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The Balanced Yarn Reel: Geared Arms That Open Together
A skein of yarn must be held open on a turning reel while it is wound off into a ball. A reel that fits only one skein size, or wobbles as it turns, tangles the yarn.
Charles S. Foster of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, received US 376,590, dated 17 January 1888, for a yarn-reel whose pivoted arms are geared to a common toothed wheel, so they open together. "The circumference thereof may be increased about fifty per cent", and "the reel is always practically balanced, thereby maintaining a uniform tension upon the unwinding yarn".
This rung works out which skeins a reel fits and how much an off-centre arm shakes it, then builds an adjustable reel and winds a skein off it.
Intermediate
About 4 hours
Instructions
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1
Skein fit and the shake of an unbalanced arm
Skein fit and the shake of an unbalanced arm
Loading Jupyter Notebook...
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2
Why an off-centre mass shakes
Why an off-centre mass shakes
The embedded blueprint shows how an unbalanced rotor vibrates. Foster's geared arms keep the reel balanced at every setting.
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3
Read US 376,590
Read US 376,590
"In my improved reel herewith the circumference thereof may be increased about fifty per cent. over the minimum circumference of the reel, the latter corresponding to the closed position of the arms."
"An important advantage possessed by my reel is that in whatever position the pivoted arms or extensions may be adjustably secured to the center wheel or 'spider' the reel is always practically balanced, thereby maintaining a uniform tension upon the unwinding yarn."
4
4
Build an adjustable reel and wind a skein off
Build an adjustable reel and wind a skein off
Cut a hardwood hub and drill it to turn on a dowel held upright in a clamp. Pivot four equal hardwood arms at the hub's rim with wood screws, so each can swing out. Tie a cord from each arm's inner end to one ring, so pulling the ring swings all four out together.
Measure the reel's circumference closed and fully open. Open it to fit a skein and wind the skein off into a ball, noting any tugs in the yarn. Then set one arm further out than the others and wind again. Compare with the notebook.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Board1 piece
Wooden Dowel1 piece
Wood Screws8 pieces
Cotton Rope1 piece
Wool Yarn Skein1 pieceTools needed:
Yarn Swift
Clamps
Hand Saw
Cordless Drill
Tape Measure5
5
A reel that wobbles, tangles or drops the skein
A reel that wobbles, tangles or drops the skein
Yarn reel troubleshooting.
Flow
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6
History and honest limits
History and honest limits
**Charles S. Foster** of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, filed US 376,590 on 11 May 1887; it is dated 17 January 1888. (The filing year prints broken on the scan; serial no. 237,830 places it in 1887.) The ends of the arms carry wooden spools.
**Honest limits.** The notebook treats one arm as a point mass out of line and ignores the yarn's own pull. Skein sizes, masses and speeds are examples. Your winding is the measurement.
Materials
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Tools Required
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