just a quick update:

the mountain of dirt is over 3/4 moved

the old garage is nearly empty

the workspace is looking good

be well

Karl

this one is more like a broom making station:

as usual if anyone wants details just send me a note

kaisaerpren@gmail.com

be well

Karl

I came across this in an old book about farming… so I thought I’d draw it.

if anyone wants more details, you can just drop me a note…

be well

Karl

Hi! I’m at it again, drawing pictures, making plans etc…

Most Antique Broom presses are made from heavy hardwood planks. If you can find similar planks to work with by all means do so. Adjust your measurements to accommodate your thicknesses. if you can’t: you can make this with a 10′ “2×8” and a few other odds and ends.

FYI Common lumber standards have a 2×8 measuring 1.5″ x 7.5″ but the 10′ measure cannot be less than 10′ but it can be 10′ 1/4″ or something like that. In theory; the wood is sawn at 2″ x 8″ and then dried (where it shrinks, cups, and twists) and then run through a planer to flatten and make it all the same (and take the corners off). thus it can’t be actually be 2″ x 8″. when I was young the standard was finished at 1 3/4″ by 7 3/4″… but we are using a lot of fast grown junk trees now and the twist are worse so we get what we get now…

Many of the older broom presses are only 4′ tall or thereabouts. I drew this at 4’6 thinking it’s not too tall for most people and it will accommodate the longer handles that some people prefer.

Cross Cut a 2×8 into 2 pieces, 1 length of the height you want, the other 1/2″ shorter. you will need a 10′ one for a taller vice, or an 8′ one for a 48″ vise.

look through the scrap bins at your lumber yard and see if you can get reduces price offcuts for the 24″ clamp and it’s 18″ brace. Cut those to length.

The feet will need 2 pieces of 2×6, 31″ long and 2 pieces of 2×4, 16 1/2″ long. You may be able to find these in those scrap bins.. or cut it out of wider stock.

Drill holes for 1/2″ diameter bolts in the sides of the foot. a drill press is your friend here. Freehand if you must.

Drill holes for 1/2″ diameter bolts in the sides of the foot. a drill press is your friend here. Freehand if you must. I recommend that you use carriage bolts. If you cannot get them, then lag bolts or big screws from both sides would work.

The bolts in the stationary jaw are to hold it steady and solid, you may want to glue it as well. The ONE bolt in the moving jaw is a pivot point. Since it wants to move you will not want glue or other fasteners.

Here are the bottoms of the stationary jaw (left) and the moving jaw (right). You can see the height difference in the two jaws here. The holes are drilled centered in the thickness of the material.

A note about bolts and other options… Bolts or screws are best where things need to be tightened down and locked in place. But there is another option for the pivot points on this project. Bar stock and Cap nuts, Iron bar stock is available in a variety of sizes from most lumberyards or farm supply stores. they also have what are called “cap nuts” which press onto the ends bar stock (ok most times you need to hammer them on) they bite into the bar and are not removable. they can be use to fasten like bolts (make the bar a little shorter) or used to attach wheels to things, (make the bars a touch long so the wheels turn) and they would make better pivot points than threaded rod or bolts because the tooth threads will cut into the wood, smooth rod will not.

Hole for the position of the iron straps of the clamp lever… again centered in the material. use either a 1/4″ or 1/2″
bolt/bar.

you will want to cut a nice shape into the clamp paddle… maybe round where you grip it.

position of the pivot hole in the clamp paddle. also note the rounded over end…

Detail of the lower end of the paddle brace.

On all of the Metal! Cut it to length then file the sharp corners off! Then mark for holes and drill them. Then file those sharp edges off (or use a countersink or larger drill to get the burrs off). Clean with acetone and disposable rags, use paste wax to keep clean and rust free.

this is the iron strap that makes the clamp work, 3/4″ or 1″ wide, 1/8″ or 1/4″ thick, 12 3/4″ long. pivot hole positioning indicated in the drawing.

the jaws drawn are 1″ black angle iron, cut to match the width of the material you are using. You could use aluminum but that will probably smudge black on your broom corn. Clean with acetone and don’t wax it yet. Mark 4 or 5 holes about 1″ up from the bottom edge of the angle iron and drill to fit some #8 by 3/4″ pan head screws. you can glue these on with epoxy or Gorilla ™ glue then pilot drill the screw holes in the wood. (the holes in the iron want to let the screw slide through, the pilot holes in the wood want to grip the screw threads).

If all goes well this should work, if you have to adjust how close the jaws come together, you can either trim the paddle or file the angle iron to make it wider. or you can shim the paddle to make it clamp thinner…

Be well

go make something

Update: If you want curved jaws either:

make the contact area out of some hard wood and cut it to a curve.

