How Your Spinning Wheel Spins, Scotch Tension

Handspinning Techniques

Scotch Tension

Spinning wheels also have some sort of brake or tension mechanism for controlling the speed at which the yarn is drawn onto the bobbin. If you are a beginner spinner, and your wheel seems to be eating up your roving, before you have had a chance to draft it properly, you will want to slow your wheel down a bit. Most wheels only require very small adjustments to the brake.

Tighten the Brake

Move the Drive band back to the largest setting on the whorl. Treadle slowly and spin a few yards onto the bobbin. Turn the scotch tension or brake on your wheel 1/4 turn to the right (or in the direction that tightens the brake of your wheel).
Treadle again and spin a few yards. Do you notice that the yarn is being drawn onto the bobbin more quickly?
Tighten the tension again another 1/4 turn and treadle.
Repeat the above step, tightening the tension 1/4 turn each time, until the wheel is drawing the yarn too quickly for you to handle.

Loosen the Brake

Turn the brake 1/4 turn to the left, loosening the tension slightly. Again, treadle and spin a few yards. Repeat the above steps, loosening the tension 1/4 turn each time, until the bobbin is no longer drawing the yarn in.

You should now be able to adjust the tension of the brake to a comfortable spinning speed for you. As the bobbin fills, slight adjustments to the brake will be necessary to keep the wheel spinning at the correct speed.

How Your Spinning Wheel Spins part 1

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