I have been asked to form this group. Cheryl my wife of 33 years and I own, at this time, 4 Macomber looms. A 48 inch 4H (soon to be a 8H) this is Cheryl's workhorse, a 56 inch, 16H, a 56 inch 8H and a 48 inch 4H. The last two are being restored and will be sold. We also own a Newcomb studio loom and a copy of a Harrisville 22 inch 4h loom which I built in 1984. Since we are down sizing the Newcome loom will also be sold. Cheryl has been weaving on the Newcomb loom for 28 years but has since fallen in love with her Macomber looms. You can post your question here for everyone to see or you can IM me or sent me a email at whpenfield at hotmail.com

Welcome,

Michael

Comments

Gone

Hey Mike, hey folks!

I just got a B4D Mac. Beautiful, in great shape. Has 8, I may go to 10 someday. Just now getting everything in tip-top shape before hauling it upstairs. Can't believe the heddles are 12 inches??!!! WOW.  Looking forward to warping this thing up.

 

Michael White

looks great. The bar on the front of the loom is a supplementary warp beam and goes on the back beam when doing a supplemental warp. Most times it is not used. The heddles are in fact 12.5 inches. You can move it up stairs by closing it up and standing it up on it end and using a hand truck.

 

Have fun weaving on this great looking loom.

Michael

AZDee

Hello Michael, I'm new to the group.  My husband and I restored a 40" B-5 and now I desperately need new heddles to start using it.  Have gone through Sarah Haskell (so probably also Eddie at Macomber) and they are not currently available.  Do you have about 200 inserted eye heddles for sale.  You can contact me by personal e-mail.  Thanks, Dee

 

Michael White

Macomber buys their heddles for a other party and was selling them for $31 per hundred. I have my heddles made for me and sell them at a little over cost at $18 per hundred and if you purchase over 1,000 the price goes down to $16 per hundred. I have sold over 80,000 eye heddles for the big macs, 60,000 for the baby, 50,000 9.5 inch heddles and over 100,000 10.5 inch eye heddles for other looms.

Yes I have eye heddles.

loosingit54

I am now the proud owner of a B5 Macomber loom with a sectional beam. I had one weaving lesson from a wonderful local fiber guild member when my husband comes home the next day and tells me he saw a loom for sale in a thrift store. He said it looks well built and that I needed to look at it since he knew I would be looking for a loom sooner or later. A few days later I was the owner of the B5 Macomber loom. I called Macomber and was told that she was built in November of 1962. She was very dusty and dirty but to my amazement she was all in one piece, I only needed to replace the jack stops and header stops. I have now cleaned, polished, oiled and lubricated everything I was told to by Macomber. She is looking spiffy, now I just need to learn how to weave!

Michael White

Well you have the Outer Bank Guild to help you

Mex2

Good Morning Michael,

  I hope you might be of some assistance in my need to sell my mothers LW Macomber loom, who recently passed away. I have the loom listed on Craigslist and with the Southwest Art School where she used to spend alot of her hours weaving, but other than that I don't know where to list it. Other than the local weavers guild that you must be a member of I am not having much luck. Could I post pictures of the loom and information that I have on it to your group? Any feedback or additional info would surely be appreciated since I myself do not know much about weaving. 

Thank you for your time- MeMe

   

Mex2

Good Morning Michael,

  I hope you might be of some assistance in my need to sell my mothers LW Macomber loom, who recently passed away. I have the loom listed on Craigslist and with the Southwest Art School where she used to spend alot of her hours weaving, but other than that I don't know where to list it. Other than the local weavers guild that you must be a member of I am not having much luck. Could I post pictures of the loom and information that I have on it to your group? Any feedback or additional info would surely be appreciated since I myself do not know much about weaving. 

Thank you for your time- MeMe

   

Mex2

Good Morning Michael,

  I hope you might be of some assistance in my need to sell my mothers LW Macomber loom, who recently passed away. I have the loom listed on Craigslist and with the Southwest Art School where she used to spend alot of her hours weaving, but other than that I don't know where to list it. Other than the local weavers guild that you must be a member of I am not having much luck. Could I post pictures of the loom and information that I have on it to your group? Any feedback or additional info would surely be appreciated since I myself do not know much about weaving. 

