As I was setting up tie-ups for the treadles on my latest weaving project, I noticed that the shafts were not lifting evenly ... With 2 shafts per treadle, you want the shafts to raise even with each other, so that the eyes of the heddles are even with each other. I don't remember this being an issue for my last project on this loom. ???
After I thought about it for a while, I realized I could adjust the chains on the lower shafts. So I moved the attachment point up 1 link in the chain. That turned out to be a perfect solution! Now the shafts are lifting evenly, as they should!
I also replaced the bumpers underneath the shafts. On the BIG 8-shaft loom, those orange rubber (?) bumpers had melted at some point before it came to me and caused some issues with the shafts sticking and not resting evenly.
The bare steel bracket on which the foam is mounted.
The old foam -- this had aged better than the foam on the "big" loom.
It was a much easier job on the 4-shaft loom. Much easier to scrape off the old foam (I used a paint scraper).
The new foam.
And easy enough to apply the new foam. Voi la! The new foam is basically 1-inch weather stripping with an adhesive backing. This is what Bruce at Kessenich Looms recommended for re-habbing these old 1960s-built looms.
This was the first thing I tried to get the shafts to raise evenly. Although it needed to be done, it did not have any impact on that problem.
I was afraid I was going to have to mess with the inner workings of the ropes that govern the movement of the shafts. You can see a bit one of the ropes in the photo above with the black foam. I'm glad I did not have to mess with that! There is not a lot of documentaiton about that, and I did not relish the thought of making this loom inoperable due to my non-expertise. So glad it did not come to that! Most of weaving is not rocket science, or magic. I have been amazed at how problems can be managed and solved usually without a mechanic or a programmer or a mystic!
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