#espinner

[brarb-does-stuff]

Starting to spin the rainbow merino I've had lying in my stash for a while

[ezekiellsplayground]

Please enjoy some spinning with me on my new Daedalus Starling (aka ‘The Lamborghini’). Fibre is the WoW team blend Dragon’s Breath which is merino & mulberry silk.

[milkweedman]

Too sick to do pretty much anything but also bored as hell. Been spinning the southdown flax blend on my espinner cause why not, nobody has ordered any and I can make more if they did.

It's a very interesting spin. I spun a sample before I put it up for sale to make sure it wasn't awful, which it's not; but it is difficult. Not sure I would have been able to spin it before I learnt how to spin flax. You gotta keep an eye on both components as you work, making sure you're not leaving the southdown behind or letting the flax bunch up. It's easy once you are used to it, but still different.

The espinner I got working a little better by seating the drive band correctly. Still not a fan of the fact that I'm not directly in control of the speed... on a wheel or spindle I often want to slow down or stop but it's a pain on the espinner and it leads to uneven yarn. These things are weird.

Anyway. Dont know what I'll do with it but it's nice to spin again. Have been having trouble using my supported spindles bc of my shoulders. I know there's a way to lay down where you can spin supported without shoulder pain; the issue is I can't lay in one position for very long bc then everything else hurts. And of course supported is what i switched to after wheel spinning was too painful, which i got into because drop spindling was too painful. Can you tell how upset I am that spinning is being slowly taken from me. Haha. Anyway. Glad for the espinner in this regard.

[handspunyarns]

Mando is telling me I better get back to the work

[theoriginalladya]

So, Tour de Fleece started off a little rough for me.

Friday night I decided to warm-up for spinning on my e-spinner (good thing I did, having some tension problems), and on the left is about 2.5 hours worth of spinning. When I set it up for spinning yesterday, all set to finish off the roving and switch to my main project...it wouldn't work. Power is reaching the machine (on/off button is flashing), but it isn't spinning. After searching the internet and looking around my house for some oil for the machine (and praying long and hard that that is the issue and it'll fix it), I ended up ordering some oil online. Should arrive this afternoon and fingers crossed! hopefully it will work.

In the meantime, also came across another red project I started on drop spindle last year before the big move, so I pulled it out and spent all afternoon spinning. Working on it again today and should reach the end of that roving tonight or tomorrow.

So, not the plan, but it's working for the moment. I just hope my e-spinner works once I have the oil. I just got it at Christmas. Used it a handful of times. It shouldn't suddenly stop like this.

Anyway, Tour de Fleece 2023 progress, Day 1.

[garaksapprentice]

Review: the Daedalus Falcon e-spinner

Originally posted on my blog: https://garaksapprentice.blogspot.com/2023/09/review-daedalus-falcon-e-spinner.html

(There's a ton of photos in this one and much as I love you all, I cannot brain moving them all over here. So if you want all the pics, please check the blog.)

I confess, this is a departure from my usual "let's do things with the least amount of money we can get away with" style. In my defence, I strive to be frugal rather than cheap. I don't mind spending the money to get a good quality, durable product, if it's something I know will get a lot of use. An e-spinner definitely fits that category for me, for several reasons.

One, I fall well on the frog hair end of the spinning spectrum, something most traditional wheels just aren't designed to accommodate. I actually found it faster (and easier on my legs) to use a spindle for the kinds of fine, high-twist yarns I prefer to spin. But, there are limits to how fine I can comfortably go on a spindle - anything past about 50 WPI and I have to concentrate just on the spinning. Not good when you typically use a spindle on the go.

Two, I have a lingering knee injury that doesn't like the treadle action of most spinning wheels (something I find hilariously frustrating given I ride a cargo bike anywhere I can't take the train).

Three, I spin mostly to weave. Much as I love spinning, I like it to end eventually so I can move onto the weaving part of the equation.

After three straight months of research, the Daedalus Falcon came out as the hands-down winner for my goals of speed, fine yarn, and product durability.

Why Daedalus?

Daedalus manufacture high-end e-spinners and spinning accessories. All their products are designed to need little to no maintenance, and to last 20+ years - they're seriously well put together.

They make five different e-spinners to suit just about any spinning preference, from super bulky art yarn to ultra fine frog hair. The Falcon is specifically designed for production spinning of fine yarns - it can reach speeds of 4,200 RPM, over twice what I could get from my Ashford Traditional wheel.

