I have rescued a neglected 48" B4D (s/n 6102) from a young woman who didn't have time to weave any more due to a growing family. I understand her dilemma, but I hope she doesn't regret selling it in later years. This one is a beauty. Eight harnesses (capable of 16), sectional and standard back beam, barely used. I can't wait to get it warped and see how it weaves. All the bells and whistles came with it. Nice spool rack (to replace my cobbled-together 2x4 rack), tensioner, bench, yarn swift, lots of yarn (some of it really, really nice), a couple of lovely, exotic wood shuttles. I'm really excited to get working on it.
The only thing I can't figure out is the extra bar on top of the beater (picture below). The original owner didn't know what it was for, either. The brackets it sits on fit only on the beater - not on the front or back beam, so I'm thinking it's probably used as a weight to make the beater heavier for rug weaving. Has anyone see this before?