Posted by Angela on Friday, 12 December 2003, at 2:48 p.m.:
In Reply to: Instruction book on a Herald loom. posted by Jill Tucker on Saturday, 6 December 2003, at 1:19 p.m.:
Jill, I don't have a Herald loom or manual, but by all means check out the link below to see whether Janet Meany has received a copy. She sells copies of old loom manuals. I don't know how much they cost, but the cost is likely nominal.
http://www.weaversfriend.com/goghmanuals.html
There are two or three (or thousands ;-0 ) of other sources. You've probably already tried other weaving discussion groups. http://www.allfiberarts.com/ is another fiber/weaving site where a query might get a manual specific to you.
Your local public library probably has books on handweaving. If they don't, and you don't want to wait for interlibrary loan, you can check eBay.com or half.com (amongst many sites). Often general books on handweaving will illustrate some basic types of looms. While the names and some features are different there are just a few basic types and you may be able to identify which your loom uses. A good contemporary weaving instruction book is Deborah Chandler's "Learning to Weave." Chandler also produced a video "Beginning 4-Harness Weaving". HANDS ON WEAVING by Barbara Liebler is less comprehensive than the Chandler book, but covers the basics very nicely, and does (in my opinion) a very nice job of illustrating the essence of loom structure with line drawings.
One more great source for older weaving books, pamphlets and articles is a site at the University of Arizona. http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs.html.
More possible sources of information:
1) input "Herald loom" into your internet search engine, which should bring up a couple tidbits about the loom.
2) check the Handweavers Guild of America site for a handweaving guild near you (a guild is a group of weavers who gather together to learn and share their weaving experiences, often with a monthly meeting schedule). A guild member may be able to offer you pointers. Membership may benefit you too, with access to experienced weavers, and often access to a weaving/fiber specific library.
3) a yarn/weaving loom retailer may offer a class or individual instruction.
What you can do by yourself, right away:
If you are mechanically minded (a weaver is said to be part engineer/mechanic, and part artist)
Are the treadles (like pedals) attached to other parts of the loom by cording or chain, or by a tie-up spring? If the treadles are already connected to the shafts/harnesses (usually through an intermediary device called a "lamm"), pressing down on a treadle may show you what kind of loom you have. Many US looms are rising shed, which means that when you press down on the treadle, one (or two) of the shafts (the shaft is a frame that has string or metal heddles [heddle is a device which has a large eye in the middle of it to carry the warp yarn/thread up or down while you weave]) will rise if you have a rising shed/jack type loom. If one set rises while another set lowers, you may have a counterbalanced loom.
If there is no cord/chain connection now between the treadles/(pedals) and the rest of the loom (bear in mind that many looms have treadles that are hinged at the front of the loom, and that the "tie-up" eye bolt or a hole for attaching the cord/chain is on the far end of the treadle, directly under the part of the loom that carries the shafts/heddles) you can "tie-up" the treadles to the shafts/lamms. This might be easier if you had a book to compare your loom against, but a bit of cord and some under-loom poking about may help you answer some of your own questions. Just clean the loom up first, being respectful of its wood finish and metal parts (a damp dusting followed by a soft dry cloth would probably do). The cleaning does two things, making all parts more pleasant to work with, and, making sure that when you are looking at the loom, no detail is obscured by lint accummulation.
I'm looking at a 1986 photo/ad for Herald Looms. Their address at that time was 118 Lee Street, Lodi, OH 44254. The photo shows a 4 harness rising shed loom with six treadles, a low castle (the housing for the shafts/harnesses), and it stands at 38 1/2" high. The ad says that the loom "is "Smooth and quiet. All adjustments can be made while you are seated at your loom. The spring-steel tie-wires are easily changed, and the breast beam is removable for threading. The octagonal cloth beam is situated in the main frame, out of your way, allowing more leg room....Fine toothed gears give full control over cloth tension with a self-locking braking action for maximum efficiency. The loom has removable harnesses and all-steel harness lifters with integral lamms." If the firm is no longer in existance, I imagine that a weaving guild in that area might have a higher than average concentration of Herald loom owners and perhaps owners manuals, if the loom came with one.
Happy weaving!
Angela