The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: WaltDisneyWorld on July 16, 2015, 08:57:40 pm
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I am about to purchase my first spinning wheel but cannot decide whether to have the wheel lacquered or Danish oiled. The wheel I have chosen is the Ashford Traveller Double treadle as it looks nice and compact and I have been told will spin the same as an Elizabeth, plus if I do find the time to join a local spinning group it will be portable. When I place the order I plan to purchase a maintenance kit, a pair of hand carders and a niddy noddy. Have I covered the basics to get started? I will be attempting to spin Ryeland fleece from our small flock. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to the finish of the wheel, your comments would be most welcome. Thank you.
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Good choice of wheel :spin: :thumbsup: .
Truly the finish is for you to decide, it's such a personal thing.
If you love wood, its grain and colour, then Danish oil looks very good, with a depth to it, and you can mollycoddle your wheel by re-Danish oiling it every year. It takes many coats of the oil though to get a perfect finish, because some of the wood of your wheel will necessarily be cut on the cross, which doesn't sand as well as wood sawn along the grain.
Lacquer is much more about looking smart and shiny, than about loving the wood. It's hard wearing and doesn't have to be done again, at east for years. Lacquer gives a hard, IKEA type finish.
I prefer Danish oil for my wheels because I love their wood.
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I would Danish oil too
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Good choice of wheel :)
On finishing, I'm a Danish Oil fan too. It's much cheaper to buy it natural and finish it yourself, too. ;)
I didn't buy a swift for a long time, nor a nostepinne, using BH's hands and a loo roll inner. Now I have an umbrella swift and a ball winder and I wouldn't be without them ;)
A spin dryer for the fleece.
A dog comb / slicker brush to top 'n' tail the locks before you put them on the hand carders.
A fine-nozzled bottle for applying oil to the wheel. (Note, I think this may now be included in the maintenance kit.)
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Good choice of wheel :)
You have tried one, though, haven't you? Before you order? And you have tried, not just for 10 minutes either, a double treadle? (I love the Traveller single treadle but bang my shins on the double treadle's table.) Wheel choice is highly individual, and I really wouldn't buy a brand new one if I hadn't tried one.
Travellers don't spin the same as an Elizabeth. They use the same flyers and bobbins. The Elizabeth is a Saxony style wheel, the Traveller a castle style wheel. If you can spin on a Lizzie then you should be able to spin on a Traveller, but it is different. Also, have you thought about whether you want scotch tension / single drive or double drive? If you've been using a Lizzie, it may well have been in double drive.
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I'm another one for Danish oil.
I have a traditional and a double treadle traveller but since I bought the traveller the traditional hasn't had a look in :)
Both of mine were secondhand
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Thank you everyone for your replies, they have been very helpful. I have decided on Danish oil finish, so thank you for helping me make my mind up on that :). I haven't yet tried a spinning wheel, (oh dear, I can hear the groans!), but it has been my ambition to spin for so many years. I have taken the view as I have nothing to compare with I will learn on what I get, however I am now confused as to what tension would be best and am I right on double treadle after reading Sally's comments on banging her knees and yet Bionic seems happy with hers. Not sure if this is relevant, but I drive an automatic car now so I am used to using one foot rather than two so would a single treadle be preferable?
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Not sure if this is relevant, but I drive an automatic car now so I am used to using one foot rather than two so would a single treadle be preferable?
That's actually not a daft question. A dear spinning friend of mine found that when learning, she couldn't cope with using only one foot while using two hands, but as soon as she tried a double treadle, so she was using both feet and both hands, she was away! :D Now she can use single or double treadle, and has one wheel of each.
WDW, I would strongly urge you to buy a secondhand wheel to start with, and/or join a local Guild (I don't know where in Suffolk you are, but there are Guilds at Bury St Edmunds and Lavenham) or other spinning group (there's a comprehensive list in Yarnmaker magazine (http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/)) that can lend / hire you a wheel, so that you don't end up losing money buying a new wheel that doesn't suit you longer term.
There are many older Ashford Traditional and Traveller wheels around, they're easy to get working and use, and if you subsequently decide you'd like a different wheel or a new one of the type you've learned on, then you can sell on the wheel you originally bought secondhand for the same as you paid for it.
If you're adamant you will buy a new Traveller, though, then they come as double drive / scotch tension (ie., they will do both) as standard now. The default is double treadle but you can special-order a single treadle.
I can't tell you how to know whether you will prefer single or double treadle except to try one of each!!
