My trusty Ashford Traditional has been with me for three years now. It’s a very reliable wheel and spins beautifully, but the orifice size limits the size and type of yarn I can spin. Luckily Ashford make a jumbo flyer which has a larger orifice and can be fitted to their wheels (other spinning wheel manufacturers usually offer similar upgrades too). A family member treated me to a jumbo flyer for Christmas the year before last, but I wanted to use my old flyer to finish a project before I fitted the jumbo.
There are two styles of jumbo flyer; the standard which has individual hooks to fill the bobbin and the sliding hook (above). I opted for the sliding hook flyer as I wanted to spin textured art yarns and with the sliding hook there are fewer places for stray wool to get caught on as it winds onto the bobbin. The standard size Ashford bobbins can still be used on a jumbo flyer and it comes with an orifice reducer that you can clip into the orifice when spinning thinner yarns.
Fitting the Flyer
The flyer comes with very easy to follow fitting instructions, but there was the odd thing I did differently. I did also get carried away and fitted the flyer before having added a finish, so the order below is how it should be done, not how I did it!
My flyer was purchased unfinished, so the first job was adding a couple of coats of wax to the wooden parts of the flyer and bobbin. I also took this opportunity to wax my niddy noddy and one of my standard bobbins that were still unfinished. You could use an oil or lacquer finish instead, but I had wax to hand, it doesn’t have a strong smell and is easy to apply. After polishing the wood you can then slide the hooks onto the rods and screw the guide hooks into the pre-positioned holes.
The next job was to replace the flyer bearings. The front bearing is the only one that needs to be replaced, but as my spinning wheel is from the 70’s I had previously replaced my back bearing with the newer style that lets the flyer clip in and out. Something that isn’t mentioned in the instructions is that new bearings can be slightly too large to fit the gap. Ashford send sandpaper in the pack to gently sand down the bearing edges, but it does need to be a tight fit, so gradually sanding and trying the fit is advised. It’s also a good idea to make sure the bearings are fitted in the correct direction with the entirely flat side facing in towards the flyer (see above).
After that the flyer can be slotted into place between the maidens and the new drive band fitted. I used my original break band and loosened it a little. Before using the flyer you then need to oil the usual points and tie on a leader.
I’ve had a little experiment with the new flyer and am very excited by the possibilities it presents. I like to spin wool in a way that preserves it’s character, rather than making it uniform, so this flyer gives me the freedom to spin thicker, looser, neppy and lockspun yarns and means I can finally work with some of the more textured fleece in my stash.
Happy Spinning!
Loose Ends 