The Hawthorne Works

Well, it’s been an exciting week. As promised, I went to buy wood last Thursday. I secured some nice, big heavy planks from Darwin the Wood Dawg, and had a great conversation with him and Doug over at Kilnworks.

Before picking up Chris Friday, I blasted out many of the parts I needed. After our weekend together, I hurried back into the shop in a flurry of energy.

The plank I wanted was behind several others, propped up against the wall. This is usual. No matter how many planks you have, the one needed is always at the back or the bottom.

I moved a piece out of the way, turned and POW!

The cant tipped down. With a true woodworkers sense of self-sacrifice, I stopped it from hitting the concrete. Unfortunately, I used my face to cushion the fall. I now have a swollen nose, two startlingly black eyes, and a side of bruised ribs.

Yeah, but you shouldda seen the other guy . . . nobody talks to my goil like dat . . . and I had to save that kid.

So, progress slowed and sleeping, breathing and coughing (I have a chest cold to boot) have been more challenging than usual. I have 90% of the frame joinery completed, and today “broke out” her lamms and treadles, and completed the drall pulley support.

Here’s some eye candy. I’m very pleased with how things are turning out. The loom’s ergonomics are really good for me, as I’ve been able to adjust things to my personal preferences.

 

The shop horses in the center aren’t part of the loom — just a convenient way to keep the wood from jumping up and hitting me.

I have to make the cloth and warp beam mountings, the front, back, and knee beams, complete the treadles, drall pulleys, and lift system and shafts for the back. Whew, and I thought this was going to be a quick and easy project! The loom is now seven and a half feet long, and will likely reach eight feet before completion. She ain’t yer momma’s workshop loom!

In other news, I had a remarkably pleasant and productive conversation with Becky Ashenden and Susan Conover over at the Vavstuga, www.vavstuga.com. Becky offered me a remarkable deal on a 135 cm Glimakra warp beam, and was very gracious with her advice on the long loom project. I’ve already retracted my past comments about my experiences there, but it was pleasant to know that my first impressions were without basis. It’s good to be positively surprised!

Much to do. More later.

Tim

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Loom Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.