Opps forgot about my visit to Gilmore looms in Stockton

Since my post yesterday I have learned that Jill of Saori Santa Cruz posted our visit to her studio on her Ravelry group page 'weaving the Saori Way '  check out the pics of Melissa and me at her studio.
http://centeringwithfiber.blogspot.com/2016/01/saori-weaving-clases-mommy-and-me-and.html
Correction to my last post our class mates were Aylissa, the mom and Dahlia was the little ones name. Dahlia is only 6 years old.

the Mini Wave loom

How could I forget about Gilmore Looms? On our way to Manteca CA for Christmas we stopped at Gilmore looms owned by Bob and Judy Allen in Stockton CA. I have been wanting to buy a Mini Wave loom from them and thought I should check out the looms. Sorry no pics of the workshop here I was anxious to get to Christmas Eve and family.
We had a great visit with the Allen's and were given a tour of their studio, looms and workshop. They bought Gilmore looms a few years back 1997 from the man who inherited the company form E.E. Gilmore who patented the first Jack loom in 1933. What an interesting story and the wood working facilities are mostly original and very nice for working with Maple wood.
Judy a long time weaver and seamstress took time away from her grandchild to visit with us for a few minutes. Bob Allen was very interested in showing us the rest of the workshop. Bob is a retired Elementary School Teacher who loves working with wood. He builds one large loom a month, but has a number of other looms that he has invented and is producing some of them, like the Mini Wave.
He also has a table loom that is functioning like a floor loom with tie ups and another that is set up like a AVL that runs with cards. These would be too costly to produce so they are just for Judy to weave on. Another issue he is running into is the lack of good quality parts for his looms. Soon he will not be able to purchase some of these parts.
He also showed me some Dory mini boat shuttles he is making to add a bobbin to a inkle loom beater. these are for sale at local weaving conferences and on line at http://www.gilmorelooms.com/Home.html
I am very excited to try out the mini wave and will post more once I get it warped and ready to weave. It is basically an inkle loom that can hold lots of yards and can also be used as for card weaving something that I became interested in after making the cords for my linen bread bags.

Bob Allen was a very interesting wood worker his only experience before this adventure was the construction business. If you get to Stockton CA it is worth a visit to his shop.
Until next month happy weaving !