# Canadian production wheel for sale on Ravelry



## Marchwind

Thougth some of you might be interested in this. Great price $350 USD http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/used-tools--equipment-classifieds/1704357/1-25


----------



## frazzlehead

Cadillac of wheels, I tell ya.


----------



## weever

frazzlehead said:


> Cadillac of wheels, I tell ya.


What makes it so great? (Inquiring minds want to know.)


----------



## frazzlehead

Ooooooooh dear, Weever got me started.

Okay, the CPW is about 100 years old - the category is a modern construct, but it basically encompasses wheels that were made in Quebec around that time, most (but not all) have iron fittings at MOA and/or treadle, and big (>26") drive wheels. The defining characteristic is the tilt tension mechanism - which allows you to have really nice control over tension with just a tap or two on the MOA to tilt it more or less.

The big thing is ratio: they spin fine yarn, fast. REALLY REALLY FAST. I was working on a little saxony the other day (I just finished restoring it and needed to give it a test spin) and realized after doing a little spinning that my singles were hopelessly underspun ... I'm now used to drafting at warp speed and feeding the yarn in so quickly that I forgot to slow down on the smaller wheel!

A CPW will not do art yarn or big bulky singles - but it absolutely excels at fine singles for weaving or plying. The ratio is somewhere on the order of 18:1 - so each treadle turns the flyer 18 times (or thereabouts - it's double drive so the math gets a bit odd). 

I couldn't do long draw before I got my CPW ... but wow, they were made for long draw. 

So, in summary: they are gorgeous, loaded with history (I love spinning at a wheel that's been in use for a century!), spin fast and smooth with minimal work for the spinner (the weighted rim on the wheel gives it a ton of momentum so it just goes and goes, you don't have to work hard to treadle and keep it going), and make long draw easy.

I wouldn't recommend one as a first wheel unless you are already a good drop spindler (i.e. good at drafting) and can cope with having your butt kicked by the wheel for awhile until you get up to speed ... but if I had to get rid of all my wheels but one ... my CPW is the one I'd keep, hands down.


----------



## lathermaker

oohhhhh noooooooo lalalalalalalaalalala closing my eyes, putting on a blindfold, I'm not listening to youuuuu ! LOL

That wheel is a beauty. I would love to get my hands on it, clean it up nice and shiny. Then sit there and listen to her sing!


----------



## weever

Very helpful, frazzle. Thank you. Not in the market for a wheel (I have a different addiction, and don't even spin), so it's safe from me. But since I hang around in the fiber world, I like to know these things.


----------



## sheepish

I have a Quebec wheel that I bought 35 years ago in an antique barn on in Dauvelyville, Quebec. 

It does spin lovely fine yarns and so quickly and smoothly.


----------



## susanne

if i would not have my 30" ashley i probably would think about getting a CPW.
i am not that good yet to use the ultra high speed whorl 40:1.
i think i would lift up the ground so fast is it going. 

but one day i will


----------



## Callieslamb

I saw an older wheel in a antique store without the flyer. Can flyers be replaced easily? How do you know (when you know so little) what kind of wheel it is? Do they mark them somehow so you can tell what they are? 

My little wheel has PB Moore written on the bottom and Tekoteko -New Zealand. Which is how I traced what it is. Do they mark all wheels?


----------



## Marchwind

Callie as you work with your wheel and with others and as your interest grows you just kind of learn this stuff. Flyers are not easily replaced. Buying an old/antique wheel is always a risky venture especially if you don't know what you are doing. I suppose if you knew someone who was really good with woodworking they could fashion one for you, but you would have to have some understanding of what you needed and how it worked. Not all wheels are marked but you learn special things about each type or brand/breed of wheel. Kind of how you learn about breeds of sheep or dogs. You can look at one and tell what it is. There are also books about different wheels. There are specific types of wheels, castle type, flax, walking, saxony,..... the list goes on once you figure out that you think of makers and so on and so forth.


----------



## susanne

callie you really should post a picture of your little treasure.
i love your little wheel and just hope some day i can try it out.


----------



## Callieslamb

I'll bring it to you Susanne. It is small - great for bringing to people! LOL!!!


----------



## susanne

this is so unique. have not seen that before. what did beth have to say about this wheel when you were there?


----------



## Marchwind

Wow, she is beautiful Callie! I have never seen a wheel like that before. How very unique. What is the story behind how you acquired her?


----------



## Callieslamb

Beth said 'Treadle slower.." Nothing about the wheel. 

The friend that got me into Finnsheep had some good friends that she cared for as they aged. He was a shepherd and over 30 years developed a flock of Corriedale x Finns. They encouraged her interest in sheep, taught her to spin, etc. The man had the wheel special-ordered for the wife. She died before she could use it. My friend learn to spin on this wheel but now has moved on to a different wheel. She sold this one to me. If I ever decide to sell it - she gets first right of refusal. 

I really want to learn to do this. I spent a hour this afternoon treadling (that word just doesn't look like it's spelled correctly!). Then attached a 10 ft piece of yarn and treadled as slowly as I could and let the yarn twist, then wind onto the bobbin - over and over until the yarn was worn out.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm

That's the way to do it Callie.

