Carol writes:
<<So you were the other lady that bought one of those electric spinners
Sat.>>
Hey, I'm glad he made another sale :)
<<I think it's great!! Spinning is so easy, smooth, and quiet! It has
a handle so you can just pick it up and go. Only weighs 9 pounds. He
makes them with an Ashford flyer and bobbin.>>
I'll second all that, and add some more details :)
<<I spent half the morning talking to the man (never did get his name,
but he's with Wild Meadow Angora...email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] )>>
Yes, another case where didn't really get vendor info, though at least
they had a handout for the fiber side of the business. The lady running
that side was Jean Womack. I kinda got the impression the gentleman
might have been her husband, but he never said and wasn't wearing a
badge, so I could be entirely wrong :)
OK, here's what I can tell you about the spinner:
It's flyer lead with the flyer arrangement on the left and the motor on
the right. The flyer is the standard Ashford one. The mother of all is
made by the vendor, out of solid wood of some sort--I didn't ask, but it
looks like hardwood to me (not that I know anything about wood! :) And
it sits on a base of the same wood, very solidly made without being real
heavy. Looks like it's finished with a coat of oil, but that's another
question I didn't think to ask.
The spindle of the flyer fits into sealed bearings, which in turn sit in
a groove cut into the wood, cushioned with a clear, cushy, plasticy kind
of stuff, on both ends. It's designed so the flyer won't slip forwards
or backwards, yet has room to turn freely.
The drive band is that clear, stretchy stuff, fits very well into the
groove of the flyer's middle whorl. I plan to cut and rejoin it so that
it goes in the smallest whorl, when I get around to it.
The tension is Scotch tension, with a nylon cord brake band attached to
the usual Ashford metal spring. It's a heavier cord than I have usually
seen for a brake band, but fits the groove well and obviously resists
the effects of friction--it's not even warmed by spinning at high
speeds.
My only complaint so far with this spinner is that he's got a funky
arrangement for adjusting the tension which requires both hands.
There's a knob that sticks straight out front of the flyer to turn for
the adjustment, with a knob on the left to tighten to lock the first
knob in place, or release it for adjusting. My dh will be fixing that
problem shortly. But the tension does adjust very nicely through a wide
range of takeups. In fact, I hadn't realized just what a problem that
was on my lace flyer until being able to fully adjust on the new spinner
:)
The motor is hidden under a woven cane 'cloth', and when I asked if he
would take off the cover he advised against it because there's knobs and
things on the outside and very little clearance inside. So, since it
obviously HAS a motor, I let that go. It's shaped like a quonset hut,
rounded top, about the length and width of the flyer assembly, but not
as tall. Not super fancy looking, but not unattractive. I don't know
about durability--like any other spinning device, avoid knocking it
against things and it will probably be fine.
On the top of the cover are two toggle switches, a fuse, and the speed
knob. Nothing fancy--parts from any Radio Shack. But quite
functional. One toggle is on/off, the other reverses direction so you
can spin and ply.
The motor is the same motor which runs fans inside car engines. The
maker told Zack he located the company which makes these fans for
virtually all cars--it's in New Zealand :) It's a DC motor, and has a
transformer in the case. It could also be used, I'm told (got all A's
in Physics and don't remember any of it :) with a solar panel or your
car's lighter thingum, with the right attachments. He said it could run
all day without overheating, and indeed had several spinners running
continuously while I was there, with no problems.
It has a grounded, heavy-duty power cord that plugs into the back of the
spinner. The cord is rather short, I had to use an extension to use it,
but I expect we can get a longer cord to fit it.
The pulley for the motor is at the front of the cover, and is about 1
1/8 inches in diameter where the drive band goes. Here's a question for
those of you who understand physics better than I do :) Zack says if we
make the drive pulley larger, it will speed up the flyer. I think that
the motor speed determines that aspect, though of course using a smaller
whorl on the flyer will speed it up. Which is right?
I will get some pictures taken and put them on my website, for those who
are interested in this spinner. So far, I am quite pleased. Aside from
the silly arrangement to adjust the takeup, I have found this spinner to
be quiet, reaching only a loud hum at the fastest speed with no rattling
or vibrations that I notice, it takes up onto the bobbin very
well--rarely have to stop the motor because the yarn is caught, and it
really is quite fast. In fact, I almost wish it wasn't so fast, because
there's no way I know of to count the revolutions on any but the slowest
speed :)
One thing would make it better still, but I hear it's not being made
anymore--that level-winder device, so you don't have to stop and move
the yarn from hook to hook on the flyer. Or using a different flyer,
one with a sliding hook, would be nice.
Holly
very pleased with her new spinner :)
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