This took a lot longer to work out than I anticipated. The problem in making the 4-shaft version into an 8-shaft loom is the length between the front and back beams. There is plenty of room for the 4 shafts. But if we simply add 4 more PVC harness frames, the last shaft, 8, would be way too close to the rear beam. And that would make opening a shed very difficult, if not impossible.
SO! I have been researching and researching how to make a thinner harness so that 8 shafts will fit in almost the same space as the 4 original shafts. And I think I have done this.
We have to use 1/2″ wooden dowels for the harness frames. And that posed another problem; how to join 4 wooden dowels to make a frame, yet keep the thickness of the frame only 1/2″.
I just came up with a very simple jig that anyone can build. It will hold the upper and lower dowels in place and allow you to drill a hole through both dowels at the same time. It will also keep the dowels clamped in place so you can turn the jig around and drill the holes in the other side while keeping the orientation of the holes exactly the same as the first pair.
I’ll post some preliminary photos this weekend of the jig and the harness frames I’m making. This means that I’m very close to coming out with a new book; Building 4-Shaft and 8-Shaft PVC Looms. The book will have instructions for both 4 and 8 shaft versions. And there will also be a booklet that will just contain the instructions for adding the 8-shafts onto your 4-shaft PVC Loom for people who bought the original book.
Check back this weekend.
