The Ashford Traditional and Traveller wheels are unique among manufactured spinning wheels in that each wheel is available in two styles: a single drive wheel or a double drive wheel. You must choose which style to buy. To be clear, single or double drive has nothing to do with treadles (that is called single or double treadles). The "drive" nomenclature describes the manner in which the main drive wheel drives/rotates the flyer mechanism and how these parts are made and used (see information further down on this page for the technical side of this question).

Our opinion

Given the unique way Ashford presents the single drive/double drive issue for the Traditional and Traveller, we would almost always recommend that you purchase a single drive wheel. Here are the reasons:

• the process of changing bobbins on an Ashford single drive wheel is less involved
• the ratios on the single drive wheel are more advantageous
• single drive Ashford wheels are less expensive
• the Ashford "add-on" products are less expensive for single drive wheels
• there is virtually nothing you can do on a double drive wheel that you can not do on a single drive

This said, do not get the impression that a double drive spinnng wheel is somehow flawed. That is not true. Double drive wheels pre-date the single drive design by several hundred years and most wheel manufacturers build double drive wheels. But in the Ashford case, where they offer the same wheel with either a single drive or double drive option (no other manufacturer does this), we think the single drive option will be best for most spinners, given the reasons noted above.

The bobbins used for these two systems are different and are not interchangeable. If, after reading this information, you have remaining questions, give us a call.

The Technical Information - Single vs. Double drive


Single drive wheels have the drive band going around the wheel one time. The drive band will then go around the drive pulley on the flyer (some other manufacturers have the band drive the bobbin, not the flyer; Ashford's drives the flyer). The rotation of the wheel causes the flyer to rotate and depending on the difference between the diameter of the wheel and the diameter of the flyer pulleys (there are 3 on Ashford wheels), you develop a ratio between the two. A brake band (sometimes called Scotch tension) with a spring attached, is placed over a pulley built into the bobbin and the tension is adjusted. This information applies to nearly all single drive spinning wheels built today, regardless of brand.

Double drive wheels also use a one drive band but it goes around the wheel twice (you make a double loop of the drive band to do this). At the flyer, the two loops of the drive band do two different things: one of the loops will go around the whorl (the whorl will have one or two grooves of different diameters - your ratios are established here with the whorl. Whorls are located at the rear of the flyer and are removeable so you can change the ratio of the drive; the whorl must be removed to change the bobbin); the other loop will go around a pulley located at the end of the bobbin. This information applies to nearly all double drive spinning wheels built today, regardless of brand.

How they work

Spinning takes place in the following manner: the main wheel drives (rotates) the flyer by means of the drive band. Tension on the drive band is adjustable and you set it to make sure there is no slip at the flyer. You treadle, the wheel turns, the flyer rotates (and so does the bobbin) and twist is imparted to the fibers in your hand. In order for the yarn to get on the bobbin automatically, there must be, from time to time, a change in the speed of the bobbin. It must slow down (be braked) so the flyer can wrap the yarn around the bobbin. This is where the two methods diverge.

A single drive wheel has a separate dedicated band, a brake band (Scotch tension), around the bobbin. In order to facilitate the accumulation of yarn on the bobbin, the bobbin is "braked," or retarded, when: 1 - you have the proper tension on the brake band; 2 - you allow the twisted yarn in your hand to be pulled into the orifice of the flyer (the "take up"). On a single drive wheel, you have a way to adjust tension on the drive band and a separate adjustment for the brake band/take-up control.

On a double drive wheel, there is no separate brake band but rather one of the loops of the drive band will do the braking on the bobbin while the other loop drives the flyer. The shape of the whorl grooves results in positive drive of the flyer all the time while a different shape of the groove on the bobbin pulley allows "slippage" that facilitates the braking of the bobbin and allows the flyer to wrap the yarn on the bobbin when: 1- your tensions are set correctly; 2 - you allow the twisted yarn in your hand to be pulled into the orifice of the flyer. The tension adjustment, when used, affects both the drive of the flyer and the braking of the bobbin, so one adjustment must result in good performance of drive and take-up. This is not difficult to do.

The Ashford double drive wheels allow you to adjust the set-up to mimic a single drive operation (a brake band on the bobbin, drive band on the whorl), but it is still a double drive wheel because the flyer, bobbin and whorl are manufactured that way. It is easy to go back and forth with these different set-ups on a double drive wheel.