# My new Aura wheel from Majacraft



## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Hi Gang,

Here is the long-awaited pics and info about my new wheel from New Zealand. Overall, I am really pleased with the wheel. It is sturdy and stable, and once I got used to the double treadle I felt quite at home with it. The wheel folds up to be portable, and weighs 16 pounds, but I didn't buy it for that reason, it is just a nice bonus.

The drive wheel is solid laminated bamboo, which is quite heavy and dense, and so are the bobbins, but the rest is made from native Rimu wood which is sustainably harvested from certified forests with helicopters. The water-based catalyst varnish and finish on the wheel is satin smooth and really beautiful. It is like a fine piece of furniture, says my Honey who has studied the craft with experts in Los Angeles.

I had not used a high-end wheel before, it spins really smooth and nice since it has bearings in the flyer and bobbin assembly. The wheel features:

- roller bearings
- stainless steel flyer shaft
- ultra smooth brass hinges for the pedals
- New Zealand Rimu wood that is matured and dried before manufacture
- flyer is balanced by hand to ensure that your wheel will spin smoothly at all speeds
- All wooden components receive three coats of lacquer and are hand rubbed between each coat
- variable spinning ratios 4.1, 5.4 and 7.3.
- personally signed by a member of the Poad family and given a unique identification number. My wheel is number AL 249, and signed by Andrew Poad.

I have had one problem with the wheel, and they have had some complaints from others, (about the black drive band in my photos) that it won't stay on very well, it wants to jump off the drive wheel a lot at first. It has to do with the drive wheel groove not being deep or wide enough to accommodate the thicker spot where the join is sewn in the band. You can see the join in one of the closeup pics. My black band has thinned out some with use and stretching and being rolled a few times, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it yet. In one pic you will see a clear acrylic band laying at the base of the wheel, that one I am experimenting with to maybe replace the black band.

This wheel is not for a beginner, you do have to know what you're doing to really make it work right. I don't think any other wheel can handle the big slubs and lumps and fuzziness of art yarns as well as this wheel with the new halo orifice and flyer ring. You use the delta part of the orifice for finer yarns.

Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Here I am with my wheel.




































Here is the yarn put thru the halo for big slubs.









Now it is set up for fine or thin yarns without slubs, using the delta portion.









And last but not least, here is a view of the treadle. It has the metal Majacraft lable tag affixed to it.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

So you got this wheel to match your carpet?

Beautiful. Doesn't it make a difference when you use a fine tool?


----------



## Mrs. Homesteader (May 10, 2002)

Very nice and it is good to see YOU!!! Hope the band thing works out for you.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Does the band Have to be sewn together? Can it be joined with super glue, cut end to cut end. A Friend of mine does this on her Reeves wheel set up with scotch tension.


----------



## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. I think I may try to make some similar big loops to use on my Little Gem. The Delta orifice will take art yarns, but the flyer hooks aren't as big as on yours. The Aura sure is a pretty little wheel. I don't really understand what the black band does; isn't the green band the drive band? I hope you can work something out so it doesn't jump off.


----------



## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

Beautiful! I'm screamin' green with jealousy over here! ;-) That wheel looks SOLID and built to last. Definitely Heirloom Quality.


----------



## sbanks (Dec 19, 2010)

Just had to make me jealous! I only have a drop spindle. Looks great.


----------



## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Now, we need pics of what sheorhe can do!


----------



## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

My black tension band will not stay on at all when plying or doing S twist. Doing Z twist spinning is just fine. So I put the clear plastic band on for plying or doing S direction for now. I like the suggestion by 7thswan about superglue, that is a good one, and when I find another material suitable for the band I will try some. The green band, which turns the big wheel is special material that has incredible stretch and can go a lot bigger or shrink smaller, as needed. 

For those who don't know, the green driveband and the black flyer band are separate on this wheel, and that is why it is unlike any previously designed wheel by any company. It gives you way more control over the yarn-making process than before, but you do have to learn how to put it to good use.

Until I get my tension band problems worked out I am loathe to try to spin any more expensive fibers on it. Right now I'm working with some cheaper Romney wool I have on hand, and I'm doing a thick and thin 2 ply yarn for now. I don't want to judge the wheel on what I am able to do on it yet. that wouldn't be fair. On Ravelry they rave about the wheel. Nobody has mentioned any band problems.

Learning new art yarns does require a stash of suitable fiber and lace and feathers and slubs of colors and inserts and stuff, and what I have on hand is not suitable and woefully inadequate. I have a lot of collecting to do, and that requires some extra cash which I don't have right now. I also have to set up a different holder for spools for thread plying and etc. What I had set up with my old wheel won't work with this one and was quite limited. Spinning art yarn is kinda scary because you do things you wouldn't normally do with fibers and colors.

The wheel is satiny smooth and yes, it really is nice. It is prettier in person than it was in Majacraft's advertising pics. The wheel is very stable, and doesn't move or walk forward or anything while I spin on it. The flyer action is very smooth and frictionless.


----------



## girlwithasword (Aug 10, 2009)

I have been lusting after one of these BAD. going to get it soon. I have 4 wheels in the house and not one can handle the kind of art yarns I'm itching to make! Thanks for the pics and the review! I am in Iowa too, did you get this locally? I am kind of wanting to try it before Ibuy it...but at the same time know I want one regardless. haha.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

There is one other thing I could suggest. My drive band will flip off of my 30" if I don't have the uprights absolutely square and straight. I have to get on the side of it and look from the skinny side wheel to the whorl and see if there is any side wobble.Spinn the wheel with your hand to look at it. If I loosen one upright and twist it slightly and tighten it will fix it. Try to see if this would work for you, I know it will be different on your wheel, but I hope you know what I mean. It could have gotten misadjusted in shipment.


----------