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I don't think there's anything wrong with buying your chosen wheel before you know how to spin - it's exactly what I did. My first wheel was an Ashford Traddie and did me well as a starter. Then I wanted something to carry about with me and bought an Ashford Traveller. I also have a big Lendrum Saxony wheel imported from Canada, which is wonderful to spin on, but heavy to move around, and takes up rather a lot of space.
Which one do I use most? The Traveller. Mine is Scotch tension - this is far simpler than double drive to learn with. The Lendrum is double drive and took me a while to get to grips with. The Traddie is Scotch tension, and single treadle. I found the single treadle, if I was spinning a lot, was very tiring on the leg doing all the work, and let the other leg get a bit puffy with just sitting there for hours. Both the Lendrum and the Traveller are double treadle.
An advantage of double treadle when you are learning, is that it's much easier to get your wheel turning in the right direction when you set off. Single treadle is a bit uneven and tends to set off backwards before you get the knack.
So to summarise all that, my Ashford Traveller is Scotch Tension, double treadle and is my favourite of the three wheels for picking up and getting on with spinning.
I think you may do best to keep it simple, start with an Ashford Traveller with Scotch Tension, and double treadle, learn to spin on it, and if you hate it, then sell it and buy something else - wheels change hands without problems. Don't clutter up your mind with whether this or that wheel may be best. For hundreds of years people have spun on the wheel they had, without an option to choose something else, and they did excellent spinning.
Ashford wheels are straight forward, inexpensive, there are plenty of spare parts available and just about everyone who spins knows how to use an Ashford, so help is readily available should you need it.
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For banging your shins on the Ashford Traveller's table, I've never done that, so went and tried it out. In a natural position for me to spin, my shins are a good 5" from the wood. Even sitting so close my specs went out of focus I still couldn't touch my shins against the wood :D. I'm 5' 4" tall so fairly average.
For spinning in a relaxed way, you need to sit back a bit, not hunched over your wheel. If you do hunch over it, you will get a sore back and your yarn will tend to come out tight and overtwisted. For all stages of spinning you need to hold your hands and body in a relaxed position, back fairly straight and a comfortable distance away from the orifice. :spin:
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I also have an automatic car and don't find using the double treadle a problem. Sometimes I am lazy though and just use one of the treadles it works just as well
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I'm another automatic car driver but prefer double treadle. I agree with FW that it can be hard on the leg doing the work. When I had a single treadle wheel, I used to swap legs every so often to give one a rest.
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I'm another automatic car driver but prefer double treadle. I agree with FW that it can be hard on the leg doing the work. When I had a single treadle wheel, I used to swap legs every so often to give one a rest.
I seem to be seriously right legged, so trying to use the left foot to give the right a break never really worked. It made my spinning a bit jerky and uneven. Both together is fine for me. I suppose everyone is different, which is why we have the various options, including an electric spinner (never fancied one - I think it will be my hands which give up before my legs do)
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For banging your shins on the Ashford Traveller's table, I've never done that, so went and tried it out. In a natural position for me to spin, my shins are a good 5" from the wood. Even sitting so close my specs went out of focus I still couldn't touch my shins against the wood :D. I'm 5' 4" tall so fairly average.
For spinning in a relaxed way, you need to sit back a bit, not hunched over your wheel. If you do hunch over it, you will get a sore back and your yarn will tend to come out tight and overtwisted. For all stages of spinning you need to hold your hands and body in a relaxed position, back fairly straight and a comfortable distance away from the orifice. :spin:
I don't sit hunched over a wheel, quite the reverse, but I do have fat legs ;)
I haven't ever tried spinning on that double treadle Traveller sat on a different - lower - chair, which might have helped.
Oh, and I'm 5'5"
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If the OP was considering buying a secondhand wheel, I would then totally echo all the 'just get one and start spinning' sentiments. It's the purchase of a new one when she doesn't even know if she likes single or double treadle that is bothering me. You will lose money if you buy a new one and then decide it's not the one for you.
However, it is probably true that more people like double treadle than hate it, and more people hate single treadle than love it, so if you must buy new untried, double is probably a better bet.
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I've got size 8 feet and short legs. I simply can't use a double treadle Traveller because I run out of space to move, plus it's annoying to have to sit in the same knees together position for hours on end. But that's just my particular shape, your shape will be different. Which is why it's much better to try before you buy.
I don't like double treadles in general anyway though. I've got back issues and find the faint rocking of the pelvis when you use a double treadle sets me twinging. Plus it's better for a dodgy back to be able to change position regularly, with a double treadle you're pretty well stuck in one place. As to treadling being hard on one leg I swap over now and again.
