Weaver's Delight Problems with the Mechanism Solved

The last couple days, while Bob was at work, I worked on the little thread rack that came with the loom.  As I showed in the last post, the wires were quite rusty.  After taking the staples out that were holding the wires, I pulled them out and coated them with naval jelly.  While that was working on the rust, I cleaned the wood and gave the stand a pretty coat of red paint.

The naval jelly got quite a bit of rust off, but not enough, so I threw the wires into a container and covered them with vinegar.  After they sat soaking overnight, the rest of the rust, except a few small, very stubborn spots, brushed right off.  They got a light coat of oil before sliding them back through the holes.  Hopefully that should keep rust from forming.  I still need to get some wire staples to fasten the wires permanently.

I've heard that the stand tips over readily, so I'm planning on making a couple sandbags to drape over the back legs to keep that from happening.

I was having difficulty getting the mechanical parts of the loom to move after putting it back together.  First, I tried oiling everything I thought could bind up, but that didn't help, even thought it needed to be done. I thought it might be how the two gears were assembled, so I had Bob take a look at it this morning.  An important piece of information, when reassembling the two gears, is to line up the two notches on the gears.  The mechanism will not work if they aren't in the position shown in the photo.

So, we got that part solved, but ran into another problem when we put the plain weave cams (#1 and #2) onto the loom.  When we added the 4 shafts, a couple of them seemed to list to one side, and the mechanism wouldn't work again.  Thinking it may have been the weight of them, we took out the first two shafts.  When we tried moving the beater, the mechanism worked again.  After adding the first two shafts again, we traced the problem to shaft two.

There are two brackets with channels to hold the four shafts.  Look at the photos, and notice the worn spots in the casting where shaft 2 and 3 slide.  The second channel was bad enough that the #2 shaft was binding up in the groove, keeping the mechanism from moving.  I will need to get some brazing done to the channels at the top before using the loom.

Bob has helped me out a lot the last few days, helping to get everything working and trouble shooting when things didn't perform as expected.  Leslie, from Riverside Loomworks, in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, told me I would need cross supports for the sectional beam, so the individual boards wouldn't give when the warp is wound on.  Here is Bob, getting ready to rout the edges of the supports that he made.  It's great to have a handy husband!

This is what his cross pieces look like,

and how it looks when installed.  They are held in place by pressure.

They have to be installed in two pieces, and then bolted.  They divide the beam in thirds.

Without them, the center warp yarns could bow the boards slightly, creating warp tension problems while weaving.  Since there would be less yarn in the center, compared to the outer sections, because of having a shorter distance to go around the beam with each revolution, the outer warp threads would get looser.  These cross pieces should keep that from happening.

Here is an interesting tidbit of information about these two blocks of wood with the shaft going through both of them from the gear to the cams.  On the underside of them, there is a diamond shaped hole cut into each of them, and a round hole drilled through on top.  They are oil holes, making it easier to get oil to a very important spot.

If you have a Weaver's Delight, don't forget to feed it with oil between warps!

I'm still waiting on the brake band.  Without it, I can't weave or wind on warp unless I have help with someone keeping tension on the warp beam.  We are temporarily using rope in place of the picker straps that should be on their way.

Weaver's Delight Restoration - It's Looking Like a Loom!

I went to the hardware store after work today to pick up some bolts and wingnuts to attach the top of the beater.  When I got home, I found out I bought the wrong size.  I found something in the basement that will work till I get the correct hardware.

I was able to attach the other "flapper thingy" on the fly shuttle temporarily, until I get an oblong washer that needs replacing and the correct bolt that my dad is going to make for it.

The apron was another fairly simple job to tack on, once I installed the cloth beam. 

After adjusting the brackets that hold the shafts, all four of them slid in easily.

Here is the loom from the rear, showing the sectional beam that I put on tonight.  It sure is heavy!  It still needs some cross braces made, to keep the wooden bars from giving when the warp is wound on.  I will have to get measurements for that tomorrow, so Bob can get them made.

I still haven't attached the picker sticks, since I am still waiting for the new pickers and leather straps.  Hopefully, they will arrive soon.

In the meantime, I still have more to work on.  The thread rack spindles are very rusty, so I took them all off tonight.  I think I will try the navel jelly on them tomorrow, instead of vinegar.

It was getting dark out and the mosquitoes were getting annoying, so I will get the rest of the red frame cleaned up and painted tomorrow.  My favorite color!

I've started looking at some rug books for inspiration.  I will have to be deciding what my first project will be very soon.

Weaver's Delight Restoration - The End Is In Sight

A few days ago, the loom was empty of all the metal mechanism, and was just the frame.  I started assembling it a couple days ago, after all the cast parts were painted.

By this evening, this is how the loom looked.  It was like putting a 1000 piece puzzle together!  My advise to anyone with the idea to restore one of these looms, is to photograph all joints and try to get a clear picture of all hardware.  A sketch of the loom, showing carriage or machine bolt sizes would be helpful, also.  There are so many bolts, of all different lengths, that some of them were reinstalled by process of elimination, because I didn't make a diagram.

