At the Homestead

Nothing I love more than a good challenge, especially where looms are concerned. I love returning a loom to operational status, taking it from unused to working again. Recently, I've been challenged to help get the barn frame loom  at the Daniel Boone Homestead functioning again.  I know very little about these great old ladies we call "barn looms" but in my recent research to glean more information, I am starting to learn some valuable pieces of information. For one, these looms are more appropriately called "barn frame looms" because of their construction, not because of the wood coming from a barn (as I had been told) or because they were used in a barn (as I have heard people say...brrr. Can't imagine weaving in a barn!).  

Daniel Boone Homestead's barn frame loom has been sitting unused for almost five years, at their best guess.  It was in decent condition, but dirty.  There was a warp on it, but it was old, filthy and stretched out, so we began our day cutting off the old warp...

...which made the ol' girl just a little bit unhappy. I reassured her she'd be feeling much better once she was clean and re-dressed.  From there we vacuumed up the big chunks of dirt and grime, followed by swiffer floor clothes and swiffer dusters to get into all the nooks and crannies.

2nd layer of dust removed.

Lastly? We filled a bucket with water and oil soap that is designed specifically for cleaning wood. We used barely damp sponges, carefully avoiding any metal parts, to remove any remaining grime.  We all stopped sneezing by this point, stepped back to admire her glory, then congratulated ourselves for a job well-done. The final result was a loom that looked so much better, and so much prettier. 

Removing the last little bits of dust and dirt

That was only the beginning of our day.  We still had to re-dress this beauty, so we used a warp that had been hanging off the loom for display.  Diane, a fellow spinner who had enlisted my help for this project, had taken the older warp home and cleaned it for this purpose. We were a bit challenged with a mystery warp,  but not for long.  After taking a few minutes to count the number of ends in the warp, we had a better idea of what we had to do next. 

we tied up the lease sticks, raddle was removed by this point

In hindsight, if I had known what we were facing when we set out yesterday morning, I would have brought some boards to clamp to the frame, attaching the raddle down to the board.  We took one look at the back of the loom, scratched our heads and said, "Huh, there's only a warp beam, no back beam. Hmmm..." We got creative with some carpet warp and figure out a away to suspend both the lease sticks and the raddle.  It worked, even if it was a bit awkward at times.  After we had the warp beamed, we set out to thread the string heddles.

And of course, after threading heddles, we brought the warp through the reed.

Through the reed.

   Sadly, I was foolish and didn't take any pictures after the warp was tied on.  I became too wrapped up in problem solving, and forgot to pick up two children from after-school activities.  Oops.  Clearly photography was even lower on my list of priorities.
 
   Whenever I am dealing with a loom that hasn't been used in awhile, I find I need to put on a test warp to check all its moving parts. I can do a visual examination and get a good idea of what to fix, or what to adjust, but it's not the same as sitting down and trying to weave. When things don't go smoothly in the weaving process, I know something is off and then I set to problem solving.  I figured this same method would work well for the barn frame loom.  For me, a loom is a loom is a loom, and the mechanics, more or less, are the same.  Sure, each loom has their own 'personality' and sometimes a weaver has to accommodate for that, especially where older looms are concerned.  However, part of my problem solving process is to determine what is a 'quirk' of that particular loom and what can be helped with some minor adjustments.

Through dressing the loom and weaving a little bit, I've already discovered some things that are possibly not quite right. I will most likely need to do some minor adjustments from re-arranging the string heddles, to testing to see if the batten (hanging beater) is put on incorrectly.  It seems odd that I would have to push the batten back a full 6" while stepping on the treadle to make a shed so I can throw the shuttle. And while this is not my first antique counter-balance loom, this is my first barn frame loom, and I'm going to need to do some more research.  Earlier in our day, we had already discovered one part that had been put on incorrectly: the brace that held the built-in bench was attached vertically on one side, but correctly on the opposite side of the frame.  The bench board is completely missing, so we hope to restore this in the near future.   This discovery alone makes me suspicious about the placement of the batten. I have a feeling I'll be doing more research on barn frame looms here in the near future. 

Oh! And by the way, if you see my family passing out fliers with my face on it and the words, "Missing, Reward Offered," you'll know where to find me.  I'm at the Daniel Boone Homestead getting to know a new "old" friend.

I'm in Love...

I've never had too much enthusiasm for owning a counter-balance loom, with no real reason as to why. Most likely, because it wasn't the first type of loom I ever wove on. Since I prefer the familiar, the comfortable, the unchanged, I haven't really given this type of loom more thought. But say "Free Loom" to me, and suddenly I have developed a desire to own one. I believe I've developed a tendre for the smaller Lane loom over the last week or so. Which means, I'll probably become rather attached to the larger, once I start putting its pieces back together.

