mixedupguy

Hi All,
This is my first post and hopefully there are some folks out there who are familiar with antiques and what I am about to share. I inherited my Grandmother's (maybe Great-Grandmother) quilting frame. I have tried twice to figure out how it goes together and today I spent some more time on it and I believe I finally have a rough idea. I will try to attach some photos.
I suppose it was used for quilting bees or whatever at one time. It stands 96 3/4" Long X 34" Wide X
31 1/2" High. It looks like there should be four gears, but there only two and only two pawls that would lock the gears in place and those are located at opposite ends from each other. There are also only 2 pencil-shaped pegs (about 5" long) that are inserted into holes to lock the long spindles in place so the quilt doesn't turn while the ladies are working on it. The legs are mortised into the top frame and secured with wood dowels. The only metal on this are the 2 screws securing the pawls.
The kicker is that there appears to be two extra sets of legs and I have no idea where they go. Do they belong to the main frame somewhere? They can't stand alone because there's nothing to support them, but they have holes to place the pencil-shaped pegs. These are 35 1/2" Long X 3" Wide X 32" High. The legs are also mortised.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted give describe it as thoroughly as possible. Any information is greatly appreciated.

SteveH

now THAT is super cool!!! I know NOTHING about them, but I will be following this to learn more as the experts chime in.

mixedupguy

Thanks, Steve. I just hope there are some experts.

needles3thread

I have some old quilt frames with the cog wheels. It looks very much like the one you picture. There is only one set of legs on the ends. All three layers of quilt (top, bat and lining) are basted together and attached to the cloth along each pole then rolled up so most of it is on one pole. My mother used old ladies cloth belts to keep the sides taunt for hand quilting. I think the extra sets of legs must be in case they needed them for another set of poles. Sometimes there were holes drilled at intervals around the ends of the poles that fit into holes in the leg sets to prevent the poles from turning. The quilting frame takes quite a bit of room in the living space until the quilt is
finished. Hope this description helps a little.

Sandra in Minnesota

Needles3 is correct. Perhaps the extra legs and short poles are for a baby quilt or something smaller than the large one.

ThayerRags

Usually, both “gears” are on the same side pole, and the other side pole has holes drilled through it to pin it. The “gears” give minute adjustments on one side to get the tension just right. I've not ever seen one with a "gear" on one end of each pole.

The other set of legs probably goes to another frame.

CD in Oklahoma

mixedupguy

I agree, but that's how the pawls are located and I don't see screw holes in the end pieces where other pawls should have been.
By the way, y'all are giving great input. I'm still a little confused about the extra legs. They do not have any poles.

Rodney

Very cool! I think that's the first antique one I've seen. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Looks like it would be fun to build one.
Welcome aboard!
Now we just have to get you interested in machines old enough to match it....
Rodney

SteveH

is is possible that the extra leg sits in the middle to mitigate the droop from the weight of the material?

mixedupguy

I thought about that too, but again, what keeps them from falling over? Besides if the tension is taut enough from rolling it up, there shouldn't be a sag, should there? Thanks for the suggestion.