Kamsack Brute Project - Part 3 - Reveal
I always promised myself if I ever got another spinning wheel I would get one that was already finished - I SO hate sanding! Sooooo here I am with the Brute, sanding, staining, sanding, verathaning and sanding some more.... *sigh!*
I chose a simple mid-range brown wood stain, (you have my permission to ooh and ahh over the transformation), a semi-gloss verathane and 400 grit sandpaper if you're ever loony enough to do this yourself. Let me tell you that every curve and indent needed a visit from the sandpaper fairy and my hands are still dried out from all that dust! This shot only shows it after the first sanding and stain. It took 2 coats of finish and 2 more sanding sessions before I brought it in the house for it's final fitting.
With no bearings and a metal-on-wood shaft housing, making the wheel cradle a bit wider wasn't enough. It seems inevitable that the sides would occasionally come in contact with each other and the best help I could give to lessen the drag is a good coating of beeswax, hence the "good" (read: expensive) candle. I made sure to leave the very side of the wheel itself (you can only see it as a half circle) bare, as in, without any verathane which would have made it sticky. The pourous wood grabbed the beeswax nicely! And since beeswax has a fairly high melting point it will tolerate the friction quite well and reduce drag. There is also a hole in the wood plate over the shaft. I sprayed some Jig-a-loo in there and was shocked by how big a difference it made in how easily the wheel turns!
Setting up the scotch tension was pretty simple! On the underside I screwed in an eye with a soft spring. On the top I drilled a hole for the wooden peg and used a piece of fishing line. I will say that on a bobbin this size though, the tensioner is a bit of a moot point. They're so big they tend to create sufficient drag themselves and it increases as they fill with yarn. Still, it was a necessary device to construct for the wheel to be complete.
This shot shows how the flyer assembly and bobbin fit into the bracket we made. The orifice shaft simply sits in a half cup and the shaft goes into a hole in the wood in the far side. Simple!
After that, I that was left to do was fit it with a drive band and take it for a spin! (pun intended!LOL!)
I used it to ply some singles I had sitting around. Needless to say it performed a lot better than it did when it first arrived here! It certainly took me some time to figure out the best way to sit so I could treadle comfortably on it for any length of time. I am no fan of single treadles to start with and I had additional problems with the silly thing scooting across the hardwood floor when I tried to build up some treadling speed! Eventually though we reached an understanding and I filled the bobbin without any problems at all! Now that felt pretty good! There's nothing I love better than a happy ending! Cheers all!
I used it to ply some singles I had sitting around. Needless to say it performed a lot better than it did when it first arrived here! It certainly took me some time to figure out the best way to sit so I could treadle comfortably on it for any length of time. I am no fan of single treadles to start with and I had additional problems with the silly thing scooting across the hardwood floor when I tried to build up some treadling speed! Eventually though we reached an understanding and I filled the bobbin without any problems at all! Now that felt pretty good! There's nothing I love better than a happy ending! Cheers all!
Posted by Gloria Patre at 10/12/2011 11:09 PM 
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: kamsack brute spinning wheel ning wheel modification spinning wheel repair
Categories: Other Projects, Spinning
Tags: kamsack brute spinning wheel ning wheel modification spinning wheel repair
Sanding may be a hateful job, but in the end I find that it's a lot like labor; I tend to forget how agonizing it is a day or two past the event and simply relish the end results. You certainly have a finished project to relish! :o)What a beauty this turned out to be! So glad you shared your adventure.
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Fantastc! What a great adventure. You must feel very acomplished having diagnosed the difficult areas and then resolved them yourself. You are fearless with that drill woman!
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It looks pretty good. Glad it all worked out for you. I love the kind of Norwegian style it has to it.
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I keep looking at your wheel and telling me I need one of those ... and that I don't have the room to have one. I could try with a spindle ... hum ... off to check out the one you have in your etsy shop !!
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