Surprise!

Well maybe a couple of people will be surprised lol.  Not many of you were.

A brand new Ashford Traveller Wheel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now I had been saving to buy a secondhand one but they kept going well over what I was willing to pay and they were the older ones with single treadle etc.  Well with what I had saved ready in case I got lucky and some eBay sales I have managed to get enough to purchase a brand new one!   The catch was I was going to finish it to save over $200.  Initially I was going to french polish it but with such lovely birch wood from New Zealand I decided she might end up looking very orange after a while.  So out came the carnauba wax and she has the first two coats of many that will be applied regularly over the years.  Mind you she drank up the first few coats so I will  give her another go tomorrow if the weather is nice.  Has to be done outside as the citrus smell from the wax really upset several members of the house Wednesday night.  Whoops!

So after 1hr sanding a few edges and waxing I spent about 35mins assembling her.  Apparently wheels need names but I cant think of any suitable ones just at the moment.  Here she is! 

The old girl as the other is known will be kept and I will pull her apart and give her a good clean and wax job too.  The traditional might have only been $50 but she is still a good wheel that I might be able to make better after putting the new one together I can see some areas that now need a little work on them.  Then I will decide if she stays or finds a new home.  I think I will end up keeping her as Mum now has her old wheel back that I started off on.