But I did get a chance to play with her over the weekend. Here's a couple pictures of her after I put her together:
... and here is a video demo I made this morning so you can see Gratia in action. I apologize for how dark it is (doggone camera, grrr), but hopefully it'll be enough for you to see how it works:
She was pretty easy to put together, and I also found that she's rather lightweight, roughly 9 pounds. As I guessed she's relatively small, so it's really easy to move and store her where she's not in anyone else's way when I'm not using her. If you live in a small place like I do, Gratia is a perfect fit.
Gratia is also pretty quiet. It doesn't sound like it in the video demo but she is - my husband and son are able to play/watch TV while I'm using her without much fuss at all, and I've also used the wheel after they've gone to bed without them hearing it... given sound normally travels down our hallway big time that says a lot.
The wheel comes unfinished. I used Howard's wood treatment on it, which contains beeswax and orange oil. You can get it at Home Depot. The finish was just gorgeous when I was done. For the lubricant I used Tri Flow; it contains banana oil with teflon, so it doesn't damage the wood finish and the teflon ensures I probably won't have to worry about squeaks or friction for quite a while.
All in all I am very happy with Gratia. Let's just say that if it's wrong to be in love with an inanimate object, I don't wanna be right.
3 comments:
I love all the info you have on your blog about spinning! I am thinking of getting into it & your posts have been the best I've seen! Thanks!
Love your wheel too. :)
OK I know you posted this in March and it's now almost the end of December, but I have to say thank you for purchasing this wheel because I have some Christmas money in my pocket & wasn't sure which one to purchase, your post made up my mind. Thank you. If you have any advice or suggestions for me please leave me a comment on my blog or email me.
Just a small update... Jan decided to retire Gratia. While it's still a fantastic little wheel, she simply wanted to invest in offering other products, including a kit wheel and a double treadle, as well as her other single treadle models. Visit Heavenly Handspinning to see her latest line of affordable wheels and other spinning supplies.
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