In May, I wrote about how I had upgraded my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel.
Since then I have spun a lot of singles in the 5,600 to 9,000 ypp range on it and I have some thoughts.
The DRS (differential rotation speed) between the flier and the bobbin controls the twist. The accumulated twist changes as the diameter of the copp wound onto the bobbin changes. Thus, when I have accumulated a layer of yarn that is ~ 3/8" thick on the bobbin, I wind off. This is a pain in the neck. I use my wood lathe as a bobbin winder to wind off the bobbin. (It is very fast, and is always handy there in the middle of the workshop.) Without a good wind off approach (or using very long bobbins) using DRS to control twist is not practical.
There has been more wear on the bearings and axles than I expected. I oil frequently, but I use a high belt tension, and there is a lot of wear. Thus, the machine is getting noisy.
Over the last few days, I swapped it back to standard Ashford double drive and spun a while. Currently the Ashford Lace Flier is on the wheel. The Ashford Lace Flier is 30:1 ST, but compared to the 40:1 DD, the ST lace flier is much slower. Spinning on the Ashford Lace Flier is a very pleasant pastime, but it is SLOW!
With a larger drive wheel (30"), I could use a lower belt tension and with less noise and wear. : )
Since then I have spun a lot of singles in the 5,600 to 9,000 ypp range on it and I have some thoughts.
The DRS (differential rotation speed) between the flier and the bobbin controls the twist. The accumulated twist changes as the diameter of the copp wound onto the bobbin changes. Thus, when I have accumulated a layer of yarn that is ~ 3/8" thick on the bobbin, I wind off. This is a pain in the neck. I use my wood lathe as a bobbin winder to wind off the bobbin. (It is very fast, and is always handy there in the middle of the workshop.) Without a good wind off approach (or using very long bobbins) using DRS to control twist is not practical.
There has been more wear on the bearings and axles than I expected. I oil frequently, but I use a high belt tension, and there is a lot of wear. Thus, the machine is getting noisy.
Over the last few days, I swapped it back to standard Ashford double drive and spun a while. Currently the Ashford Lace Flier is on the wheel. The Ashford Lace Flier is 30:1 ST, but compared to the 40:1 DD, the ST lace flier is much slower. Spinning on the Ashford Lace Flier is a very pleasant pastime, but it is SLOW!
With a larger drive wheel (30"), I could use a lower belt tension and with less noise and wear. : )
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