Interesting Loom

[Webwalker]

Saw an interesting loom at antique store -- a "Weavers Friend". It had 2 
harnesses and instead of foot pedals to control the harnesses, it had a 
crankshaft-like arrangement. (Sorry I don't know the proper words, but 
essentially a crankshaft is a bar that is distorted so that as it turns, 
the distortions rotate.  In this case there were two "distortions" on 
each end of the rod - 180 degrees apart so that when one was up, the 
other was down.  (you can see a picture of a crankshaft in operation at
http://www.faliconcranks.com/
[no financial interest whatever, just found the picture on Google])
One harness was attached (at each end) to the high distortions, and the 
other to the low distortions-so that as the cranshaft rotated, the 
harnesses moved up and down.

 The beater bar had a hinged metal piece that clicked across the cogs 
of a gear as it was pushed back, then caught the gear as it was pulled 
forward (and pulled the gear too).  The gear controlled/rotated the 
crankshaft, so that after three beats, you had a new shed (the high side 
of the crankshaft had now assumed the lower position and vice versa).

Does anyone have any info on this loom.  How old it might be, it this is 
a oner or if this was a common way of building a loom.  If I recall 
correctly, this was manufactured by Reed Company in Springfield Ohio.

I am on digest, so a personal copy of any reply would be appreciated.

Susan Webster

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