True grit

I've always loved to tinker. I get it from my dad who is, among other things, a talented cabinetmaker, mechanic, and all-around fiddler with things. (I also play the fiddle, but that's a story for another day.) My dad was always tinkering with and fixing things around the house. He was my first teacher, and he taught me the art of using sandpaper.

Having spun on my new saxony for a few days, I noticed that the fiber was making a lot of noise as it flowed through the orifice. This wheel is unusually quiet so the noise (and the vibration) was irritating. Having successfully tamed the steel orifice on my Schacht, I couldn't wait to tinker with the lovely brass orifice on the Lendrum.

One of the reasons I love wet/dry sandpaper is that it works equally well on wood or metal. I used the same 400- and 600-grit papers I used on the wood to polish the orifice. I wet the 400-grit, and being careful not to get any water on the wood, sanded inside the openings and around the outside. Brass is fairly soft, so by rolling a small piece of sandpaper into a tube I was able to quickly sand all the edges and smooth out the sharp spot around the front opening. Switching to 600-grit and using just a little water, I buffed the metal to a soft shine. Now the wheel is silent, incredibly fast, and the metal glows.

And should you be curious as to what fiber is flowing onto the bobbin, it's Persimmon Tree's wool and mohair in the colorway, "Autumn Leaves."




One last observation: tinker spelled backwards is reknit. The former is an obsession. The latter is, well, an obsession I'd rather not cultivate.