Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Leicester Dryad Countermarche Loom Repaired

A while ago, my friend Erin gave me her first loom when she decided to purchase a new one. Since she didn't have room for two, her Leicester Dryad countermarche loom moved to my studio.

My friend Marcia comes to my open studio every Tuesday, and I told her I would give her the loom if she wanted to help me get it working again. We spent last week working on putting Texsolv onto the loom, since I had stripped off all the cording.

Marcia purchased metal rod for the front and back aprons, so one of the first things we did was to replace the thin dowel in the apron hems.

We got all the Texsolv cording measured and installed. In order to get everything functioning and tied up correctly, we needed a warp on the loom. We made a quick one yard test warp. 

Countermarche and counterbalance looms need to be tied up from the top down after a warp is wound on the loom and threaded.

We tied a basic four shaft, six treadle tie-up and Marcia played around with the treadling. Her sample is quite colorful.
Our biggest job was ahead of us. There are two hinges on the loom. This one pictured is ok, but the one on the other side was not secure because a big chunk of the wood cracked at the screw holes and one of the screws was missing.

We had to unscrew the top three screws on both hinges so we could access the underside of the board to make the repairs.
The break goes through all three screw holes, with the piece completely broken off at the left hand hole.

We raided Bob's workshop for drill bits, wood glue, drywall screws and various other tools plus toothpicks from the kitchen.

This is the underside of the side board showing the broken piece. I pre-drilled three holes between the three hinge screw holes and countersunk the holes. The drywall screws worked well to draw the glued broken piece up tight.
Marcia finished attaching the piece.
As badly broken as it was, the repair looks pretty good.

We added toothpicks and glue, broken off in the screw holes, to give a better grip for the hinge screws. They went in without any problems.
Another problem we needed to take care of was to drill two more holes in the treadles. The tie-up cords were not able to connect directly under the lamms. They were pulling toward the front of the loom, making the shafts hit the beater and the lamms bump each other. I'm not sure why the loom was made that way, but the two additional holes made everything line up correctly.

We used pointed dowels through the correct holes in the Texsolv cord. One is visible under the treadle. We may need to do some slight adjustments once Marcia winds her next warp. We couldn't test our changes since we needed to remove the remainder of the warp to do the repairs.
The tie-up looks pretty good. This is taken from the side, showing the upper and lower lamms and the treadles.
This is the connecting point for the upper and lower lamms.
The last thing we fixed was the missing beater stop peg. Bob had some dowel the correct size in the workshop, so it was a quick fix, with Marcia doing a little sanding until it fit in the hole firmly.

All in all, I think we make a good team working on repairs.

Next week's project will be having Marcia wind a warp for her first handwoven dishtowels.

11 comments:

  1. So appreciate your knowledge of the workings of countermarche looms, your guidance, and friendship!! We met on your blog and I appreciate your blog as it helped me so much during the refurbishing of my first loom the Weavers Delight rag loom. Much appreciation Jenny on our recent endeavor!

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  2. Hello, fantastic work on this loom, it is so helpful to read about! I also have a Dryad Countermarch loom which I am trying to work out, I wonder if you know, do they always have 2 sets of lamms? I only have one set of 4 with multiple holes, but other pieces with just holes at either end, which could be cross sticks or something else. thanks in advance!

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  3. Hi I have recently acquired one of these looms and am struggling to set it up! I wonder if you could let me know what sized heddles you used please! I suspect mine has the wrong ones on it! Thank You!

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  4. Hi I have just got one of these looms and am wondering if it has the correct sized heddles on it. Please could you tell me what size you used? Thank you!

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  5. The correct size heddles are Texsolv size 12/180. I got mine from The Woolgatherers in Fon du Lac, WI. They were the least expensive when I was looking. Other suppliers also sell them, but I found that most did not know how to measure them.

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  6. The correct size heddles are Texsolv size 12/180. I got mine from The Woolgatherers in Fon du Lac, WI. They were the least expensive when I was looking. Other suppliers also sell them, but I found that most did not know how to measure them.

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  7. Hello
    I just bought one of these Dryad looms. Mine seems to be missing the piece which fits on top of the reed on the beater bar. Would it be possible for anyone to send me a picture of what it should look like, please?
    Thankypu.
    Dee

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  8. Thank goodness for your wonderful site! I have just purchased one of these and will be replacing the old lamm/ treddle tie ups with texsolv. Your pictures are very helpful thank you. Would it be possible for you to post the tie up scheme you have used? Re message from Dee... I will take pictures of the section you are missing as soon as I have completed my morning chores! Susan

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  9. Hello Dee I have taken several pictures but I'm unsure how to post them here!

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  10. This is really interesting. Can anyone tell me where I could find a drystad rug loom to buy please? Thank you.

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