Tension Setting on a Spinning Wheel
by Pegg Thomas

Don’t we all remember our first attempt at spinning yarn?  Chances are pretty good that your first attempt resembled a partially uncoiled spring.  Even with an experienced teacher by your side (if you were lucky enough to have a teacher) issues of tension come into play.  Most beginners need to set the tension higher than experienced spinners.  The reason is that once you have the experience to know how and when to ‘release’ the yarn to the bobbin, you do it smoothly and automatically.  But until then, it helps to have a little more tension on so that the bobbin will gently ‘tug’ the yarn as you go.  Too much tension is also a disaster, leading to continually breaking the yarn.  But let’s look at these issues one at a time:

Bobbin Tension:

Too Much Twist
Most of the time this can be corrected by adding a little more tension so that the yarn takes up onto the bobbin faster.  By using too little tension the uptake is slowed down and more twist is allowed into the yarn.  Also check to be sure that the yarn can move smoothly onto the bobbin.  If there is a snag or a rough spot on the flyer, it may be producing a drag that is interfering with the tension setting.  Sometimes the yarn will get double wrapped around a guide hook too, causing a big problem with drag.

Not Enough Twist
Having the tension set too hard will create too little twist in the yarn.  If the uptake is pulling yarn onto the bobbin faster than the twist is entering the yarn, you’ll have areas of unspun or barely spun fibers.  Soften up the tension and it should stop the problem.

Drive Band Tension:

Treadling Causing Fatigue
If treadling your wheel is tiring you out, it may be due to your drive band tension.  A very tight drive band takes more muscle to move.  Try backing off the tension on the drive band and see if that helps.  If your drive band has lost most of it’s elasticity due to being so tightly stretched, you may have to replace it before this will help.  A good idea is to always relax your drive band tension when the wheel is not being used.

Drive Band Slipping
If you’re treadling away and your drive band is slipping so that the wheel is turning but the drive band isn’t, you need to increase your drive band tension.  If your drive band has lost all elasticity, you’ll need to replace it.

Treadling is Not Smooth
Your wheel should treadle very smoothly.  If you are getting a ‘dead zone’ at some point in your treadle cycle where it feels like the wheel pauses, then continues on, you need to make some adjustments.  All wheels are a little different, but this usually occurs in wheels where the treadle ties on to the shaft that drives the wheel.  If that connection is too loose, it creates the pause.  Try tightening it up and see if that takes away the ‘dead zone.’  Adjusting this one is really trial and error because of the many differences of material used and the differences in wheels.  Play with it until it works right.

If these ideas still don’t have your spinning better, bring your questions over to the forum and maybe someone there will have the answer!
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