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Solving the  Loom Brake Issue

4/6/2019

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Last week I came  the conclusion that the way the brake system was configured, for the two beams would not work in the way it was set up when I took ownership. Being an engineer, I can usually "see how things work" or NOT and figure it out but this had me stumped. 
I had the diagram from Macomber on how to set up 2 beams with one being a drum and the other being a ratchet but the setup on my loom was different. In the Macomber diagram the drum brake was on the regular beam and the ratchet was on the sectional beam; mine was reversed. ​I eventually, by jury rigging two shorter pieces of chain together, had the ratchet brake and regular beam working - see the last three pictures in the first gallery below. 
I sent the pictures of what I had off to Eddie and Linda, at Macomber, to see what advice they could give me.

After trading a few emails, the conclusion was YES, what I had was not what was a good configuration. There were several suggestions:
  • Get another drum brake and put it on the plain beam and then BOTH beams would roll when the pedal was depressed
  •  Get another ratchet and pawl and pedal and put that on the sectional beam (take the drum off) and each pedal/beam combo would work. 
OR, which was my idea.. Just get each beam working independently with the one pedal and just switch out the chains. I gave the shop elf the task of getting me ONE longer piece of chain.  This morning, with a clear head and knowing that getting both beams to work with one setup, I tackled the problem - AND I WON; I have solved the problem(s).
  • Using the longer, new chain, I hooked it up to the pedal and the spring on the pawl of the ratchet. When the pedal is depressed, the chain is pulled down and the pawl is opened and the beam can roll in either direction for winding on or off when the warp is advanced. 
  • For the sectional beam, I hooked the springs attached to the base beam to the metal bar attached to the frame that the beam is attached to, this provides downward pressure. Then I attached the cable, which is wound around the drum and provides the pressure/fixture that keeps the beam from rotating, from the beam  frame to the metal support bar. Then the support bar was attached via another small chain (there are extra links hanging in the picture; it has been trimmed) and 2 eye bolts to the upper metal lever (not in the picture but it would be at the top).  The metal lever, not in the picture, is then attached to the pedal via another chain - this is on the other side of the cross beam and castle.  So now when the pedal is depressed, it pulls the chain down and it lifts the metal lever which pulls against those springs and that loosens the pressure the cable has on the drum and voila! the sectional beam will rotate
IN this picture, both set ups are shown so I know how to set it all up but currently the sectional beam is disconnected.
Picture
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Helping A Friend

4/5/2019

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Picture
Two weeks ago, a metals friend called me; she was distraught need help. She called me because she did not know what to do but I might be able to. 

Here is the background... 
Months ago she had her website redesigned but it wasn't until this month that she realized that her sales had not only fallen off, a lot!; but her position in various search engine results had gone from the first page to page 7 or higher. After a few hours of research it was apparent that the website redesign killed the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because the pages had been renamed and redirects had not been setup; the website description and keywords had not been configured correctly and more geeky stuff. 

To put it nicely, her web programmer (I will not call them a developer, see below for more) gave a lame answer about not knowing how to fix it. 

Note: a programmer, in my book, is someone who will do what you ask without thinking off the consequences and as a result bugs and other issues can result. A developer will do what you ask and more; they will make suggestions about possible improvements, will raise a flag if an issue is found and will also care about your final product and business. 

So there were two choices - either I fix it or find someone who could.  I was asked to fix it. 

It took a week of working for an hours or two in the evening and a full Saturday but the changes and a few improvements were made and they were published.

Then we waited.... 

..Slowly over the course of the next two weeks, her website rose in the rankings and now, depending on the search terms, her website is back in the results and traffic to the site in 15 days was double that is was for the entire prior month. 

Being a good developer and consultant (in a prior life) I have now sent a follow up document on my thoughts about how the website should be moved to a more advanced platform (it is currently just HTML and JavaScript) and what enhancements could be implemented with the platform change.  I did this on my own time 'cause that's what friends and good consultants do and we don't expect to be hired because of it. 

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    About Laurie

    Laurie lives in central Texas with Erich, a.k.a. "the shop elf", her hubby of 35+ years and Cowboy Boots, the cat; her metals studio including 100+ hammers and 300+ chasing tools; her sewing studio which has a sewing machine, a closet filled with fabric, hundreds of skeins of embroidery floss and perle cotton, silk and other materials, and Mrs. King the dress dummy; two weaving looms, assorted knitting needles, tubs of yarn; lots of books; plus a plethora of geeky tech gadgets, computers, and more.

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