Looms

‘Pete’: A homemade, 36″ – 4 shaft jack loom.

I was initially restoring this loom for the Townsend Artisan Guild but their planned display space fell through so I bought the loom and finished the restoration for myself.  It was likely built in the 1960s, based on the age of the reed that came with it.  While a fairly unique jack loom design it is well made from black walnut with smaller amounts of other wood.It is very solid front to back, making it perfect for high warp tension.  The original cog and ratchet on the back beam was missing some parts so I modified it slightly to have a friction brake.  This loom does not fold up in any real sense so once assembled it remains in that room!

‘BigMac’: A Macomber ‘ad-a-harness’ 56″ – 8 shaft jack loom (serial B4-E3287, 1979)

The Macomber was acquired while living in Washington DC.  Originally listed for free – I was too late at that stage, but it turns out a member of the Potomac Fiber Artists Guild had managed to get it first. They then advertised it again to guild members and this time I was in luck.  It didn’t have a reed and had been stored for some time (the hollow back beam was packed full of sunflower seed husks – no doubt left there by mice).  Much of the metalwork was rusty, so I stripped it down completely and cleaned and treated wood and metal appropriately while I waited for the new stainless steel reed to arrive. While it does fold in a little it’s mostly a static thing and requires quite a bit of room.

‘Bernie’: A homemade 48″ – 2 shaft upright loom.

This loom came from a friend of a friend who found that he was unlikely to ever weave on it.  He received the loom from a retiring weaver and it was stored, mostly assembled, in his home near Martinborough, NZ.  I bought it off him and test assembled it before putting it back into storage.  It came out briefly while I was back in NZ then packed and moved to the US. Initially I believed this loom was a Dryad upright loom, but after seeing many photo’s of Dryads I began to see differences.  The beater is on a hinged frame, the foot pedals hinge from the front, and the warp and cloth beam winders have 5 spokes (4 on the Dryad).  Unfortunately there are no manufacturers markings or labels so it could be home made, but if so it was made by a very skilled woodworker as many of the features are superbly made and beyond ‘basic’.  It works extremely well for rugs and tapestries and perhaps one day I will find a similar loom with some history intact.

‘Dot’: A Nilus Leclerc Dorothy 16″ – 4 shaft table loom (serial DT-40cm-4L-81-04)

The Nilus Leclerc Dorothy came to me via a fellow member of the ‘Third Thursday Spinners’, a sub group of the guild I belonged to in Washington DC. I’ve found it to be ideal for sampling and for the odd scarf project.  This loom is nearly 40 years old, but as they are still being produced spare parts are available.  It folds up a little (with the warp on) so is transportable to a degree.  Like all table looms weaving is slower but the ability to take out, weave, put away wins every time.

‘George’: A homemade 48″ – 4 shaft counter-balance loom.

My father built this loom in the 80’s and wove on it for the next couple of decades. He produced many sets of placemats as gifts and for sale, some quite spectacular cloth for jackets and coats, and then many many rugs.  The one draped on the loom was on it when we disassembled it to move to storage after he passed.  (The rug was eventually finished on a different loom in Wellington after I had gained a whole lot more experience).  I managed to weave on it in several NZ locations but unfortunately never re-assembled it after the move to the US and sadly it was lost in our shed fire in late 2017.

Spinning wheels

Ashford Traditional

Rappard Little Peggy (serial 838/74)