Several years ago, Lou Ann and I rescued a loom. It is a wonderful Sears Hearthside 6 harness loom, with a couple of key pieces missing. The first piece that I knew was missing was the handle for the back beam. Without this handle the back beam will not stay in place! So this loom has been in limbo for quite awhile.
I had seen one picture of what the loom handle looks like but was unable to capture the image to be able to have one made. Last year Lou Ann and I were talking about this problem, and she mentioned that she has a cousin that might be able to help us, if we knew how to explain what we wanted.
2 weeks ago, or so, I was helping get the Structo table looms ready for the Appalachian Arts Crafts Centers annual kids camp. I took a good look at the handle on that loom and said, (well almost) "Eureka!" I took the handle home to see how it compared to what I would need, and of course I found that it was too small, but as a prototype it was superb!
Lou Ann called her cousin and we set the date for this last Friday.
We hopped in the car around 8:45 and made our way on the back roads towards Chattanooga. ( We made note of all the interesting junk stores along the way, just in case we have time) We pulled up to Steve's place mid morning, and after introductions and a look see at what we had to work with, he got right to work!
He pulled out this and he pulled out that, and all the time I was wondering how he was going to take those things and make a handle!? He motioned us towards a couple of chairs in the shade, and set to work.
I had brought the looms back beam for him to work with, and the first thing he did was make sure that the threads on the threaded rod were clean and burr free. (Which they were not!)
While Steve was working Lou Ann and and discussed possible projects for the loom, (there is going to be some new projects coming up to blog about!) and weaving in general. We would check on Steve every once in awhile, and he would come out to Lou Ann's car to see if what he was working on was going in the right direction. Then he would go back in and do some more heating and bending of metal and/or soldering.
It turns out that if you have the right tools and a pontoon boatload of skill, you can almost turn a sows ear into a silk purse!!
A touch of black paint and I will be in business!
When the looms back beam and handle were united, it was time to get some lunch and of course Steve knew just where to go, and you can find it too at the "Home Folks Restaurant". If you are looking for good home cooking, look no further. Served up buffet style, with a generous and plentiful menu to boot. Don't miss it if you are ever in that area.
We bid Steve a fond fairwell with many thanks and "we will come up with a project for you again soon"s, we headed on our way back home.
It was determined that we had just enough time to make one stop at the purple building full of Antiques/junk, in Spring city, so we did. I didn't find much at first, but then I happened upon these ladies magazines from 1900, 1901. It is so much fun to look through these snapshots in time!
(sorry for the crazy upside down and sideways fotos!)
This silhouette from that time period is painful! Lou Ann had already headed back towards the car, and I was getting ready to check out when I happened upon a set of Weave it looms, right out there in plain sight! I don't know how we missed them! I had seen these in magazines but never in person! Of course they had to go home with me!
There is some rust on the pins that I will have to take care of, but all in all they are in great shape.
What a day we had! I got back home just in time to make a salad and go to a birthday party, and once we were back home I knew that I did not have the strength to get out a good blog post. I knew you might check back in on it today, since this is not the first time I have been tardy in getting a Friday post out.
That is it for today, I'll see you back here next week, Tina
I had seen one picture of what the loom handle looks like but was unable to capture the image to be able to have one made. Last year Lou Ann and I were talking about this problem, and she mentioned that she has a cousin that might be able to help us, if we knew how to explain what we wanted.
2 weeks ago, or so, I was helping get the Structo table looms ready for the Appalachian Arts Crafts Centers annual kids camp. I took a good look at the handle on that loom and said, (well almost) "Eureka!" I took the handle home to see how it compared to what I would need, and of course I found that it was too small, but as a prototype it was superb!
We hopped in the car around 8:45 and made our way on the back roads towards Chattanooga. ( We made note of all the interesting junk stores along the way, just in case we have time) We pulled up to Steve's place mid morning, and after introductions and a look see at what we had to work with, he got right to work!
I had brought the looms back beam for him to work with, and the first thing he did was make sure that the threads on the threaded rod were clean and burr free. (Which they were not!)
While Steve was working Lou Ann and and discussed possible projects for the loom, (there is going to be some new projects coming up to blog about!) and weaving in general. We would check on Steve every once in awhile, and he would come out to Lou Ann's car to see if what he was working on was going in the right direction. Then he would go back in and do some more heating and bending of metal and/or soldering.
A touch of black paint and I will be in business!
We bid Steve a fond fairwell with many thanks and "we will come up with a project for you again soon"s, we headed on our way back home.
(sorry for the crazy upside down and sideways fotos!)
That is it for today, I'll see you back here next week, Tina
1 comment:
I knew that Steve was talented in ironwork, but I am still amazed at that handle!!! The "purple" shop is on my list to visit again!
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