Saturday, January 4, 2014

Dating Fanny


the holes are from the new bumpers Doug attached to the outside of the castle to keep the beater farther away from the shafts...



Fanny arrived in my studio after being 'rescued' from an arts centre.  She had been used - and abused - and at the time I didn't really think about her age too much.  Doug retro-fitted a brake cable instead of the ratchet brake system she came with and as soon as she was ready to go she went into active service and I never really looked back.

But I belong to a group on Ravelry called Leclerc Looms and there is a thread there about when various loom models were manufactured.  After seeing the various iterations of the decals used over the years, I knew that mine did not fit into any of those categories.  So I became curious.

From the amount of wear on her we knew that she was 'elderly'.  Also from the fitments - e.g. no shed regulator possible - the top roller just sits in slots in the top of the castle and the heddle bar keepers are just hooks, not the spring clips seen nowadays.

In a fit of procrastination I took a photo of the decal and emailed Francois, not expecting any sort of answer for a few days.  It is Saturday, after all!  And the end of the holiday season.  I knew there were people at work as I'd sent in a yarn order earlier in the week and gotten acknowledgement of that.

Imagine my surprise when, within an hour of sending my question, Francois replied!

My little 36" Fanny is venerable, indeed.  He couldn't give a precise date but says prior to 1960.

Apart from the modifications we did when we got her, it looks like everything except the treadle ties, also replaced recently, is original, including the aprons.

Weave on, old girl!  Weave on!

8 comments:

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

She's a beauty; I hope to see her with warps of every color as the years pass. Thanks for sharing the pictures. That's a great blue you have warped there; what are you making? I'm sorry if you said and I missed it.

Laura Fry said...

Just more towels. :)
Cheers
Laura

Sandra Rude said...

I'm sure there are lots of beautiful 'elderly' Leclerc looms out there, and I hope they all have as happy a home as yours and mine! Weave On!

Peg Cherre said...

I tried (unsuccessfully) to look up my notes on the age of my 8H Macomber. I know it left the factory on Veteran's Day, I just can't remember for sure if it was 1956 or 1952. I think the former.

Old looms are wonderful, aren't they?!

Tuesday Weavers said...

Francois is awesome! He helped me a lot with the Metier I weave on at the Appalachian Arts-Craft Center. I have two LeClerc's from 1978, Jenny and Jennifer, an Artisat and a Colonial. I love them!

Anonymous said...

I purchased my LeClerc Fanny from the Weaving Guild in San Diego; Lydia was "born" in 1961!

JenniferF36 said...

Good afternoon (I was unable to send you an email via your contact page),
This past weekend I found your video called The Efficient Weaver! Thank you so much. The video was extra exciting for me because I have a Fanny that looks like the same or near the same year as yours - the castle is the same at the top as is the label (F 36 603 49). I'm newer to weaving and still struggling to understand if my loom is set up correctly. This seems to be an issue with newbies as we don't know what is right vs. wrong.
I'm immediately curious if you can answer a few questions? The bumper pads that you have that keep the beater bar from hitting the castle, where did you get them or what did you use? I have this issue too. Did you upgrade the break using Leclerc's kit? I'd be curious to see a photo if you have one. I've tried to study your loom from your video.
I loved your video! I wish you had even a more newbie video, reading patterns, tie-ups, etc. I would love to take a class with you, though I'm now on the east coast.
Finally, I'm interested in buying your Intentional Weaving book. I'm confused about where to find it.
Thank you for all you are doing for the weaving community. I think I've only scratched the surface in reading your info.
Have a great day - Jennifer, jmiloy@triad.rr.com

Laura Fry said...

Not sure why the comment form didn't work. :(

The bumper pads were installed by my husband. He used blocks of plastic and then found bumpers at the hardware store. Anything will do - On one loom he used the 'gliders' for chair legs. :)

We bought the kit from Leclerc to upgrade the brake from the dog and pawl to friction fit band.

If you are looking for on line classes, let me recommend Jane Stafford's on-line guild. If you sign up you get access to all the previous classes.