This loom has a whole new terminology, so I had to make another call to Leslie at Riverside Loomworks.
 Riverside Loomworks P.O. Box 522, Eaton Rapids, MI 48827 (517) 663-0357 
I was going over the parts list she had sent to me earlier, and was trying to decide if any parts were missing.  Some of the parts have names I've never heard of when talking about looms. She answered my numerous questions, and I was able to order the parts that are missing.  The loom needs a tension band with end brackets for the brake, and a pair of pickers, a boot heel type devise, used to throw the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other.

I should have more put together tomorrow.

Weaver's Delight Restoration - Sectional Warp Beam

None of my other looms have a sectional warp beam, so I'm glad I took a lot of photos before taking it apart.

This is straight out of the van after bringing it home from Minnesota.  It was dirty and rusty.  If anyone is going to restore one of these looms, get some orientation pictures so it can be put back together correctly.

This cast iron end is marked N6.  The wooden bar that the straps are stapled to are bolted to that section.

This end of the beam is marked N5.  The other end of the bar with the straps attaches to the N5 section.
 










Another thing to take a photo of is the orientation of the holes on the wooden bars.  They will all be facing the same direction.

Note the bar next to the one with the straps with buckles.  It has a heavy cord stapled to the hole side.  

It needs to be put back together in the right order for the cord to serve it's purpose, which is to hold the strap ends while winding each section. It keeps them from flopping around before each section is filled.  If your loom doesn't have the cord, it is an easy addition to make.

Before removing the straps for cleaning, I marked the center one, so I would know which direction to staple them back on.  They are stapled to the underside of the bar and wrap almost completely around the bar.  If they aren't wrapped around, the staples will tear the twill tape, and the buckle end will not end up where it is supposed to be.  The end of the buckle should be between the bar with the cord, and the one it's stapled to.

Finished N5 end.

Finished N6 end.

It feels good to have a section of the loom done.  Actually I have quite a bit of it done.  Pictures will come in another post.

Weaver's Delight Restoration - Pickled Nuts and Bolts

Last Saturday, I spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon cleaning a large amount of bolts and nuts.  They had been soaking in vinegar for several days.  It was a perfect summer day, close to 80 degrees, with a light breeze, so I set myself up under one of our big maple trees.  To keep myself from getting bored, I listened to a free public domain book using my Audiobooks app on my phone.  I'm listening to The Golden Dream by Robert Michael Ballantyne.  It's about a couple people from England, that travel to California during the gold rush.

I really wanted to avoid my hands smelling like pickles, so I tried some samples of surgical gloves I had sitting around, and then put heavy rubber gloves over them.  It worked!  No vinegar smell at all.

These are cleaned parts in water.  I'm adding some baking soda to neutralize the vinegar before drying them in the oven.

The parts still had to be wire brushed, but it wasn't hard, just time consuming.  A whole lot of rust just comes off in the water, even without brushing.

My opinion about using vinegar, instead of just a wire brush or navel jelly is that I wouldn't bother unless the rust is particularly bad, or in my case, where I had a lot of very small parts.  Since I was painting the parts, I had to brush them again after drying because a light coating of rust formed while they were in the oven.  If they weren't going to be painted, it would have been simple just to wipe everything down with oil.  For some of the larger cast iron parts, especially those that get greased, I'm cleaning them with kerosene, as suggested in the WD manual, and just wire brushing them.  They will get primed and painted.  I'll be aiming to get the rest of the parts cleaned and painted tomorrow.  It's getting so much closer to being done.

All these parts have been painted, and I'm starting to reassemble the loom frame and the sectional beam.  I will have more about that tomorrow.

Weaver's Delight Restoration - The Wood Is Almost Done

I took a couple photos of the remaining dirty wooden parts still left to sand and varnish.  The bunch above doesn't look like too many, but then add all the flyshuttle parts,

and now there are a whole lot.  I needed to sand off any of the old finish that still remained.  It was a perfect day to be outside all day.  I set up a couple saw horses in the shade, and sanded most of the day.

Our daughter Becky came over in the afternoon, so we had a pleasant visit, while we both got a lot accomplished.  While I worked on the loom, she wound three balls of fine linen, and then warped her inkle loom in preparation for some tablet weaving for a costume that needs trim.  I can't wait to see how it looks with the linen.

Eleven pieces after the first coat of varnish.  They will all get at least two coats, so as long as the weather holds, and it isn't too humid, I should have the rest of the varnishing done this weekend.

Eight of the smaller pieces with the first coat of varnish.

The loom is stripped down, and completely varnished.  There are a few pieces that still need another coat, but it looks so nice.

I never even got a chance to touch the hardware soaking in the vinegar.  It's going to have to wait for scrubbing till at least tomorrow evening, or maybe Saturday.

I'm tired!  Off to the shower to get this grubby person clean, and then to bed.  

Weaver's Delight Restoration- Will It Ever Be Done?

