We went to Mt. Morris, NY to buy a spinning wheel that I'd been looking at for months, only to find that Tom Cook of the Nunda Historic Society had snapped it up a few days before. I'm very fond of Tom, so I won't be upset, and I hope the wheel finds a good home there.
On went the hunt for a good treadle wheel for me though. We went through all of the antique shops on Main St. visiting & chatting & talking to no avail. I was told twice "you are the first person to ever ask for that." Then we went to Letchworth Barn Antiques down the hill and the moment we walked in the door, she was there. The Yarn Angles sang. Much like the Great Wheel in the basement, I looked up & knew she was coming home with me. She gave me a lovely splinter the first time I laid hands on her. It was meant to be.
Dusty, dirty, missing parts, a bit chipped, desperate for a drink.
But she went around, the treadle went up & down, the tension screw worked, the wood is sound.
It's missing the top of the distaff - no surprise there; and the entire flyer mechanism, which is disappointing as I'll have to find one that will work with the machine. The drive band is long gone & would have needed replacing anyway.
Unless the graffiti carved into the top of the table is actually a maker's mark, I can't find one... to me it looks like an adolescent's idol defacing, not the work of a careful craftsman.
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| Dusty Wheel in her new home |
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| Gunked up mechanism due to old oil & paint (yes, someone painted the bearings) Wheel pegs missing, but it works without them. |
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| The Mother, maidens, tension screw & distaff base |
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| other view of maidens & distaff base |
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| The footman kept slipping off. That's the stick that connects the treadle to the wheel. |
I washed the wheel with Murphy's Oil Soap and gave it a good cleaning, polishing, and waxing the next day ... oiled the bits that needed it. After chipping off the years of paint & old oil (yes, someone once painted it white), it whirrs around like a champ.
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| Happy shiny wheel! |
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| She really needed a drink |
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| cleaned & oiled |
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| Have to figure out how the flyer assembly attaches. There aren't any holes for it. |
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| Some ugly paint is still there. I haven't decided what to do about it. |
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| Edge of the wheel. Double drive band. |
John also bought the Box of Parts, which came with the purchase, but none of them go with this particular spinning wheel. Happily, one of the maidens will work wonderfully as a direct drive for my Great Wheel, and the extra spindle just needs a bit of care to be fully functional again.
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| Box o Parts |
It should be quite an adventure! The first leg of this journey will be finding a flyer mechanism (spindle, flyer, bobbin, etc) that works with this. Then a drive band (easy), then either making or finding a distaff.
I think this is my favorite diagram so far...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93685979@N00/galleries/72157627888287428/
3 comments:
You've done a good job so far - best of luck with the flyer!
We've decided to have one made vs. trying to find one that fits.
I have to order the various bits & pieces, which will then, hopefully, be turned into a working flyer.
LOL, it's now March and we still haven't gotten this done. Poor little wheel. I'm thinking of just hooking up a direct drive spindle so it can spin around a bit.
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