Spinning is an absolute joy, creating soft wool to knit or to weave from the fleece of the sheep, and is a little like taking a step back in time. The art of spinning has been kept popular by the arts and crafts movements worldwide, though much of the technique has remained the same over hundreds of years.There are different kinds of drive belts for a spinning wheel though the main purpose of these is to change the tension of the machine to suit the project. Some come in simple one strand format for learning and these are usually elasticated, making them simple to put in place. However, the traditionalist would never use elastic, as their art is defined by the quality of wool which they produce and having a more substantial system of drive belt also gives much more flexibility to the spinner. With the popular range of Ashford spinning wheels which are sold worldwide, the traditional cords are used as drive belts, and these do last rather well, while the Louet spinning wheels offer drive belts in synthetic cords of different colors. To establish which kind of drive belt your spinning wheel needs, it is usual to plumb for the original type, so detaching the old string gives away clues. It is important as well as just detaching it to look whether this goes around the spinning wheel once or twice and where this is fed over the flyer or bobbin as this will make a difference to the type of drive belt that you buy.It is important to understand what the drive belt does, to get the most out of a spinning wheel. Many like simple threading of the drive belt around the wheel, and over the the end of the bobbin. This is very popular with learners and is used particularly on those spinning wheels which are upright as opposed to the sideways wheels. The advantages of these drives is that they are easy to use, although spinners with any experience will prefer the more complex system of drive belt which gives more control over the kind of thread to be spun.The difference is very subtle, though to produce good quality consistent work, using the more complex system of Scotch tension, the drive belt has a breaking system which instead of having a braking system on the flyer, incorporates this in the bobbin mechanism itself. Scotch tension drive belts are wound around the wheel taken twice, and then one thread taken over the flyer itself and one taken over the bobbin shaft as opposed to the more simple system of winding the drive belt only over the bobbin end. When threading the Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society
