11 November 2016,

We've taken a look at the disassembled loom and realized that there were too many parts missing for us to attempt reassembly. We've had a great experience restoring the assembled one and are happy it's found a good home at the Bisbee Fiber Arts Guild. To all of our readers, thank you!

18 October - The loom went to its new home at the Bisbee Fiber Arts Guild in Bisbee Arizona. It was accompanied by a cone filler (pony) and a thread stand for warping. It took 4 of us to move it and we had to partially disassemble it to reduce weight and allow it to get through some pretty tight doors. Upon reassembly it looked happy, surrounded by other looms and in a sunny spot so a weaver can have good light. We sent along some paperwork and the fabric strips which I'd rolled into balls for weavers to use. Thanks to Lee and Charla Henney and my husband, Bob Wilson, for their help in moving it, and to the Guild for giving it a good home.

Bob and Lee deciding the best way to secure the partially disassembled loom for travel

Lee, examining the loom

Charla, Bob, and Lee reassembling the loom

The loom in its new home

Ready to go to work!

It's time for another update. We got together and did some more work, not on the loom this time but on the "accessories," such as the cone filler and the warping stand. We're hopeful that the Bisbee Fiber Arts Guild will take the loom; they have expressed interest in it, and we will be happy to have it go to a new home where it will be used. In the mean time, I've been rolling fabric strips into balls. They were stuffed into a plastic 55 gallon contractors trash bag, in no order, and became a tangled mess, so it has been a hard won battle. My husband commented on how much work it must have been for the rag rug weaver to sew all the strips together (and there are a lot of them) and I replied that cutting and sewing was probably about half of the prep time for weaving a rag rug. The weaver must have been on a roll because we've probably got about 80 lbs of fabric strips. Almost all of them are sewn, too, so it was definitely a time consuming process.

Here's what we've been doing:

Pirns

We took out the pirns, washed them and dried them, looked at their functionality, and only had to throw away 2. The rest, while worn, are in good shape (or at least good enough to use).

We also looked at the cylinders and found that most of them, while worn, were in good shape as well. Then we got started on the cone filler and the warping stand.

Coffee can device

Cone holder

the new leg

Feeding mechanism for rag strips

Lee doing wood work

Measuring angles for new leg

Measuring angles for new leg

We're not sure what the coffee can piece was for, but as you can see Lee replaced a leg and we cleaned up the Pony. The central support is a user added item, and it is slightly longer than the legs. We'll fix that and it will be ready for use.

Apparently the Phillips head screw wasn't used until after WWII, and Lee happened to have some "old" (straight slot) screws which we used to replace a couple of the Phillips head screws for the appearance of authenticity.

A repaired "Pony"

Not the original seat

The seat support is an addition and is slightly longer than the legs.

Looking much cleaner

Next is to remove rust from the warping stand, repair the base, and order some parts that we know we need for the other Pony.

Thanks for reading the blog.

15 August 2016: time for another update. The picker straps have been received and I'll put neatsfoot oil on them, and we'll replace the old ones. We still need new boot heels for the flying shuttle, but those will have to wait until Riverside Looms has them available. Since the loom is just about ready to be put to work, we focused some of our attention on the cone filler. We have 2, one is in good condition, the other one needs some work. The one which is in good condition has been cleaned but needs to have the brace under the "pony" adjusted so it is even with the back legs. The one in not so good condition got a new leg - thank you, Lee, and needs a seat and a brace under the back legs. The cone is pretty shot and will need to be replaced, and the handle reinstalled. We also found two wooden bobbins for the flying shuttle which hold the metal tubes the rags fit in, and a wooden "tamper" to ensure the cylinders are filled tightly with rags.

We cleaned up a couple of boxes of spare parts and found pirns, cogs, nuts and bolts, and what appears to be a broken part "L" which is instrumental in the cog functioning as the warp is advanced. As it appears this is wrought iron, it will probably need to be replaced, so will go onto our next order from Riverside Looms.

Now for what you've all been waiting for: Pictures!

This is the 2nd cone filler. We've yet to figure out what the Schilling coffee metal is doing there. As you can see, it needs some work.

Different view. Handle and drive belt (leather strap) need to be installed. We've found the handle, but the drive belt was destroyed by the elements and time. Another thing to find or add.

New rubber band on the flying shuttle wing.

This is the 2nd cone filler and we're not sure why someone added this, as you can see it seems to have been intended to hold something. We're thinking it was used to hold the cone.

Lee measuring angles for the new rear leg of the 2nd "pony."

Lee looking at the rear leg

More cleaning to be done!

Pirns and other wooden pieces.

