Lazy Kate Tutorial

hmmm, I found this in drafts.  I guess I should post it.

I built this lazy kate for my Heavenly Handspinning bobbins. It's tensioned and will work if you happen to have 2 sets of bobbins. Here's what you need:

Tools

Saw (I used a compound miter)

Drill with philips screwdriver head, 1/2" and 1/4" bits

Sandpaper either palm sander or sponge block

Ruler

Pencil

2-Clamps

Dremel with sander tip

Materials

1-1x3x4 oak furniture grade board

1-1x2x4 oak furniture grade board

2-3/8" 3' oak dowels

10 Acorn dowel caps with 3/8" hole

1-Shaker peg

Hemp twine

Gorilla glue

4-2" flat phillips head wood screws

1 small screw in eyehook

Instructions

First measure how wide your bobbins are. Mine are two widths so I chose the widest for my measurement. Add .5" inch to that for freedom of movement, 2" for width of the boards and 1.5" for the portion sticking out on either side where the acorns go. I needed 11". Cut 1 lenth of dowel in your measurement for each bobbin you would like to place on the kate. Using the dremel tool and sander tip sand the ends around the diameter until they fit snugly into the acorn caps. On ONE end only place a drop of glue into the cap once you are sure they will fit, then snug on the dowel. Use the glue sparingly as it expands, wipe away any excess. Set the dowels and remaining caps aside.

Now you need to determine how tall your kate needs to be. I wanted mine to serve as bobbin storage and work as a tensioned kate so I needed room for all of my bobbins save the one on my wheel.

My bobbins are 3" diameter at the widest whorl. For 5 I calculated I needed 19". Cut the 1x2x4 into two identical lenghts. Save the remainder 10". You will need it later.

Placing the bobbins down onto one of your pieces largest whorl down carefully measure and mark out their centers on the lenght of the board. Mark one end of both boards as the top.

Aligning the ends you marked in the previous step clamp the boards together and using the 1/2" bit drill through both boards at the same time. Remove the 1/2" bit as you will no longer need it for this project.

Cut the 1x3x4 to 13"

Center the 10" 1x2x4 onto it and mark holes for the screws. Clamp and predrill with 1/4" bit through both pieces. Drill all of the way through to eliminate splits as you screw.

Now comes the tricky part. You need to make a box. Take the 10" section and line it up with the two 19" pieces. Using the hole you already drilled into the 10" piece predrill the 19" pieces into their top end.

Align the side pieces with the end pieces and useing the existing drill holes predrill these side pieces to prevent splitting.

Using 2 of the screws screw these pieces together to form the top and sides of your box. Make sure all edges are flush.

Invert the U and take the 13" section, match the predrilled holes to the centers of your box sides and predrill again into the bottom ends of the box sides.

Using the remaining two screws, attach the bottom. If you know how to countersink the screws a bit the kate will sit flatter and be less wobbly.

Put the bobbins into the kate with the large whorls all to one side.

Lastly drill a hole into the base directly below the largest whorl with a bit that cooresponds to the diameter of the shaker peg end.

insert the shaker peg. Screw the eyehook into the other side of your kate base directly opposite the shaker peg.

Measure your hemp twine twice the height of your kate, plus 3" Tie a small knot into one end of the hemp twine to the eye hook. Tie the other end around the shaker pegs. Take the twine over the top of the kate.

Now you are ready to insert the remaining bobbins. To keep them from falling out cap the open end with the remaining acorn caps but do not glue them.

To tension the kate, wrap the twine around the shaker peg and insert it when taught. Make sure the twine rests in the large whorl of all of the bobbins to gain proper tension.

This kate can be adjusted to any height, though once it reaches a certain height it may be better to use a bigger base for more stability.