About a month ago, I scored an amazing great wheel at a vintage shop. It had no spinning head and was missing a chunk of its axle bearing. I haggled pretty hard for it, because it had some serious faults and because I REALLY loved the tensioning system, and I didn't have much money to spend.
When I got it home, I "fixed" the broken axle bearing with some polymer clay. It worked so well! The clay shrunk when baked, and I installed it while it was still hot, and it expanded just a bit as it cooled and filled the space beautifully. I used a bit of wheat paste to glue it in a completely reversible way. (The schmutz on the hub in the photo is wheat paste that I later wiped up. I also intentionally got a bright white clay to contrast with the existing bearing to make it easy to spot and remove someday when I get a real bearing installed.)
I love my (now former) neighbor:
"Do you have a spoonful of wheat flour?" "Yes... but it's really old and maybe inedible." "That's okay, I need it to make some adhesive to fix my new spinning wheel." "Oh, okay then, I'll go get it for you."
...most natural thing in the world, don't you think?
Anyway, the wheel is incredible. The maker stamped it 13 times at the front of the table, all the bits are beautifully (but not elaborately) turned, the wheel rim is true and has a groove (Oh how I have wanted a grooved great wheel!) and it spins so beautifully!
I demonstrated at Art in the Pearl on Labor Day. Last year I brought the Vezina CPW, and this time I brought the great wheel. As last year, the wheel drew a huge crowd, and I got some good spinning done and evangelized to a few aspiring spinners about the goodness of saving these grand old ladies from becoming weathered porch decorations. It was a fine end to my time in Portland.
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