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  • Home
    • How I Started Handspinning
  • Spindles
    • Make Your Drop Spindle
    • Types of Drop Spindles
    • How to Use a Drop Spindle
  • Wheels
    • Selecting the Right Spinning Wheel
    • Spinning Wheel Styles
    • How The Spinning Wheel Works
    • Parts of the Spinning Wheel
    • Adjusting The Spinning Wheel’s Tension
    • Drive Ratios & Twist Per Inch
    • Spinning Wheel Maintenance
  • Techniques
    • Handspinning Woollen and Worsted Yarn
    • Preparing to Handspin Yarn on the Spinning Wheel
    • Basic Handpinning Techniques
    • Adding More Fiber When Handspinning Yarn
    • Plying Yarn with a Spinning Wheel
    • Navajo Plying
    • Making A Skein of Yarn With A Niddy Noddy
    • “Setting In The Twist” Of Handspun Yarn
  • Fiber Prep
    • How to Wash Your Fleece
    • Types of Fiber Preparations for Spinning
    • How to Prepare Fiber with Hand Carders
    • How to Prepare Fiber With a Drum Carder
    • How to Prepare Fiber With Dutch Combs
    • How To Prepare Fiber With a Flicker Carder
    • How to Use a Diz
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      • How to Care For Your Angora Rabbit
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Adjusting The Spinning Wheel’s Tension

Adjusting the tension on the spinning wheel.

Setting the tension will be one of the first adjustments you will make on the spinning wheel. Too little tension allows the bobbin to turn at the same speed as the flyer, therefore, preventing the yarn from winding onto it, and causing the yarn to become overtwisted the more you treadle. Too much tension will stop the bobbin from turning, and the yarn will wind on too quickly before it gets enough twist into it. The correct amount of tension will slow down the bobbin to a different speed than the flyer, and allow the yarn to be held with ease until the desired amount of twist is achieved, and then wind onto the bobbin, smoothly, when it is released.

VIDEOS

Tying the Bobbin Leader and Setting the Wheel Tension


Adjusting the Tension on a Single Drive Spinning Wheel


Adjusting the Tension on a Double Drive Spinning Wheel

Adjusting the Tension on a Bobbin Drive Spinning Wheel



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