Ordering

I'll be honest, I spent a long time thinking about which model, and whether to order a Daedalus at all. These beauties are high-performance machines built to last. But, that means they come with the price tag of a high-performance machine. Plus currency exchange. Plus postage. (Yikes.) In all, I spent just under AU$2,000 on my Falcon set-up (I ordered three extra bobbins at US$90 and some yarn control cards for US$24).

At the time I ordered (November 2022), there was an estimated wait time of 12 months or more. Luckily for me, if not my bank account, Daedalus expanded their production capacity over the 2022 Christmas break. I reached the front of the Falcon queue in June 2023 (seven months from sign-up). At the time of writing (September 2023) there is no queue for the Falcon, and the Daedalus team are working to banish their waitlists completely.

The package

My Falcon came party disassembled, cradled in bubble wrap. (I wasn't thinking about writing a review when I ordered it, so I didn't take pictures.) The flyer assembly was individually wrapped for transport, as were the speed controller, inverter, cables, and welcome pack/spares bag.

The inverter is a standard laptop style pack. It comes with a US-ended jug plug, but that's easy to change out for whatever your local plug end is. I dove into my box of spare cables and leads and had a compatible jug plug in less than two minutes. If you don't have a box of old computer cords lying around, what century did you time travel from plan ahead and buy a new one.

Importantly, the inverter outputs 15 volts! Make absolutely sure that you've got the right one when you go to spin! Most laptops nowadays run on 20 volts - you don't want to damage the motor by running it faster than it's designed for.

{pic on blog}

The extension cable for the speed controller, and the power end on the motor itself, is some non-standard end that I've never seen before. (It's probably very common among people who know things about electronics; I'm not one of them.) It's similar to USB-A connectors in that the ends are directional; if you don't get them the right way up, they won't connect. The cord itself has a protective, braided outer and feels very sturdy.

From top to bottom: the outside of both ends, the female end, and the male end.

The Instructions

The guidebook (also available as a PDF on their website) is beautifully designed, and clearly written. The parts diagrams are clearly photographed and labelled. I've found the instructions easy to follow, even with a scattered brain.

It includes:

getting started

fine tuning the tension

how to use the speed controller

a page of "handy tips"

how to change the bobbin

an RPM speed table

changing settings in the speed controller menu

maintenance

flat packing for travel

the Daedalus battery (purchased separately)

Daedalus' social media and contact details

The first page has a QR code that takes you directly to the Daedalus YouTube channel, where you can find videos on how to assemble and disassemble each model. My one quibble here is that the QR code takes you to the channel as a whole, rather than to the specific playlist for the model you bought. The videos themselves are short, to the point, and well shot with clear lighting and narration.

Also, the manual states that the speed controller has been limited to 50% max speed in the settings - mine wasn't. I've seen other folks on social media also say their controller wasn't speed limited for this model, so it's something to watch out for.

About that battery

Daedalus offer a battery bank that's designed to work with all their e-spinners (yay!). Unfortunately, due to issues with postage, they don't mail them outside the continental US (boo!).

While their website does say that they'll help you find a compatible battery that you can purchase in your country, this is complicated by the part where all their stuff runs on 15 volts. In Australia at least, 15v battery banks with a standard laptop cable input simply don't exist. I spent six weeks trying to find somewhere to buy a battery - I eventually gave up due to my brain frying any time I tried to look at listings.

While I'd like the option of a battery eventually (it would be much easier to set up in the back yard that way), for now I've made peace with needing to lug extension cords anywhere I want to spin.

Spinning Experience

So far I've only spun commercially prepared wools, so this won't be a thorough review of the Falcon's performance over a variety of fibres and preps. (I'll attempt that later, when I get the chance. And finer wool cards.)

Noise

It's quiet. Really quiet. At least two people at every guild meeting I've taken it to have commented on how quiet it is. Most of the noise comes from the flyer rotation, and considerably less from the motor. I'm quite sensitive to noise, especially higher pitches, so I was concerned about this. Luckily it hasn't been an issue. (If you're the sort of person who can hear electricity, it may bother you. I've lost that mysterious ability as I've aged, for the most part, so I can't say for sure.)

I have noticed that the noise changes/gets louder at speeds above about 70% - again, this is simply due to the fact that the flyer is turning at ~3,000+ RPM. At worst I have to turn the laptop up slightly to better hear the video I have playing. The breeze off the flyer sure helps with air circulation on a warm day, too.

