Another wheel!

[merrileemakes]

Well, this could become a problem. I've brought home another wheel to restore.

This one is, according to the handwritten notes on the bottom, a Wee Maggie wheel. It was made in 1983 by M. N. Cork in Tumut, and is the 57th Wee Maggie made. It had been sitting at Canberra Spinners and Weavers for a while as it could no longer turn properly and was now a 'spinning wheel shaped object' rather than a functional piece of equipment. But feeling confident after restoring the Sheridan Macarthur wheel I felt confident enough to tinker with this one. It's not like I could make it worse, right? I had a play and realised that it was this metal piece that connected the wheel to the footman that was causing the problem. It was bent, catching the footman (the pole that connects the wheel to the treadle) and stopping the wheel from making a full revolution. I think I had just enough knowledge to fix this. I unscrewed the footman and soaked the bent metal piece in hot water for a bit, before using a bench vice (minus the bench) to bend it. I then connected the footman again and... success! The wheel could now turn freely. Now time to give the wheel a spruce up. It had a little creak as the wheel turned so it clearly needed a bit more love. I do think of these wheels as peace lilys though, in that they only need the smallest bit of attention before they become themselves again. :) Time to get that old yarn off the bobbins and give them a clean. Once I did that I noticed that the bobbins have a tiny pin, designed to hold your leader yarn in place when you start a new bobbin. I'd never seen that before, how nifty! A vinegar soaked rag should sort that discolouration on the metal connector piece. And now for that creak. I isolated it to the leather connector between the treadle and the footman. Makes sense, both leather and wood are natural materials and need moisture to keep in good condition. I unscrewed the leather connector from the wheel and gave it a good recondition with my good ole' Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner.

Now to let everything dry and see how Wee Maggie feels in the morning.

Comments

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I think it's wonderful that you restore spinning wheels so they can work again.

Re: Wow!

[merrileemakes]

Thank you! 💜