Alden made me 2 DD flyers - a #1 and a #0, his "Competition" flyer. The #1 Flyer has a capacity of about 3 ounces of yarn and the Competition has a capacity of ~ 2 ounces. The Competition, just looks elegant and fast, and like something that would be just right for frog hair yarns. When I first used it, before making DRS whorls for it, it certainly was better for fine singles. On the other hand, running DD (not DRS), spinning fine was difficult.
When I started making DRS whorls for those flyer/bobbin assemblies, the whorls for the #1 flyer were for 5,600 ypp (75 wpi) singles , then 11,000 ypp (105 wpi) singles then 22,000 ypp (150 wpi). They worked and I spent months learning to use them. Then, I made DRS whorls for the #0, and yes it was wonderful for spinning fine. For a long time, If I wanted to spin 5,600 ypp I used the #1, and if I wanted to spin 30,000 ypp, I would use the #0. Later, I went back and made whorls for spinning fine with the #1.
AA never did much spinning of yarns with grists greater than 24,000 ypp. On pg 215 of the BBB (big blue book), he writes of spinning 58 count Targhee at 19,000 ypp, on a single drive, bobbin lead flyer/bobbin assembly the size of the #1 flyer he made for me. I have spun dozens of hanks of such yarn with that configuration. I had to answer the question, "Do I need DRS for fine spinning on the #1?" However, by switching whorls and using DRS I could take that same fiber and spin it at 30,000 ypp, and spin twice as many yards per hour. Or, with DRS I could spin it at 20,000 ypp twice as fast as I could using single bobbin lead, single drive. That is the power of DRS.
When spinning 5,600 ypp singles, I would spin about a 1/3 oz of yarn, which would increase the effective diameter of the bobbin, then I would change flyer whorls, and spin another 1/2 oz of yarn, which would increase effective diameter of the bobbin, then I would change flyer whorls again, and spin the final 5/6 oz of yarn to make just over 560 yd or a hank of yarn. I estimated weight based on guidelines that I marked on the ends of the bobbins. Much later, I moved to making flyer whorls with 3 grooves on them so I did not have to change whorls, but only slip the drive band from groove to groove. This was wonderful, so I made such flyer whorls for 20s, 40s , 60s, and 80s( ~200 wpi). In those days, I was spinning knitting yarns, so the whorl for 10s inserted 9 tpi for 3 different effective bobbin diameters, and the 80s whorl inserted 26 tpi, and had only 1 groove because 560 yards is less than 7 grams and does not change the effective bobbin diameter significantly.
At that point, the big flyer was better than the Competition flyer for spinning fine singles. Alden used bronze bearings in his bobbins, and I had upgraded the bobbins for the big flyer to ball bearings. Fine yarns want a lot of twist, so the bobbins for spinning fine yarn, need to be able to spin very fast. Ball bearings make this possible. In addition, the larger flyer has a thicker axle and is more stable when the bobbin is spinning at very high speed.
When spinning 80s, I sometimes spin the bobbin at over 4,000 rpm, while the flyer is rotating at about 155 rpm less.
When the finished yarn is less than 3 oz, I use the #1 flyer with the proper whorls to give the proper ply-twist. For gansey yarn, I spin the singles hank by hank (1.6 oz each), wind off on to bobbins, steam block, and ply the 8 oz hank of 5-ply yarn on a standard Ashford Jumbo flyer using a weight and some fishing line for Scotch tension.
When I started making DRS whorls for those flyer/bobbin assemblies, the whorls for the #1 flyer were for 5,600 ypp (75 wpi) singles , then 11,000 ypp (105 wpi) singles then 22,000 ypp (150 wpi). They worked and I spent months learning to use them. Then, I made DRS whorls for the #0, and yes it was wonderful for spinning fine. For a long time, If I wanted to spin 5,600 ypp I used the #1, and if I wanted to spin 30,000 ypp, I would use the #0. Later, I went back and made whorls for spinning fine with the #1.
AA never did much spinning of yarns with grists greater than 24,000 ypp. On pg 215 of the BBB (big blue book), he writes of spinning 58 count Targhee at 19,000 ypp, on a single drive, bobbin lead flyer/bobbin assembly the size of the #1 flyer he made for me. I have spun dozens of hanks of such yarn with that configuration. I had to answer the question, "Do I need DRS for fine spinning on the #1?" However, by switching whorls and using DRS I could take that same fiber and spin it at 30,000 ypp, and spin twice as many yards per hour. Or, with DRS I could spin it at 20,000 ypp twice as fast as I could using single bobbin lead, single drive. That is the power of DRS.
When spinning 5,600 ypp singles, I would spin about a 1/3 oz of yarn, which would increase the effective diameter of the bobbin, then I would change flyer whorls, and spin another 1/2 oz of yarn, which would increase effective diameter of the bobbin, then I would change flyer whorls again, and spin the final 5/6 oz of yarn to make just over 560 yd or a hank of yarn. I estimated weight based on guidelines that I marked on the ends of the bobbins. Much later, I moved to making flyer whorls with 3 grooves on them so I did not have to change whorls, but only slip the drive band from groove to groove. This was wonderful, so I made such flyer whorls for 20s, 40s , 60s, and 80s( ~200 wpi). In those days, I was spinning knitting yarns, so the whorl for 10s inserted 9 tpi for 3 different effective bobbin diameters, and the 80s whorl inserted 26 tpi, and had only 1 groove because 560 yards is less than 7 grams and does not change the effective bobbin diameter significantly.
At that point, the big flyer was better than the Competition flyer for spinning fine singles. Alden used bronze bearings in his bobbins, and I had upgraded the bobbins for the big flyer to ball bearings. Fine yarns want a lot of twist, so the bobbins for spinning fine yarn, need to be able to spin very fast. Ball bearings make this possible. In addition, the larger flyer has a thicker axle and is more stable when the bobbin is spinning at very high speed.
When spinning 80s, I sometimes spin the bobbin at over 4,000 rpm, while the flyer is rotating at about 155 rpm less.
When the finished yarn is less than 3 oz, I use the #1 flyer with the proper whorls to give the proper ply-twist. For gansey yarn, I spin the singles hank by hank (1.6 oz each), wind off on to bobbins, steam block, and ply the 8 oz hank of 5-ply yarn on a standard Ashford Jumbo flyer using a weight and some fishing line for Scotch tension.
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