Reed cleaning

As previously mentioned I had to change reeds on the Macomber to be able to sley at the correct epi for this project.  The reed in question is a 48" 8 dent reed that my father had purchased when he first built the counterbalance loom that I inherited and began weaving on.  The hot humid year here in Southern Tennessee had not been kind to it, and in fact it had not been used for close to ten years and while stored wrapped up in plastic there was a lot of surface rust on the metal surfaces.

So I took to it first by wiping on vinegar with cotton buds and let that sit for 10 minutes.  I then used a small wire brush and scrubbed across the whole surface and through the dents.  This took off any rough areas and most of the surface rust.  Once dry I brushed it again and finally mounted it in the loom and took thick cotton string (6 at a time) and 'polished' each dent to remove any remaining rust residue.  The end result is pretty good and hopefully there shouldn't be anything left to come off on this warp.  I'll now have to find something to coat the reed surfaces in during storage - that won't impact future weaving.  Alternatively sealed in plastic with moisture removing sachets maybe.

Cleaned reed on the Macomber

Last night I threaded the heddles and tonight I will sley the reed and tie on.  Should be weaving on the weekend.

288 ends threaded

Sitting inside the front of the Macomber certainly makes it an easy job to dress the loom back to front.  Last couple of projects I dressed front to back.