Fiber Adventures

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I now have a spinning wheel!!! I received this Ashford Traditional spinning wheel and chair as a wedding present and am anxiously awaiting some replacement parts in the mail so I can try the spinning wheel out. This thread is going to document fixing the wheel and learning how to spin on her.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Ashfords are great starter wheels!

I’ve got 3 wheels - a single treadle Louet S10, and double treadle Louet S10, and a Schacht Sidekick. I LOVE my Sidekick. It’s not a wheel that I would normally have been interested in, but someone gave her to me (it’s an $800+ wheel!) and I quickly discovered her charms.

I’m considering getting an e-spinner because too much spinning sometimes makes my back issue flair up.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Still waiting for the replacement parts, they are supposed to arrive by the 23rd. I guess I should prep some fiber while I wait? I have a partial bag of cleaned free wool I tried to comb. Not sure I did it right, will probably attempt it re-card it and make a roving. I've got some cleaned fiber that's not processed at all yet, need to decide if I should comb or if I should try to use the dog combs to card it. Guess I could try both ways and see what works best. Hubby says my wool smells.

 

[Baymule]

Congratulations of the spinning wheel! What a lovely gift. I don't spin, knit or crochet, but I admire those who do.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Felicitations on your new marriage! And what a lovely wedding present!

What parts do you need? Many of them are available at a hardware store and don't need to be special ordered. All I see maybe missing is the little spring for the brake band? That's available for a few cents at a hardware store. Or possibly take the spring out of a ball point pen, it doesn't need to be very strong. A small spring and bit of fishing line completes the brake. Hmm, a bit of elastic could be used as well, perhaps.

I have a matching Ashford, another early eighties Traddie, and there's still all the parts and loads of accessories for it. These may be it's the most produced spinning wheel in the known universe, which is a really good thing when you want more bobbins. I think yours may be a few years older than mine, though, since you have the logo of a spinning wheel and mine has the logo of a circle of 'A's which came out in '81, I think it was.

Here's a link to Ashford's site with lots of spinning wheel info. There's the timeline of Traddies as well as info on spinning wheel maintenance. https://www.ashford.co.nz/support/past-products

The attachment between the footman and the treadle on your may like an alternate attachment method, although the one there will work. I don't think it will cause much sideways wear where the footman attaches to the crank, but the top of the wooden footman (connecting rod aka 'conrod') could possibly wear strangely if it's pulled from the side like that for a long time?

These spinning wheels are mostly wood but where wood meets up with metal, then there's opportunity for the metal to wear on the wood. A center pull between the footman and the treadle is a small thing, but these wheels will be functional for a hundred years or more and keeping things lined up and true will go a long way towards long term durability.

The brakeband on the Traddie spinning wheel here is a small spring and a bit of fishing line. That's the bulky flyer on it and the hooks on that were replaced with bigger ones since at the moment I'm spinning a fleece really chunky for a rug. I've hung a small basket off the back bar on the frame so there's somewhere to put little accessories and a can of oil.

After awhile, I got tired of finding the lazy kate, so three big finishing nails were put on the front cross frame and the spare bobbins are stored there. I can also ply from them in that location although at some point I should put a brake band on them just like the brake band on the bobbin in the flyer. The bobbins for the bulky flyer don't fit there so I still need a lazy kate for them.

It's just a big finishing nail, nothing fancy. Our local hardware store in town, Ikeuchi's, sold them to me for 7¢ each, so it wasn't an expensive upgrade. Some hardware stores make you buy a box or bag of them, though.

The pink driveband is just a bit of hot pink nylon cord that was laying around the house. It's sewn together with a needle and thread.

This was my first wheel and probably the one I still use the most although part of that is because it has the most accessories.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Felicitations on your new marriage! And what a lovely wedding present!

What parts do you need? Many of them are available at a hardware store and don't need to be special ordered. All I see maybe missing is the little spring for the brake band? That's available for a few cents at a hardware store. Or possibly take the spring out of a ball point pen, it doesn't need to be very strong. A small spring and bit of fishing line completes the brake. Hmm, a bit of elastic could be used as well, perhaps.

I have a matching Ashford, another early eighties Traddie, and there's still all the parts and loads of accessories for it. These may be it's the most produced spinning wheel in the known universe, which is a really good thing when you want more bobbins. I think yours may be a few years older than mine, though, since you have the logo of a spinning wheel and mine has the logo of a circle of 'A's which came out in '81, I think it was.

Here's a link to Ashford's site with lots of spinning wheel info. There's the timeline of Traddies as well as info on spinning wheel maintenance. https://www.ashford.co.nz/support/past-products

The attachment between the footman and the treadle on your may like an alternate attachment method, although the one there will work. I don't think it will cause much sideways wear where the footman attaches to the crank, but the top of the wooden footman (connecting rod aka 'conrod') could possibly wear strangely if it's pulled from the side like that for a long time?

View attachment 77611

These spinning wheels are mostly wood but where wood meets up with metal, then there's opportunity for the metal to wear on the wood. A center pull between the footman and the treadle is a small thing, but these wheels will be functional for a hundred years or more and keeping things lined up and true will go a long way towards long term durability.

View attachment 77612

The brakeband on the Traddie spinning wheel here is a small spring and a bit of fishing line. That's the bulky flyer on it and the hooks on that were replaced with bigger ones since at the moment I'm spinning a fleece really chunky for a rug. I've hung a small basket off the back bar on the frame so there's somewhere to put little accessories and a can of oil.

View attachment 77613

After awhile, I got tired of finding the lazy kate, so three big finishing nails were put on the front cross frame and the spare bobbins are stored there. I can also ply from them in that location although at some point I should put a brake band on them just like the brake band on the bobbin in the flyer. The bobbins for the bulky flyer don't fit there so I still need a lazy kate for them.


View attachment 77614

It's just a big finishing nail, nothing fancy. Our local hardware store in town, Ikeuchi's, sold them to me for 7¢ each, so it wasn't an expensive upgrade. Some hardware stores make you buy a box or bag of them, though.

The pink driveband is just a bit of hot pink nylon cord that was laying around the house. It's sewn together with a needle and thread.

This was my first wheel and probably the one I still use the most although part of that is because it has the most accessories.

I'll take a look at the footman attachment and see if it has the center slots like yours. The manual I found on the Ashford site shows I'm missing the brake tension knob and one spring, those are part of the replacement parts kit I ordered. It should be here early next week and I'd rather have correct parts instead of makeshift when I'm still learning how to spin. That way I'll know it's something I'm doing versus the parts if something goes wrong.

The kits seemed reasonably priced for what was in them, so I'll have plenty of replacement parts for any future issues too. I ordered 3 more bobbins, I'll need to make a lazy kate but luckily my husband and I are decent at woodworking so that shouldn't be a problem. I was actually working on a design to make my own spinning wheel when I received this one, I might continue with it and I'll have two wheels.

You have Angora bunnies, right? Are they more difficult than regular fur bunnies to keep? I have Rex and mixed breed bunnies now but was a little nervous about trying to raise an Angora for the wool.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Replacement parts and bobbins arrived! Now to figure out how to install them.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Still haven't had time to examine footman or install replacement parts. Hopefully tomorrow. I did try to prep some wool as I watched TV. Worked ok, but I think I need gloves. I'm using dog brushes to open the wool and help remove the VM but I kept whacking my hand with the brush. It was sore and rough feeling the next day.

I'm wondering if I need to soak my wool again, if not all the lanolin came off and that's what's causing the smell? I ordered some small bits of wool roving and they arrived looking clean and soft. My wool looks yellowish in comparison.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I also watched a YouTube video on cleaning wool, then dying with food coloring. I am going to try that this weekend if I can find the time. I have several food coloring colors, and also different packets of kool-aid to try dyeing with as well. Maybe I can make a rainbow.

 

[Niele da Kine]

<SNIP>

The kits seemed reasonably priced for what was in them, so I'll have plenty of replacement parts for any future issues too. I ordered 3 more bobbins, I'll need to make a lazy kate but luckily my husband and I are decent at woodworking so that shouldn't be a problem. I was actually working on a design to make my own spinning wheel when I received this one, I might continue with it and I'll have two wheels.

You have Angora bunnies, right? Are they more difficult than regular fur bunnies to keep? I have Rex and mixed breed bunnies now but was a little nervous about trying to raise an Angora for the wool.

Oooh! Build another one! Two spinning wheels are always better than just one! And AFAIK it's impossible to have too many bobbins.

My first lazy kate was a shoebox with knitting needles stuck through it. It wasn't elegant, but it worked. Having a brake band on the bobbins would be a good thing, although I've not built one yet.

While you're building things, don't forget a niddy noddy! Once you get the yarn made, then you'll need something to put it into a skein. Or a swift, that will work, too, but I'd think that a niddy noddy would be easier to build.

Yup, we have angora bunnies around here. http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com I do need to update the 'in the nest box' page as well as the 'available bunnies' page but I'm over here at BYH where it's more fun.

Angora bunnies aren't any more difficult to keep than regular bunnies other than needing three haircuts a year. Although, that's for keeping them as a 'micro-sheep' fiber critter. When keeping them as a 'show' bunny with a long coat, then they need about daily maintenance to keep their coat tidy. The ones here have not only been bred for easy care coats (that's one of the selection criteria when deciding which ones to keep) but they get sheared down to naked every three or four months. By the time the coat is getting long enough to need maintenance, it's about time to shear it all off again.

Perhaps you could try just one angora for the wool to spin? If you select an angora breed other than English, they will have a clean bunny head on a fuzzy body and that will be less bunny coat to maintain. Their fiber is great for spinning into yarn, it makes a light, warm and insanely soft yarn. Not much stretch to pure angora yarn, though. At least for English angora, maybe some of the other breeds have more crimp in the fibers. It makes great shawls and scarves and things that drape. If it's mixed with sheep's wool, then it will have more stretch and cling and be good for sweaters and such.

Since the bunnies are kept in hutches with wire floors, their fiber is clean when it's sheared from them so there's very little prep work necessary to spin angora. I just grab it out of the jar and spin it without prep.