Or cut lower leg of the steel every half inch or so with an abrasive cut off wheel, bend the steel, weld it together… or not, drill screw holes wherever you can and fasten it in place.

I could not get measurements for this specific loom, so I adapted measurements from other looms and guesstimate some measurements etc.. But I believe that if you follow my measurements you will end up with a working loom…

A Rocking Reed Loom is one where the reed is standing on legs that have a rocker at their base, as opposed to the legs being suspended from an upper frame.

I saw this loom on the FB page “Barn Frame Loom Discussion Group”. The person who posted it, Dianne Betts, was gracious enough to get measurements for me so that I could make a fairly accurate modeling of it.

As with all of the drawings that I post, use it, share it, give me credit for drawing it, but do not sell it!

And please consider dropping a donation to help me continue this work.

be well

K

While there is no set designation for what is a “barn loom” it’s generally agreed that it is a loom that is built like a barn (large beams, pegged or tusk tenoned) and due to their bulk generally get shifted out to the barn or attic when they stopped being used. The variety and ingenuity expressed in these (usually) one of a kind constructions is a testament to human creativity that should not be lost to history.

So I am making 3D CAD drawings of any and all that I can get Pictures of, and am very grateful when the owners will accommodate me when I ask for Measurements.

The drawings of the rocking reed loom (below) will be available for the asking later this week on my web page. send me a request and I’ll send you the link… If anyone reading this has one they love and would like to see it drawn up you can email me with pictures at: kaisaerpren@gmail.com. and I’ll ask for measurements that I need to make it up. (or if you hate it but want it drawn up anyhow) sincerely yours,

As with all of my drawings: copy them ,Use them, share them, DO NOT SELL THEM! and please consider giving me a donation at the yellow “buy now” button… And Like and Follow my blog to see what I’m doing next.

so I turned these pictures (above) into these drawings (below)

I found pictures of this one on the internet, attempting to backtrack to the original poster got me stuck in a loop where the picture on a site went to another site and back to the first site etc etc… If anyone recognizes this, contact me and I’ll put your name on it.

you will quickly notice that the drive gear is bigger on mine than the original. the original looks to be 1:1, I drew this 2:1. if you want 1:1 contact me ad I’ll redraw this for you.

The front and back are identical but for the 2 extensions, I suspect the extensions are to brace this against posts or in a narrow doorway. but they also serve to capture the spacers that hold the face in place.

These spacers have to lock into/onto the back plate, hold the front plate in position without pinching the gears, or letting the face get to loose…

this is accomplished by simply pinning them into place.

I can envision several ways of making these, one is to turn the profile on a wood lathe and carve the posts. But you need to use your hardest wood for the posts, and carving lignum vitae is tough…

Another is to cut 2 pine or poplar disks a bit bigger than the 5″ Ø finish, draw the 4 1/2″ Ø ( R 2.25″) circle and drill holes for the posts you will make from some very hard wood, white oak, live oak, lignum vitae all are good choices. Then assemble the 12 posts, the center 1″ post, and 2 discs with glue and or pegs. then turn, shave or sand the discs down to the 5″ diameter. The hardest part of this part is the hook, it must have a hook to grab the yarns.

In use that little peg is used to secure the fiber for twisting… I can think of several ways to incorporate a hook instead… can you?

edit: not the angle specified in the above drawing… it is wrong!!! that angle is 45°… sorry

I think that the best way to make the big gear would be to make make a sandwich… the middle (filling) is hard white oak, live oak, lignum vitae etc.. pick one, that will have the teeth cut into it, glue up a pie of it, Using 1.25″ thick material, a R5.625″disc made up of 30° wedges with the wood grain running from center to rim all around. To layout the teeth, on good paper , draw a 4.5″ Ø circle and mark the center for a 1″ Ø hole, along the outer circle mark off every 1 3/16″. these marks locate where you will later drill 1/2″ Ø holes. From those marks you will make arcs to the left and right at a R 7/8″, these will be the faces of your teeth. (see sketch). Then you can adhere the paper to your wood for a very accurate layout. Now drill the 1/2″ holes, and the saw the teeth with a jigsaw or on your bandsaw. Split that line so there is less cleanup to do later. or cut on the “inside” of the line. Loose teeth rattle, not usually a problem , fat teeth jamb and have to be filed down…

Then your “Bread” can be any reasonably durable material that you have around , make 2 discs 8 3/16″ diameter with a center hole of 1″. and your toothpick to hold it together will be a hard 1″ dowel left long for the crank…