Esmerelda Peabody Jones

Dorothy Pohorelow wrote:yes it appears you are right. I had noticed the maidens were a different wood  and that the back of the flyer  went through the maiden but was not sure if the front of the flyer was removable or not. That flyer may not actually belong to that wheel which is why they did the maidens like they did.  You can tell the flyer was on a working wheel at one time by the dent worn by singles running across the flyer to the hooks that help it wind onto the bobbin.  It would also need some new hooks as a couple are broken.

I know this is an old thread and I'm no expert but am trying to restore an old wheel myself. I'd like to suggest that it's possible that the flyer is original to this wheel but that perhaps one of the maidens had broken and that's why the new maidens were turned? It's just that they didn't construct them properly - there are usually leather mounting tabs inserted into the maidens for the flyer to mount to, rather than to the maidens themselves. The reason, I would guess is that these wear out due to friction and are easy to replace AS WELL AS easy to oil to reduce friction. The reason I say this is that the MOA appears to be original and doesn't have additional holes where different maidens would have been inserted. My guess is that the maidens easily slip out of the MOA which would enable you to get the flyer disassembled and the bobbin off (but the whorl on the end is likely reverse threaded, so don't force it - try unscrewing it opposite). I would guess this wheel could be easily made usable.

Another ummm sign now that I have better photos is there is no way to tension the flyer OR bobbin.  You need to be able to tension one or the other to create the speed difference needed for the single to be wound onto the bobbin.  In a double drive wheel there are two slots for the drive band on the whorl so the drive band can both tension the bobbin/flyer assembly AND the drive band.  Your wheel has a single thick drive band running from the wheel to whorl.  IF there are is space for two finer drive bands on that whorl it could still function.  You would simply need to wind your single off the bobbin when it is full.  It was done like this on some wheels.  And most older wheels only have 1 bobbin.

Beautiful wheel whether it is a working wheel or not.

Looks like someone who didn't know anything about spinning wheels just wanted to make this look good. This is a simple fix. Take off the thick band and put a proper double drive band on. I *think* this could be functional as-is with a new drive band, but I would think there'd be a lot of friction with the flyer axle (spindle?) sitting directly in the wood. Not sure how you might help that other than putting a LOT of beeswax in those holes!

About 20 years ago I bought an antique spinning wheel from Lithuania off of eBay. I set it up when I received it and I have all the parts and I *think* they're all original, but it clearly needed some TLC and I never got around to it.

Recently, I pulled it out of storage and would like to finally restore it. Someone had sanded off the original finish and the wood was bare. There are some cracks, but I believe it is restorable.

The first thing I feel I need to do is clean it. It was in an open box and has been exposed to dust and due to some (I believe superficial) mold on the table that wasn't there when I bought it, I assume a bit of moisture. My plan was a good cleaning with water and Murphy's followed by some type of oil (after drying of course from the Murphy's) to moisturize the wood and then a beeswax seal.

Not terribly sure how to clean the metal parts other than steel wool.  I'm guessing I can clean the orifice with a steel brush? I will need to replace the hooks on the flyer. There are a couple of broken ones, but most importantly they are very rusted. The flyer looks a bit fragile, so I think I'll need to get a few coats of oil on it before attempting any kind of work on it.

All other wood looks to be in pretty good condition with the exception of the mentioned mold and a crack in one of the legs where the pin for the treadle bar inserts. I think I'll need to have new bobbins turned. I'm guessing the one (broken) bobbin that came with it must not have been original as it's a bit short.

There's some wear to the wood on one of the maidens as if the bobbins used were too long. The leather maiden bearings seem to be in decent condition. Because I haven't spent a lot of time playing with it to get it well put together, I'm toying with the idea that the flyer might *not* be original as it might be a tad long, but I'm not sure.

And lastly, the pegs holding the wheel spokes are popping out. I assume I can just use a mallet to pound them back in?

I'm attaching some photos. I didn't take enough detail photos most likely. But hopefully enough to get a good idea of what I'm taking about.

I'm mainly looking for advice on treating the wood right now, but thought I'd throw the other info out there.

I don't know anything more about the provenance of the piece than it came from Lithuania. I don't know if it was mass produced or hand made. No maker's mark that I could see.The wood was definitely turned on a lathe.

Unfortunately, the distaff that came with it is not one of the gorgeous carved ones that Lithuania is known for, but it's a project I'd like to tackle in the future.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.