# The Grand Lady



## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Shes here!

I thought I would start a thread instead of hijacking & photo bombing the FACs thread. This is as far as Ive gotten. I got to far off of my sleep schedule.I almost couldn't stay awake for ups.

Im going to read the instructions, get something to eat & some sleep, & then put her together. Im just so happy I got one with a finish this time!!!!
Its also got a horizontal lazy kate in there.
I don't think the angel I drew is gonna fit right in there even if I shrink it down. Since its finished Ive got time & I can use it now!

When Shes together I will take close up pics of the wood. It really is beautiful!!!!


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

WHAT A TEASE YOU ARE!!!! get that girl put together!!!!!!!!!!!

SHE'S HERE SHE'S EHRE SHE'S HERE!!!! I &#9829; "new wheel day"!!!!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

Whooooo Hooooooo! She arrived!!!! She arrived!!!! Oh, I am so happy for you! 

:banana::happy::banana::happy:


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Bwahaha :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

I couldn't sleep more than 20 mins. I want to see her together too!!!:bouncy:


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

:bouncy:

Yay! She's home!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

She's not being easy to assemble.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

Which parts are giving you trouble? Pictures? Maybe we can help?


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Hotcatz!
Lots of things. I just sent Frazzlehead an email. I think I'm going contact the company I got it from. Things not lining up or fitting right.

I've put 2 other wheels together, & I just think there is something wrong with this one.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

PearlB...oh no!!! ((((hugs)))) I hope Frazzlehead can help!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Sme of those parts are easy to get turned the wrong way. Really look at the pictures carefully.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

The whole flyer set-up on my Traveler is put together weird. Just weird. It would be too much trouble to take it apart and fix it, and she spins just fine, so I've just left it alone. It seems an easy thing to get parts together wrong.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

update?


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Problem 1:

Join the two treadle rails with a 38mm (1Â½&#8221 countersunk screw. Secure the treadle board to the treadle rails with four 25mm (1&#8221 countersunk screws.

2 out of the 4 holes for the treadle board didn't line up. I got the screws in slanted.

Problem 2
Insert the pins in the end of the treadle rail into the holes in the short leg A and long leg C. Twist the legs until the treadle assembly moves freely. Then tap both legs fully into the base.

Neither leg needed tapping whatsoever, in fact they just dropped in. I got em done per instructions. However after I realized width of said legs , they shrunk. Now when you tighten it pulls em in enough that the treadle board rail rubs against the leg.
The only way I can keep it from rubbing is to leave the screws loose. Im going to have to put a shank in there now.

Problem 3
Push the crank through both ball bearings and check it turns freely. Tighten the bolts with the spanner provided. If the bearings are correctly aligned the crank will rotate freely.

That crank is too tight. Im no weakling I barely got the crank back out. I have a Traveller I just took apart, the crank wasn't any where near the problem this thing is being. If I try to put the wheel on, its not ever coming back out.

Im thinkinh this kit was sitting in a whare house somewhere just a little to long & the parts have shrunk/ The machining of the parts isn't so hot either.
Ive worked in factories assembling things & this kit/wheel just aint right.

Now Im wondering if I should try & return it, which is what I think I would like to do.
Im not sure that once Ive started assembling it, it can be returned. I thinking of getting ahold of the company I got it from & see what they say about a return/swapping another kit. They can send this one back to Ashford.

Also my Traveler came with a card signed by whoever inspected it before it went out the door. This one didn't. So Im wondering if its a kit made up of parts from different kits.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I didn't buy the wheel the traditional way. I couldn't get the bank to raise my spending limit that high. I sent the a check to a relative who put the money on an Amazon gift card. I bought it that way.
They don't have a finished Elizabeth 2 on amazon just the unfinished ones.
I talked to a salesman who told me they had a finished one laying around they could swamp in/send instead of the unfinished.
So we did that. That's why Im wondering if this is a kit that's been in a wharehouse too long, or a kit made up of different parts.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

BOO! I have never seen so many foul ups when it comes to wheels!!!!!!!!!!!! This is TERRIBLE!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you WIHH!

Ive put 2 wheels together. I just took my Traveller apart a few months ago. She came apart in no time.

I redid the only leg I could & got my clearance. Good amount too. So later Im going to try the crank again. Im still thinking the wood shrunk putting pressure on & collapsing the bearings a bit. That or the crank is out of spec.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

((((PearlB))))) I am so sorry!! UGH!! What a rotten thing. I can sure relate after everything I went through with the first wheel I bought. Have you asked them to replace it? What did the seller have to say? If they are a dealer they should be able to order one even if they don't have one in stock. 

Rats. Just RATS!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Kasota!

I haven't talked to the seller yet. Im tinkering with & trying to decide if I can live with it. 
took the shim out of the leg & lost some of my clearance.
If I pull the legs apart & set it down its okay.

Aarrgghh, I went for the ashford cause I thought they would be good quality. My Traveller is.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

PearlB, if you can tinker and BE HAPPY with it - that's one thing. But to tinker and just "live with it" is another. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Those wheels are sure not cheap and you should have what you WANT not just settle for something and make it work. 

