Remember this old wheel?

With these broken parts and the missing flyer?

Just to refresh your memory, the wheel was purchased used in 1880 by DH’s great-grandmother. It was used pretty heavily, and has taken a fair amount of abuse over the past decade or so, but it is a part of his family’s history and most certainly deserved to be rescued. The original intent was to bring the wheel back in working order. With the arrival of the Rose, I no longer need to use it, but we still felt it was important. Take a look at it now:

The lighter wood pieces are the new replacement parts: the footman, whorl, bobbin, flyer, and maiden. A number of missing wooden pins have been replaced, including those which had begun to work their way loose on the wheel itself. The treadle has been trimmed and tightened, and new leather bearings made for the maidens. I cannot say how impressed I am with the work. Take a closer look at the mother-of-all assembly:

While he had the pieces for the bobbin, whorl, and maiden, there was no flyer. Odds are that it had been thrown out along the way without the caster realizing how important it was. However, a little improvisation and looking at a similar old wheel which was intact, and our friendly and incredibly talented neighboring craftsman had not repaired the pieces, but rather recreated them. The first hooks on the flyer are a tiny bit too far forward, but the others are entirely usable.

Most significantly, the thing works. I grabbed a length of cotton yarn for a drive band last night when we got it home and a bit of white Sheep Shed roving just to test things out. I’m so impressed. He replaced the pieces which needed replacing, but left the others as they were—hence the chew marks on one of the legs (there must have been a close encounter with a puppy somewhere along the line), and the broken tip on the tension screw and one of the maidens. Since he had no idea how a wheel worked and didn’t understand about the need to remove the bobbin, the new maiden is fastened in a little snugly with a new wooden pin to secure things. It can certainly be removed in order to spool off the yarn, but it will need a little extra patience and manipulation in order to ease it out so that the metal rod can be released from the new leather bearings. It would, however, get a bit easier over time if it were done often enough.

It still needs a little oiling on the crank shaft—virtually the only metal on the entire wheel, aside from the spoke for the bobbin and flyer assembly—a wee bit of light sanding here and there, and some good, moisturizing wood oil. The old pieces will receive the same treatment, and then I’m packing them up in bubble wrap and safe packaging for the future. It may be that someone further down the line would like to restore the wheel in its entirety (barring the missing flyer), and the original bits should definitely be saved for historical value. Once that’s done, the wheel is going to be relocated to a safe space where it will be preserved and protected. I can see myself using it now and then just to keep it in working order, but it feels somehow fragile compared to the Rose. I’ve also discovered how much easier the Rose is to treadle compared to the single. I’ve always known that I’m terrifically uncoordinated, but buddy did trying to keep the wheel going forward using a different foot position really point that out! DH just stood there, folded his arms, and grinned a bit. “I think you need a little practice,” he said.

I’m not sure practice would help. This white chick ain’t got no rhythm!

But wow . . . I’m sooooooooo pleased to see oldemor looking a bit more like her proud old self, even if she does have a few remaining battle scars.