Getting Started

I bought a Newcomb Loom Company Weaver's Delight loom on August 1st, 2010, from the estate of a weaver who died in 2006. Her daughter was also a weaver at one time, so she is really familiar with looms. She and her husband were able to show us how the parts of this thing go together - which is not simple to figure out! Here it is assembled. In the background you can see 2 spool racks and the cylinder filling machine & cylinders that came with it:

It's a 4-shaft "Automatic" loom. There are no treadles. The shafts are operated by a cam system, and the forward motion of the beater causes the shafts to move into position for the next pick. Pushing the beater back toward the shafts then causes the fly shuttle to be thrown across the shuttle race. So, automatic yes, but automation circa 1890's, when this loom was first patented. Very steampunk!

This loom is number 4703. These were all numbered and they manufactured something around 8000 of them.

Leslie Johnson of Riverside Loomworks, who now sell parts for Newcomb looms (which went out of business in the 80's), tells me this loom shipped from the Newcomb factory on November 26, 1928. It's in remarkable shape for a loom this old. The paint details and even decals are mostly intact:

Here is a view from the side, showing the warp & cloth braking systems (hard to see, I'll go into more detail in a future post):

Here is a back view, showing the approximately one-yard sectional beam:

This blog is a place for me to keep photos, links, helpful advice I've received, and things I've figured out, all in one place.

I hope it's useful to others as well.

Laura