Saturday, May 26, 2012

Weaver's Delight Loom Restoration

Since I was last on here, I purchased an old Weaver's Delight loom, made by the Newcomb Loom Co.  I had to wait over a month to get enough time off work to make the trip to Minnesota to pick it up.  This is a view from the side and back, taken by the seller.

This is a view from the front.  It is in pretty good shape, so hopefully the restoration will not take a long time.  I spent today laying the parts out in the garage, getting some before photos, and going the the hardware for navel jelly, and a wire brush for removing rust, kerosene for cleaning gunk off the cast iron parts, and something to clean the wood.

I thought I would start by trying the navel jelly on the rusty heddles.  It worked pretty well on most of them, although there were a few that were pretty rusty.  I may be throwing some of them out.  I coated the bunch with the jelly, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and let them sit while I washed windows and screens inside and outside the studio.  When I came back to the parts, I rinsed the jelly off, and then used my wire brush to remove a little more rust.  Once they were as clean as I could get them, I put them on cookie trays in the oven (on low) for a while to dry them.

This is about half of the heddles.  The rest of them are still on the shafts.  I also tried the navel jelly on the most rusted cam, and the nuts, bolts, and washers that held on the top part of the beater bar.  They cleaned up beautifully. 

The cam will get a coat of Rustoleum to help prevent rust in the future, and everything else will get a light coat of machine oil, also to help prevent rust.

There will be more pictures to come, as I continue with the restoration.

10 comments:

  1. If I may make a recommendation? Throw the old heddles away and buy new. Preferably inserted eye heddles that won't pinch your yarns.
    You'll never regret it...

    oh, keep some to measure against! :)

    Will be watching the renovation proceed...
    Susan

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    1. Where can you purchase the headle

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  2. HEY-THERE-JENNY ! ! ! ! !GLAD you are home safe & sound,W/ PRIDE & JOY IN-HAND, &'HARD-@-IT'-ALREADY ! ! ! ! ! !

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  3. I tried many things on my heddles. First vinegar, then CLR, then Naval Jelly. All of which barely put a dent in the rust on 'em. I guess they were rusty suckers! But I did scrub with a wire brush as you suggested. I applied a coat of oil too. Maybe I should have used rust-o-leum clear coat. I bought a can of it but never used it.
    Eventually I will need to clean my cams but I am dreading that.... kerosene... yick! The naval jelly was effective but I had to leave it on for over an hour and the fumes were awful, even with PPE on. BTW thanks for the info and pix on your blog! :)

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  4. Where can I locate replacement parts for a Newcomb Weavers Delight Four Harness Fly Shuttle loom. We purchased the loom several months ago. In order to get the loom into the house several items were removed to clear the door. When putting the items back on a part broke. Broken is the bracket the holds the brake assembly for the warp beam tension control. The item bolts onto the back brace directly under the brake spool. It has an item number of “N 8” or “8 N” on it. I have photos of the broken part to help identify it.

    Is this item available for purchase? Is there a location that may have it that I can contact?

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    1. Hey there - I don't know if the owner of this blog is still responding to comments or not, but I just wanted to mention that there is a wife and husband team that apparently sells replacement parts for these looms. Riverside Loomworks. http://wdelight.blogspot.com/2010/08/resources-for-owners-of-weavers.html

      I just got my WD loom up and running myself. It's truly a badass loom. Good luck with your project.

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  5. I too have a weavers delight but it is missing a part for the fly shuttle and the original shuttle-stuffer for use with rags. I weaves fine without the fly shuttle

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  6. We have a Weavers Delight and am in need of parts. Is there anyone out there that is supplying parts? We'd appreciate any help.
    Rick & Rachel

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  7. We just bought one of these looms. I don’t know anything about it, but trying to learn. I know there is stuff missing. The pile that holds the string for sure not there. Please let me know if there are any videos to watch on this loom. Thx

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