Threading

The size of the hooks (loops, really) and the inner part of the orifice make threading a breeze. I do occasionally struggle with very fine, high twist threads, especially when I'm rethreading after a break. That's partly finding the right angle to hold the thread at so that it catches in the hook, and partly my fingers not always co-operating.This is the position I find works best for threading the orifice.

I wouldn't want to try it with a non-Daedalus orifice hook, though - there's quite a bend in the hook, and it's there for good reason. Luckily the Falcon body has magnets on it to always keep your hook nearby.

The magnets + hook combo is great for holding the end of the thread when you're not spinning, too. I just wrap it around the middle of the hook a few times and stick it back on the magnets.

Take-up and tensioning

The take-up is wonderfully light, and can be ridiculously fine-tuned to match what you're spinning. When take-up drops below an acceptable level (once or twice per layer of bobbin filling), a tiny adjustment (less than a quarter turn) is usually enough to get things back on track.

I've filled four part-bobbins so far (two I'm still working on, one I ran out of fibre), at ~65 WPI, 45 WPI, and ~85 WPI. On each empty bobbin, I started with the spring completely compressed and the cord just barely tight/without slack. It took a few minutes of trial and error with each fibre to dial in the correct tension, but once I did, it was basically hassle-free for each spinning session thereafter.

That being said - I found correct tensioning quite tricky to dial in at first, because the hook and dial had shifted on their arms during shipping. If you put your wheel in something to travel with and find the tension is all screwy next time you go to spin, that's something to look at.

This circumstance isn't covered in the guide book, so it took me a while to work out why my "maximum tension" on the dial still wasn't enough to draw on the yarn I was spinning (it only became apparent about a third into the bobbin). Once I realised that the tension dial had rotated on the shaft in transport, I was able to reset it by simply rotating it back to a more vertical position.

{pic on blog}

This is an extreme example, but both the tension dial and the spring hook opposite it can rotate like this if you're not careful.

Starting/Stopping

At first I didn't think I'd need the foot pedal extension cord - surely I'd just be able to bop the controller on and off with my hand while I was spinning?

I was quickly disabused of this notion partway through my second bobbin. When things go wrong while spinning a 60 WPI single at 2,500 RPM, they go wrong fast. Being able to turn the Falcon off with my foot, while frantically trying to salvage whatever's gone wrong, is essential.

A really nice bonus to the foot pedal is that I'm not stuck in one position while spinning - I can sit, stand, rock from side to side, even crouch or kneel. I have back and shoulder problems and an old knee injury, so being able to freely change posture is a godsend for keeping my muscles happy.

And the soft stop/start - oh. my. Dog. I did not realise how much nicer my wheel spinning life could be. A soft stop is built in to spindle spinning by default, and I genuinely didn't realise how much I missed that on a wheel until I started spinning on the Falcon. I sing its praises whenever the thread breaks - the end stays loose and easy to find on top of the bobbin. No matter how gently I tried to stop my treadle wheel, more often than not the thread end would be buried somewhere in the hills and valleys on the bobbin, and there would be much swearing during retrieval.

Bobbin size

Daedalus advertises the Falcon bobbin as holding "two ounces (60 g) of 30 WPI singles". After plying a couple of bobbins of sock yarn with it, I would call this a conservative estimate. I managed to fit 70g of a 32 WPI, two-ply yarn on one bobbin - and it wasn't even well packed!

I've included a couple of in-progress bobbin shots, and what the singles on them currently measure/weight, below. None of them are even close to full, unfortunately - this is the order I spun them in, and right now I need to concentrate on the last one since it's due by December.

{pics on blog}

Sliver from Bendigo Woollen Mills. ~75 WPI, 31g. 19.5 micron merino top from Nundle Farms. ~82 WPI, 29g.  Handpainted 20 micron merino from Kathy's Fibres, ~82 WPI, 12g.

Final thoughts

This powerhouse is not for everyone. It's made for a specific purpose, and it fulfils that purpose beautifully. But it would probably suck at doing things it's not designed for.

While I'm sure you could spin 20 WPI or even 10 WPI singles with it, it won't do the job as well as an e-spinner designed for that. The other Daedalus offerings are worth a look, if you're not as into spinning frog hair as me.

But if you have a deep, abiding love for spinning lace-weight and finer yarns, this is an e-spinner worth looking at. Expensive though it was, it's one of the best fibre-related purchases I've made. (It easily beats the sewing machine and the overlocker combined.)

