The New Workshop

Well here we are at last! 

For those of you who use to enjoy the "Tales from the workshop" in  the magazine YarnMaker,  we have decided to continue over here. 

So glad to be back!  Well I am writing this, it’s a good few months down the line and we have new workshops – His and Hers!   Advantage…… ‘He’ can’t ‘nick’ my chisels  J.

Let me set the scene, we are now a stone’s throw from the aqueduct where the Mon & Brecon Canal crosses the Afon LLwyd.

In a dip below the canal but above the river, surrounded by trees, we now work to the sound of ducks and herons as well as the occasional drone of the canal boat passing by. Clive has the bigger workshop as he has most of the machinery there.

Whilst Billy & I share the smaller one and we love it.  Billy now has a cosy corner (on the chest freezer). He has to ask to be lifted up (his legs are too short to jump up) but he can easily get down if he wants.           

We also have a covered patio area where we can work outdoors when we want, too.

Once we organised ourselves, we started doing repairs and replacement bobbins this has helped us get into a new routine and also helped us get used to the new machinery and tools.

Over th #e last few months we have repaired a couple of unusual wheels.

The first was a Saxony style (sloping bed) that arrived boxed with the main body dis-assembled – no problem - but with a bag of bits.

 Which, on investigation, we discovered was the flyer in two parts, 3 bobbins and an integral lazy kate. The wheel, which had some nice features, was regrettably made by a Woodturner who seemed to have no knowledge of spinning. It is such a shame that although their turning is lovely and sometimes decorative features are really nicely thought out, the wheel ‘goes round’ but does not and will not work at all in a functional way.

Frequently the first problem is that the two uprights holding the wheel are neither parallel nor were they at the same angle from the bed, as in this case. This led the wheel to point to the maiden rather that the flyer pulley and bobbin whorl. They had to be knocked out and re-positioned just right to get the correct angles, as you can imagine this took some time. Then we moved on to put new leathers in the maidens (both sets were far too flimsy and broken) and the flyer shaft had come adrift from the flyer as it had neither been glued nor pinned. The tension handle also needed some work to make it work properly, as did the bobbins and the flyer whorl, so that they could rotate properly without catching. Once all necessary work was done  together with a sand down, Danish Oil and a test spin, we were pleased to say that, in the end, it looked a lovely wheel. Although not suitable for a learner could work for someone who was an experienced spinner.

The second wheel was a very unusual antique flax wheel, .that came in for repair when we were at Fibre East. It was amazing as it was embellished with Ivory turnings, although a few were missing.  The Owner had someone who did most of their furniture repairs etc who had some pieces from an old ivory chess set that would be able to turn the missing parts. However they knew nothing about spinning wheels and so they wanted us to make the relevant missing parts so that it could be a usable wheel again. The first challenge was to get the wheel out of its ‘cage’ to enable us to seat the wheel properly as it was leaning to one side and hitting an upright. After a bit of juggling between the two of us we managed to remove the wheel and clean up its support and then reseat the wheel back into place, This actually proved harder than getting it out!!!!!  Having got the wheel itself spinning properly, Clive then moved onto another part. Now this wheel had an unusual set up on the Maidens for removal of the flyer.

It was impossible to rotate the maiden to remove the flyer as the cradle for the flyer was not leather but brass and therefore totally rigid. The small peg at the base of the left hand Maiden (below) had to be removed .Then the two maidens are lifted out and then the flyer/bobbin etc are removed as a whole. After the bobbin is changed the procedure is reversed..

First of all the two metal threaded rods down the middle of each maiden had to be removed as the threads were worn away with age and these were replaced by new rods that Clive had to thread. These were then fitted back into the Maidens. Then a new flyer and bobbins were designed as required and fitted into the Maidens and a few other little repairs were carried out, such as replacement pegs etc and a little bowl (for water) was made to fit into the recess in the top of the framework. The wheel was then ready to move back to it’s owner for the  next stage ……having the ivory replaced.

Then we had a phone call from a Friend who through ill health has given up spinning and they have decided to move their spinning wheel on and asked us over for a cup of tea to collect it. So one afternoon we collected an old Shapwick Blaise spinning wheel that actually spins quite well considering how long it has been left unloved….nothing that a bit of TLC can’t remedy

Now we had not heard the name before but then discovered that it is the predecessor of the Frank Herring ‘bent ply’ wheel that we have so often restored in the past. 

Soon after that the  carrier brought in a ‘legless’ Haldane (no it hadn't been drinking lol!.)

Happy to say that has now had new legs and treadle and gone back to it's happy owner.

Hope to add to the blog soon with photos of the new Timbertops being made.

What will tomorrow bring …………… who knows ………………. but it certainly makes life very interesting… J.