By far my favorite spinning tools are my wheels. Every so often, probably not often enough, I give them a mini spa treatment. I oil, condition their wood and change their drive bands. Just a little spiff up.
What usually happen while I’m doing this is that I think about how the wheel came to me and all of the classes and adventures we’ve been on together.
It has been past time for me to show my Matchless a little love. Here she is, I’ve had her for at least 20 years.
I bought her at Lambspun in Fort Collins, Colorado when I worked at Interweave Press. I barely knew how to spin, but as soon as I saw her I was in love. I haven’t used her much for the past year or so, even though she’s the wheel I can adjust with my eyes closed, I’m so familiar with her.
She has aged beautifully. When she was new she was closer in color to my Lendrum.
She was a little dusty
This is the wheel I really learned to spin on thanks to Maggie Casey. It’s also the wheel I stuck in the basement for many years becasue I was obsessed with knitting. She was patiently waiting when I decided I needed to spin.
Here’s my mini spa kit:
I like Wood Beams to condition the wood, it soaks in fast and has almost no smell. I use chalk line for my drive band replacement. It was recommended by Beth Smith as a good basic drive band for my Schacht. She does say that I ‘ll have to tighten it every few bobbins since it’s polyester and will stretch. I actually consult the wheel’s manual before I oil. Almost all of my wheels have their manuals on-line. During my mini spa I take my WooLee Winder apart and clean it according to the manual. There’s usually a lot of fluff stuck inside. I like a WooLee Winder, not everyone does. I use it most of the time on my Matchless, but not all of the time. I check my wheel for loose bits. Carrying my wheel around in my car, vibrates screws loose. I treadle the wheel by hand and attend to any weird sighs and squeaks. Then I am done.
She looks happy, doesn’t she? Now it’s time to spin!
How do you take care of your wheels?
I need to take better care of my wheel…but I use him so infrequently. I know he’s dusty and I should take care of that but I’m not sure he’s ready to be oiled yet. No squeaks or rattles…mostly, he’s just dusty.
Wheels look so much happier after their wood is oiled. I recently bought my first (second/third/?-hand) wheel (Ashford Traditional) and it needed a good wood oiling as well as joint oilings. It doesn’t help that our winters are very dry (and previous owner evidently gave her no spa lovin’). I didn’t like the colour at first and was planning on some decorative painting, but after a good wood oiling she gleams beautifully.