The Different Kinds of Wheel

Knowing the various types of wheel can help you enhance your skill at spinning and weaving. You can appreciate the designs and consistency of materials made by getting to know the different tools and wheels available. You will find that the mechanism might change, as well as the approach behind the system, but the results remain unchanged. Weaving and spinning is still very much the same today as it was thousands of years ago. 

About the Treadle Wheel

The treadle wheel is powered using the foot of spinner, instead of a motor or the spinner's hand. The spinner sits and starts pumping the treadle by foot. The drivel wheel then turns through the crankshaft and a connecting rod. Both hands are then free for drafting the fibers, which is important in short-draw spinning. 

Short-draw spinning is the most basic technique used for the treadle wheel. A lot of modern wheels use a flyer-and-bobbin type that twists the yarn and winds the yarn onto a spool continuously. The wheels can be single or double-treadle. The spinner personally chooses the type of treadle, but the function and results remain unchanged. 

The Double Drive Wheel

This type of wheel is named after the drive band. It goes around the spinning wheel a couple of times. The drive band turns the flyer, described as the horse-shoe shaped wooden piece that surrounds the bobbin. Because of the whorl size difference, the bobbin whorl turns faster than the flyer whorl. 

The whorl is described as the round piece or pulley wherein the drive band runs around in. The flyer and bobbin start to rotate, thereby twisting the yarn. The difference in the spend will continually wind the yarn right onto the bobbin. The difference in speed or ratio is changed by the size of the whorls, as well as the tension of the drive band. The drive band on the double drive wheel is made of non-stretch twine or yarn. Sometimes, candlewick can be used. 

The Single Drive

The single-drive wheel includes the drive band going around the flyer and brake on the bobbin. A lot of the drive bands for this type of wheel is created from synthetic cord. It is elastic and will not easily slip on the wheel. As the spinner makes new yarn, the bobbin and flyer can turn in unison, but the spinner may choose to wind the yarn onto the bobbin. The flyer or the bobbin will slow down and then the yarn winds on. A part will slow down due to the brake band looping over the element. If the brake band is tight, the pull on the yarn increases, since there is more friction on the bobbin that needs to be overcome to turn together with the flyer. 

The Styles

The castle wheel is described as having the flyer and spindle found just above the wheel, instead than just off to a single side. The wheel type is usually compact and very easy to store. A number of castle wheels can fold up so that these can fit as carry-on luggage in airplanes. 