Thank you for your time- MeMe

   

Mex2

Good Morning Michael,

  I hope you might be of some assistance in my need to sell my mothers LW Macomber loom, who recently passed away. I have the loom listed on Craigslist and with the Southwest Art School where she used to spend alot of her hours weaving, but other than that I don't know where to list it. Other than the local weavers guild that you must be a member of I am not having much luck. Could I post pictures of the loom and information that I have on it to your group? Any feedback or additional info would surely be appreciated since I myself do not know much about weaving. 

Thank you for your time- MeMe

   

Mex2

Good Morning Michael,

  I hope you might be of some assistance in my need to sell my mothers LW Macomber loom, who recently passed away. I have the loom listed on Craigslist and with the Southwest Art School where she used to spend alot of her hours weaving, but other than that I don't know where to list it. Other than the local weavers guild that you must be a member of I am not having much luck. Could I post pictures of the loom and information that I have on it to your group? Any feedback or additional info would surely be appreciated since I myself do not know much about weaving. 

Thank you for your time- MeMe

   

Snowbunny

I am new and am perusing to see where I belong.  Wish I could help with Halloweave, but I will not get my loom until October 28.  I met a wonderful Lady from Minnesota whose mother passed recently and she is giving me her mother’s Macomber 48”, 16 shaft, 18 treadle Loom.  I will be meeting her in Michigan to pick it up.  Any advice about transporting this loom would be helpful.  I’m sure I will be needing lots of help from this group.  I told her that I feel blessed to receive such a beautiful gift and can’t wait to put my hands where her mother‘s loving hands touched.  I‘m not usually sappy, but this really means a lot to me and to her!

Michael White

You sound like you are going to love her mother's loom. This is an easy loom to transport if you have a pickup truck. You need to build a dolly. Cut a 3/4 inch piece of plywood to 32 x 54 inches. add 4, 4 inchs wheels. Purchase some tie down straps and using two strap the loom to the dolly. This loom will fold up. This loom will weight around 425 pounds (I can put this loom on my pickup by myself, but I have been doing this for 20 years) so you will need a ramp end kit. Using the kit and (2) 2" x 8" x 10 foot pieces of lumber you can make a ramp. Or you could rent a 10 foot truck you will need a door height of 60 inches. Drive to MI and then rent the truck and tow your car home. If you need anymore info PM me or cal 706 453 7603.

Michael
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Highland-2-in-x-8-in-2-in-x-10-in-Ramp-Top-Kit-Pair-700100/205480159

 

sumajar

Hi Mac Lovers, I have a 40" ad-a-harness and am seeking a Baby Mac to add to my "workshop."  Anyone out there have one that needs a new home?  (Or other brand of small 8-shaft floor loom?)  Also, how hard is it to add harnesses to the ad-a-harness?

Michael White

It is not hard. But purchasing them from Macomber is not cheap. If you could find a used one, say from one of the reason storms, you could strip it for parts. I have gotten a couple of looms were the wood was not repairable and removed all the metal parts and sold them.

peggychurch (not verified)

The loom in question is at the museum- not in front of me.  To replace heddles I think I will have to lift the shaft frames out of the top of their channels.  Can you tell me what tools I might need to gain access to the heddle bars?  Are there any tricks to make this easy?

sandra.eberhar…

You just pull the heddle frame out of the castle (there is no connection to the lamm attachment other than gravity).  The heddle bars are much like any steel heddle frame.  There is a spring loaded clip and thin steel heddle bars that bend out of the frame.

ricatlga

Kind of obvious, but to remove the shaft you will have to remove the wire stops at the top of the castle.  If those are missing, then you really will want to make replacements (coat hanger wire suffices).  Those act as a stop to the shaft when depressing a treadle, but also when you want to thread the heddles you lift up the shafts and insert the wire in the lower hole drilled on the castle, just under the top edge of each shaft.  Baby Mac - Shaft stop

On my Baby Mac the lamm snaps into the bottom of the shaft.  It is not a big deal removing the shaft.  But when you go to replace it, you have to line up the lamm and insert into the bottom of the shaft. Baby Macomber - lamms

Luntzel-Hom

I just got a 10 shaft Mac, and was wondering if I could see a picture? The sectional isn’t hooked to the break, is this normal? It also will not rotate both ways also, can I switch this break band to a ratchet system?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Michael White

You say the beam is not conected to the brake release? When a friction brake is "locked" it is normal for it to turn in only one direction. I would think you could change out just the gear on the beam. This is a question you will have to ask Macomber.

Luntzel-Hom

Hello, Thanks for hosting this group. I am learning from reading the posts.

I just got a B5 40” and am needing two (2) crank handles, as the previous owner couldn’t find them? Do you or anyone else have two(2) to sell? If so, how much?

Luntzel-Hom

Thanks for you response.

I was looking at it again and the Sectional Beam is missing the spring and a S hook, that attaches it to the brake. DUH!! On me, I must have been tired.

 

Michael White

I got your PM and I am replying here. First off why do you need two handles? You only need one to turn the back beam. You can get the spring and S hook at a hardware store. I can give you the size later. You can purchase the handle from Macomber also the spring.

morgan clifford

Can anyone tell me if Macomber automatically supplies inserted-eye heddles on their new looms?

Jan Caiarelli

 

Hello!!  A blustery day here in Latrobe Pa, home of the first banana split Thank you for this forum to share experience, ask questions, learn, and communicate with other Macomber weavers. I have never posted on a site like this before so I’m not sure if this is the proper “page” to send this message. Included is a photo which illustrates my question. I am an self taught spinner and weaver and have woven primarily on a Navajo loom to date. My knowledge of weaving and terminology applicable to the floor loom is abysmal at best but I’m plugging along (as part of the fun is learning, is it not?). After exhaustive research on all things floor loom I decided the Macomber was the right loom for me and I recently purchased a used Macomber B5C 3349 (wonder what year it was made). Thanks to all the informative pictures and articles I was able to rebuild the brake system and get the loom cleaned and ready to weave. Finally, I’ll get to my question..... I tend to digress!  I chose to make simple placemats as my first project and have quite a long warp to weave the necessary number of mats. As I advance the woven pieces on the uptake(?) beam (not sure of terminology here) I notice that the pieces are appearing “warped” at the edge as they are winding around the beam (see photo on the right selvage edge). Will this be a problem in the finished product? Will the mats remain skewed when removed or will they straighten out when they are taken from the loom and have an opportunity to “relax”?  Should I cut the finished pieces off and retire the warp to the uptake beam to make the remaining mats or just continue on? I don’t want to regret not addressing this issue now when it’s fixable so I await your advise. Thank you in advance for your help. I am, most emphatically, in love with weaving on this loom and am already addicted! Anxiously awaiting your response, Jan      P.S. if there is a better page to post questions to this forum please direct me there as I know there will be many, many more!

 

Sent from XFINITY Connect Mobile App

 

sandra.eberhar…

You can use a temple to even out your selvedges. You can use sticks between layers of the cloth rolling onto the cloth beam to even out the takeup of cloth by the beam (the same way you use sticks between layers to warp.).  I suggest you get a beginning weaving book, like The Key to Weaving or The big Book of Weaving to show you what the different parts of the loom are called.  The Glimakra website also has a lot of information on looms.  Did you intend to make a weft faced textile?

cafa

Hi, I'm Helen, and I'm hunting a Baby Mac. If you have one and are willing to ship (I'm in Trinidad), I'm happy to buy. Seeing as I'm in Trinidad, with very few weavers, and huge import duties and assorted taxes, I'd like a loom in great condition. Thanks.

Terryech

I am trying to assemble my loom after having it stored for seven years. I do not remember how to attach the beater bar so I have uploaded some photos that may help. There is a black iron piece that looks like it is the support but I think there must be a bolt missing. The slots in the base of the beater bar frame are about 1/4 inch wide so that's what makes me think there should be a rod or bolt that would allow the frame to slide down over it.

Does anyone have a loom with a beater bar that looks anything like this?

Thanks,

Terry

 

lisast3

Hello,

Excited to find this group! I am Fairly new to weaving and I am finally using my mothers 1962 40" 4 harness ( up to 16 harness) B-5 Maycomber loom.  I would like to add 4 more harnesses  and called them to see about ordering some.  They each cost over $300. from my research there are whole looms like mine for sale for less than that.

Does anyone know of used harnesses for sale or perhaps a broken loom that has harnesses I could salvage, or a low cost loom I could buy to use for parts? I am in Wisconsin and could drive a bit to pick something up... 

sandra.eberhar…

If you think about it, your loom was made more than 50 yeats ago and is still in use.  So your chances of finding one in poor condition to part out are poor.  It is true that you can buy an entire loom cheaply, you are not likely to find a Mac for sale that cheaply.  Not many people find themselves with "extra" shafts.  So until you decide to pay what Macomber asks, or get really, reallly lucky, you might explore what you can do with 4 shafts, which is considerable.  Besides the shafts themselves, you need the lamms and treadles.  If the $300 includes the lamm, treadle and hooks, it doesn't seem that much to me.

Carmen Finn

Hi, I have a Macomber large loom, I guess I should have started that I am new at weaving. I read about tools that determines which shafts are raised for each pick and automatically moves along to the next combination as the weaving progresses. Does anyone have any recommendations? What I found it  references different type of looms. Much appreciated, Carmen

Carmen Finn

I found the TempoTreadle for Macomber, it comes in 10 and 14 treadles sensor array. I wonder if anyone bought this system, which makes more sense to buy between 10 and 14 for a large Macomber.

IthacaNancy

My loom has been in storage for about twenty years as life had gone in different directions for that long.  I'd only woven a set of linen overshot placemats on it before it went into storage. This year for Christimas my husband brought it out of storage.  I cleaned it and set it up in a central room of our house where it's readily available.  I had many supplies I'd gathered over the years, and a few partial cones and tubes of thread I found at a reuse store and others donated by a generous weaver.  

I started with wool/silk warp and wove two throw rugs and a runner made with alpaca weft.  I am happy with it, but one side was longer than the other - maybe the floor is that uneven (quite possible in our old home - I'll get a level and check on that and shim if necessary).  Or maybe one side of the warp was looser; though I didn't notice it.  I was able to pack that side a little more firmly with a tapestry fork and tighten the warp once it was off the loom and I had noticed the problem.  It's good enough now, a bit noticable on the runner though so I probably wouldn't gift it or offer it for sale.  The throw rugs are okay.  The warp was quite long, so I made a couple of weft faced cotton throw rugs and a pillow cover as well.  No problem with them being uneven in length, but they were shorter projects and maybe that's why it doesn't show up in them.  

Then I put on a mostly cotton warp (with a few rayon stripes in the warp) and made a rug with demin strips.  I suspect the denim strips were too wide, and the warp threads too thin; it was difficult to beat the material sufficiently to pack the weft tightly.  While it's pretty enough now after washing, I suspect the rug will fall apart over time.  I'll use a softer weft for the rest of that warp and I'm optomistic that I'll have a better product.

I wonder if part of the problem could be that the friction break is slipping when I beat in the weft.  I am jumping up from the front of the loom to the back in order to retighten the warp every few shots.  It's good exercise, but a bit frustrating!  I could call Macomber or I could ask my (currently unavailable due to his work) husband to look at it, but I thought I'd check here first, mostly for the sociablity aspect.  I don't know if it would be difficult to explain or if there is a link to this issue anywhere else (I haven't found one), but I wondered if there is an easy suggestion for my problem. 

I haven't been able to see most of the photos in the feeds, though some come up.  Also when I click on the photos to try to enlarge them to see detail, it tells me that I don't have the authority to access them.  I hope that won't be a problem in solving this problem.

Thanks in advance for any replies! - Nancy

lizfinegan

Has anyone had trouble with the cable slipping on the back beam? 

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