Having Problems...
You have put your Polonaise together and it doesn’t look right; the wheel doesn’t line up with the flyer (yes, you
have read the instructions, but still...). Here is what some spinners have said:
• “you have a serious design flaw with the wheel”
• “the wheel does not line up with the flyer whorl regardless of the amount of adjusting I do with the thumb
screws”
• “you mean those wheel adjusting screws really work?”
We admit that the manner of hanging the Polonaise wheel and the adjustments that have to be made to line up
the wheel and flyer are different from almost all other wheels but it is the way this style of wheel was developed
more than 100 years ago.
Don’ts
• Don’t attempt to line up the wheel and flyer with the wheel post thumb screws. The thumb screws are only
used to hang/support the wheel and to adjust the wheel position if the footman touches the hole in the bench.
The wheel is hung correctly when you can see deflection of the wheel posts as you turn the thumb screws.
• When assembling the wheel, don’t “play” with the wheel adjusting screws until you are ready to line-up the
wheel with the flyer. If you have, you can put them in “neutral” by removing the two locking pegs so you can
reposition the notch in the wheel adjusting screw with the hole for the locking peg.
• Don’t expect the wheel to be parallel with the bench, or the flyer to be perpendicular to the bench once every-
thing is aligned. Both will need to be off at a slight angle. See below.
Do’s
• When the wheel is first mounted and there is no tension on the wheel adjusting screws (you did not play with
them yet, did you?) the wheel will be parallel with the bench. Now you want to “aim” the wheel towards the
whorl on the flyer. Do this by grasping both adjusting screws and rotating them, both in towards the wheel or
both out, away, from the wheel. Turn them an equal amount. Watch the rim of the wheel move so you can aim
it at the whorl. You should end up with an imaginary line running from the middle of the wheel rim to the gap
between the whorl and the bobbin. The drive band will track fine.
Voila, wasn’t that easy? Do this once when you change whorls if needed, but otherwise it need not be done
again.
If you have further questions, call your dealer for advice.
Exaggerated view of Polonaise before and after you adjust flyer and aim wheel.
