Bobbins! ...again

The second installment of my Twist Fibre Craft order arrived whilst I was at work today; an Ashford double drive bobbin! As the astute will know, I don't have an Ashford wheel yet. Ahem. The idea behind this was to see if Ashford bobbins could work on my wheel. Well, they can, but several steps are necessary: 1) Unpack (with help) 2) Remove excess material 3) Reassemble flyer unit (with ...suitable... packing if necessary)

yes, that's a small roll of sellotape...

4) ...and go!! It would appear that Ashford bobbins are shorter than mine, and that the Ashford wheels have a narrower flyer shaft. As luck would have it, Ashford bobbins are made with a wider bore, stopped down at the end with plastic plugs (which are presumably wonderfully low traction for reduced resistance to spin), and if I pull those plugs out, it's spot on for my wheel. Conclusions from my little experiment? 1) I can buy and use Ashford bobbins for my wheel, if I need more bobbins 2) An Ashford Lazy Kate probably won't do me any good for my current wheel; it's likely too short 3) When If I get an Ashford, I won't be able to maintain a 'shared pool' of bobbins between the two wheels, unless I also get a 'pool' of end plugs that are easier to pop in and out. The ones that came in the bobbin were a very snug fit, and have ...deformed rather on just one outwards journey. UPDATE: Spinning now available without sellotape! The mini-roll of sellotape is not required, you just can't use all the hooks on the flyer arms. It's much quieter that way...