He’s got a walnut lid
and little rubber feet now
and the first Moto-spun skein
The only thing remaining to complete my Moto is the configuration of his scotch tension. Still sorting out the options for rigging that up.
Dottie says “Stay Tuned!”
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It’s Alive!!!
The E-Spinner is up and running 🙂 🙂 🙂
In the video it doesn’t look like the flyer is going very fast, but I guess that has something to do with the camera- it was probably going about 900-1000 rpm.
We still have to construct the lid for the box to cover the motor and controller, and also figure out how we want to do the scotch tension, but I have rigged up a temporary brake band for the bobbin so that I can play with it.
We’re going to use the same walnut for the lid as the base-
I think he’s so handsome. Going to call him Moto.
In other news, I got most of the rest of Dottie and Chone sheared yesterday. Really nice fleeces this year!
Dottie was being a bit of a fusser, so I had to ask The Man to help me out. She’s mostly done, but still has fluffy haunches. I’ll have to clean her up later on.
It’s amazing how much wool she and Chone grow in a year. then when you help them out of their coats, they are just tiny little buggers.
I had partially sheared Dottie in the Fall (maybe late September?), just in the front about to her waist (do sheep have waists!) and she had regrown at least four inches. So I might need to shear her every six months. The even longer wool on her back end did get a little felted over the winter, but should still be workable. Might need to get out the combs!
Fleece, Wiring & Banana Bread
The makings of a good weekend!
Managed to get Edgar’s haircut finished up, and made a start on Dottie and Chone.
Ooh- Ahhh- those do look like nice fleeces.
As you might expect, Felix and Frank kept their distance.
But Edgar was all about getting rubs after I got his neck and shoulders cleared off.
Meanwhile, The Man is making great progress on the espinner project. Worked on wiring up all the components Saturday
This was a dry run of how the elements will fit in the box once it is assembled.
And then today we got the rest of the shaping done on the box.
I think it’s all coming together quite nicely. Can’t wait to take it for a test spin!
It might be bit yet, because of the box assembly and finishing and such, but for now there is banana bread.
In The Shop with The Man
Edgar is feeling better, and I am much relieved.
We haven’t gotten the toxicology results back yet from Idaho, but the bloodwork that was done locally indicated he had a high phosphorus level and low calcium. Not sure what exactly would set up that sort of situation.
With Edgar back on his feet, I pressed ahead this weekend with hoof trimming and CDT boosters. Nice to get that all finished up. Shearing is ongoing- with everyone in different stages of crazy haircuts 🙂
And we were able to get back into the shop to work on the e-spinner!
The box that will house the components is coming together
Still have to shape the front and rear panels to create the equivalent of maidens to hold the flyer. Hope to sort that out today.
Here is how the control panel will sit in one of the side pieces of the box (on/off switch, speed control dial, direction switch and little red and green led lights to indicate direction of spin)
Neato frito, eh? Yeah, The Man is pretty good with this kind of stuff 🙂
the round hole in the back side is where the power cord will go.
And here is a little video of testing the rpm range on the largest whorl of the flyer
(Pretty sure the bobbin clatter at the higher speed will resolve with a little oil.)
We’re right on track with having an operating range on the flyer of about 450-1200 RPM. That should cover everything that I usually spin. And if a need ever emerged to go higher, we could use the next smaller whorl.
For reference, if you’re operating at a ratio of 8:1 and treadling once per second, your flyer is doing about 480 RPM. So assuming 60 treadles a minute rate, the espinner is designed to have an range equivalent to ratios from 7.5:1 to 20:1