My daughter uses a device called a tahkli. You can see one in use here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_wCej5n7AY
Designed to convert wool or other raw material into yarn.
Seeing this, I decided to see if I could make something different that worked better. My result is seen in the attached pics. Problems with existing tahklis are the shaft is too thick making it hard to get maximum rpm with a twis of the fingers. Wood shafts, the usual material, are too weak when thin. I went with thin wall stainless steel tubing 0.120" OD. My daughter says the weight can'be too high, but needed maximum inertia. Hence, the light recessed aluminum hub and heavy brass outside. I press fit the flywheel onto the shaft with Loctite for good measure. I put a point on a 1" piece of acrylic rod, center drilled the other end and pressed it on the shaft. The tahkli spins on this point. I was using epoxy for a small ball (from ball bearing) on the very top, but too fragile so need another option.
It took me forever to make a few of these. By far, the hardest part was fitting the brass and aluminum together as the fit has to be exact. And then carving out the aluminum dish and trying to adhere to dimensions. I just gave up on that and cut it until it looked nice, figuring each one will be a little different. I hate wasting all the brass from the long boring process to get the bore to 1". I have brass bar stock and thought about cutting that into squares, drilling modest sized holes in all, putting a threaded rod through them all with a nut on each end and chuck the whole mess into a lathe to make the squares all round. Now I have a bunch of rounds discs, but what is the best way to put in a 1" bore and face each side? I have a way to generally face pretty well, but welcome any ideas.
My daughter brought a few I made to some event today and let me know one already sold (person wanted it and asked, even though not actively selling). It is obvious I need to make more, but sure would like to do this better with less effort and time. Ideas?
Phil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_wCej5n7AY
Designed to convert wool or other raw material into yarn.
Seeing this, I decided to see if I could make something different that worked better. My result is seen in the attached pics. Problems with existing tahklis are the shaft is too thick making it hard to get maximum rpm with a twis of the fingers. Wood shafts, the usual material, are too weak when thin. I went with thin wall stainless steel tubing 0.120" OD. My daughter says the weight can'be too high, but needed maximum inertia. Hence, the light recessed aluminum hub and heavy brass outside. I press fit the flywheel onto the shaft with Loctite for good measure. I put a point on a 1" piece of acrylic rod, center drilled the other end and pressed it on the shaft. The tahkli spins on this point. I was using epoxy for a small ball (from ball bearing) on the very top, but too fragile so need another option.
It took me forever to make a few of these. By far, the hardest part was fitting the brass and aluminum together as the fit has to be exact. And then carving out the aluminum dish and trying to adhere to dimensions. I just gave up on that and cut it until it looked nice, figuring each one will be a little different. I hate wasting all the brass from the long boring process to get the bore to 1". I have brass bar stock and thought about cutting that into squares, drilling modest sized holes in all, putting a threaded rod through them all with a nut on each end and chuck the whole mess into a lathe to make the squares all round. Now I have a bunch of rounds discs, but what is the best way to put in a 1" bore and face each side? I have a way to generally face pretty well, but welcome any ideas.
My daughter brought a few I made to some event today and let me know one already sold (person wanted it and asked, even though not actively selling). It is obvious I need to make more, but sure would like to do this better with less effort and time. Ideas?
Phil
