The Jumbo Flyer is assembled and mounted on my wheel and I have plied my first bobbin using it. First impressions are:
- The quality leaves much to be desired and it is not such a fine object as the standard flyer – it is made of ply, not timber, and lacks the running groove – the yarn goes through two hooks to clear the bobbin drive.
- It is going to take time to get used to – I had expected the transition to be seamless but the feel of it is very different
- It is fast!
The speed took me by surprise. I wanted a Jumbo mainly to allow spinning of chunkier yarns, but also for the bobbin capacity. It never once occurred to me that spinning would be faster using this flyer. Plying was super-fast.The combination of the Jumbo and the tensioned Kate meant that I plied off two standard bobbins in what seemed like just moments.
This flyer will certainly be most useful in August, when we do the Sheep-to-Shawl and my wheel is now a production machine!