More newbies get on with double treadle wheels than single treadles at first though. There's a learning curve of about 20 minutes to learn to use a single treadle, a double treadle is pretty well instant to learn. if you're in a shop with a sales person lurking around while you try the wheels then 20 minutes on one wheel may not be an option. One more reason hiring a wheel from your Guild or buying a cheaper second hand one that holds it's resale value is a good idea. You need to be able to use a wheel a little bit before your personal preferences start to emerge.
Having said all that I bought a second hand wheel (Louet S10, single treadle Irish tension) blind off Ebay and taught myself on it before I had a clue about anything. I was lucky though, got a decent wheel at a rock bottom price that I could have sold on easily if I'd not liked it. It's not recommended to do it this way through!
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For banging your shins on the Ashford Traveller's table, I've never done that, so went and tried it out. In a natural position for me to spin, my shins are a good 5" from the wood. Even sitting so close my specs went out of focus I still couldn't touch my shins against the wood :D. I'm 5' 4" tall so fairly average.
For spinning in a relaxed way, you need to sit back a bit, not hunched over your wheel. If you do hunch over it, you will get a sore back and your yarn will tend to come out tight and overtwisted. For all stages of spinning you need to hold your hands and body in a relaxed position, back fairly straight and a comfortable distance away from the orifice. :spin:
I don't sit hunched over a wheel, quite the reverse, but I do have fat legs ;)
I haven't ever tried spinning on that double treadle Traveller sat on a different - lower - chair, which might have helped.
Oh, and I'm 5'5"
I wasn't meaning you personally Sally. Your legs would have to be ginormous for that to be a problem, and I know they're not.
I'm also sure you don't hunch over your wheel, because you spin a lot but don't walk about with a crick in your back; that advice was for WDW, the OP.
I was wondering about seat height too. If I spin from my armchair on the Traveller, it is very awkward, but from my Wave Stool it's ideal, although the stool is higher than the armchair. For the Lendrum Saxony, it's the other way round - can't spin on it at all from the Wave Stool.
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:-* :wave: and :celebrate: and :cake: :cake: too! ;D
I do have a permanent crick in my back, actually, but it's eased by spinning (luckily!) not the reverse :relief:
And m'legs aren't slender... :innocent: Actually, reading Isabella's post, I think it's probably the short (and in my case fat) legs, size 7+ feet thing. Maybe also that my preferred treadle is a heel-toe single treadle, so it could be that I position my feet on a double treadle in a way that isn't ideal for that style of treadle :thinking:
WDW has probably left the forum thinking, "Are all spinners this opinionated and argumentative?" (To which the answer is probably Yes and Yes! lol)
I wish you were nearer to me, WDW, you could come over and try a variety of single treadle wheels, and come to our group once a month or another group about an hour away once a week, and try some double treadles too... and if you liked a single treadle traddy you could loan one from my Guild... :idea: Shall you be going to Fibre-East next weekend?
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I was wondering about seat height too. If I spin from my armchair on the Traveller, it is very awkward, but from my Wave Stool it's ideal, although the stool is higher than the armchair. For the Lendrum Saxony, it's the other way round - can't spin on it at all from the Wave Stool.
Its obvious that what suits one doesn't suit another. I am most comfortable using my Traveller when sitting in the armchair, the complete opposite to fleecewife. I do have a proper spinning stool and can't get comfortable on that at all. By the way I am 5'.5 and a half". I think its the half inch that makes all the difference :roflanim:
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Well I now think I am an expert because I have just finished knitting a hat from my home spun angora. Ha ha. Some of these ladies have been spinning for years and really know their stuff. Anyway for what it is worth... I did a 2 day course at Wingham wool last year, loved it, gave me a chance to try all the different wheels they sell. I bought the traveller- oiled it and we live happily together.
If you are in Suffolk FibreEast is on in Ampthill this weekend and you could probably try most of the wheels there for size.
I am about 5'5" and have the second largest calfs in England ( my sister says hers are bigger)
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Thank you Fleecewife. I have ordered the Traveller, natural finish, scotch tension, double treadle :) If it is in stock it will be delivered this week with a selection of batts to get me started.
I do appreciate all your replies, thank you.
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Happy spinning.
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Congratulations, do let us know how you get on.
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Yes, do let us know how you get on :spin: It's such a lovely hobby
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New wheel. :excited: