Imperial Imperial coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire: a double-headed eagle surmounted by a crown, centered between the words 'Kaiserlich' and 'privilegirter' privileged

Imperial Gazette.

Arts, Manufactures, and Factories.

Supplement to the flax spinning wheel project proposed in the Imperial Gazette No. 6, Vol. 2, 1794.

I have read with pleasure the reminders in the October issue of the Imperial Gazette regarding the concerns raised about the usefulness of this wheel; for I too had thought of them—albeit privately—and have sought not only to reflect on them but also to remedy them. Without entering into the errors present in the drawing, I wish to share my thoughts on improving and testing the wheel.

The rims of the flax spinning wheel known to us here (in the Electorate of Saxonyoriginal: "Chursachsen"; one of the most powerful states within the Holy Roman Empire)—tow Short, coarse fibers separated from flax during processing is spun on a different kind—are usually 2 1/2 and 4 inches thick; that is, the edge of the wheel is 2 1/2 inches wide, and the rims are 4 inches thick, sometimes even more. These rims are made of hard, very heavy wood, and one often seeks to make them even heavier by embedding a tin or lead ring in order to increase the momentumoriginal: "Schwungkraft" of the wheel. Here, I thought one could reverse the proportions of the rims, making them 4 1/2 inches wide and only 3 inches thick. Although this would somewhat noticeably increase the physical volume of the wooden ring even though the diameter of the wheel remains the same, and the weight of the wheel would increase, the frictionoriginal: "Friction" would hardly become noticeably greater because the axles of the wheel remain the same. Through this, one would now be able to make a 4-inch

wide track on the circumference of the wheel for the cords, and still retain a 3/4-inch wide edge on each side.

The cord usually lies first over the whorloriginal: "Würtel"; a small pulley or fly-wheel on the spindle, then over the wheel, then over the bobbin whorloriginal: "Spulenwürtel" and back over the wheel again, joining with the first end; therefore, it is doubled on the wheel. This is done so that the double cord can maintain an equal tension when it is tied together or has become slack. However, since one can produce an equal tension just as easily—as I have attempted—even if the cords are separated, and because strings of equal thickness always become slack at the same time and after the same amount of use, I believe one can separate the strings without hindrance and make two individual cords instead of one. By this means, nothing more would hinder the use of a wheel with the device described in No. 6, Vol. 2, 1794, provided that the bobbinoriginal: "Spule" is not made longer than 4 inches, excluding the whorl and discs. The cord over the bobbin whorl will have advanced 3/4 of an inch on the track of the wheel in one revolution of the same; it is understood that the cogwheeloriginal: "Kammrad" has 96 teeth; the bobbin has advanced just as much on the spindle; for 96 : 2 x 4 = 12. Since, however, so much yarn is unlikely to be finished in one revolution of the wheel—especially if the yarn is fine and the bobbin is quite full—that 3/4 of an inch can be covered by it: I would prefer to give the cogwheel more teeth, instead of 96, rather 120 or