majacraft
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Majacraft Aura Mechanics
Description of Aura Tensioning
The Aura Tension: Take up
How to use the tensioning system on your new Majacraft Aura.
Because this wheel uses a modifi ed double drive system, you will fi nd that it may be somewhat diff erent from
other wheels you have spun on.
There are however, sti ll only two things you need to worry about when spinning, on ANY wheel:
1. Tension and Take up
2. Amount of Twist
These two things, and the relati on between them, determine your yarn.
You can adjust for them in several ways; Altering your treadling speed, your draft ing speed, or the easiest way,
by adjusti ng your wheel.
Adjustments to the black band (Bobbin drive) results in changes to the strength with which the yarn is taken
up onto the bobbin
•When the black band is loose it allows for slippage and reduces the uptake. Ideal for fi ner yarns.
•Loosen it by:
- winding the adjuster knob out so there is no gap
- lowering the enti re spinning head
•When the black band is ti ght, there is less/no slippage on the bobbin drive and the uptake will be stronger
and faster (for the given groove the black band is in). You can ti ghten it by:
•Adjusti ng the tension knob to increase the gap between the adjuster block and the wheel
•Raising the spinning head
For general spinning tension, you shouldn’t need to raise or lower the spin head frequently, but you do need
to have it at a suitable height to allow the range of adjustment you want with the adjuster knob. Various
combinati ons of spin head height together with the use of the tension adjuster should give you all the
variables you need to spin anything from lace to super bulky. In practi ce you can probably leave your spinning
head in one positi on and get all the adjustment you need with the adjuster knob and pulley groove choice,
only moving the head up or down for the more extreme yarn variati ons.
Adjusting the Amount of Twist
The Aura has a number of grooves in the pulleys, these give you adjustment opti ons for controlling the
amount of twist that is going into your yarn.
Twist is controlled by how long you allow it to build up in the yarn before feeding it onto the bobbin.
Use your green drive band (Flyer drive) to easily alter the amount of twist being added into your yarn by
altering the speed at which the fl yer rotates around the bobbin.
If your yarn is getti ng overtwisted (when it kinks up too much) then you need to increase the speed it is going
onto your bobbin. If it is falling apart with not enough twist, or being pulled out of your hands and breaking,
then you need to increase the ti me it stays in your hand by reducing the take up and speed of the wheel.
Use the following as a guide only, the best way to learn your wheel is to experiment, fi nd the setti ngs that match
your own personal spinning style by trying diff erent combinati ons of pulleys and tension.
