Home-made spinning wheel help?

As mentioned in a thread below, my dad decided to make me a spinning wheel (from the book recommended by [B]KnittinMitchie :)).[/B] He’s made most of the parts, but we’re debating what to do next. Having never used a wheel (getting lessons in October) I’m not much help.
He thinks it would be easier to make a single treadle with one drive band because it would get too fiddly otherwise. He’s wondering how to make the groove in the wheel for the band - we’re thinking we could rig up his router but we don’t want to make ithe groove too wide or too deep so we’re wondering if there’s an easier way.
He went for pine in the end as most other woods nowadays are extortionately expensive. Unfortunately it’s also splitty, so to make the footman he was going to just use heavy cord. I can’t see how this would work myself but he says it would just pull down, it doesn’t need to push up. The book says to make a wooden piece just over an inch wide, but he thinks a pine footman would split. We have the odd scrap of hardwood left lying around from various hacked up pieces of furniture over the years, but none the right shape - does it need to be rigid?

Paul (DH) used a long paint stirrer (for 5 gallon buckets of paint) as a replacement footman on my late 1700’s wheel.

I don’t use it that often, but it does work well … and it’s FREE!!!

He went with cord in the end, he was playing with it last night, we found adjusting the brake a bit tricky, especially as it kept loosening itself. It’s string, an elastic band and a wooden peg! Anyhow here’s how it looks.

looks pretty goooood! congrats on the new wheel :slight_smile:

Cheers, well I’ll have to buy my dad a suitable present now to say thanks. He’s already muttering about converting it to double drive band or something… I’ve signed up for lessons in Oct, so I’ve just been treadling a bit and seeing how it winds on some leftover acrylic which is now mangled! Trying to clear my UFO pile before embarking of a new enterprise!

looks pretty good! How fun. “BUY” your dad a suitable present?! Honey you have to SPIN him a suitable present! Wahoo spinning!

That looks great! Now you really do have to spin him something - not buy it :slight_smile: