 Spinning wheels come in many
configurations, the two most common ones are the castle (shown at left), in which the flyer
is situated over the drive wheel, and the Saxony (shown at right) which is what most
people think of when spinning wheels are mentioned. Most other types of spinning wheels
are a variation on these two types. Which type of wheel is right for you depends on the
space you have available, for example, the castle wheel takes less space than the Saxony,
and your aesthetic taste. All wheels do the same thing, they spin fiber into yarn, some
just do it differently than others.There
are two drive systems used with wheels: single drive and double drive. With single drive
you have either the drive belt running the bobbin (called bobbin
lead), with a brake on the flyer, or the drive belt running the flyer (called Scotch Tension), with a brake on the bobbin. All Louet
wheels, except for the S45 which is Scotch Tension, are bobbin lead wheels. The Kromski
wheels are either Scotch Tension or double drive wheels.
With double drive wheels the drive belt runs both the flyer and the bobbin.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Bobbin lead wheels, such as the Louet, are easy to learn on. They treadle easily and the
only adjustment you need to make is the brake on the flyer (the brake affects the rate at
which the spun yarn is wound onto the bobbin). The disadvantage is the bobbin is always
pulling on the yarn as you spin so it is hard to spin fine yarns. Scotch tension wheels
are easy to learn on, they are very gentle on the yarn so you can spin fine yarns. The
disadvantage is getting the wheel adjusted right to get the correct tension so that the
yarn draws on to the bobbin correctly and you won't have over- or under-twist. With Scotch
tension you have two adjustments to make, the brake on the bobbin and the tension on the
drive band at the Mother-of-All. The double drive wheel is
halfway between the single drive bobbin lead wheel and the Scotch tension wheel. It isn't
quite as gentle on the yarn, however you can spin a very fine yarn with a double drive
wheel. They are very easy to spin on and you only have to make one tension adjustment at
the Mother-of-All.
 Spinning wheels come with
either one or two treadles (they are the "peddles" at the bottom of the wheel)
that are used to turn the drive wheel. The two wheels pictured above are double treadle
wheels, the Kromski Mazurka, pictured at left, is a single treadle wheel. There are two
types of double treadles, the one shown at right is a true double treadle, there are two treadles and two
footman attached to a crank (for a larger image of the picture which also shows a close-up
of the crank click here). In the second type of double treadle
set-up, which is found on Louet wheels, the two treadles are connected together so that
your treadling action is like riding a bicycle (for a photo click
here). With either single or double treadles the amount of energy needed to turn the
drive wheel is the same, with the double treadle wheel you have two sets of muscles being
used to turn the drive wheel which makes it less tiring in the long run. With a double
treadle wheel it is also easier to keep a steady rhythm. A lot of manufacturers offer
wheels as single or double treadle only, for example the Kromski Symphony is available
only as a double treadle wheel and the Mazurka is single treadle only. When an option is
offered, for example you can get a Louet S10 either as single treadle or double treadle,
the double treadle model is more expensive because more parts are involved.
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