Drop Spindle

[Kepis]

Made myself a drop spindle this afternoon, shaft is Aspen that i ran through a 3/8" rounding plane, the weight is a lump of pine that's usually the waste from using a hole saw, all sanded down, the disc i sanded a taper in for aesthetics more than anything else.

20180728_164258 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20180728_164254 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20180728_164244 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Think i will need to add some weight to the disc so it carries momentum, simple to do, drill a couple of holes and fill with lead or if i can find it, i have a lead disc i poured years ago, might try and find that and attach it to the underneath of the disc, now off to the end field to collect wool from the fence line

 

[Janne]

Nice!
Not sure what you will use it for though. As you mentioned lead and collecting wool I assume you will whizz it around to gain momentum then release the weighted contraption towards some tasty rabbits?

 

[Kepis]

Nice!
Not sure what you will use it for though. As you mentioned lead and collecting wool I assume you will whizz it around to gain momentum then release the weighted contraption towards some tasty rabbits?

Nothing to do with hunting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(textiles)

 

[Janne]

Aha!
Now you only need a beauty!

 

[Robson Valley]

Great. You should have no difficulty finding good wool with a very long staple.
I think I'd enjoy trying once again to get an even twist with one of those.
I've seen it done. Right in front of me. Must be a trick!

Momentum is your friend. Find that lead casting that you made.

Canada no longer uses 1-cent copper penny coins.
Buttered with epoxy, they are very popular these days for added ballast to all sorts of projects!

 

[Toddy]

Very tidy You make good tools Kepis

I spin, and I use a drop spindle often. I teach spinning too, and one friend whom I taught said that when it suddenly all worked for her, that it was a "lightbulb: moment

I have a collection of field find spindle whorls, from Roman through to Medieval, all found out of context, and all surprisingly weighing in about an ounce. All very small though. My own spindle has an oak whorl on a sycamore shaft. It spins beautifully.

Send me an address Kepis and I'll send you some decent fleece to play with

M

 

[Kepis]

Very tidy You make good tools Kepis

I spin, and I use a drop spindle often. I teach spinning too, and one friend whom I taught said that when it suddenly all worked for her, that it was a "lightbulb: moment

I have a collection of field find spindle whorls, from Roman through to Medieval, all found out of context, and all surprisingly weighing in about an ounce. All very small though. My own spindle has an oak whorl on a sycamore shaft. It spins beautifully.

Send me an address Kepis and I'll send you some decent fleece to play with

M

Whorl that was the word i was looking for, couldn't remember what the proper name for it was for the life of me.

You would think around where i live that id find the odd whorl now and again, but sadly not, just neolithic scrapers and iron age pot shards, oh and masses of Roman roof tile.

Thanks for the fleece, i'll drop you a pm shortly

 

[tombear]

Bits of pottery make good whorls, The Saxons recycled bits of Roman pots ( 'm guessing tiles as well) I've saved the base of a big flower pot that got broken and when I've got time will mark a circle on it, drill a suitably sized hole in the middle, nibble the thing to rough shape and then mount it so it can be spun* and use a old file then sand paper to get it smooth. Not quite sure how big it needs to be to get it to about a ounce but a bit of trial and error will sort that! or I can just crib off the real thing!

https://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/materialTerm/Ceramic/objectType/SPINDLE+WHORL

ATB

Tom

*for the stone whorl I did i used a nut and a bolt and a couple of leather washers mounted in a drill chuck. I could have used a bow drill or owt really.

 

[John Fenna]

I taught myself to use the drop spindle but only made enough yarn to make a couple of pot grabs before my duff shoulder put paid to further spinning.
I prefer the whorl up high... different style but same basic skill
I made my spindle from scrap around the workshop/garage.

 

[Toddy]

You could try distaff spinning....rolling it on your thigh. Much gentler on the shoulders.

The ladies who taught me to spin spun fine yarn. Fine enough to weave tartan and tweed, and flax for shirts. It's seen as terribly old fashioned nowadays to spin so evenly, it's all 'designer', 'texture', and creatively weird lumps and bumps.....thing is that I can spin like that, but it's by choice, not because it's all I can manage.
It's like good ropemaking. Would I trust it to safely hold my sons weight ? if the answer is no, then it's not good enough. "Can I knit/weave something sound from the yarn I spin"? and if the answer is no, then it's not good enough.

I know, I'm a pain but spinning (and rope making) are skills, hand skills that are worth doing well, I think.

I have spun line flax and plyed it up to make bowstrings. Trust me, you don't want lumps and bumps and 'designer texture' in your bowstring. The same is true really for your firebow cordage, or your fishing line, or netmaking cord either.

M

 

[Kepis]

Been trying out the drop spindle this afternoon, now that is a skill, sure I've made yarn , but its inconsistent, lumpy and bumpy, without a doubt down to my lack of experience, but also partly down to my lack of dexterity, I shall get there though - practice makes perfect after all

20180905_155119 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

You might have noticed ive added a hook to the top of the spindle and a lead ball to the bottom, the lead is purely to add weight so i can keep the momentum up when spinning the spindle, im going to make me another i think, but with a larger and heavier whorl - keep you posted.

 

[Toddy]

If you have two spindles you can make three ply yarn very quickly with them....it's called Navajo plying, but the Navajo don't know or use the technique. Some clever blighter worked it out and gave it 'authenticity'. Anyway, it works, it's basically chain plying. You chain from one spindle and reverse spin it onto the other one. Looks incredibly complex but it really simple to do

M

 

[Kepis]

If you have two spindles you can make three ply yarn very quickly with them....it's called Navajo plying, but the Navajo don't know or use the technique. Some clever blighter worked it out and gave it 'authenticity'. Anyway, it works, it's basically chain plying. You chain from one spindle and reverse spin it onto the other one. Looks incredibly complex but it really simple to do

M

Something to aspire to, i think as me dexterity improves the quality of the yarn i make will improve, that and loads of practice.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Made myself a drop spindle this afternoon, shaft is Aspen that i ran through a 3/8" rounding plane, the weight is a lump of pine that's usually the waste from using a hole saw, all sanded down, the disc i sanded a taper in for aesthetics more than anything else.

20180728_164258 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20180728_164254 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

20180728_164244 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

Think i will need to add some weight to the disc so it carries momentum, simple to do, drill a couple of holes and fill with lead or if i can find it, i have a lead disc i poured years ago, might try and find that and attach it to the underneath of the disc, now off to the end field to collect wool from the fence line

Very nice.

 

[Robson Valley]

Might a straight branch, scraped of bark, and a stone with a hole be a useful approximation?

 

[Toddy]

Easiest way to make one to try is a stick shoved into a spud.

M

 

[Broch]

Easiest way to make one to try is a stick shoved into a spud.

M

Does 'spud' translate to the other side of the big pond?
Joking aside, I'm afraid I would need a demo of your two-spindle method

 

[Robson Valley]

Yes! For the most part, "spud" is potato, native to the Andes mountains of South America.
Trades and carried along the west coast as far north as Alaska in paleo times.

"Spud" is also a heavy duty log working tool for building log homes.