Yesterday, I surfed the web looking for swifts. (This was after spending a an hour trying to wind a skein of yarn by hand with the open skein looped over my knees, and then another hour untangling the mess). There were several that I liked, but I did not like the price. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: "Duh, make your own."
It was easy to find instructions on the web. But I knew that I really didn't need them. I have Eric's dad.
We were already planning on coming over to Eric's parents' for Butkus breakfast like we do every Sunday. He has a wealth of tools and spare wood lying around, and he'd be thrilled to work on a project with me, since he's been rebuilding the pantry of their kitchen for an upcoming remodel, and always talking with me about diy stuff. I knew he'd take to it right away and have his gears turning for how to make this work for me.
I printed the instructions and presenting him with my idea this morning and we got right to work.
We had nearly everything we needed already, but went to the hardware store nonetheless for dowel rods and extra hardware, just in case.
It took no more than a couple of hours. I measured everything out and decided what pieces and hardware I wanted, Eric cut the wood, and his dad drilled all the holes. We sanded it and assembled it and put it to use all in a few hours. It works great the way it is, but I'm going to add a spring under the wingnut so I can tighten it down and adjust the torque of the arms so I can adjust how freely it spins, depending on whether I wind by hand or use my new ball winder (being shipped as we speak).
I have six holes on each arm so I can adjust the dowel pegs for different circumferences. It's big but I can easily take it apart for storage. It's sturdy and will not move while spinning, but not heavy at all.
I plan on painting it and using my artistic skills to add some cool designs. :D
I spent a total of $7.00 all together. Yeah! :D
3 comments:
You totally Rock! A swift for seven bucks? and I thought my DIY Sock Blockers were cool;)
Thank You so much for the link!! I had my mom print it out and show a woodworker she is friends with How much would he charge to make it. He made it in 30 minutes!!!! So thanks to you (Thank you again) I now have a swift. (technically it is still upstate but I will get it soon!!) and he didn't charge me. Told me to use it in good health.
Thank You Again!!!!!!
Nice! It looks great, and you can't beat a swift for $7, right? Great job! How cool that you all worked on it together, too. Love that.
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