New old loom for weaving tartan

[NHhighlander]

I'll tell the stories later, but for now, here.

Day one.

The basic concept is a single-width loom, prioritizing in order:

1. productivity and quality (this one mostly evenness). Mandatory, then, flying shuttle and automated positive take-up (this is a thingamabob that pulls in the fabric exactly the distance of one pick as each new thread is added, assuring exact squares)
2. reasonable imitation of a 1780s AD loom as might have existed in Nova Scotia in the log cabin of a former crofter. No metal or plastic. Flying shuttle fits just barely within that era, the auto take-up is clearly an anachronism, but I need it (or feel that I need it...). I'm having so much fun with this half-valid excuse to do tenon-and-mortise! Just feels right.
3. sustainability, as in rescued materials. Originally I wanted to build it with ancient barn wood, but I got antsy and just grabbed some lumber I had around for a household project. Cheating here, I guess, but next one will be with pallet wood, yay!

Design started from James D. Scarlett's "How To Weave Fine Cloth," the one book that got me through much confusion that had me stuck a long time, besides being a most entertaining read. I purchased a copy on the advice of our most learned and generous historian, @figheadair. While I am old fashioned and needed the paper copy, Scarlett's is in the Internet Archive for loan, https://archive.org/details/isbn_0835929868

[NHhighlander]

On the second day, the "static" portion is completed (or so I hope!). What is missing is all the parts that move, of which there are quite a few.



I am happy that it is quite firm, but with a healthy amount of "give." The way a wood ship should be, one of the advantages of treenail construction, metal does not have that give. This is of course a "remains to be seen." A loom gets quite a beating, as can be seen in a youtube I saw in Xmarks from @figheadair that I cannot find any more, sorry... In wood ships, the treenails expand because wet making all the build tighter. Also, working with pine wood is new to me (in "my" Highlands, eucalyptus is common, and gets incredibly hard as it ages, while pine is a luxury. Being softer, it feels more likely to lose its initial tightness). Oh well, there's always glue to fall back on...

(notice that the treenail is horizontal. Bad idea, in this stance it will be snagging clothes and pocking ribs. Will fix that tomorrow, as I'll take Sunday off)

[jsrnephdoc]

On the second day, the "static" portion is completed (or so I hope!). What is missing is all the parts that move, of which there are quite a few.



I am happy that it is quite firm, but with a healthy amount of "give." The way a wood ship should be, one of the advantages of treenail construction, metal does not have that give. This is of course a "remains to be seen."

A few months back, I mused here regarding whether one way of previewing what a long-unwoven tartan would look like "in the cloth" rather than as a .jpeg file would be to have it woven on a hand loom by a hobbyist. No less a source than figheaadair responded that was just a bridge too far, but I NEVER imagined getting a response that could be paraphrased "I'll get right to it, as soon as I finish building the loom."

[NHhighlander]

A few months back, I mused here regarding whether one way of previewing what a long-unwoven tartan would look like "in the cloth" rather than as a .jpeg file would be to have it woven on a hand loom by a hobbyist. No less a source than figheaadair responded that was just a bridge too far, but I NEVER imagined getting a response that could be paraphrased "I'll get right to it, as soon as I finish building the loom."

Actually... Looking among the old posts on "weaving," someone who appears to be or have been a MAJOR collector of swatches, Patty something if I recall, was asking about weaving a sample in a frame loom. He even got Dr. Tewksbury confused, as it seemed kind of a very out-of-the-box notion. However, it made me ponder.

Bottom line, I agree with you both.
One and yes indeed, an actual sample beats any electronic, print or anything. Myself, I have a bit of a perceptive/cognitive handicap regarding recognizing colors, for my project I couldn't make my mind about what precise yarn to order even looking at yarn samples, until I got the actual bobbins side by side, yet it won't be until the actual sett is made with that yarn (two repeats better, to start playing the pleats strategy), that we'll get a reasonably well informed "bon a tirer," printer's expression for "go ahead!"
Two, brilliant idea to use a frame loom, which is the simplest ever loom. Add a solid heddle to cut labor 80%, you're in business in pretty much no time. Hey, the idea is so good I might go ahead with it... Ok, sure, it will not be twill but plain weave, but that's plenty plenty good to get that essentially priceless visual.

Rain stopped, can go back to my loom... Today, the heddles apparatus with the pedals (I'm sure it has a name, will try to find that for the end-of-day report), hopefully also the flying shuttle.

[Steve Ashton]

If there is one suggestion I could make it would be to search out your local spinners and weavers guild.
In my local area the weavers have been so generous with their time and knowledge that I cannot imagine taking a project like yours to full fruition.
You are going to need to be able to produce Twill weave fabric of between 10 and 16 oz per linear yard. Not hard, but not the same as the fabric for shirts, pants and/or other clothing.
Weaving a Tartan is not hard once you have a loom and have practice weaving some cloth. But the actual operation of a loom is just one small component of the entire process. It's not the loom itself that makes the cloth, it is the hands and muscle memory of the process along with all the other factors. Sourcing the warp and weft yarns is going to be one of the first hurdles. Are you going to spin the yarn yourself? Dye it yourself? Or find and purchase yarn from a commercial source? Do you want modern yarns of modern composition spun on commercial machines or do you have a source for home spun of the composition, weight, and tensile strength to warp your loom?
If you are new to weaving your local guild can be a major factor in your success.

Just one of the many looms in my house. This one is a manual countermarch style constructed of maple. This one is capable of 8 shafts although only four are needed for the current project. The only metal are some nuts and bolts and rods in the take-up. I did not construct this loom but have made many replacement and upgrade components. Heddles are Texsolv as I chose not to hand-tie a couple thousand heddles. This loom is 48 inches wide and can produce fabric 36 inches wide single or 72 inch wide double woven.
Yes a flying shuttle would be nice but adds over 6 feet to the width of the loom, hence to the size of room required.



Depending on how much, and how wide and long, a piece of fabric you wish to weave, you may not need or want a loom this large or complex. If you only want to produce samples perhaps a tabletop loom would suit you.



This 8 shaft Jack Loom is perfect for samples or prototyping, and will weave Twill fabric, but not of the width needed for a kilt. And the weaving takes longer due to its manual shaft operation.