[RUSTYME]

I may be able to have a very old and very big loom . Cast iron frame and about 6 foot wide 4 foot deep and 4 foot high .
I will check out the name on it and the date , i think it was very late 1800's . Another machine , same size etc is with it not sure what it is , lots of wooden bobbins on it . A bobbin filler ? lol .
If i can't get them , and then move them , i will make a loom .
I made one about 35 years ago but have no memory of what type it was (pre car smash and head injury) , apart from it was a floor standing unit that made fabric about 50" wide and i could make tweed fabric and  all sorts of other stuff that memory of has also gone .
What i want to do is be able to weave material to use for clothes in general , shirts , trousers , coats etc and heavy duty stuff tarpaulin , carpet etc .
Materials used will be flax , hemp , wool and cotton .
So the question is , what type of loom would be best to go for if i end up making one  ?
It will be in a shed of it's own , so will be floor standing and as wide as need be .
It will be hand operated if i make one although the one i may be able to get was operated by line shafting and belt powered by water wheel . It can be used by hand if need be though , so i am told . It looks similar to the ones used to make Harris Tweed , only bigger .
Any ideas which way to go if the freebie falls through ?

[jaykay]

Well, if I won the lottery and didn't have to work, I'd have a foot-operated countermarche floor loom.

That said Rusty, you can weave cloth for clothes on a simple rigid heddle, if you make the width 24" or more - make it a standard width and you can pick up secondhand heddles. It wouldn't do tarpaulins and you'd have to make rugs in pieces.

[Lesley Silvester]

Somewhere I have a design for a primitive loom that will weave lengths of fabric.  I've made my own loom, although I did cheat and use a rigid heddles instead of string heddles.  I'll see if I can find the design.

[Anke]

If you want to have it hand-operated you have to watch your weaving width, the wider the more difficult (and a lot slower) it gets to get the shuttle through. If you build your own look at the designs used before any sort of assistant power was available, and check out the width they had, looking at photos of the looms used in Southern America they are not that wide....

[RUSTYME]

The loom i may be able to have is a dobie ? or doby type/make from about the late 1800's early 1900's with the bobbin winder . The loom has a 1 hp motor that powers it , or it can be run by engine or water power . A knitting machine goes with it , now that is handy .
Just got to work out how to shift it all now , that will be a summer job though .
Fingers crossed i can get it all , as it is just what i want .

[Lesley Silvester]

Good luck, Russ.

[Bionic]

The loom i may be able to have is a dobie ? or doby type/make from about the late 1800's early 1900's with the bobbin winder . The loom has a 1 hp motor that powers it , or it can be run by engine or water power . A knitting machine goes with it , now that is handy .
Just got to work out how to shift it all now , that will be a summer job though .
Fingers crossed i can get it all , as it is just what i want .

Russ, if you want help getting it there when the weather is a bit better let me know. I am sure I could wangle a trip up your way at some time.
Sally

[RUSTYME]

Thanks ever so much Sally , but the loom weighs close to a ton as does the bobbin winder , they are big old industrial items that will need to be moved by tractor and trailer .
The land will need to dry out too before even a tractor could get on the land .
 I took a 4x4 down the bottom , where all the stuff will be going , and it took a week to get it back out , wet and the side of a hill don't work , 4x4's sink down to the floor and need winching out , i found out the hard way !  It can be a nightmare mate lol . Thanks again anyway mate .