She's pretty, and in fairly good condition, I believe, for her age. I currently spin on my Babe or on one of my many drop spindles and I will be the first to tell you that I know next to nothing about an older wheel. I don't however, think that she will be too difficult to restore to prime old lady condition. If you know otherwise... please let me know gently. :-)
The arm connecting the treadle to the wheel is MIA. I have looked at a few photos online and plan to look at more, but I think that this should be a fairly easy fix.
This next fix will be a bit more tricky. There will need to be holes drilled in the center of the two pieces, a hardwood dowel inserted and glue applied. If the drilling goes well, then the prospects are good. If the maiden splits... (hmmm that sounds rather vulgar) if she splits... then I will require the services of a woodworker to duplicate the piece. And possibly an ironmonger/blacksmith type of person to re-set or duplicate the metal portion. 
This is just a shot of the Mother of all and the one surviving maiden. you can see how the hole is plugged with the remains of the broken maiden. I did slip that piece out of the Mother tho and so the maiden is now ready for surgery. I don't know if I am going to attempt it on my own or have someone else attempt the surgery. Most likely someone else... I do know a few people that play with wood and major wood tools on a regular basis. I have a wood lathe in the garage and a drill press and some other fun toys that belonged to my dad, but I haven't spent much time using any of them since I was a teenager. That was long and long ago...
Makers Mark? There is writing on the bottom of this piece as well. One of the inscriptions reads to Mr and Mrs. (and then the rest is illegible to my eyes) also writing in another area of the bottom in what looks like pencil and I can't read that either. I am going to claim poor lighting and faint writing but it is probably just my eyes. Hopefully it will imbiggen when you click.
Here she is in all her glory. Yes she does still need a drive band. I was on the phone ordering that before I got home. The bobbin was not photographed. And yes, I know that the wheel is on backwards in this photo. The little arm crank looking thingy is where the treadle arm shoud be attached. I realized that the wheel was set in bassackwards after the photo op... as I was looking at the photos actually. It has now been turned. :-)
Oh? Howmuch did she set me back? Fifty ($50) dollars. Figured if I couldn't fix her up myself, I could afford to have her fixed up as the purchase price was so reasonable. I think she's gorgeous. Happy Knitting!
1 comment:
Congratulations! She is beautiful!
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