[lace] Polishing bobbins
Thank you Dearl, Esther and Lorelei for your help and to the two others who contacted me privately. I was doing my nails last night when I realised that the emery board I was using was a lot finer than the sandpaper I'd tried on the bobbins, so I had another go at smoothing the bulb with the emery board. It seems to have worked well enough to stop the thread catching. But it wouldn't work on the whole bobbin - I think I'd have use the finer grades of sandpaper that you mentioned. I think that the wood is probably a bit too coarse-grained to get a really good finish. I may not bother to polish the whole of each bobbin if it's going to be so much effort - it's quite a strain for me to do it as I have repetitive strain injury to my hands and forearms, and shoulder problems too. And I've just ordered lots of bobbins from Winslow, Acorn and Fountains - I found their websites at the weekend and got horribly carried away! So hopefully I will have enough bobbins not to need to use the unpolished ones very much - and at least they are now usable. Thanks again, Annette - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Polishing bobbins
I'm a newcomer to lace-making and recently bought some bobbins by mail order that I didn't realise would be unpolished. I'm finding that when I try to lengthen the thread on a bobbin while I'm working, it catches on the slightly rough bulb as I turn the bobbin. (I'm using fine thread - 80.) Does anyone know of a way of polishing these bobbins? I understand that they're normally polished by machine. I've tried using fine sandpaper on the bulb, but it hasn't really helped (or maybe I need really, really fine sandpaper). Regards, Annette Gill, London Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] polishing bobbins
on the question of polishing bobbins using a very fine steel wool will sometimes help also finishing them will also help either with paint or varnish or sometimes beeswax also can help after the steel wool hope this helps yours in lace Dearl Christiansburg, Virginia, USA My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cablenet-va.com/~dearlk/ http://photos.yahoo.com/ladearl - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Polishing bobbins
try to lengthen the thread on a bobbin while I'm working, it catches on the slightly rough bulb as I turn the bobbin. (I'm using fine thread - 80.) Does anyone know of a way of polishing these bobbins? I understand that they're normally polished by machine. Annette, depending on the kind of wood the bobbins are made of, your thread may always be catching. Some woods are simply unsuitable for lace bobbins. The finer the grain and the harder the wood, the better the bobbin. Oak or teak are awful, the grain is so coarse that no matter how much you polish, the thread catches. Ebony, boxwood, kingwood, and many others, are lovely for bobbins. Finegrained, soft woods are suitable for very fine threads, but with a coarser thread and a somewhat heavy hand, the head will soon have 'notches', making them unsuitable for the finer threads. Greetings from Beautiful British Columbia Esther Perry - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] polishing bobbins
Annette The bad news is that you need to use at least 2 grades of sandpaper to get rid of all the hairs and notches on your bobbins. Start with #100 garnet paper which will remove the notches and hairs. Then move on to #200 and #400. It is important to use a tack cloth or to carefully vacuum off the sawdust between grades (as well as any bits of sandpaper grit which may be loose). Unfortunately, the more effort you put in, the smoother your bobbins will be. There is no quick and dirty way. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
