Ashford Kiwi 3 Spinning Wheel

The Ashford Kiwi 3 is the wheel we put most first-time spinners on. The flyer sits above the drive wheel on a single upright, so it takes about as much floor space as a dining chair, and the treadles fold flat when you are done.

Is this the right wheel for you

Buy it if you are learning, or you want a second wheel that moves easily. Scotch tension means one knob sets how hard the yarn draws onto the bobbin, and you dial it in as you spin rather than hunting for a narrow band of correct tension. The double treadle lets you start and stop without reaching down to turn the wheel by hand.

If fine and lace-weight singles are your main work rather than an occasional project, budget for a kit. As it ships the fastest ratio is 9.5:1. The High Speed Adapter Kit takes the same wheel to 7.5, 10 and 15:1, and the Super Flyer Kit replaces everything above the maiden bar with a 27mm orifice and three 500g bobbins for art yarn and bulk plying.

Specs, and what each is for

• Single drive, scotch tension. One drive band turns the flyer. A separate brake band on the bobbin sets your take-up, and one knob adjusts it while you are treadling, so there is one obvious thing to change when something feels wrong.
• Ratios 5.5, 7.5 and 9.5:1. Flyer turns per treadle stroke, which is twist. Start at 5.5. It puts in the least twist and leaves you the most time to draft, which is what you want for thicker yarn. Move up to 9.5 for finer singles and sock yarn.
• Orifice 10mm (⅜ in). This is the ceiling on how thick a yarn can pass through. For thick singles and art yarn the Super Flyer lifts it to 27mm.
• Orifice height 69cm (27¼ in). This is how high your hands work, and it is the main ergonomic spec on a wheel. The Kiwi sits low, lower than most full-size wheels, so it suits a low seat and works comfortably for shorter spinners. Before you buy, sit in the chair you would actually spin in and notice where your hands rest. That is the height the wheel has to meet. Almost nobody publishes this figure.
• Drive wheel 45cm (17½ in), timber-veneered MDF. The MDF core is how Ashford holds the Kiwi at entry pricing without giving up flywheel mass, and mass is what carries the wheel between treadle strokes so your feet do less. It runs on sealed ball bearings.
• 73cm (28¾ in) tall, 50cm (19¾ in) deep, 5.5kg (12 lb). Small enough to live beside a chair, and light enough to carry to a guild meeting in one trip with the treadles folded and nothing taken apart.
• Sliding-hook flyer. The guides slide along the arm instead of sitting in fixed hooks, so you fill the bobbin evenly without stopping to move yarn from hook to hook.
• Snap-in front flyer bearing. The flyer clicks out of the front bearing, so changing a full bobbin does not mean dismantling anything.
• Polycord drive band. Cut to length at the factory and gripping correctly as supplied. To change ratio you move the band on both the drive wheel and the flyer whorl. They carry matching grooves in pairs, and moving both ends is what gives you the stated ratios. If tension ever feels off, call us. A band a few years old is usually just due for replacement.
• Bearings and hinges. Sealed ball bearings carry the drive wheel and the conrod through the base. The flyer front and rear bearings are the ones that want a drop of oil, more often than anything else on the wheel, and the bobbin rod takes one occasionally. The treadle hinges are flexible moulded polyurethane and never need oiling at all.
• Silver beech. The base, uprights and treadles are beech. The drive wheel and bobbins are not, which matters when you finish a natural wheel.

What comes in the box

The wheel flat-packed, three 90mm sliding-hook bobbins at 130g (4 to 5 oz) each, which is about a standard braid of fiber apiece, a wooden threading hook, and the hex wrench you build it with. Ashford include a simple Learn to Spin booklet to get you started if you have never spun before. If you are starting from scratch, pick a forgiving fiber to learn on. A Corriedale or a Shetland drafts easily and will not fight you.

Give it one to two hours to assemble if you have never built a wheel. Thirty minutes to an hour is realistic if you put together a lot of flat-pack furniture or already know how a spinning wheel goes together, though that is a less common skill than it sounds.

The base carries an integrated two-post lazy kate. That is the rack that holds your full bobbins while you ply them together. The posts stand straight up, and the sharp angle the yarn takes coming off a vertical bobbin is what supplies the light drag plying wants, so there is nothing to adjust and nothing extra to buy. Two posts and three included bobbins is exactly a first two-ply. Two of singles on the kate, and the third empty on the flyer to wind onto.

Ashford Spinning Wheel Oil is not in the box and you will want it from the first session.

Natural or lacquered?

Same wheel either way. The difference is who does the finishing. Lacquered arrives sealed from the factory, so you assemble it and spin. Natural costs less and arrives as raw beech with sandpaper included, to sand smooth and seal yourself with finishing wax, oil or stain.

Finish the parts before assembly while they are still flat, and leave three things bare. The groove around the drive wheel, the whorl grooves, and the bobbin whorl ends. The unsealed surface in those grooves is what grips the brake band and keeps the drive cord running consistently, and a coat of finish is what makes a band slip.

Which spare bobbin fits it?

The one to order is the Sliding Hook Flyer Bobbin, single drive, 90mm. Three fill up quickly once you start plying, so it is the first thing most owners add. Pick the single-drive option. The double-drive version of the same bobbin belongs to a different flyer.

We would not point you at the ordinary Ashford Standard Bobbin for this wheel. It holds noticeably less, and you have to run the large whorl with the brake band to get enough tension out of it. If you already have Standard bobbins from another Ashford they will serve for plying, but the 90mm sliding-hook bobbin is the one to buy.

Taking it with you

The treadles fold flat and the wheel is a one-hand carry at 12 lb. Ashford make a fitted Kiwi 3 Carry Bag, padded and cut for the folding-treadle frame. They only tool a model-specific bag for this wheel and the Joy. You can also order the wheel and bag together above.

One habit worth forming from day one. When you put the wheel away, park the drive band down a whorl to take the tension off it. Ashford ask for this and almost no dealer passes it on. It is the difference between a drive band that lasts years and one that stretches out.