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What is a Ratio?

Wheel diameter: Flyer Pulley diameter in a double drive or scotch tension system

Tiny Drivewheel with multiple ratios
Tiny Drivewheel with multiple ratios

Wheel diameter: Bobbin Pulley diameter in a single drive bobbin-lead system

Single Drive Bobbin Lead Wheel
Single Drive Bobbin Lead Wheel

What the ratio means:

Example- at a ratio of 7:1, the flyer will make 7 revolutions for every 1 revolution of the wheel (one stroke of the treadle).

  • A higher ratio means that you can add more twist faster, and with less treadling.
  • Lower ratios are more suitable for bulkier yarns, and for people who draft slowly (ie. Beginners)

How the Flyer Does It!

  • The bobbin sits on an axle between the flyer arms.
  • The fiber you will be spinning is attached to the bobbin via a leader yarn that is threaded out through the orifice of the flyer.
  • When the flyer spins (because you are treadling), it imparts twist to the fiber between you and the orifice.
  • The pull on the fiber that you feel is called “take up”, and is a function of the difference in speeds of the bobbin and flyer.
  • When you permit the fiber to move towards the orifice, it begins to wind on the bobbin.
Double Drive wheel, bentwood Flyer
Double Drive wheel, bentwood Flyer