The last thing I need is another loom, but I succumbed to temptation and bought a used and partially dismantled 40" macomber. I have the castle and back beam in one piece, everything else is taken apart. So I am sitting here with several bags of hardware, trying to figure out what goes where.
The loom has 16 harnesses, came with TEN!!! reeds, a sectional backbeam and a regular beam, and a bench. When I got home, I found that I dont have any hooks to tie up the treadles and the seller says she looked all over and cant find them. I guess I got a good deal anyway, and will probably tie up my treadles with texsolv rather than hooks (at $1.25 per hook and 100 hooks, the texsolv is not that much more of an expense). One side of the built in tool rack is missing, too - Im not sure if we lost it in transit or if it was lost when the woman I bought it from moved the loom downstairs, but I can fashion something if I decide to use it. Most likely I will just weave another basket to sit on top of the castle.
I talked to Ed at the Macomber shop and he told me that the loom was built in 1968. The brackets for the lower beam are wood blocks, but for the upper beam, there are cast iron brackets. Ed cant figure out why this loom has the cast iron brackets since they werent used after sometime in the 1950's when a fire destroyed the factory. As long as they work, I am fine with them - however, he told me that they are installed in the wrong place on the back beam uprights so I have to move them to the uppermost position.
The wood needs to be cleaned and I will lightly sand most of it and put on a coat or two of Howards. There are a few areas that need a more strenuous sanding to minimize the appearance of scrapes, gouges, and dents, but for the age of the loom, it is in great shape. So I will do all this before I put the rest of it back together, and I will clean and lubricate the lamms and treadle bar. The biggest issue for me, I think, is going to be getting the friction brake(s) assembled correctly. This loom has friction brakes for both back beams, something that I havent seen before.
Gail