Hello to all,and welcome new members.As the group has been quiet as of late I thought I would post something on my latest finished project, before digging in for winter here in Vermont. Since I wanted to build some Boat Shuttles, and had not yet worked with Exotic woods it seemed to be just the time to put the two together,having always admired these wonderful hardwoods from places such as Africa, South America, and distant Tasmania.These woods are some of the densest, oilest, and heaviest woods known.The glue I chose was "Gorilla Glue" which worked very well with careful preparation of these woods.A miter saw, small drill press, router, and a belt sander for final shaping were used.The bobbin shaft is of 3/16" steel rod from Home Depot with one end hammered smooth, flat, and drilled for a pin. I employed the use of 1/4" round N42 rare earth magnets,purchased on Ebay at the front of each shuttle, set in with epoxy cement.The woods were purchased on line from Bell Forest Products, and the 1/4" wood for the sides at E-bay.I'll also mention one shuttle was made from an Exotic wood called Spalted Curly Maple.This lovely rare wood was salvaged from my firewood pile! Now It takes so much longer to carry in the stove wood as I look at each piece as a prospective shuttle candidate! As these woods do have some very unique aspects such as possible allergens from the wood dust,also very oily and dense,with some unpredictable curving, I'd say use good shop safety measures,study the grain directions,and buy lots of sand paper! I sanded to 400 grit, and apply Briwax paste wax keeping the shuttles soft and satiny showing off the woods natural beauty while still being able to easily grip them.The overall cost to build comes in at around $150 for materials. Since the larger ones sell for around $90 each and are made by very few craftsman, a set of six at about $150 is a good price indeed! The sizes are two each of twin 4" bobbins, 6" bobbins, and single 4"s. The 4" bobbins are wooden Harrisvilles, the 6" are plastic Leclercs.If anyone would like to build some of these Shuttles and have questions please ask. Regards, Frank

Comments

Fri, 02/03/2017 - 09:55

ReedGuy

Here is the shuttle profile in Ed Worst's "Foot Powered Loom Weaving", the text can be downloaded from archive.org  Make it a little longer so you can get a 4" quill in the cavity. This shows a 3-1/2" cavity.

Joanne, wouldn't you put the exit hole on the curved edge and have the flat side next to the reed? A lot of times the reed is traveling against the reed on a coutermarche loom because it is slopped that way on the shed floor.

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