I'm definitely an outlier here - I have the not-at-all-typical goal of one day having a completely hand-spun, handwoven, and hand-sewn wardrobe. As such, production spinning is my jam - I want fine, high-twist yarns, that commercial mills simply can't replicate. And I want them as fast as my skills will let me go. With that in mind, the Falcon makes complete sense for my spinning goals.

Obligatory disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with Daedalus, and this post isn't sponsored (not that I'm against that, mind. This apprentice has to eat). All opinions are my own.

[panicfable]

it has been chain plied. I have a feeling it's a lot less yarn than it looks like. it is far from perfect, has a lot of pig tails and probably won't lie flat. I'm going to skein it and wash it tonight or tomorrow. I am still excited and it's so beautiful ahhh.

[ripplestitchskein]

Yesterday I got an Electric Eel Wheel Nano from FB marketplace and spent all evening trying it out on a fractal spin project and my heart is so fucking happy. This little machine is a DREAM to spin on. I still love my wheel of course, I can’t spin thick art yarn on this and there is something so pleasing and satisfying about using a wheel, and I’ll always love the rhythm of my spindles, but this cute little thing filled that last little spinning niche.

It took me a minute to get over the fact that I couldn’t slow my feet when the fiber drafting was going less smoothly but I got over that super quickly and just had a lovely evening spinning away. And you can spin so fine on this guy without any hassle at all, no switching whorls or fiddling with tension or reattaching the drive band etc, it just handles it naturally with the turn of a knob.

I also appreciate it from a design perspective. The teeny magnetic orifice hook, the super easy tension, the plastic sliding hooks, the super adjustable speed dial, the ability to switch from S to Z spin with a switch and and the ease of bobbin swaps was just *chefs kiss*.

AND DID I MENTION I CAN TAKE IT ANYWHERE? It runs just fine on my solar power bank and it weighs next to nothing. I have everything I need to spin in a standard lunch box.

I’m sure there are better electric wheels out there, and I don’t think they even sell this little guy anymore but I love it so much.

I’m not selling this or promoting anything, I’m just super fucking impressed.

[gypsyyarns]

Selling my espinner. Nothing wrong with. I just can’t seem to figure out how to spin…lol. Message me if you are interested. #espinner #nano #spinnersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp8EBeWLRem/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lexicals]

[ID: 2 digital drawings of a spider-sona character - the same piece is shown in 2 different palettes. They have a medium build and are wearing a spider-man esque body suit, but with a loose sleeveless shirt, shorts, and a black net/lace cloak over the top. They're posed mid-motion, one arm up and one down as they pull out a length of web between their fingers, which is attached to some kind of spherical device fixed to one wrist. Behind them is a swirl of purples and pinks. The first palette is mostly monochrome grey, black and white with a few red accents, while the second is mostly red and black with orange accents. End ID.]

-

I finally made one o those funny spidersonas :> Their name is weaver and they specialise in spinning different kinds of webs for different purposes!

[brarb-does-stuff]

Spinning some dark Jacob sheep for my mom for Christmas.

[ezekiellsplayground]

I lost bobbin chicken with about 250g of this fibre to go. However, I am massively impressed with the capacity of my daedalus’s bobbins. These are laceweight singles.

[milkweedman]

TDF DAYS 16, 18, & 19

I took the 17th as a rest day, but the other two days I was working on spinning the 3rd ply for this skein. I only have like 1.5 bobbins, so I'll need to spin more I'm sure, but I ran out of empty bobbins to spin on. The wool for this ply is some beautiful BFL roving that my friend bones sent me--it also made up most of the batts for the other two plies as well.

Spinning on the espinner while bedbound on the 18th. Definitely easier than supported spinning while lying down, altho I do that sometimes too. Espinners really are the best tool for when literally every movement hurts, lol.

And the full array of bobbins ! Excited to start plying them tonight.

[leveragehunters]

So you know that thing where you get a new hobby and just hyperfixate on it and buy all the things?

I now have a drum carder to go with my spinning wheel and e-spinner.

BUT it's going to be amazing for making pelts for needle felting, so it actually crosses back over to my last hyperfixation so i'm apportioning blame. And I'm going to start needle felting a Creature so I can make it a glorious pelt with the drum carder.

Here's some super messy roving I dizzed off the carder - I'm so bad with the diz but carding is so much fun!

(It's black and pewter merino with copper silk)

[startenthousand]

TdF day 8

[theoriginalladya]

Decided to start spinning up some more yarn yesterday. Spindle one is done! Time to start spindle two!

(And one of these days I’ll find my buddy noddy and finish the other two that are done! It’s been misplaced in the move. *sigh*)