As usual, it took Floyd and I a few attempts to get the smaller Lane loom through two doorways and into the Loom Room."How about this?" I asked, wondering whether or not we turned the frame sideways would help.

"Still need some clearance," Floyd said. We set the loom down, and studied door number one.
"I bet we need to take the door off. We always need to take the door off, " I suggested.
"Yeah," Floyd said, staring at the door. "I was just hoping, just this once."
"We're always hoping, 'just this once' but we always take the door off," I replied.

Floyd chuckled ruefully, "Ok, back her up." We walked the frame back out of the narrow hallway and out onto the wide landing at the top of the first set of stairs. Setting it in front of the bathroom door, we walked back down the hall to take the door off its hinges. After which, we walked the loom back down the hall again, only to discover we had to further disassemble the loom frame. We were also hoping to avoid that as well.

"Ok, back her up," Floyd said, yet again. Walking back wards, we set Li'l Lane back down, again, on the landing. Floyd grabbed his tools and took off the two front upright supports of the frame. That was the moment we noticed someone had stamped part numbers onto the loom."Saaa-weet!" I exclaimed. "It's even easier to put back together than usual, because the parts are numbered. Look!"
"That's a good thing," Floyd said.

Third time's the charm, so they say, and it certainly was true for us. We got Li'l Lane situated in her spot and began putting her frame back together.

Then began the re-arranging of the Loom Room. I now had seven looms into a small space. "How can we make this work?" I wondered, determined TO make it work. After several configurations and "No, that's not right. No, I don't really like that arrangement either," I apologized to Floyd. "I'm sorry. We've re-arranged this several times. I know we'll find the right combo. Maybe if we move this here..."
"It's ok, I'm married to your mother. It's no worse than re-arranging the living room a thousand times." He said.

Finally, we got it set up so that the flow of room traffic was as unimpeded. as possible. It is crowded, but I've yet to work in a weaving studio where it wasn't. Most times, someone's back beam, nearly became my back rest. Two of the looms are a little smushed together in this picture, because I've been moving them around as I work on them.

Later that week, we took off Li'l Lane's aprons, and I disassembled the shafts. I greased up the heddle bars, and replaced her heddles. Using Murphy's Oil Soap, I lovingly washed away the basement grime from her previous home on all her wooden parts. Once dry, I polished the wood with Old English. I don't know why I like Old English, but it works like a charm on old looms.

Floyd and I did our usual stalking of the mega-monster-hardware-store for parts and pieces that would work to refurbish the loom: new rods for the apron, four bolts and washers and wing-nuts for the beater. We were struggling to find the right diameter of rope to replace on the pulley-system, and we weren't happy with the choices of foam rubber we found to put on the frame to keep the beater from bashing up the old wood. However, we did score in the slat-wall accessory department, and found some parts and pieces that will work really well for organizing all of the reeds and equipment. After all, I'd just taken up all the floor space with looms. Now I need to take up the wall space with the auxiliary weaving equipment.

Using some old-fashioned ingenuity, Floyd thought of flip-flops for the beater bumpers (say that ten times fast) and we decided I'd hit a dollar store later to pick up a pair. Cut up the flip flops into rectangles, and tack onto the frame, and voila! The perfect bumpers, at an affordable price. A few days later, I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics for new cloth to sew into aprons. for the cloth and warp beams. The only thing I have yet to obtain is waxed cord. I prefer it for the aprons over any other string. I found several jewelry beading online supply stores, but as I'm not a jeweler, I couldn't tell one diameter from the next. I guess I'll be leaning on Rebekah's expertise for that.

In the meantime, I've been working on the two Macombers we picked up from Bowling Green University in Ohio. I washed them down, and have been waiting to polish their wood, as I have had some repair to do first. Their aprons and shafts are off, heddle bars greased. My daughter has been sorting flat heddles to be put back on. I sanded down the back beam of the one loom, where the varnish was all but gone, and so far, put two coats of satin finish on to protect the wood. I would like to put at least two more coats on. It will never look 'new' but the rest of the loom still shows signs of use and I didn't want to completely refinish the beam and make it stand out. Maybe I'm a little crazy, but I prefer the markings on a well-loved, well-used loom.

L'il Lane, along with the two Macombers are still in pieces, waiting for their make-overs to be complete. Big Lane is in even more pieces waiting for her make-over to begin. And while I love working on a Macomber, something about this Li'l Lane speaks to me. I don't know if it's the aged wood, the size of her, or that by still existing, she speaks of a time and era that came before mine. All I know, is I'm attached to an inanimate object. And I can only hope she'll be a joy to use when all is said and done.

~Melanie