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Finnish Wheel Finishing
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June 16, 2009
Law of Magnetic Attraction
There's got to be some kind of law somewhere that says that when you have an [obscure item] you are more likely to be offered additional [obscure items]. So we end up with Noel owning 29 accordions, and now I have 2 spinning wheels.
A week ago Noel's grandmother died, and when we went out for the funeral we also spent some time dealing with her possessions, among which was this very nice spinning wheel.:
She never used it: I asked her about spinning on our recent trip to see her, and she said it was her grandmother's wheel, and that several families shared it. This is a wheel that has been used and broken and worn down and repaired and used some more. Here's the flyer: the part that adds twist to the fiber and then winds it onto the bobbin. You can see from this that it's a double-drive wheel with two ratios available (I didn't measure them). At some point the flyer broken in half and was repaired with brass wire. That repair is suffering now, so we will repair it again, with dowels and glue this time.
When I tried out treadling the wheel, it ran like a dream despite having spent decades in an attic. One reason was that the place where the wheel axle rests on the uprights has a sliver of metal as a bearing point: no wood to get gunked up or wear out. A nice touch. (This photo taken with the wheel partially disassembled, so the decorative finials that cover the ends of the supports were off.)
Here's my favourite part of the wheel: the treadle. Worn with time and use. A little damaged. This is where people interact with the wheel, and this is where you see how this was a valued and well-used tool.
On the bottom of the treadle it says "No. 28"; Grandma thought they'd brought the wheel from Finland, but this is the only thing that gives me pause about that. In several other places on the wheel we found "No. 28" written in pencil. That could have been done by the maker, in which case it was made in the US. Or it could have been done in the course of a repair job.
On the bottom of the bench it says, "New York Mills, Otter Tail County, Minnesota," which could again be written on there well after building or by the maker.
Wherever this came from, it's an honour that I get to have it. Noel and I disassembled it and packed it carefully for shipping. It will arrive later this week.
So that's wheel #2.
In the meantime, I've been doing an extensive teardown and rebuild of the first wheel, mostly to deal with a bit of stiffness in the treadling. I took it all the way apart, cleaned it, and greased it. Then it popped right back together. It's spinning better now.
I also did some spindle sampling of the Teeswater fleece I picked up at Retzlaff. I tried a semi-carding technique (left) and a sorta-combing (right) technique, and I liked the carding results much better. I will need to try real wool combs on this, though.
And I also did some quickie sewing, whipping up a pair of drawstring bags to store the alpaca fleeces in. I got some more fabric to make more of these, and actually spent some time figuring out what it would cost to make them, but unless I got the fabric basically for free and paid myself minimum wage, nobody would buy them for what it cost to make them.
And finally, a sneak peek at a little project I have going. I'm still working out some details, but I hope to have something bloggable in the next couple of weeks.
Technorati Tags: crafts, spinning
Posted by ayse on 06/16/09 at 7:15 PM
My Dad was brought up in Phelps MN right across the street from the Phelps mill (Otter Tail County MN). I have my great grandmothers Norwegian wheel dated 1874 and a picture of her spinning at it!!!
That's really cool, Susan. I have some hope that we might find some photos of this wheel in use, too.
It looks lovely!
The wheel seems to be a style that is more common in Norway? It could still be Finnish of course - even castle wheels pop up around here every now and then - but the most common type by far is a Saxony with a slanted bench, screw-tension double drive with only one ratio at around 1:13-1:15. Here are some very typical examples:
A Kiikka wheel
Kiikka-style wheel with a split bench
Spinning for "the boys on the front" in Karelia, 1930s
My older wheel
I hope the fixing goes well and this beauty is in working order soon!
That's what I've found in my research as well: there are styles that are more common in certain areas, but there's also a lot of bleed over of styles between areas.
Thanks for all the links.