For a loom up to 1 m wide, build the frame from seasoned oak, beech or ash, with 80 x 80 mm posts and 60 x 80 mm cross-members joined by pegged mortise-and-tenon joints and reinforced with iron bolts and brackets, roughly 1.5 m wide, 1.8 m long and 1.5 m tall. The timber is the slow part: at about one year of air-drying per 2.5 cm of thickness, 80 mm stock needs over three years, and green timber shrinks and loosens every joint.
Part of Power Loom Construction
Building the hardwood loom frame with iron reinforcement, its joints and its timber supply.
The Overview’s Frame, And What Makes It Hold
The overview specifies hardwood (oak, beech or ash), 80 × 80 mm posts, 60 × 80 mm cross-members, iron bolts and brackets at all joints, and total dimensions of roughly 1.5 m wide, 1.8 m long and 1.5 m tall. It requires the frame to be absolutely rigid, square and level, and heavy enough not to walk (Loom Frame Design gives the forces). Species choice and grain are in Hardwood Types; the wood-selection article in construction is about wooden gear teeth and is not the right target for frame timber.
Joints Carry The Load
The mortise-and-tenon rule in Mortise and Tenon is a tenon one third of the stock thickness and at least four times that in length. For the 60 mm cross-member that is 60 ÷ 3 = 20 mm thick and 4 × 20 = 80 mm long, which just passes through an 80 mm post; the through tenon can then be wedged or pegged from the far side. Drawboring, an offset peg hole, pulls the shoulder tight without clamps or glue (Mortise and Tenon), and iron brackets and bolts at each joint take the push-pull of the slay.
The Timber Is Slow
The woodworking rule is that seasoned wood air-dries at roughly one year per 2.5 cm of thickness (Woodworking; see also Seasoning). For 80 mm stock that is 80 ÷ 25 = 3.2 years. A village that starts building looms must therefore begin stacking posts years before the first loom runs, or use timber it has already seasoned. Green timber shrinks as it dries and the joints open; a loom that loses 5 mm of squareness makes uneven cloth.
What You Need
- Seasoned hardwood of the sizes above.
- Chisels, saw, brace and bit for the joints (Woodworking).
- Iron bolts and brackets, forged (Iron Applications).
- Pegs of straight-grained hardwood.
Method: Building The Frame
Step 1: Lay out all joints from one datum edge on each piece, so the parts fit.
Step 2: Cut mortises and tenons, testing each joint for a snug fit, no gaps.
Step 3: Dry-assemble and check the diagonals; adjust before pegging.
Step 4: Peg (drawbore) and bolt every joint, and fit diagonal braces.
Step 5: Check square and level, then anchor and ballast the base.
Step 6: Re-check after a week and after a month, tightening the bolts.
Worked Example
The overview’s four posts are 80 × 80 mm in section and 1.5 m high: 4 × 0.08 × 0.08 × 1.5 = 0.0384 m³ of timber in posts alone. Drying them for 3.2 years means the supply for each frame is committed years ahead. If three looms are planned, 0.115 m³ of post timber must be stacked and seasoning, before cross-members.
Common Mistakes
- Using timber that is not fully seasoned.
- Gaps in joints “taken up” by wedges, which loosen under the beat.
- Bolts with no washers, which crush the wood and loosen.
- No diagonal bracing.
Safety
Heavy timber and sharp tools
A seasoned 80 mm post is heavy; lift with a team and never alone to a height. Chisels and saws cut deep and slip; clamp work and keep both hands behind the edge. A finished loom frame carries a moving slay, so check the joints weekly and stop the loom if one opens (Power Drive System). Children’s work is staged by hazard (Task Assignment by Age); sawing and chiselling timber are not for the unsupervised.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Cast Iron Frame — the stiffer alternative for wider looms
- Combine with: Heddle Construction — what the frame carries next