31/07/2014

Dräll pulleys, another configuration

Yet another way to combine/mount pulleys for multishaft weaving:



I had never seen dräll pulleys like these before. (Spotted at a flea market near me, and way too expensive just "for fun")

I think this way to mount them is asking for trouble: if the cross piece from which they are hung doesn't have the correct size, they will tilt. Even with the "correct" cross piece, there will be a completely un-necessary force on the axle.

No, if ever I go for dräll pulleys again, I think I will stay with the vertical arrangement.

15/07/2014

A plethora of pegs


or: what am I looking at, here?


This little wheel is possibly the most well-pegged wheel I have ever seen. The legs are pegged in (straight, or slanting, into the table, so no way to get them out), the uprights too. The MOA is, of course, pegged in place. The back maiden has a slanting peg to secure it to the MOA. Both leathers are pegged in place, through the maidens - the back one with a slanting peg.

All the spokes are pegged to (through) the wheel rim, of course.

BUT: there is one oddity: the secondary uprights are NOT pegged, neither at the top (just inserted in slanting holes), nor at the bottom, where they instead are nailed, with metal nails.

Uprights and front leg pegged from the side:

One of the two nails present:

MOA and maidens:

Drive wheel - rim joins are pegged from the side, spokes through the rim (no "seating holes" for the spokes into the outer rim):

Treadle:

There are bearings for the wheel, too. Guess what - they are pegged in place:

So: what am I looking at, here? Is this an exercise piece?
First, all the pegs. Not only the number, but so many of them are slanting! It is natural to "secure" the leathers, but with slanting pegs through the maidens? (The orifice leather is sewn, though I have seen pegged ones before) The front maiden once had a nut, now lost.
Next, the table decorations. Rather a lot of work, on a piece of wood with a knot almost in the middle of the decoration? And with several (what-do-you-call-it? "help lines"?) showing? (There is one more knot at the back end of the table, too, making three knots showing on top of the table). All "ends" are notched, front and back of the table, front and back of the hole for the tensioning block.


Then there are two (at least) different woods: the wheel rim, the foot plate and the nut under the MOA appears to be oak, while the rest appears to be birch, the table possibly pine. (In my experience, birch is the most common wood for Swedish spinning wheels - and they are usually one wood only).
Looking at the MOA nut, oak doesn't look ideal for making threads; the nut looks kind of "sad" - it is obviously A Good Thing this nut is not very often used.
Also the wheel bearings: thicker than usual, u-shape with "wings" fitted into the upright. They are only half of the upright's width, made of brass.
All these oddities makes me think this may be a practice piece - it is not, IMO, good enough to be a (again, what is the word here?) journeyman's qualifying piece - if, for nothing else, the two very visible knots in the table. But is HAS a maker's mark...


Oh, and it spins nicely. It is my first with a sliding hook.


(Should I add: click images to biggify?)

10/07/2014

Visit to Husqvarna


Husqvarna weapons factory was started in the late 1600's. They have manufactured several types of high-precision (and some not-so-high, too) metal, mostly iron and steel, products over the years. Nowadays the local historical society is responsible for the factory museum.

Obviously, they are most proud of the weapons and the motorcycles. (Several rooms of them, and then there was a room for chain saws, another one for robot lawn mowers, and ..., and ..., and finally a room for the sewing machines.


I, of course, went there to find out about the Triumf sewing machine. I did not have much immediate luck - the volunteers manning the shop weren't sewing machine specialists. (The suggestions I got... Well. Of course I don't know the first things about ancient firearms, so who am I to complain?)

There is very little information about the sewing machines. (Like the difference between chain stitch machines and machines with two threads; about the difference between shuttle machines and bobbin machines, for instance. This always disappoints me, when museums don't "give" of their special knowledge - .)
About the Triumf it was told that it was manufactured 1885 - 1931 and that it was especially popular among (itinerant) professionals.
There was one Triumf looking exactly like mine (ie no signs of a thread guide fallen off), and one specially made for the World Exhibition in Chicago 1893 (where it got a prize). (For Swedish click here.)
Why the model is called Triumf is unclear, as it differs a lot from the "ordinary".
Some pics (click to biggify):

(it sat in a glass case)

The most notable differences - the tensioning discs are on the front, and there are a couple of thread guides, too:


So the mystery is still unsolved.
With some luck, there is a manual somewhere in the archives, but the archivist was on holiday. Watch this space!

Now for the usual water spout:


The head at the spot is quite extreme (116 m), so nowadays the water is used to generate electric power - therefore the water cannot be seen. But it is there, inside the tube!