What a very unique wheel! I've never seen a MOA (Mother-Of-All) and tensioner like that.

Would you mind getting a shot looking down on the MOA & bobbin?


----------



## susanne

Callieslamb said:


> Beth said 'Treadle slower.." Nothing about the wheel.
> 
> The friend that got me into Finnsheep had some good friends that she cared for as they aged. He was a shepherd and over 30 years developed a flock of Corriedale x Finns. They encouraged her interest in sheep, taught her to spin, etc. The man had the wheel special-ordered for the wife. She died before she could use it. My friend learn to spin on this wheel but now has moved on to a different wheel. She sold this one to me. If I ever decide to sell it - she gets first right of refusal.
> 
> I really want to learn to do this. I spent a hour this afternoon treadling (that word just doesn't look like it's spelled correctly!). Then attached a 10 ft piece of yarn and treadled as slowly as I could and let the yarn twist, then wind onto the bobbin - over and over until the yarn was worn out.


i should have looked more closely how the tension nob works, now i can not remember at all.

so sad the original owner was never able to use it. 
i'm very confident that you will learn to spin on this wheel.
if you ever want to move on to something else, could i be second in line???


----------



## Callieslamb

The tension knob just twists.....
If I decide to get rid of this wheel, I have to let my friend have the first chance to buy it back from me. 

But first - practice.


----------



## susanne

oh i know just turn the knob . what i wanted to know how the mechanic of tension works. with my wheel for example tension is changed if the MOA is moved away from the wheel.

callie i found some pectin here. want to come over? but bring your wheel to


----------



## Marchwind

Yea it looks like it tensions by lifting the bobbin/flyer mechanism farther or closer to the drive wheel. Sweet! I can't wait to meet your wheel Callie. Is that your spinning on the wheel or is that you 9' of yarn you were playing with? If it is your spinning it looks nice.


----------



## 7thswan

Very nice wheel. I have also never seen a Tensioner(is that a word ?) like that.


----------



## susanne

thank you for pointing it out marchie, now i can see how it works


----------



## Marchwind

Well my Country Craftsman is sort of a knock off of a CPW. I think it is pretty common with DD(double drive band) wheels. The way you tension them is to move the mother of all towards or away from the drive wheel. I loosens or tightens the drive band. This compared to the scotch tension, which puts tension on the bobbin to effect take up. One the scotch tension you an also move the MOA (mother of all) to make the drive band tighter or looser but that isn't a common way to tension the wheel. You don't want the drive band tight but almost loose, just enough tension to make the drive wheel move. I've been spinning long enough that just a light finger placed on the drive band will tell me if it is tight enough.


----------



## Callieslamb

Marchwind said:


> Yea it looks like it tensions by lifting the bobbin/flyer mechanism farther or closer to the drive wheel. Sweet! I can't wait to meet your wheel Callie. Is that your spinning on the wheel or is that you 9' of yarn you were playing with? If it is your spinning it looks nice.


The white is what Beth spun while working with my wheel....if I could spin like THAT, I wouldn't be asking so many questions! I attached some pink yarn to the end of what Beth spun to practice letting the yarn take up on to the bobbin. I think that's what I was practicing. I haven't put any roving/rolags to the wheel yet - which is it? I tried to act like I was drafting - let the yarn twist and then let it take up. I never did get the part where I was suppose to stop the wheel like Beth suggested. When I stopped treadling - the wheel stopped to so - no take up. I hope to try the whole thing tonight with fiber! 

You all are talking Greek about my wheel! LOL!!! I thought it was a scotch tensioner. Yes, it raises the MOA up and down- or closer and further. I don't see how it slows or hastens anything like I thought a tensioner did.....but I am not really sure how a wheel works and I think that's the basis of my confusion. If I could get it to work, DH could probably look at it and tell me what is happening. 

Susanne- I found pectin here, but I will come see you when I get back from vacation. We are going to see our daughters in Idaho and Utah - son in Texas and bring my mom in Mo home with us. After that, I have to run to Ohio to get a ram then, go to summer camp with the girls at church. Then my sister is coming to get my mom.........Want me to pick you some pie cherries and bring them? My town is the cherry pie capitol of Michigan. I could freeze or can them for you.

A Wisconsin HT-er is coming tomorrow to pick up lambs. Her sister is going to put me through the basics of what the wheel is doing, what I need to do, etc. Gotta get this house clean!!!!


----------



## susanne

callie here is a little refresher 
what beth was doing was kinda draft,twist and park.
you treadle a bit to put twist in the part you drafted, then treadle a bit to get the twisted part take up from the wheel, stop and draft a bit and let the twist travel up, treadle again to get the twisted part on the bobbin. 
i hope this was not too confusing?


----------



## susanne

Callieslamb said:


> Susanne- I found pectin here, but I will come see you when I get back from vacation. We are going to see our daughters in Idaho and Utah - son in Texas and bring my mom in Mo home with us. After that, I have to run to Ohio to get a ram then, go to summer camp with the girls at church. Then my sister is coming to get my mom.........Want me to pick you some pie cherries and bring them? My town is the cherry pie capitol of Michigan. I could freeze or can them for you.


boy are you a busy bee 
i think i would love to get some cherries


----------