Keep us posted!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Kasota!!

Looks like I got a spinning wheel!! After I got the crank/wheel in the rest of it went pretty easy. I wouldn't ever really want to take this thing apart though.. The Wheel itself adds enough weight that it helps those legs to keep spread out so the treadle rod doesn't rub up against the leg. That woulda been a deal breaker for me. :walk: For the simple fact, what if I wanted or needed to sell it! Plus too, your right Kasota, it cost enough it should be right. 

I will put the strings on it tomorrow!!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I couldn't wait. Put a drive band on her & the scotch tension & spun away. 2 bobbins worth. Im absolutely in love with this wheel. She spins like a dream. I feel like Im learning to spin all over again. I even did long draw. Something Ive been trying to do on the other wheels but couldn't quite.
This one does it almost by itself! 
I suspected the larger wheel size & weight would make a difference in spinning. That's partly why I bought it.

I think Im going to spend many happy hours & make some beautiful yarns on her!


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:
So glad you were finally able to figure it out!!
She's beautiful!


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

whew! That's a relief - all's well that ends well! happy spinning!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Hercsmama & WIHH,

I really didn't want to return her & I have a feeling that when I put even one screw in it, I wouldn't have been able too either. That's why I decided to keep going with the assembly.

She is a beauty!!! And the treadle is big enough & positioned in such a way I can use either my right or left foot. Also I bought a jumbo upgrade for my Traveller which Im pretty sure will fit on her!!!

I cant really describe how much fun she is to spin on.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

YAY!!!!!!! Oh, I am so, so happy for you!!!!! Woooooot!


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

We need pictures of what you spun up on her!!!


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Yay! So glad she's working for you. :bouncy:


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yippy!!!! So happy you got it all worked out. I got to sit at an Elizabeth once and it was a very nice wheel, big, and expensive, but spun smoothly. Happy dance for you PearlB :bouncy:


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

WOO HOOOO !!!!!! Thats fantastic !!! Cant wait to see your spun yarn !!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

She's beautiful, Pearl! Yup, the Jumbo will fit on your Traveler, but you'll have to trade out the maidens.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Everyone! 

Heres a pic of some of the yarn I spun on her. I just have it set up for single drive right now. I also am playing with the scotch tension system. I don't have/like they way they show to set it up, so Im trying something a little different.

Im just going to spend the weekend playing with the adjustments & fine tuning it.

MLF,

I think its the Kromskis that come with the replacement maidens. The Jumbo kit I got included a jumbo bobbin replacement bearing, sliding hook flyer & jumbo bobbin. And a thing to reduce to standard size bobbins.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

Whooooo hooooooo! The Grand Lady is makin' yarn! I'll bet she is glad to be out of that box!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Kasota,

I tend to like single drive & have her set up that way so far. I tend to spin thin & am just getting used to how she spins, & varying the size I spin.

Im getting it to where it just how I like, not to thin, not to fat. A good single size. Im noticing with her she has a rhythm. If I work with that rhythm I can easily produce thinner/thicker. 
That's what Ive missed doing on my Prelude, is finding & working with its rytrhm.
Also I don't like changing bobbins on the Traveller or this one, unless Im making yarn to ply. So Ive been unwinding off onto a kniddy knoddy. The side benefit too it is that if Ive overspun, it evens out the overspin!!!!

This wheel is going to teach me much, I can tell.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

> Also I don't like changing bobbins on the Traveller or this one, unless Im making yarn to ply. So Ive been unwinding off onto a kniddy knoddy. The side benefit too it is that if Ive overspun, it evens out the overspin!!!!


I so admire such nicely consistent yarn. Nice job!

I am struggling to get my yarn thin enough. It seems if it is thin enough (and not something that would fit into Forerunner's knitting schemes) I am overspinning or I get too much drafted and it gets TOO thin. Someday I will treadle slooowly and draft consistently. Practice, practice, practice! I hope to find some time this weekend with my wheel. I am an uncoordinated spinner. Maybe I should practice treadling and "air spinning" for a bit.  

I might try winding a bit off the bobbin on to my niddy noddy and see if that helps with the overspinning. 

I love your pictures, PearlB! It's fun to see what you are doing and it helps newbies like me!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you Kasota!

Ive been curious & looked at the yarn you've spun. You are doing fantastic for the amount of time you have been spinning!:goodjob:

I wish I hadn't have learned to spin thin, its been & at times still is a real struggle to spin otherwise now.

When you ply yarn you spin it backwards from the direction you spun it, & that helps even it out. It seems to me winding off onto the kniddy knoddy is doing kinda the same. 

You are doing really good. That feeling of uncoordination will go away. You will find what combination of drafting & spinning suits you. Just allow yourself to play too! Sometimes I get my best results when Im just goofing around.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

She's awesome Pearl, and you're cranking out some yarn already!! Woohoo!!!


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