This is the cone filler that is in good repair. You can see the added seat and brace. The brace is slightly longer than the legs, so must be shortened by about 1/8"

Broken part "L"

New leg on 2nd cone filler

Another view of the working "pony."

Hi everyone,

We've been at it again. We replaced the tie on straps I managed to cut by accident while taking off the old project. I used sturdy cotton twill webbing I'd bought at JoAnn's. We found the cut ends of the straps and removed the garter clip looking tie ons,  the straps using carpet tacks, and moved the never used straps on the very end of the beam to replace the cut straps. We now have a full complement of tie on straps for the back beam and a new front apron for the front beam.

Tie on Straps

Old carpet tacks have been replaced

 We also started to take a look at some of the other unique things that the loom has, to include a chain which has replaced the cord which runs under the loom to provide some stability for the beater.

Chain instead of cord. Chain looks fairly new, but placement is of concern as it seems as if it will rub the wood on the side. We will replace it with a cord or put a piece of plastic under the wood to protect it.

 I cleaned the reed using naval jelly, wire brush, water, and scouring pads (Brillo pads). It's still got some rust on it but it's a lot cleaner.

A clean(ish) reed

 In addition to that, we replaced the missing pegs on the back beam with 3/8" dowels cut into appropriate length. Lee had a tool which would put a slightly tapered end on the peg, and used soap and muscle to get them into place. The back beam is now ready for use. We still need some rubber bands for the shuttle wings, and I'm going to order new picker straps and boot heels - two sets as the original leather from both the assembled loom and disassembled loom is shot.

Original picker strap

Original picker strap tie up

Original picker strap tie up R side

As we've been "exploring" the loom, we found out that the picker straps did not go through the picker strap slots in the loom. There's probably a reason for this, but we don't know what it is.

We hope to tackle the cone loader and some of the shuttles and bobbins, and maybe load a cone or two just to try out the cone loader. It seems like a pretty interesting piece of gear. One of them is assembled and one is not. Fortunately, we've got lots of tube and shuttles to play with, as well as two big bags of fabric strips, many of them already sewn together.

Cone loader - one of two

I'm also going to be photographing and documenting the paperwork we got with the loom, and what we know about it in our next post.

I've been asked if this is a difficult process. As a result, I'm going to provide a little more detail here of what we actually did.

When we got the loom settled into its temporary home and the warp cut off, we took a good look at it to see if everything worked - played with the flying shuttle, the beater, the harnesses, etc. The functionality check was good, and then we looked at what needed to be replaced. The canvas apron was in really bad shape and not useable due to rodent damage, so our friend removed it and made a new one with grommets, then put it on the front beam.

We used Murphy's Oil Soap in warm water and some rags, and washed the loom and dried it to get rid of the dust and grease. We had access to an air compressor and vacuum and used them to blow out the lint and vacuum up the fuzz balls. Dental picks helped us get into the reed (which needs a good coat of naval jelly to get rid of the rust) and other parts that had lint and grease and pick it out.

Once the loom was clean, we used a mix of 50/50 mineral spirits and linseed oil and wiped down every wooden piece with a rag to help restore the wood and remove any remaining grease. The mineral spirits helped clean the metal pieces as well. We'll need to regrease the harness holder (probably the wrong term but it's the metal brackets that the harnesses are in on the loom) so they raise and lower easily. The harnesses were easy to remove and reinstall and the heddles are in surprisingly good shape for as old as it is. We wiped the harnesses down as well. In the process, we're looking for damage and anything that needs to be replaced. The assembled loom is in surprisingly good shape.

One of our biggest constraints is space. The loom's temporary home is just that, temporary. The disassembled loom is taking up space in our friends' workshop and to get to it and determine if it's complete and what parts/pieces might need repair, we're going to have to work around the assembled loom. We already know we need new picker straps and boot heels (leather bumper pads for the flying shuttle), so our next step with the disassembled loom is going to be removing the wooden pieces from their boxes, determining if all the parts are there, cleaning the beam assemblies and the reed, the harnesses, etc. We'll use the same process of Murphy's Oil Soap and then a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and mineral spirits to clean and help restore the wood, and naval jelly to remove rust. The vacuum and blower will be very useful in removing dust and lint.

We can't assemble the disassembled loom until the assembled one goes to a new home, so that may be a few weeks.

These are some amazing pieces of handweaving history, and we're happy to have them and be able to restore them to some of their former glory.

Supplies

We now have dowels (3/8" and 5/16" - I picked both sizes to make sure we had the right ones for the pegs on the back beam), naval jelly, gloves, and brushes. The naval jelly is to remove rust from the reed and any other parts that may need it.

I need to price some things and probably make an order to the supplier.