My Louet

Before I got into spinning, I used to hear other spinners talk about how spinning wheels multiplied quickly. You'd start out with one, and before you know it you'd end up with several.  I thought they were crazy. Surely you wouldn't need more than 1 wheel, right?

Well, I now have 3 wheels.  I just posted a picture of the 3 wheels in my workroom post.  My most recent wheel is my Louet s15 that I bought from someone selling it on Craigslist.  I brought my friend Nancy with me to look at it, and we both spun on it and it seemed to work fine. The wheel was slightly warped, but it didn't affect the spinning ability.

I was spinning on it recently, and the part that connected the treadle (foot pedal) to the footman (rod that connects the treadle to the wheel) came detached.  I tried to re-attach it, but realized someone had improvised and replaced that part with a piece of cable (like coax cable).  I figured I could replace the cable with something similar, but softer so the screws to attach it would screw in easier. I was trying to take the workings apart, when I realized someone had also glued some parts together where it connected to the wheel.

Luckily, even though the s15 is a discontinued wheel, replacement parts are still readily available.  I went online and in 5 minutes was able to purchase all of the replacement parts I needed.

Here's the replacement cable they used.  A screw is supposed to go through this part, and the wires prevented that.

Here's the actual replacement part from Louet.  It's solid enough to hold its shape, but soft enough to flex.  It's almost like a hot glue stick (and if this one ever needs replacing, I may try a hot glue stick).

Here it is installed.

 The part that connects the footman to the wheel had to be pried off, since it had been super glued on.
















Unfortunately the wheel got slightly scratched when we had to pry the pieces apart, but it's not very noticeable.  That metal bearing below was all crusty and old, so it got replaced too.

Here she is, all put back together.  Well, except for the drive band, which is hanging loose in the picture below.

                         

I've been working on spinning Barley's fleece, and the wheel seems to really like the batts I've carded.  

From fluffy batt to spun singles.  I am loving the color.

Here's a short video I took while spinning the other day.  I was curious to compare my spinning to when I was first learning. I seem smoother now than I was, which is nice.