8/28/08 – Here she is!

I promised to post pictures of the custom painting touches that I put on my new Mach 1.  Usually I prefer to take photos outside in natural light, but today it rained ALL DAY.  Great for the plants, so I didn’t mind a bit (I actually love rainy days), but as a result these photos were taken inside, with a flash.  I’ll put up better ones in Flickr when the weather cooperates, but for now…. on with the show:

 

 

… and there she is.  I added a thin round piece of wood to make the yarn ball – that’s not a regular part of the standard wheel.  It’s attached in a manner that’s easy to remove and doesn’t interfer with any of the working parts.

I’ve never given any of my wheels a name, but for some reason I think this lady deserves one.  Any ideas?

8/27/08 – Assembling Mach 1

Finally the finish is dry, the house is quiet, and I’ve got time to put the Mach 1 back together and give her a whirl!  If you get one of these wheels unfinished, PLEASE learn from my mistake and take CAREFUL notes of where every little spring and washer and e-clip is supposed to go.  I found out the hard way that Mike carefully assembles and calibrates each wheel individually, so one wheel may have two washers where another has three, and so on.  Also, those little springs held on by e-clips?  They can be mighty hard to find when your hand slips as you’re slipping that e-clip back on.  (can we say “projectile).  Several hours and three phone calls to Mike later, and I have her up and spinning.  Some of my trouble, I believe, has to do with the fact that the wheel was assembled in a dry climate, then spent three unfinished weeks sitting around my house in Virginia, where humidity is hoving around 70% (and I haven’t been running the AC the last few weeks either).  That made the wood parts really hold on to the metal, and caused me to have to do a good bit of hammer-banging that might otherwise have been avoided.  I also got one of the last wheels to ship BEFORE the owner’s manual was ready, so I was working without diagrams or directions.    But anyway, I finished, she spins, and I spent the next hour unstressing on my front porch plying up this:

One ply is handspun superwash that changes color at random, rather long intervals, joined with rayon seed yarn and spiral-plied with black wool/nylon.  All 380 unbroken yards weighing 8 1/2 ounces on ONE BOBBIN!  yes, Yes, YES!  That’s what I’m talking about!  EIGHT ounces on ONE bobbin!  Here’s how it looks in a skein:

I could knit with this and get stripes, but I spun it thinking that I might be able to use it on a tri-loom (triangle loom), or a rectangular scarf loom.  I need to figure out which, and what size, I could get from this much yarn, and then built the loom.   Another day.  First I need to spin some more, and put the finishing decorative touches on my new Mach 1 so I can post those pictures tomorrow!

8/25/08 Day 1 – Mach 1

Day One!
Several months ago I heard of a new spinning wheel called the Mach 1, made by Spinolution in California(http://www.spinolution.com/Page_2.html) that seemed to combine all kinds of wonderful features that I’d been looking for, like huge bobbins and no orifice, with some new features like a rocker-style double treadle and toe brakes (brakes?) that were really intriguing.  The reviews were great, the price affordable, and so I thought, “I’ve got to have one” — and even more “I’ve got to become a dealer if these wheels are as great as people say they are!”  And so that is what I did!  The wheel comes unfinished or with a basic finish, but the sellers like dealers to get the unfinished one and have the experience of finishing themselves.   And so that is what I’ve been doing:

Here you see the partially-disassembled wheel drying from it’s second coat of tung oil.  When that was dry, I got out the artist paints and dolled it up a bit.  Those additions are still drying – you’ll have to wait for another day to see the final result!

I’m working on developing a line of spinning fibers with upcycled/recycled content, and today I spent part of the day dyeing roving to coordinate with a recyled add-in.  While I have a drum carder, I want to have several pounds of four different fibers to offer, and so I’m getting it all ready to send off to be blended and carded into roving.  I’m excited about the concept and the colors/blends that I’m putting together — I can’t wait to get it back, spin it up… oh wait, I haven’t even packed it up to ship yet!