Don’t recognize these as loom parts? Don’t blame you. Most hand looms don’t have them. The metal thing in the middle is the old bracket that attaches the piston to the ‘knife’ that opens the sheds on my AVL. The brass thing to the left is the cintered bushing that takes most of the wear and tear of the movement. The metal thingee to the right is how the middle bit is supposed to look.
The loom hasn’t been behaving properly for a few days and I’ve been limping along until Doug could take a look and trouble shoot the problem. As part of his examination he discovered the wear on the bracket and replaced it with a new bushing and bracket. But we were pretty sure that wasn’t the problem at the root of the trouble – just evidence that yes, indeed, I do actually weave. A lot.
Considering how many millions of picks the loom has seen since the addition of the air assist in 1998, we were actually a little surprised the bracket had lasted as well as it has done.
Further investigation led to the discovery of what we believe is the problem as the part actually catastrophically failed during the testing. Doug is now trying to find a new part and, since the parts are so ‘old’, is having some difficulty coming up with a replacement.
No matter. I still have the small loom and 7 more warps to weave on it.
Currently reading Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong