# Trouble with Jumbo Flyer (spinning)



## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

My father in law bought me a Jumbo Flyer and six extra bobbins for my birthday!!

Now I’m ready to give it a whirl and it started okay but I’m having trouble with the bobbin. 

I have an Ashford Traveler single drive. 
I want to work on very fine singles so I want a decent twist but the bobbin is not turning and the yarn is feeding in without developing any twist. 
The tensioner is as loose as possible without removing it. The drive band is on the second smallest whorl. 

It’s ben a while since I’ve done any spinning I don’t know if it’s an issue with the change in flyer/bobbin or if I need to hold tighter to force some twist? 

I’m going to keep playing with it but any tips and suggestions are always appreciated!

I was so excited about getting the new flyer I was brave enough to dye something for the first time!!

The green picked up a bit stronger the the blue but I think it will be nice by the time it’s plied. (If I don’t like it my 10 year old loves it)


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## Lolly12 (Oct 10, 2012)

You need some tension, to get it moving,try tightening your tension knob slightly, I have the same spinning wheel


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## Cathy B (May 15, 2014)

I purchased my jumbo flyer specifically for plying so that I could make larger skeins with the larger bobbins. I too have trouble plying with my jumbo flyer. I find that when I ply I need to frequently adjust the tension. After watching several online spinning tutorials, I believe my problem is that I still don't fully understand the relationship of ratios between the two types of flyers. I'll be watching to see what more experienced spinners have to say.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

Lolly12 said:


> You need some tension, to get it moving,try tightening your tension knob slightly, I have the same spinning wheel


To get it to have contact with the rod holding the bobbin? I think we tried that but I'll fiddle with the tension some more. 
Thank you
(I've been pulling more roving out of the cooker)


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## Lolly12 (Oct 10, 2012)

Ooh sounds like fun, Ive yet to try dyeing


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## Lolly12 (Oct 10, 2012)

Yes you will have to play around with tension


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## crivitz (Apr 12, 2015)

You'll get lots of answers, but to me it sounds like the tension on your drive band is way too tight. It should have a little give to it, like you could give it a good twang with a good amount of reverberation in the string. Also, what is it made of? The best composition is good old butcher's string or even perle cotton since you want to use jumbo bobbins. Thick and heavy is not good. Too much drag. And the last thing, do the bobbins spin easily on the shaft of the flyer when they're on there all by themselves? It's not unheard of that sometimes bobbins need to be reamed out somewhat so that they can spin easily. I have had to do a couple of times because there can be burrs left inside that can cause problems. Don't forget that this flyer shaft needs to be greased ( I use Vaseline) and the moveable parts of the wheel need to be oiled on a regular basis.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

crivitz said:


> You'll get lots of answers, but to me it sounds like the tension on your drive band is way too tight. It should have a little give to it, like you could give it a good twang with a good amount of reverberation in the string. Also, what is it made of? The best composition is good old butcher's string or even perle cotton since you want to use jumbo bobbins. Thick and heavy is not good. Too much drag. And the last thing, do the bobbins spin easily on the shaft of the flyer when they're on there all by themselves? It's not unheard of that sometimes bobbins need to be reamed out somewhat so that they can spin easily. I have had to do a couple of times because there can be burrs left inside that can cause problems. Don't forget that this flyer shaft needs to be greased ( I use Vaseline) and the moveable parts of the wheel need to be oiled on a regular basis.


Drive band has plenty of give. I could try a thinner one, the new that came with it is thinner. The flyer spins great. 
Everything was oiled up before I started and it's been under a cover since it was cleaned not long ago so not too dirty. 
I'm going to try a different fiber. The stuff I'm playing with is partially synthetic and a tad slippery. 
I'll see what it does tomorrow while the kids are away and I can call it rude words as I work
:sm09:


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## BirchPoint (Feb 12, 2016)

crivitz said:


> You'll get lots of answers, but to me it sounds like the tension on your drive band is way too tight. It should have a little give to it, like you could give it a good twang with a good amount of reverberation in the string. Also, what is it made of? The best composition is good old butcher's string or even perle cotton since you want to use jumbo bobbins. Thick and heavy is not good. Too much drag. And the last thing, do the bobbins spin easily on the shaft of the flyer when they're on there all by themselves? It's not unheard of that sometimes bobbins need to be reamed out somewhat so that they can spin easily. I have had to do a couple of times because there can be burrs left inside that can cause problems. Don't forget that this flyer shaft needs to be greased ( I use Vaseline) and the moveable parts of the wheel need to be oiled on a regular basis.


