I posted some time ago about my plans for a folding jack loom. It takes me a while to get around to things, but I've finally made the frame, from pieces of old dobby shafts which supplied me with a large amount of wooden bars of uniform dimensions (though some are a little warped).
I want to make something a little nicer than this next once I've worked out all the kinks. In the meantime, I threw this together with nails to hold it all together so that I can make sure the heights are correct and that it's comfortable to work on before I go spending money on hardwoods. Also, my bench vice is broken and I haven't got the bits to fix it yet, so there's not much I can do in the way of chiselling and so on.
Anyhoo, it seems to open and close nicely. I still need to cut a track for the tightening bolt that holds the arms so it can be opened and closed without the need to remove the 8mm nut altogether. I've built the castle in such a way that I can drop different shedding systems into it at will. The castle is also a little large, but I can always cut it down, which wouldn't be an option if I'd made it too short.
I also need to install the beams, front and back and the batten. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the batten frame without the benefit of a router, but I'll figure something out, even if it isn't the most elegant. If I get the vice working again I guess I could simply cut out the grooves for the reed with a morticing chisel, so that's an option. I'm also considering whether to use an underslung beater, as is usual, or emulate the overslung spring-back beater I've seen on the Ashford table looms. It's very elegant, though it may interfere with the closing of the loom. I'll probably go with underslung.
Something I'm very concerned about also is making the loom comfortable to dress and to use. I thread up my looms by hanging the cross vertically behind the shafts just above the height of the heddle eyes and I prefer to have the heddle-eyes at eye height so I don't have to crick my neck or bend my back to see the cross. I am accustomed to working with metal heddles on steel rails so it's easy to hold the warp at tension with one hand and slide and thread the heddles with the end of the hook held in the other. Also, I like to be up close to the heddles, I don't like having a breast beam in front of my chest or a warp beam at my knees interfering with my access to the shafts. Ideally, i think, when closed the shafts should be resting in the raised position and make threading up in this position as natural as possible. My worry is that either the breast beam, warp beam or the shedding mechanism below the shafts will interfere with said access. Hopefully there won't be too much of a problem with that and any issues I find can be alleviated by inexpensive modifications to the design of the loom.
Another worry is that maybe the height of the warp line is a little low and there's not enough leg space for someone of average height like me. This might be alleviated by extending the x-frame length and maybe lowering the pivot point, but it's an unknown to me at what point lowering the pivot point on the X-frame will interfere with the thing's stability.
One other thing is the positioning of the cloth beam so I don't batter my knee on it every time I move from one pedal to another. I have seen on the schacht I believe, that they place the cloth beam on the bottom end of the castle frame, which I expect would keep it well out of the way of one's shins
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So the next job is the warp beams (a mop handle, cut in two with added ratchets) and the shedding system. Placement of the beams could prove to be a headache to do in such a way that I don't compromise the narrowness of the loom when folded. The purpose of this loom is to be put in the cupboard when it's not being used and then brung into the living room so I can weave in the front room and avoid heating two rooms, so anything that makes it's folded form wider is to be avoided if at all possible.
As usual, I am documenting on my blog.