Kamsack Brute Project Started - Part 1
In the "Jobs I've Been Meaning To Get To" department is the upgrading of the Kamsack Brute wheel my sister sent me earlier this year. It is neither a delicate nor a finely tuned machine and because of it's sturdy nature I thought it would be well suited for the jumbo flyer from my Baynes wheel. Much as I love my Baynes there is no doubt the jumbo flyer was an afterthought add-on. As a small castle-style wheel it was, in my opinion, not really engineered for such large bobbins. Whenever I tried to use it for plying I found that once the bobbins were over half full the wheel wobbled and the bobbin bounced around. Since I love using it so much for regular spinning I was very reluctant to continue to do something I believed could eventually damage the joints on the wheel so I packed away the jumbo flyer and eventually purchased the Bea wheel for plying. Although several times I toyed with the idea of selling the jumbo flyer & bobbins I balked at the idea of handing off the problem tools to some other unsuspecting Baynes user. Plus, it could be an added selling feature if I ever decided to part with the Baynes. Anyways when I got the Brute, it seemed to be a very natural fit to give it a more substantial flyer than the one it came with!
The first order of business was to get out the cordless drill and start taking out the screws in the original Mother-of-all. Right from the start it was obvious the fellow who built this wheel intended for it to survive a prairie tornado!
Then I removed the 2 wooden plates that held the wheel shaft. This wheel is very sluggish to treadle and this little exercise showed why. There are no bearings to speak of - anywhere - no grease or oil either. (see the dark "burn marks" where the shaft sits?). Worse, the wheel fits snugly between the 2 sides and rubs continuously. It's like trying to treadle against 2 wooden brakes!
You can see that quite a bit better from this shot! It's a real pity actually, to have gone to so much work and then stumble on the things that really matter!
My biggest challenge is to do that sadly lacking fine tuning and turn a handyman project into a good serviceable wheel! Wish me luck!
My biggest challenge is to do that sadly lacking fine tuning and turn a handyman project into a good serviceable wheel! Wish me luck!
Posted by Gloria Patre at 9/15/2011 11:14 PM 
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: spinning wheel modification
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: spinning wheel modification
Wow no bearings and no grease? Wait, I know what this piece of equipment is...a fire starter! Insert kindling and go! Ha!
Best of luck making some improvements, show us what youcome up with
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I wish you luck! It would be great if I was handy with tools, as I have an antique saxony that is still waiting for some TLC
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Okay, now THIS looks like a superbly fun project! I'm fantasizing about doing a refurb or building a frankenwheel at some point.
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I hope that you get the wheel sorted out. It looks like it will last forever.
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