Saturday, January 9, 2010

Loom Love

This week I had the pleasure of assembling a Beka cherry 36" eight harness loom.
The loom had been in storage and was delivered to a neighbors light filled spacious basement for her niece.
It was love at first sight and as it took less than two hours from start to finish, I think the feeling is mutual.
Aside from the wood being dusty and dry, all the parts were there and only the friction break needed some jerry-rigging. The rachet teeth on the front beam are small enough to finely adjust tension
The loom is well proportioned, lovely to look at and has the simple tieup system of Macomber wires and the smooth operating jacks of Schacht looms and enough weight if you want to weave rugs.
The customer service folks at Beka informed me this loom was sold to Muggins Barn in Franklin, NC January 31, 1984. Leave a comment if you know anything about Muggins
There is also an element of studio envy.
I'm longing for a community studio space where I can enjoy my own beautiful and finely crafted fiber tools and share my love of fiberarts.(shout out to Leslie Owens, Nice Threads, for loaning me her beautiful eight harness loom-she is a fine roommate{the loom }).