Drop spindle with stone weight.

[tombear]

A while back I acquired some tacky soapstonish trinket pots to convert into faux viking oil lamps. One had a lid which I saved to see if I could turn it into a weight for a drop spindle since i couldn't think of anything else given the size and shape of it.

Anyroad several years later I finally got a chuck with a No. 1 morse taper that would fit on my Myford wood lathe, It's from the far east, was £15 but was made for Charnwood so the quality is good enough. I'd given up trying to find a good UK made one second hand.

Taking suitable protection against the dust and bits flying off I mounted the lid on a bolt with a couple of leather washers,under steel washers and a nut and fitted it to the lathe set on its slowest speed. All I used to shape it was a medium course 8 inch metal working file, wet and dry paper, and finished it on a cloth buffing wheel with whatever the residue was on it from last time I polished brass.

Diameter is just over 2.5", holes 10mm, the spindle itself was from a broken beech coathanger planed to shape and sanded smooth. i copied it from excavated examples made from wood or bone. To stop the whorl coming offf I bound it on with linen thread top and bottom. Just a practice piece really.

ATb

Tom

 

[Mesquite]

Looks the job Tom

 

[Toddy]

Oh doesn't that look spinnable ?

It's a beautiful tool Tom

M

 

[Muddypaws]

I think that's the first piece of stone turning I have seen on here. It looks excellent!

 

[crosslandkelly]

Looks lovely, beautifully made. Dumb question, but is that used for spinning wool?

 

[Kepis]

Thats amazing

 

[Lou]

that is really beautiful and should be great to use and it won't snag the wool.

 

[Dreadhead]

I always know i'm going to enjoy a post when i see it's yours, nice to see something a bit different again

 

[John Fenna]

That looks great!
Have you spun any wool on it yet - beware -it is addictive and I managed to wreck my right shoulder (disturbing sleeping old injuries) to the point that I needed 3 steroid injections to fix it!
I have given up spinning as the next step - if I do the shoulder again - is trimming the bone each side of the joint!

 

[tombear]

Thanks for the kind words folks! I've read that large heavy drop spindles are best at spinning thin stuff so being cack handed I hope to persuade one of the nearest and dearest in to making me some more linen wick as the stock a chap over in Ulster( Sorry I've lost your details ) kindly spun for me is all but used up. I've plenty of the prepared fibre's since you can get it at some plumbers supply places as well as spinning shops. I use it in tinder boxes as well.

I've done a bit of research now so once i've got some materials I will make some more authentic ones in sizes and weights to produce various types of wool and linen yarn. I was pleasantly surprised how enjoyable it was work once i got used to wearing a filter mask and a face shield. You really don't want to breath the dust in or have a bit fly off. I even wore a thick leather apron I was so nervous! I could have done it using a drill on a stand/press to be honest but since I have a big ol' 1/2 hp lathe that will run all day I was loath to risk burning out a drill. The was no visible ware on the file i used , had thought to use some of the scrap files i got for the metal but they don't have handles so i'd have had to rig something.

I'm doing something related but I think Ill start it in a new post. I've a nasty habit of running one topic into another I'm told.

ATb

Tom

 

[Toddy]

I spin Tom, and honestly it's a knack. You can spin thick or thin on any spindle you choose or have to hand, it's just practice.
I have a bowlful of lead spindle whorls, field finds, no context, and only dateable by typology. They are from Roman and right through from A.S. to medieval, and they all weigh around an ounce. I have two stone ones too and they're around the same weight.
I reckon the wooden ones don't survive in our climate.

M

 

[tombear]

Its taken somewhere between 30 and 40 visits but I've finally acquired my first lump of "soft" stone for making some smaller whirls from.

60ps worth of tacky 1970s tourist tat usually most often seen in a episode of Colombo coverd in bloody on the 2" white shagpile...

I need to do some research and then some working drawings before I start sawing it up.

Anyone know what it is, roughly?

ATB

Tom

 

[nicksteele1990]

Best guess for that particular bit of rock is a mixture of calcite, baryte, possibly some others. It looks a lot like the gangue (useless bits) from a hydrothermal deposit.

If you can scratch it with a fingernail, if the scratch shows white, and if it fizzes in contact with acid, it's calcite. If there's baryte in it, it'll be fairly dense. As to how to work it, I have no idea. Edit: that said, both calcite and baryte are both significantly softer than steel.

One last thing; if it is the gangue material from a hydrothermal vein, it could have some lead in it - lead ore is often found in the same context. Worth wearing a mask, or controlling any dust you produce.

 

[tombear]

Cheers for that! i should have known it was too good to be true at 60p!

off to the flea tomorrow and hopefully there will be more promising stuff there

ATB

Tom

 

[mr dazzler]

LOL coat hanger dowels....I used one to make a drum stick a few months ago, it was a cracker, produced beautiful tones. That is until I stood on it accidentally and realised it had TERRIBLE cross grain after it snapped