u/Whispering_Firefly — reddlx

Experiences with ball bearing failures in modern spinning wheels (e.g. Kromski Sonata)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking into buying a modern spinning wheel (most likely something like a Kromski Sonata Encore or an Ashford Kiwi 3).

Many of these wheels use sealed ball bearings in the wheel hub. In theory, they are supposed to be very low maintenance and long-lasting. However, I also read mixed opinions about whether these bearings can actually fail over time or whether replacement is difficult or even intended at all.

So I’d really appreciate some practical experiences from long-term users:

Have you ever experienced a ball bearing failure in a modern spinning wheel?
If yes, after how many years of use did it happen?
Are there any brands/models where this is more common or better solved?

Thanks a lot in advance for sharing your experiences!

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u/Whispering_Firefly — 1 day ago

▲ 32 r/Handspinning

Felted Roving - Questions about spinning and dying

This was my first attempt at dyeing a roving. I also have no other experience with dyeing.

Question 1: Unfortunately, quite a few things went wrong during dyeing, and in the end the water was strongly coloured. I had to rinse it about 10 times until the water became clearer, and now the roving is of course slightly felted. I can still spin it. Not as well as with undyed wool, but it works. Does this have any other disadvantages because it is felted? When spinning, plying, washing, and later knitting? Or is it not that bad since it is still spinnable?

Question 2: What did I do wrong during dyeing? I did it in an oven using a stainless steel tray. Before that, I soaked the wool in vinegar for about 30 minutes (60 g wool, 10 ml vinegar). Then I mixed the dyes without vinegar, a total of 1.5 g per 60 g wool (Luvotex) – I wanted strong colours. The wool was lightly covered with water, but not so much that it was really “floating” like in a pot of boiling water. In the oven I then struggled for 1 hour and 50 minutes, gradually turning up the temperature and later adding more vinegar because the water was still strongly coloured until the end. At first I tried 45 minutes at 85°C, and in the end I reached 140°C, and the water didn’t even boil (I know it shouldn’t – it was a desperate experiment). I did it that long, because I hoped, the water will clear up. During rinsing, especially the cyan bled out. Then I tried a second roving, this time with 20 ml vinegar at the start, twice as much water, and 105°C in the oven. It improved slightly (i.e. less bleeding afterwards), but the water was still strongly coloured. What did I do wrong?

u/Whispering_Firefly — 2 months ago

▲ 209 r/Handspinning

First 100g!

I’m a beginner, and after starting to knit my first sweater, I fell down the rabbit hole of spinning. I bought an old spinning wheel (an old Kromski Mazurka, probably not an original but a replica) and a few combed tops. Now the first 100g are spun. The first 50g still had too much twist. With the next 50g, I think there’s rather too little twist? But I’m having a lot of fun with it. For now I’m sticking with Texel sheep wool and next I’ll experiment with colors and Navajo plying. We’ll see what I end up using this first “experimental yarn” for (unfortunately I already have far too many hats and scarves).

u/Whispering_Firefly — 2 months ago