung on two wooden sticks that are attached to the rollers.  If you can give us an overall picture of the loom with a sheet or somethink like it to separate it from the background, we may be able to answer more of your questions.

Sat, 07/12/2014 - 14:32

sequel (not verified)

Hmm...  If it were on the right I'd think it was for routing the the brake release cord to the weaver.  The bottle shaped thing may be a brake weight for a warp weighted brake set-up.  Your really need better lighting, for the photos and for weaving!

Sun, 07/13/2014 - 05:50

kerstinfroberg

I'm not sure I understand your questions, but:

in the second photo, the notched thing on top loks to be the beater "cradle": you can position the (hanging) beater in several positions. Make sure it rides in the same notch on both sides.

in the third photo, it looks like you have a top pulley, adjustable in height. There should be another one like that on the other side. Some pics of pulley-and-horses can be found on my blog, here.

in the last photo, I detect an older stule of warp beam brake - again, some photos on my blog, in another post here.

Hope some of that helps!

Wed, 07/16/2014 - 20:19

PatBingham

Hope these new photos (see original note) work better.

Pat

Wed, 07/16/2014 - 20:40

PatBingham

What do the screw adjustments do (pict. #3 and 7)?

Why do the "horses" (is this the correct term?) have 3 slots on each end. How many (maximum) heddle frames can these 2 pairs of horses carry?

Pulley? I have a pulley? Where?

Is there a good book I can read about this?

Pat

 

Wed, 07/16/2014 - 23:37

sequel (not verified)

Without a long shot of the entire loom to see waht is connected to what... The screws are to adjust the beater height.  The pulley is the big roller and the leather strap goes over the big one and attaches to the horses.  Each horse attaches to two shaft frames.  No idea why those horses are so very long or why you have the smaller round rod above the big roller.  Try The Book of Looms by Eric Brody and Hand Loom Weaving by Edward Worst.  You easily have a setup for 4 shaft weaving, but I'm wondering if the loom may have been set up for drawloom work - which I know nothing about.  If the slot is on the same side as the brake, it's for the brake control rope.

Wed, 07/16/2014 - 23:40

sandra.eberhar…

I think that the screw is for fine adjustment of the beater heigth.  The horses carry two sets of shafts each, for a total of 4 shafts, which fits the numbers of treadles you have.

Thu, 07/17/2014 - 05:29

kerstinfroberg

My mistake: I thought there was a pulley at the bottom of what we now see is the beater height adjustment screw.

I have never seen horses with multiple notches, so I can't guess on them. Long horses are not uncommon, but modern ones usually are a lot shorter.

There is nothing in your pictures that indicate an extra harness (which is required for drawlooms).

Good luck!

Thu, 07/17/2014 - 09:55

PatBingham

After reading all of your comments (and thanks for the book recommendations; will follow up on these) here's where I am now:

  • It's likely that the beam with the mystery slot is currently on the wrong side of the loom. This makes sense, though I still don't know what the brake is for (will research this). Won't my husband be thrilled as he gets to play Tinkertoys with the loom again.....   ;)
  • The beater adjustment seems to have both a coarse adjustment and then the screws for a finer adjustment. I didn't understand this before. And now I see I'm missing small pegs or holders to enable the fine adjustment.

I'll send more photos later today.

Thank you so much for your help; it's really making a major difference in understanding this piece.

Lowes carries an incredibly strong flourescent light (on the expensive side, but oh so worth it!) that I intend to place over the loom (this weekend?). The one we have lights up the entire garage and I think it will do wonders for being able to see when cleaning up this loom in the basement.

Thank you all so much!

Pat

Thu, 07/17/2014 - 16:24

sequel (not verified)

If your loom will be in the basement, set a vapor barrier under the legs - rigid plastic or something.

Sat, 07/19/2014 - 16:17

PatBingham

We plan to put the fake wood deck planking under the loom; that should work. The basement has had water (about 2 qts total) come in in the past 20 years, but prevention is much easier than restoration.

And yes, I will need to replace the leather if I can't restore it. One more skill to learn!

Am off to get the light bulbs and mineral spirits to start work on this. I'll post photos once finished.

Thank you all for your help!

Pat