The Spinning Wheel Sleuth is the only periodical devoted exclusively to spinning wheels and related tools.Our goal is to collect, exchange, and share information about spinning wheels, thus making it more accessible, before the wheels and the material about them are completely lost.

Since spinning wheels were universally used before the industrial age, the variations are endless. We analyze wheel structures, unusual and ordinary, historic and contemporary. We study regional and ethnic variations. We research the biographies of wheel makers. We discuss repairs and restorations.

This information is useful to spinners, wheel collectors, and researchers studying textiles and material culture. Curators and staff at historical societies and living-history museums will find it helpful in identifying some of the objects in their collections.

Join the quest! Participate in our treasure hunt! Become a spinning wheel sleuth! Subscribe to our newsletter now!

Please view an excerpt of our Current Issue, April 2010.

NEWS! Florence Feldman-Wood's article "Eye on Antiques: Spinning Wheels" appears in the June 2009 edition of Early American Life magazine, which is available on newsstands and in bookstores.

In the Readers Ask section we present questions about spinning wheels and related tools for which we are unable to find answers.

Read our Sample Article from Issue #34, in which the owners of (would you believe?) 85 spinning wheels, Pat and David Bownas share some useful advice on what to look for in your own quests. This may be the funniest article ever to appear in The Spinning Wheel Sleuth.

Clear the Closet Sale! Buy 5 Back Issues, Get 1 Free!

Now there are two ways to see the subjects covered in past issues:

1. On the Back Issues Order Form is a list of the contents of each available issue.
2. Index for Issues #1 to #66 in searchable PDF format. Please go to our Back Issues Order Form.

Hand Loom Supplement #13 is now available. These annual publications use the same format as the quarterly newsletter and focus on hand looms, both antique and modern. Learn more about them at Hand Looms Supplements.

Spinning-Wheel Maker List #6 is now available with more than 1,600 entries. This list incorporates all earlier lists. A searchable PDF version on CD is available as well as the paper printout.   List Order Form.

Details of My New Zealand Adventure.

Spinning wheel postcards.
These 4"x6" color postcards feature six rare and unusual spinning wheels from my collection. They are available in small packets of six (one of each spinning wheel).

Spinning Wheel Lectures Florence Feldman-Wood, editor/ publisher of The Spinning Wheel Sleuth, offers a series of lectures about spinning wheels. See Lectures for more information.

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page with links to spinning wheel related sites.