Here is a close-up of the shafts and wire heddles, before I started working on them.  The bars that hold the heddles were quite rusty, and so were the wire heddles.  Sue Harvey suggested that I pitch the heddles and purchase new inserted eye heddles.  After cleaning one batch of the wire ones, I decided her idea was a good one.  I had a box of steel heddles in the studio, so I got them out, and they were the correct size.  They aren't inserted eye style, but are still better than the rusty wire.

This is half of the heddles, with one bunch strung together with garbage bag ties to keep them in order.  I oiled the ends of each bunch, to help them slide on the bars easily, and to protect them from developing rust.

The heddle bars were sanded with 150 & 100 grit sandpaper, followed by black sandpaper, used wet.  It did a good job as long as I kept hosing the rust off.  They were oiled to keep rust from forming, and to help the heddles slide smoothly.

 When lining up loose heddles, it is important to have the eyes all aiming in the same direction.  Each side of the eye is curved slightly in opposite directions.  Three in this photo and nested together nicely, and the fourth one is the wrong way.  I just laid them on the table, and threaded them on the garbage bag ties as I sorted them.

When I had a group ready, I slid the heddle bars through the end holes before removing the garbage bag ties.

I couldn't find three of the screws for the harness brackets, so I used some that I brought home from work.  They were removed from someone in surgery, and sterilized, but the patient didn't want them.  They were a perfect fit, and they won't rust!

 While attaching the iron hardware to the bottom of the shafts, a couple of the screw holes were too large.  The remedy I use is to get some glue on a toothpick, poke it in the hole, and break it off.

Let the glue dry a bit before inserting the screw.  One or two pieces of toothpick are usually enough to make a smaller hole.

Shafts 1-4 are completed and ready to install.  I'm setting them aside, and moving on.

The next project is to clean the rest of the rusty nuts and bolts that my wonderful husband Bob helped remove tonight. I will clean, paint, and oil them, and sand and varnish the remaining wood parts, while everything is apart.

There are lots of parts soaking in vinegar, ready for cleaning in the morning.  I'll be smelling like a pickle tomorrow!

Weaver's Delight Restoration - Varnishing and Painting

Sore hands again tonight.  My right thumb just doesn't like some of the things I do!  One of them is hand sanding.  These are the shaft end brackets, with the light coating of rust removed, primed, and here with a pretty coat of aluminum gloss paint.

Styrofoam works well to hold screws and bolts for painting.  These are all the screws for attaching the end brackets on the shafts.  Twelve per shaft, so with that many, I will definitely be using my cordless screwdriver.  I have one shaft ready to go, under the styrofoam.  The wood for the other three still needs another coat of varnish, so I will do that tomorrow, if the three grandchildren that will be here give me enough time.

I also got another coat of the green paint on some of the cast iron pieces I showed in the previous post.

The second coat of varnish made a lot of difference in the smoothness of the wood.  I very lightly sanded with black sandpaper after the first coat dried.  After a second coat, I sanded (just barely, with worn out sandpaper) just enough to bump off any dust, and  make the wood smooth.

This is me, starting to attach the washed twill tape strips to one bar of the sectional warping beam with an electric staple gun.

The wood was very hard, so I had to finish driving the staples into it with a hammer.

There is a right and wrong direction to attach the tapes.  Before I removed them from the bar, I made sure to mark which side of it the end of the tape needed to be. Otherwise, the straps won't wrap around the beam correctly, and the buckles on the end of the straps will hit the wood.

After I got them all attached, I wound each one around the bar and tied them down with some thrums (scrap pieces of yarn from a previous weaving project) so they don't get in the way when I assemble the warp beam.

I will show the proper direction for the tapes in a future post, when I assemble the sectional beam.

Bed is calling!

Weaver's Delight - Vinegar Soak

Some of the end brackets for the shafts were really coated with rust.  I used naval jelly to remove it on two of them, and it worked well with a bit of scrubbing and sanding.  For the other six, I thought I would try the vinegar method. 

I needed something long enough to submerge them, and found that an old toilet tank cover was just the right size.  Vinegar is definitely the cheapest way to get rust off of metal, but the rust also comes back pretty quickly.

While researching using vinegar, some cautions were mentioned.  First, don't use it on aluminum.  I didn't realize that the brackets were a mix of metals, one of which was aluminum. The aluminum very quickly turned powdery white after the parts were dried, and the other metal quickly got a thin film of rust.

The second caution was to neutralize the vinegar with baking soda in water.  I used that for my final rinse before drying.

To thoroughly dry the parts, I put them in the oven for about an hour at 225 degrees.

I still had to brush them a little bit before painting.  The aluminum part of the brackets also needed sanding with fine black sandpaper to try and remove the white film.

The photo of a sanded and unsanded bracket show the rust developing again, and the white powder on the aluminum part.  I didn't notice the rust developing so quickly after using the naval jelly.

After drying, get the parts painted right away, or if they aren't going be painted, get some light machine oil on them to inhibit the rust.

Here are more cast iron parts that were wire brushed with a drill, and primed and painted.

We think this loom had someone start working on it, because some of the bolts that should have been identical are different lengths, many washers are either missing, or the wrong size, and three of the four identical brackets on the right side of the photo are cast aluminum, and one is cast iron.  I'm not sure which was originally on the loom.