DRS v. single drive

I started spinning because I wanted good “gansey yarn”. Sweater yarn spun from long staple, lustrous wool, with 5 worsted spun plies, with a total grist of 1,000 ypp. I wanted that yarn because, with my favorite knitting needles, it produced my favorite fabric. I had knit hundreds of swatches from scores of yarns, and I knew what I wanted.

The British mills that produced such yarns had old equipment and were either going out of business or producing other kinds of yarn. The writing was on the wall; If I wanted this kind of yarn, I would have to spin it myself.

However, I was told by senior knitters that, “Nobody hand spun Gansey Yarn!  Gansey Yarn was never hand spun!” That would be news to Chaucer as he wrote between the years1387 and 1400. That would be news to Leonardo da Vinci who sketched the tools. It had been hand spun, so I knew it could be hand spun.

The problem was not the spinning – gansey yarn is based on worsted singles of 5,600 ypp. Very easy to hand spin.

The problem is economics. Spinning wheels since the Victorian era are single drive, (or double drive with one drive slipping) and can insert twist at ~ 700 rpm. A gansey sweater requires about 5-hanks of gansey yarn plied up from 25-hanks (14,000 yards) of singles. The singles need about 9-tpi. Thus, the yarn for a real gansey takes almost 200-hours to hand spin on the typical modern spinning wheel. 

Yes, spending 200 hours hand spinning yarn for one sweater is a rare thing!

So, I did my homework, and learned about different spinning technologies.  It was clear that DRS was faster.  With DRS, I could spin the yarn for a gansey in 70-hours. And, I did.

However, the continuous insertion of twist and continuous take-up, changes the nature of the drafting process, and I was sure that with DRS, I could spin much faster. I went back my wheel and experimented until it ran much faster.  Today, it can easily insert twist at over 4,000 rpm, and a lot of my spinning is done at between 3,000 and 3,500 rpm. 

I insert about 9 tpi into my gansey yarn singles. Thus, I can spin a hank of gansey single in 48-minutes, and can have it all wound off, the wheel oiled, a sip of tea, and a trip to the washroom in less than an hour. It is a piece of cake to spin 8 or 10 hanks per day. I can make 5-hanks of gansey yarn in 29-manhours.

It takes me close to 100 hours to knit a gansey, so ~30-hours to spin the yarn is not an unreasonable investment in a better sweater.  The yarn I spin is much more durable than the yarns I can buy today, so by investing 30 hours of spinning, I save myself 100 hours knitting a replacement, and all the aggravation of knitting a sweater from yarn that I do not really like.

Because spinning is for me is fast and easy, I spin a lot.  I get more practice than most. There are many weeks where I have spin 14,000 yards of 5,600 ypp single. This week amongst other things, I have spun ~4,000 yards of 16,000 ypp worsted singles.  In comparison, Rowan Lace Yarn is 3,568 ypp. I can ply the 16,000 ypp singles into a 3,600 ypp, 4-ply, worsted spun. My 4-ply is more elastic and more durable than the Rowan Lace Yarn of about the same grist.  

I like fine plies.  I like worsted. I am coming to  believe that there are two ways to spin wool; worsted and wrong.  Worsted takes less twist, and thus, can be spun faster. Worsted is more durable for the amount of inserted twist. And, truth be told, worsted is warmer for the weight of the wool. 

As an 8-ply, at 1,800 ypp those 16,000 ypp singles make a nice sock yarn. I like DRS for spinning sock yarn.  And, this is part of my practice/evolution to making 12-ply sock yarn from 25,000 ypp singles.

So? What are other sock knitters doing to perfect their sock yarn?

My #1 flier/bobbin assembly has a spinning bobbin barrel diameter of 25.4 mm (1 inch)

My #1 flier/bobbin assembly has a spinning bobbin barrel circumference of 79.8 mm.

My #1 flier/bobbin assembly spinning bobbin has a whorl circumference of 157 mm.

My # flier/bobbin assembly has flyer whorl “A” circumference of ~51.75 mm to insert 9 tpi

My # flier/bobbin assembly has flyer whorl “B” circumference of ~51.325 mm to insert 12 tpi

My # flier/bobbin assembly has flyer whorl “C” circumference of ~50.935 mm to insert 17 tpi

My # flier/bobbin assembly has flyer whorl “D” circumference of ~50.75 mm to insert 20 tpi

My # flier/bobbin assembly has flyer whorl “E” circumference of ~50.5 mm to insert 25 tpi

My #0 (Racing) flier/bobbin assembly is based on a bobbin barrel circumference of 88 mm, whorl circumference of  141.37 mm, with flyer whorls of 46.35 mm, 45.9 mm, 45.76 mm, and 45.63 mm.  This assembly is scheduled for upgrading.

All whorl grooves are assumed to be non-slip.

The tpi for fine yarns can be estimated from info on page 383 of Alden’s Big Blue Book.

Yes, that takes some wood turning, but the whorls are easier to turn than wine cask spigots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

DRS v. Scotch Tension

 

Are there really threads that cannot be spun with Scotch tension, but can be spun with DRS?

I have been challenged for my statements that DRS can spin things that cannot be spun with Scotch or Irish tension or Double Drive with slippage.

