She had been lovingly passed down thru the generations within the same family - tho in pristine condition when she arrived from Colorado her to Georgia USA, especially for a lady of her advanced years - she had been unfortunately {for her} apparently rarely used to actually spin yarn. All the BETTER a find for ME!
It took a couple of days of heavy Ballistol {gun cleaning & lubrication oil} intensive care treatments & multiple cleanings with Ballistol soaked tooth-brush & soft rags scrubbings to get her long decoratively carved & slender threaded wooden upper table {drive wheel angle} adjustment rails unstuck & unlocked enough to physically tilt her wheel angle enough to align with her Flyer & Bobbin whorls.
I was becoming quite concerned that she might not ever be spinnable again, because without being able to align her Drive Band with the drive whorls on her Flyer & bobbin & the track on her wheel - she wouldn't turn 360* even ONCE without throwing off her cotton doubled Drive Band! She came to me with her Maiden & MOA {Mother of All} screwed onto her frame backwards - which still couldn't nearly line up with her flyer & bobbin & the wheel itself & of course her right angled treadle wouldn't have been useable with the Maiden on backwards either. I was afraid she'd have to remain a lovely but unspinnable piece of living history, tho she would STILL be a priceless treasure for me just as that.
Finally - after three days & several coats of Ballistol - the poor ol' girl was really quite THIRSTY after all. I gave the last locked up wooden threaded adjustment rod one more try & while gritting my teeth, & mentally crossing my fingers - with both hands - I gave her one more mighty make it or risk breaking her TWIST - et voila'! She was MOVED!
Her wheel tilting adjustment rods finally allowed her doubled up cotton kitchen twine "Drive Band" to align & "track" on her drive wheel in absolute perfectly even & secure trips round her 24" diameter turning radius, keeping each side of the cotton twine Drive Band's doubled loops tracking independently in the top of her drive wheel's indentations. And she "tracks" perfectly in BOTH spin directions without "tossing" her Drive Band off the wheel & abruptly stopping any spinning progress.
Spinners will appreciate that perfectly even Drive Band "tracking", that along with her unique wheel's solid axle & metal-lined block wheel upright supports - make for silent & friction-free smooth treadling action - except now of course for the happy "chattering" sound of her whirling flyer & Bobbin, "AnnaViktoria", so named after my German birth mother who I never had the pleasure to meet or reconnect with - is joyfully useful & blissfully Spinning away again as every spinning wheel wants to BE! She spins fine laceweight singles for me as tho she was borne to spin them!
My "AnnaViktoria" is also what we call a "one bobbin wonder" & has the smallest wee tiny bobbin I've yet seen on any spinning wheel. That said - I think I can use an Ashford Double-Drive Bobbin as replacements on her Flyer once I've cut off one whorl flange end of the Ashford bobbin - shortened the bobbin core a bit, drilled out the original core stub from the whorl end cut-off piece & finally glued it to the shortened bobbin core.
2 comments:
She's a beauty!!
Thanks Di! She just spins fine Orenburg lace singles SO well I can hardly believe my luck finding her on eBay for a STEAL of a deal from a new eBay vendor & antiques dealer - who didn't know she'd cost WAY more than the $17 S&H fee she charged me to ship her from Colorado to Georgia! Hacking back the Ashford bobbins worked like a charm too, so now she's a 3 bobbin wonder! : }
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