Hello all!
So I bought a spinning whee at an antique store and I’m having some issues.
1- What type of wheel is this? Brand/style/year
2- My drive band keeps flying off. Every time I get it going it comes off. There are a few chips in the wheel here and there and it may be the knot I used. I’m not sure…
Any help would be great!
Welcome to KnittingHelp!
I’m tagging @mullerslanefarm for an expert opinion on your wheel. Good luck with it.
Thanks for the tag, @salmonmac.
@VWfarm, I was excited when I saw your first picture … it could almost be a double to my 2nd wheel.
Answers to your questions:
1- Your wheel is mostly an Irish style Saxony. (There is no brand … mine had an HG-7 carved on the end of the table). Not all of the pieces are original, including the drive wheel,the flyer, legs, wheel uprights … (you can tell because the turning on those do not match the more intricate turnings of the maiden uprights or distaff).
2- Your drive band keeps flying off because the drive wheel and the flyer whorl & the bobbin whorl do not line up. Make sure those two whorls are not glued together!! They need to be independent of each other. The flyer whorl should loosen by turning it to the right (the normal “rightey tightey, lefty loosey” doesn’t apply … it’s the opposite).
I started ‘cleaning’ up the flyer & realized I like the old patina much better.
See how the 2 whorls are separate? And how the flyer whorl lines up with the drive wheel?
Not in pristine condition, but original except for conrod which is a forged metal piece and new leathers on the maidens.
End of the table:
@mullerslanefarm That makes sense! Now my wheel as a slight wobble to it, probably 1/4" as it goes around, will this cause trouble also? And how shall I align the flyer whorl to the wheel? The flyer and bobbin are separate, I took of the piece yesterday to be sure, they both spin freely as well
A wobble on a wheel this old isn’t of great concern. The bigger problem is getting the whorls to align better with the drive wheel.
The hub on the right hand side of the drive wheel is the problem (from what I can see). It is too “thick”. There is no way to shim the flyer/bobbin to the left so the only solution I can see is to some how remove some of the thickness from the hub from the right side of the hub OR from the inner side of the right wheel upright.
This will only work if you are able to move (slide) the hub and drive wheel on the axle … and that won’t be easy.
Just a comment on your photo. I’ve been looking for wheels that are similar to the one I found. @mullerslanefarm seems to think that mine is a home made jobby, but when I look at yours and compare it to any photos of wheels old and new that I have found online yours is the closest to mine of any I’ve seen. Granted your maidens etc. and the mechanism are double drive, but basic build of the rest of it (bar the wheel itself) are incredibly similar to my one, I wonder if they have a similar history?
There are 2 types of treadle spinning wheels: one like yours and the 2 shown here are called Saxony wheels. The mother-of-all is situated on a table behind the drive wheel.
On the Castle wheel, the mother-of-all sits above the drive wheel.
You can see the difference of the 2 types in Ashford wheels https://www.ashford.co.nz/spinning-wheels
Each wheel maker has very distinguishing characteristics, the turnings on the maidens, spokes, legs, etc; the pitch of the table are just a couple. You can see some of those similarities in VWfarm’s wheel and one of my old wheels.
In a wheel makers history, these characteristics can change so it is sometimes easy to identify the age of wheels based on the minute changes made.
“On the Castle wheel, the mother-of-all sits above the drive wheel” Ah, hence ‘Castle’!