I can spin some fibers at grist twice their spin count with Scotch or Irish tension; still, I stand by my statement that DRS can spin things that cannot be spun with Scotch or Irish tension or Double Drive with slippage.  Here are my reasons:

1. Early in my spinning, I bought a digital tachometer, and kept records of how fast my wheel inserted twist. My Ashford Traditional with double drive and double treadles, straight out of the box would insert twist at about 700 rpm. This was about as fast as the wheels Alden Amos had in his living room (all single treadle, single drive) that we measured with his strobe. The fancy flyers Alden made for me changed the rate of twist insertion very little.  I made DRS bobbins/ flyer whorls at about the same diameter as Alden had used, and twist insertion about doubled.  Larger whorls gave me 30% faster twist insertion, e.g., 2,100 rpm.  This was counter intuitive, because I had a lower ratio, but was spinning much faster. It was clear that the ratio between the drive wheel and the flyer/bobbin whorls was not determinative.
2. I made a series of “accelerators”, and got a lot faster twist insertion, because I could use much larger bobbin/ flyer whorls so vibrations in the drive bands did not propagate around the whorls allowing slippage. This is general wheel design, and not directly related to DRS, but faster twist insertion facilitates spinning fine threads when using DRS.
3. My wheel, as currently configured, is 6 to 8 times faster than it was out of the box in 2006.  With DRS, the nature of drafting changes.  I cannot inch worm draft at 500 yards per hour. The continuous twist insertion and continuous take-up allow well prepped fiber with good crimp, to flow through one’s hands and the drafting triangle rapidly. Both hands must stay busy, one regulating flow of twist into the drafting triangle and testing grist. The other regulates flow of fiber into the drafting triangle and positions the fiber.  However, both processes are very fast. And any pause in the actions of either hand result in instant breakoff.  For anyone accustomed to Scotch or Irish tension, these breakoffs are – infuriating. On the other hand, I could never form thread this fast with Scotch or Irish tension. Physics and physiology suggest that nobody could draft thread this fast with Scotch or Irish tension.
4. That speed means if I want a special yarn for a pair of mittens, I can spin it in a day, rather than a week. A yarn that costs me only a day, maybe possible when a yarn that costs me a week may be impossible. Worsted spun, 5-ply gansey yarn for a sweater can be spun/plied in ~25 man-hours. That may be possible when I cannot invest 175 man-hours in a sweater that will take me only 90 man-hours to knit. A 175-man-hour project requires more storage, record keeping, and cleanup than a project that can be done on the patio in a long weekend. It is easier to maintain consistency over a 25-hour project than over a 175-hour project.

The realities of production spinning mean that threads/projects that my DRS system will spin easily,  cannot be spun with Scotch or Irish tension or Double Drive with slippage.

Revisited Heiz 57 at spin count

 

Here is a pix of this fiber at spin count and 2x spin count (twice spin count grist).

With only 10 fibers in cross section of singe, the 2x spin count is only good for “Longest Thread” competitions. Yes, I could use it to make 2-ply that would last through being measured, but knit, woven, or tatted into an object, it would not tolerate use – even with careful handling by trained ladies maids. This is not the fiber I would use for a Longest Thread entry, not even for a county fair competition.

The thicker segments are spun at spin count and can be fabricated into objects that will withstand regular use.

Having worked out a fiber prep. that allowed spinning it at spin count, I went back and spun this fiber at spin count and higher using Scotch Tension and Irish Tension. I have not used these techniques for a long, long time because I found them slow, and it was harder to maintain consistency.

Today, for this fiber, I would say DRS is about five times faster, and produces better consistency.  If I was limited to Scotch Tension and Irish Tension, my projects would be impossible.  Things that I do in a few hours would take days and weeks. I do not have that kind of time.  It is already hard enough to allocate months and months to spinning a loom warp.

Heinz 57 at its spin count

 

Once again, I come to the conclusion, that good yarn is the result the practice of good spinning craft.

Ok, I can spin the Heinz 57 at 30,000 ypp. How?  Worsted. 

It is not any one thing. I was spinning miles and miles of the fiber at ~16,000 ypp, and with each beard of this fiber, I was refining all my techniques for this fiber. I practice.

Then, one afternoon spinning the recalcitrant Heinz at its micron based spin count is – easy.

It is:

·      Clean fiber

·      Good spinning oil in the right amount, spread through the fiber

·      Good combing (with 4-pitch combs)

·      Good planking

·      Good diz technique

·      Wheel set for 20 tpi and running fast, ~3,500 rpm.

I have a lot of stuff to spin.

Craftspeople are known by their tools.

seeking very fine singles for socks and hose

 

Within the last couple of weeks, I have spun 3 different fibers in the range of 25,000 to 35,000 ypp. This fiber is different; it does not want to spin anywhere close to the 30,000 ypp spin count that its micron measure would indicate. This project has become a search for why it does not want to spin anywhere near its spin count.

Current generation of singles for weaving and sweater yarns from the recalcitrant fiber.

 

More of this fiber intended for spinning into singles for sweaters and weaving. Practice makes perfect.

 

More of same fiber intended for fine sock yarns, sweaters, and weaving.  Again, enough to practice.

Spinning is making order out of the chaos of fiber.

Knitting and weaving is making order out of the chaos of  yarn.

Spin, knit, and weave well, and both Dumbledore and Zeus will be jealous.