Spinning has been a series of sacrifices to the gods of speed.
I settled into double drive and differential rotation speed (DRS) controlled flyer/bobbin assemblies in the pursuit of speed. I went to smaller fliers from Alden Amos in pursuit of speed. I went to an accelerator in the pursuit of speed. By the time I had spun my first fine warp (5 lb of lace weight worsted singles) I expect that my wheel was one of the very fastest in the world. Production of 5,600 ypp worsted at sustained rates of more than 8 yards per minute with peak production rates of more than 10 yd/min is easy.
Nevertheless, I spent a good part of today making better bearings for the accelerator from graphite/Delrin provided by Henry Clemes. The result is another 800 rpm in the flyer/bobbin assemblies. And the wheel runs quieter, with less vibration.
This raises the production rate of higher twist yarns. Every time, I thought that my wheel was going as fast as possible, I have found rather straightforward ways to it make go faster. I cannot believe that I am the only one. Between the invention of DRS by silk throwers in Italy during the 12th century and the advent of powered spinning frames circa 1780, millions people had a strong financial incentive to improve the spinning wheel in various ways. It was a very large, very competitive industry, with huge incentives for very small increases in spinner productivity. The competitive nature of the industry ensured that useful improvements were kept very secret, until they were obsolete. Thus, textiles were generally unique to a locality, because other localities did not know the details of how those fabrics were produced.
The way to determine what tools and technologies were used, is to become expert in textile production technology and reverse engineer the technology from found textile samples. Proof is in my spinning wheel. No historian viewing history through the prism of modern commercially produced and sold hand spinning wheels could conceive that a 16 th century hand spinner could have a production rate of 8 yards per hour. And, yet this afternoon as I tested the the new bearings, anything less is silly. It shakes and rattles, but it spins faster than any wheel you have ever seen or heard. I have no doubt that wheel makers in Flanders were making faster wheels by the end of the 15th century. There is nothing in my wheel that they could not do with the tools and materials that they had. Yes, the materials they had might have resulted in a bit more lard-oil splatter, but in a commercial spinning factory, that does not matter. Any historian who says that 16th century professional spinners that did not spin that fast, simply does not not know the craft of spinning.
As Ed Deming told us over and over, "You get what you measure. If you do not measure it, you do not get it". Professional spinners measured production - it was called income. Modern spinners do not measure it, and do not get it. Modern historians do not have a clue about the productivity of traditional hand spinners. Since spinning was the base of textiles, and textiles was major item of trade and a base of the economy, modern historians do not have a clue about the economy of the period.
And it solves that great question: Why 5-ply? A) Because they had DRS wheels set for 10s, and 5 plies of 10s knit into a fabric that was warm enough to keep a sailor from going hypothermic.
Now that I am spinning a lot of warp, hand spun 5-ply has become my go to yarn. I always have pounds of 10s around and plying up some 5-ply is just natural. It is a way of using up left overs. It is a stash buster.
I settled into double drive and differential rotation speed (DRS) controlled flyer/bobbin assemblies in the pursuit of speed. I went to smaller fliers from Alden Amos in pursuit of speed. I went to an accelerator in the pursuit of speed. By the time I had spun my first fine warp (5 lb of lace weight worsted singles) I expect that my wheel was one of the very fastest in the world. Production of 5,600 ypp worsted at sustained rates of more than 8 yards per minute with peak production rates of more than 10 yd/min is easy.
Nevertheless, I spent a good part of today making better bearings for the accelerator from graphite/Delrin provided by Henry Clemes. The result is another 800 rpm in the flyer/bobbin assemblies. And the wheel runs quieter, with less vibration.
This raises the production rate of higher twist yarns. Every time, I thought that my wheel was going as fast as possible, I have found rather straightforward ways to it make go faster. I cannot believe that I am the only one. Between the invention of DRS by silk throwers in Italy during the 12th century and the advent of powered spinning frames circa 1780, millions people had a strong financial incentive to improve the spinning wheel in various ways. It was a very large, very competitive industry, with huge incentives for very small increases in spinner productivity. The competitive nature of the industry ensured that useful improvements were kept very secret, until they were obsolete. Thus, textiles were generally unique to a locality, because other localities did not know the details of how those fabrics were produced.
The way to determine what tools and technologies were used, is to become expert in textile production technology and reverse engineer the technology from found textile samples. Proof is in my spinning wheel. No historian viewing history through the prism of modern commercially produced and sold hand spinning wheels could conceive that a 16 th century hand spinner could have a production rate of 8 yards per hour. And, yet this afternoon as I tested the the new bearings, anything less is silly. It shakes and rattles, but it spins faster than any wheel you have ever seen or heard. I have no doubt that wheel makers in Flanders were making faster wheels by the end of the 15th century. There is nothing in my wheel that they could not do with the tools and materials that they had. Yes, the materials they had might have resulted in a bit more lard-oil splatter, but in a commercial spinning factory, that does not matter. Any historian who says that 16th century professional spinners that did not spin that fast, simply does not not know the craft of spinning.
As Ed Deming told us over and over, "You get what you measure. If you do not measure it, you do not get it". Professional spinners measured production - it was called income. Modern spinners do not measure it, and do not get it. Modern historians do not have a clue about the productivity of traditional hand spinners. Since spinning was the base of textiles, and textiles was major item of trade and a base of the economy, modern historians do not have a clue about the economy of the period.
And it solves that great question: Why 5-ply? A) Because they had DRS wheels set for 10s, and 5 plies of 10s knit into a fabric that was warm enough to keep a sailor from going hypothermic.
Now that I am spinning a lot of warp, hand spun 5-ply has become my go to yarn. I always have pounds of 10s around and plying up some 5-ply is just natural. It is a way of using up left overs. It is a stash buster.
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