Drive band cord designed to fit ANY antique or modern spinning wheel. Now comes in five thicknesses: please, be sure to choose the one which fits your wheel best (see details below).
Hand spun from cotton yarn and worsted wool yarn. Cotton yarn: provides solidity, lasts longer. Worsted wool yarn: provides greater elasticity which is the advantage of a hand spun drive band vs a cotton or hemp drive band; greater elasticity makes your tension adjustments smoother and more precise.
Sizes available, WPI (Wraps Per Inch, details below):
6WPI - Thick: for older antique wheels, no groove wheels (like Walking Wheel)
7WPI - Thicker: for antique wheels with larger grooves, like Desjardins
8WPI - Standard: fits most antique spinning wheels, including CPWs, or Canadian Production Wheels
9WPI - Thinner: for antique wheels with smaller grooves or modern wheels, like Ashford Traditional
10WPI - Thin: for antique wheels with narrow grooves or modern wheels, like Schacht Matchless or Lendrum
How to choose the size you need? Take any yarn or rope that, in your opinion, fits best the grooves and pulleys of your spinning wheel. Measure its WPI: wrap your yarn around a ruler for on inch, neither too tight nor too loosely, and count the number of wraps. Choose your cord size accordingly.
The drive band is sold by meter. To know what length you need to order, take a measurement directly on your wheel. Below are some approximate common drive band lengths to order as per the diameter of the wheel:
23” double drive – 5 meters
28” double drive – 6 meters
30” double drive – 6.5 meters
HOW TO MEASURE THE DRIVE BAND LENGTH TO PURCHASE FOR YOUR SPINNING WHEEL
You will need to measure the approximate length of your drive band and then to add about 1 meter (1 yard) to this length.
1. Make sure the mother-of-all is in a normal spinning position and your bobbin is on the flyer.
2. Take a piece of a non-stretchy yarn or cord (for example, a cotton yarn or a rope that does not stretch) of the approximate length as per the length indications above (ex. if the wheel of your double drive spinning wheel measures 28”, take about 6 meters of such yarn or rope).
3. Double drive spinning wheels: place this cord in a double loop around the wheel with one loop over the bobbin pulley and the other loop over the flyer whorl. Single drive spinning wheels: place this cord in a simple loop over your wheel and a whorl.
4. Tighten the cord on the wheel and make a knot (no matter where and no matter how, as you are measuring simply the length you need to purchase).
5. Take the cord off the spinning wheel, mark where the knot is, undo the knot and measure the distance between the two marks. Add about 80-100 cm to this length (for subsequent splicing, see below), and you shall obtain the length you need to purchase.
BEFORE INSTALLING YOUR NEW DRIVE BAND, it is very important to put your new drive band cord under tension for a minimum of 24 hours just before you measure it precisely to know where to splice. To do so, adjust your tension position to its lowest (closest to the big wheel). Put the cord on your wheel like you would normally do and make a solid bowknot. Now, adjust your tension to stretch the drive band cord quite strongly and leave it to rest.
SPLICING
Once you have your stretched drive band cord in hand, you will have to join the two ends in a seamless manner and at the right place. Such seamless connection is achieved by splicing the ends of the drive band (like in the marine science). You can see an example of a splice on the picture before the last one: the splice is where the drive band is slightly thicker. A detailed tutorial on how to splice is now available on my YouTube channel. Splicing is not difficult, but requires to be seen at least once so that you can do it yourself easily and in the right way. There will be a short length of a drive band cord included in your order for training purposes.
*Please, note that this product qualifies for untracked letter mail in Canada and tracked small package in the USA. If you would like tracked shipping for Canada, please select this option at checkout.
