Editor

Techniques

People

Articles

Featured Fibers

Kidspin

Projects

Reviews

Resources

Events

Support Spindlicity

Frequently Asked Questions

Using Your Ratios
by Janel Laidman
Wheel Mechanics Series

I often hear people tell me that they don't use the ratios on their wheel, they just treadle faster or slower or adjust their hands to get the fiber to make the kind of yarn they want. This method works up to a certain point, but it is often the reason that people start spinning finer and finer and then find a "groove" that they can't seem to break out of, or find that they just don't like certain fibers or find that their yarn is always breaking. So let's take a few minutes and make friends with the ratios on our spinning wheels, you'll be surprised at how it might change your spinning!

What is a ratio?

First off, what do I mean by ratio? A ratio is the relationship between one wheel and another on your spinning wheel. Simply put, the ratio is the number of times that a smaller wheel turns for every turn of a bigger wheel. With spinning wheels this means that every time you turn the big flywheel on your wheel by treadling, the flyer goes around a certain number of times. If it goes around 13 times for every time the big wheel goes around, that is called 13:1. A large ratio is one that has a big difference in the size of the flywheel to the size of the flyer, a small ratio means they are closer in size to one another.

You can find out the ratios of your wheel several ways. First up, many current commercial wheels readily publish this information. Usually you can find it in your spinning wheel's manual, but in case you've lost the manual there are other ways to find it out. For example if I go to the Schacht website, I can find out that my Schacht Matchless has ratios from 4:1 all the way to 22.5:1. If I look at the Ashford website I can find out that my Joy has ratios from 6:1 to 14:1.

If you have an older wheel that doesn't have readily available documentation, you can still figure out the ratios. Simply turn the large flywheel 1 revolution and count the number of times the flyer goes around. You want to make sure this is done without any brake band slowing the flyer, so loosen the brake tension before you count if you have an irish tension wheel (bobbin lead).

How do you get the different ratios?

The ratios change with the diameter of the two wheels in relation to each other. There are two basic systems. One with a fixed flywheel size like my Schacht Matchless, and one with a grooved variable flywheel diameter like my Ashford Joy. With a fixed flywheel size, since the big wheel is always the same size, the different ratios come from changing the diameter of the whorl driving the flyer. The Schacht system includes interchangeable whorls that you can remove and replace to get all the way from 4:1 to 22:1. With the Schacht, each whorl has two different grooves, effectively giving it two different diameters. The larger whorl gives a smaller ratio and vice versa.

With the Ashford Joy, the whorl is built in and is not changeable. In order to maximize the range of ratios available to the spinner, the Joy has grooves on both the whorl and the large flywheel. As the grooves on the flywheel get larger, the grooves on the whorl get smaller so that by changing both of the diameters you can achieve a greater range of ratios. When changing the ratios on this type of system you move the drive band so that it is always on grooves that are in line with each other. When you are on the largest whorl diameter and smallest flywheel diameter you have the least amount of difference so that will be your smallest ratio. As you move in the opposite direction you will be moving to your largest ratio (smallest whorl diameter, largest flywheel diameter). Other whees, like the Majacraft wheels, use the stepped groove system but have interchangeable whorls to maximize your range of ratios.

How do the ratios affect the speed?

The ratios affect the "speed" of your spinning by affecting how many revolutions of the flyer you get per treadle. So if you are treadling at an even pace, a larger whorl will spin more slowly than a smaller whorl because there is less of a difference between the two wheel sizes. In general, a slower speed will be more ideal for a thicker yarn and a fast speed will be more ideal for a fine yarn. So an easy way to remember is "big whorl.... big yarn, small whorl.... small yarn."

How do I use this information when purchasing a wheel?

The most important thing to consider when purchasing a wheel is what will you be using it for, and what is your spinning style? Will it be an all purpose wheel, or is it one of several in your tool collection? If you want to spin a range of yarn sizes on your wheel, it helps to get a wheel with a large range of ratios. The factors affecting ratios have to do with the size of the flywheel and the size of the whorls and how many whorls are available. A large flywheel, like a 30" production wheel will give you a lot of speed and very high ratios, however it can be downright difficult traveling with such a large wheel, whereas it is very easy to travel with a nice portable folding wheel, but you might sacrifice the larger ratios in favor of portability.

A good experiment to try:

Take a look at your wheel and familiarize yourself with the system used to change ratios. Is it a fixed flywheel size or a grooved flywheel? Next figure out how to get the smallest ratio on your wheel. Remember the smallest ratio means the least amount of size difference between the flywheel and the whorl. So if you have a changeable whorl system, this would mean your biggest whorl. If you have a multi-groove system, this means setting the drive band on the largest whorl diameter and smallest flywheel diameter. Using an easy to spin fiber like Bluefaced Leicester, or Romney or whatever you like best, put on some music with a relaxed, steady, beat and spin for a few minutes. Then stop, change to the next ratio and continue spinning. It helps to mark where you changed ratios by spinning an inch or so of contrasting fiber color so you can look back and see the point at which you changed. Again, spin for a few minutes then change ratios. Do this until you have spun your way through all of your ratios at the same speed with the same fiber. If the music ends, start it up again. The music helps you keep a relaxed, steady, pace so that your spinning is less affected by you treadling faster or slower and you'll be better able to see how your ratios can work for you. You will find that changing your ratios lets you spin the yarn you like at the pace you like, using the technique you like!