For Whom the Bell Tolls…Not Me…Mine Doesn’t Even Ting…

I’ve reached a slight impasse in progress with the spinning wheel. I need 500 to 750 RPM on the wheel for the tooling to cleanly shave the wood away. I can only develop about 50 – 75 RPM with my foot powered lathe, so the tooling grabs and tears the wood. I will be out of business until I get to Vick’s brother’s house to pick up an electric motor he has there. Once I get that motor, I will need to buy a 1” or 1.5” pulley for it depending on the motor rpm’s, to achieve the 500-750 rpm spin on the spinning wheel blank in the lathe.

I can't achieve enough RPM's by hand, so I'll motorize by mounting a motor on the foot pedal and run a "belt" around this  3-3/4" mandrel on the wheel and a 1-1/2" pulley on the motor to achieve 750RPM. That will be suitable for turning. I can run it by hand to do leg spindles because they are small and will rotate fast enough to turn them easily.  

Though it is a failure of sorts…it is still one I can overcome and move on toward machining the wheels. All things considered, the lathe cost me nothing to make, (from old wood I had laying in scrap piles outside) so putting my own motor on it will not be an expense either. I will need to buy a motor pulley, a start stop switch, a belt and some rubber covered wire. Probably less than twenty to thirty dollars total. Where can you buy a lathe for $20 to $30 these days?

SOoooooo, since I can’t turn the wheel just yet, I’m going to concentrate on turning out a ton of bobbins at a ridiculously low price.

Ashford size bobbins made from unfinished Poplar with nylon bushings for 1/4" flyer shaft. $10.00 each, plus shipping & tax

We'll sell them in the store, on our web page and on eBay. I also turned out a few drop spindles to add to what I’ve already made, which are in the shop already.

Standard sized drop spindle. I also make a Jumbo sized one that spins forever....

I’ll make a few for a wholesale order going to Massachusetts and then go back to bobbins. I need to turn out some Kromski style bobbins and then make some Jumbo Flyers for various wheels. There will be enough to keep me busy until I can get up on the mountain for that motor, so I’m not just sitting on my hands waiting.  
If you like what we talk about and the pictures we show, why not become a follower? Join at the right by clicking on "Join this site". Also, feel free to leave a message anytime…about anything I write. Skip

072488Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm, LLC