Pretty much what I would have said...


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## Linda6885 (Feb 13, 2011)

You need to tighten the tension not make it looser.


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## JoeA (Jun 24, 2016)

Ps: To spin finer yarn you have to spin on the largest ratio, to accumulate some twist, with little pull on the yarn. Not much speed on the wheel. Hope this makes sense!


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

I am ready to Craigslist my poor Traveler. This is getting ridiculous. 

I tried a new drive band to get the fastest ratio. 
I cannot work out the bobbin tension on the jumbo bobbins. 

I am beyond fed up.


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## Linda6885 (Feb 13, 2011)

farrieremily said:


> I am ready to Craigslist my poor Traveler. This is getting ridiculous.
> 
> I tried a new drive band to get the fastest ratio.
> I cannot work out the bobbin tension on the jumbo bobbins.
> ...


Do you have a yarn shop near you? The owner may know some spinners who could help you. Maybe meet them at the shop? Ask if there is a spinning guild for 'hands on help.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

Thank you. There might be a spinner or two at the shop I go to. 
I tried to find a guild nearby. 

I did wind on a nice chunk of fingering weight just to try and get it drawing on slowly. 

I tried wrapping it across the two arms but it’s a slider not the row of hooks so not a simple setup. 

I’m going to try winding the bobbin partially full and see if it helps. 

I’m just surprised by the difference. I can usually figure things out fairly handily with a bit of advice. Feeling dumb is probably the most frustrating bit. 

At least complaining briefly helped me scrounge up a bit more patience.


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Well feeling dumb should not have even crossed your mind. This is a learning experience for you like all of us we started the same way... Frustrated yes but dumb no. You will get it and things will work out for you. I am sure what ever comes from the roving will look amazing.It will be a fun project. No more feeling dumb.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

Gah!
I went back to it this morning. 

Would the bobbin part way with yarn and got it going, yeah, I thought I solved it. I spun maybe a couple yards and things were going my slow beginner speed then my single broke. 
Not too thin, shouldn’t have been over twisted I found it and restarted and just when it starts to go it breaks. No idea what’s wrong now. 

I think I’m going to give up on spinning on the jumbo and do my singles on the standard flyer and only ply on the jumbo for now. 

I do want to be able to spin lace weight on it eventually because I knit a lot of lace. But the plan was to ply the roving so I’m not going to drive myself crazier at this point. 

I’m happy with how the colors are coming along though!


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

farrieremily said:


> Gah!
> I went back to it this morning.
> 
> Would the bobbin part way with yarn and got it going, yeah, I thought I solved it. I spun maybe a couple yards and things were going my slow beginner speed then my single broke.
> ...


How are you doing by now? When I first got my jumbo flyer, it didn't go well and when I first started spinning, well, that would have made a very funny video. I seem to have a very steep learning curve. I hope it is going well for you.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

I did three standard bobbins of singles but decided to go with two ply (photo). It’s roughly a light fingering weight. 
My singles are coming out well enough and plying on the jumbo went just fine. 
The two standards came to about half the jumbo bobbin but it’ll be a bit before I get more singles ready. 

I guess if I ever want to do a low ply super chunky I’ll be able to spin with that darn jumbo. Till then it’s just for plying. Still useful though.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

farrieremily said:


> I did three standard bobbins of singles but decided to go with two ply (photo). It's roughly a light fingering weight.
> My singles are coming out well enough and plying on the jumbo went just fine.
> The two standards came to about half the jumbo bobbin but it'll be a bit before I get more singles ready.
> 
> I guess if I ever want to do a low ply super chunky I'll be able to spin with that darn jumbo. Till then it's just for plying. Still useful though.


Oh, my.....your spin is just beautiful! Seems like plying in the jumbo will be fine because two smaller bobbins of singles will fit the jumbo when you ply. That's works.


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## makeitsew2750 (Jan 23, 2011)

To take up some room on your jumbo bobbin you might want to cut a piece of pipe insulation foam the size of the middle of your bobbin and this helps with spinning thin yarns. I have used this for my Minstrel and also for my large bobbins for my e-spinner for many years.


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## farrieremily (Aug 14, 2016)

makeitsew2750 said:


> To take up some room on your jumbo bobbin you might want to cut a piece of pipe insulation foam the size of the middle of your bobbin and this helps with spinning thin yarns. I have used this for my Minstrel and also for my large bobbins for my e-spinner for many years.


Thank you! That's a good easy solution. Faster to put on and off than winding spare yarn for sure. We have extra pipe wrap too ????


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