This was a busy weekend with a trip to a sheep shearing, but on Sunday afternoon Bedelia, the possible Canadian Production Wheel, got a spa treatment. Poor girl, she was bit tired looking and loose in the joints. A good sprucing up does a world of good.
One of her issues was loose uprights. After another, more thorough cleaning with Murpy’s Oil Soap, I examined her uprights and discovered they were shimmed with square-headed nails. One was so loose, it lifted right out:
Her flyer assembly also was in need of cleaning. Here is how she appeared, halfway through the “de-gunking” process:
She is missing two hooks, one on each arm. Curiously, it is the same hook on each arm — third from the bottom — not sure why that would be. She also has a mended split that is almost visible just below the flyer axle. But for her minor flaws, she is in good shape otherwise. See that lovely wood that has been hiding under the mottled brown finish?
Bedelia reportedly was painted green at one time, stripped and refinished. I am unsure as to what she was refinished with, but did find remains of her former green self. It appears that whomever stripped her did not realize the whorl would unscrew and that you could remove the bobbin. This was probably a good thing, as the whorl is in excellent shape. I did put on a few squirts of WD40 and let her sit for about an hour; she unscrewed relatively easily. However, she was still green between whorl and bobbin. I decided not to remove this; it was really heavy-duty paint, you can’t see it externally, and it would serve as a reminder of her past.
Perhaps Bedelia’s froggy friend is contemplating the fact that is is not easy, being green …
The Wool Merchant's Daughter 
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