Hi Jane and fellow students. I am looking at the new Louet Jane 16 shaft with some longing. I have the lovely Jane 50 cm. What are opinions, especially Jane’s, of a 16 shaft Jane loom? Overkill? Or amazing opportunity for the price right now? Thanks!

My personal experience of having the 70cm 8 shaft is that it is heavy. I live in a small house. I have trouble finding a place to keep it. I like weaving on it with the stand, but I need to get some weights to keep the loom steady. It’s heavy to take to an event, but doable. If there were 16 shafts on this wide loom I don’t think I could lift it but I haven’t seen this 16 shaft loom folded. As it is with my 8 shaft mounted on the stand, I cant go through some of my doorways in my home without taking it off the stand, or finding a tricky way through the house, lol, which I have (going through the hall and through the bathroom, etc). If I wanted a 16 shaft table loom I’d probably go with the 50cm for size and weight. I’m 71 years old, take strength training sessions and think of myself as strong. If I never moved the setup, or lived in a more modern home with 36” wide doorways I’d consider it. Thats been my experience with the 70cm 8 shaft. To summarize, I have to break it down off the stand to relocate it in my house unless I have help. If going somewhere it breaks down and is easy enough to move but a little heavy. It’s a little tricky getting it back on the stand but doable by myself. In hindsight I think I’d have been happier with the 50cm, for portability.

Yes, I have the Jane 50 as I had heard many say the 70 was too heavy and cumbersome. I move my Jane 50 around pretty well and I am happy I didn’t get the 70. Most of my friends said I’m crazy to think about 16 shafts. So I guess I am not going to get it. It was such a good price right now.

Well, I probably will never get a 16 shaft loom, (I can convert my 100cm Toika countermarch loom to its max capacity of 12 harness though for a lot of money, lol). There are a lot of lovely weaving drafts for 16 shafts and I sure would be tempted! My 70cm Jane is handy, just not very portable.

I have enough trouble threading an 8 shaft pattern correctly LOL.

There seems to be some confusion on Ravelry re. a "shuttle race" on the new Jane 16 shaft. Can anyone at JST confirm whether or not the new Jane has a shuttle race?

It looks like Lofty Fiber is creating a shuttle race for the new Jane.

I sent a message to Lofty Fibers asking about it but I never got a reply

The note from Lofty Fiber below the video when you look this up on youtube says "A first weave on the new Louet Jane 16-shaft loom. Weaving with the LoftyFiber TempoTreadle to help avoid any mistakes. Also showing the prototype of the new Jane shuttle race."

I watched the new assembly video from Dave at Louet last evening. He stated that shuttle races would be available in 2024.