Ashford Traveller 3 Spinning Wheel

The Ashford Traveller 3 is an upright castle spinning wheel. Single drive, scotch tension, four ratios, double treadle, with the flyer centered high above a compact four-leg base. It is a compact home wheel rather than a travel one, with a one-piece frame, no folding, and 5.8kg (12¾ lb) to carry.

Specs, and what each is for

• Single drive, scotch tension. One knob sets your take-up, and you dial it in as you spin rather than hunting for a narrow band of correct tension. It is an easy system to get started on.
• Ratios 5, 7, 9 and 14:1. Flyer turns per treadle stroke, which is twist. The low end buys you drafting time. 14:1 is for fine and lace.
• Orifice 10mm (⅜ in). This is the ceiling on how thick a yarn can pass through. For thick singles and art yarn, the jumbo flyer lifts it.
• Orifice height 80.5cm (31¾ in). This is how high your hands work, and it is the main ergonomic spec on a wheel. The orifice and flyer land at a comfortable height from a low-set chair. 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 46cm (18 in), heavy rim. Rim mass carries the wheel between strokes, so your feet do less. Ashford rate it 20% up on the previous generation.
• Sliding-hook flyer, centered. Stainless squeeze-and-slide guides move anywhere along graphite-fiberglass arms, so bobbins fill evenly, and the orifice carries a smooth insert so the yarn runs free instead of catching. It reads the same left- or right-handed.
• Polycord drive band. Cut to length at the factory, and the wheel and flyer grip it correctly as supplied. To change ratio you move the band on both the drive wheel and the flyer whorl. That is what gives you the stated ratios and keeps it consistent as you spin. If tension ever feels off, call us. A band a few years old is usually just due for replacement.
• Bearings. Sealed ball bearings carry the drive wheel and the conrod where it passes 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 and conrod bearings take one occasionally.
• Solid New Zealand silver beech. The base, uprights and treadles are solid 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, and a wooden threading hook with its own slot on the wheel. 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.

It goes together straightforwardly. If this is your first wheel, give it about two hours. If you have built a wheel before, or you are quick with flat-pack furniture, expect somewhere between half an hour and an hour.

The wheel has an integrated two-post lazy kate in the base, on the side you sit to spin. 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. It takes Ashford's Jumbo bobbins as well as the standard ones, which most built-in kates will not. 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 arrives as raw silver beech with sandpaper included, to sand smooth and seal yourself.

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 grippy exposed interior in those grooves is what holds 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. 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.

Add to your setup

• Sliding Hook Flyer Bobbins, single drive, so you keep spinning instead of stopping to wind off.
• Basic Jumbo Flyer Kit, which lifts the 10mm orifice ceiling for chunky singles and art yarn, on jumbo bobbins the built-in kate takes.
• Traveller 3 drive band, cut to this model's length. Bands are not interchangeable between wheels.
• Ashford Finishing Wax for sealing the natural version, and what we reach for on the shop floor.