Media Category: issue

Large spindle wheel has a rectangular table with nicely turned legs and wheel post. Drive wheel has thirteen turned spokes and a narrow rim. Spindle post with direct-drive spindle head set into moveable board.

On table top between mother-of-all and uprights holding drive wheel, black ink stencil O. DION on first line and BIC on second line. Below the letters is a black silhouette of a beaver standing on a branch under a curving line.

Stencils are placed in rolling-pin-shaped cutouts in thin pieces of wood attached to the sides of the table. Cossar wheel on left says “O.DION.RI.” Kenny wheel on right has red background and black ink that says “O.DION.BIC..”

Close-up taken from back of wheel shows front section of treadle which is round nailed to treadle bar, back section curves where it attaches to wooden footman.

Two horizontal spinning wheels, table with three legs with bobbin/flyer on left and screw tension at end of table. Two upright wheel posts hold a drive wheel with sixteen spokes. Complete Cossar wheel on right shows round treadle with curved end attached to wooden footman. Incomplete Kenny wheel on left missing treadle and footman. Both wheels show letters on side; Kenny wheel has words on top of table.

After footmen are removed and treadles detached, drive wheel reversed in uprights so that extended axle works as hand crank for spinner.

Same wheel – View from rear shows the tension screw at end of table that adjusts the mother-of-all. The grooves in the two parts of the accelerating wheel and the L-shape of the axle and the attached wooden footmen.

Horizontal wheel, table with three legs, with bobbin/flyer on left end. On right two upright wheel posts slant and have short braces to table. Large drive wheel with fourteen spokes. On top of table between drive wheel and bobbin flyer is an accelerating wheel. Two wooden treadles set into treadle bar are connected to thin wooden footmen attached to drive wheel axle. All elements nicely turned.

Same wheel structure as one marked JO but with bobbin/flyer missing. Marked P OUELLET on the side of the table away from the spinner. Made by Pantaléon, son of Jérémie Ouellet. Letters can be seen on top of table but are not legible. Reported to say “P Ouellet Village des Aulnaies Co L’Islet.”

Horizontal wheel, table with three legs with bobbin/flyer on left. Handle on bottom of mother-of-all to adjust drive band tension. Two upright wheel posts on right hold drive wheel with twelve spokes. C-shaped axle. Curved wooden treadle set into treadle bar. Wooden footman not attached.

Detail of end of wheel painted yellow. Initials JO stamped into lower left-hand corner of rectangular table end. Above is the metal U-bolt tensioner around mother-of-all. It is also painted yellow.

Close up of wood grain, top of table of wheel, stamped “La Famille Ouellet, Depuis 1796.”

A large group of women in brightly colored robes and head coverings are sitting on the ground spinning on simple spindle wheels. There are also small children next to some of them and in one case, near the top of the picture, the child sleeps in the mother’s lap.

Small wooden base holds two turned uprights. Between them is a turned bar and a disk next to the left post. On the outside of the left upright is a metal spindle with a wooden yarn stop and a small amount of spun yarn.

Wooden bench consisting of four legs with wooden crossbars near the bottom on front and back and metal on right side. At top screwed to the wooden side pieces is a large metal drum with small metal tines on the outside, with a handle on the side. To the left is a metal tray.

A woman with a red shawl over her head sits on the ground in front of a simple spindle wheel. Her arms are raised as she winds the spun yarn onto the spindle. The wheel is very crudely made with two short posts holding the spindle at one end of the flat wooden base. The drive wheel, at the other end is held by two turned posts. It consists of two flat disks with notched edges. A binding crisscrosses between the notches. The drive band goes around the binding and the whorl of the spindle.

On left open box attaché charkha showing spindle at top, accelerating wheel and drive wheel. Open Journey Wheel at right shows at top bobbin/flyer unit next to accelerating wheel, bobbin storage, drive wheel, and two treadles.

Above end of wooden base, two turned short posts hold a spindle at an angle in leather bearings. Behind the spindle can be seen the binding between the two sets of spokes. The drive band will go around the binding and the grooves in the spindle whorl.

Five new spokes with lighter wood set into hub. Leather binding around the top of each spoke to hold them together.

Two hands hold pieces of wood, Upper hand has old spoke, lower hand holds fresh light wooden dowel of approximately the same diameter and length.

Wooden spindle wheel has two small turned maidens at one end of flat rectangular base. Large drive wheel with two sets of numerous spokes held by taller posts at other end of base. Several spokes are missing. A diagonal piece of wood goes from next to the maidens to the top of the post that holds the drive wheel.

Ernest Mason Swiss-style wheel in walnut. A rectangular wooden frame is formed by four horizontal pieces, however the back piece extends out on the right side and has another long piece attached that is parallel to the other long pieces. A treadle is hinged between the front of that piece and the one in the middle. Two uprights fit into the middle of the two sections of the frame, with a board across the top and one a third of the way down. About a third of the way up is an axle that holds the wooden drive wheel with six spokes. A metal footman connects the drive-wheel axle to the treadle. Horizontal maidens in the mother-of-all, a quarter of the way down, hold the wooden bobbin/flyer unit. A threaded screw set into the board at the top adjusts the location of the mother-of-all that moves in slots in the uprights. A board above the axle holds two spare bobbins.

Ernest Mason Chair-style wheel in cherry. A wooden frame with four vertical outer posts and four horizontal crosspieces at top and a quarter of the way up, with two pieces in the middle of the front and the back. A treadle fits between the bottom of the two front posts. A footman attaches to a drive wheel set on an axle about one third of the way up the center pieces. A crosspiece between the top of the middle of the front and back holds a hinged mother-of-all with a wooden bobbin/flyer unit that has a doubled drive band. A crosspiece between the lower side pieces, in front of the drive wheel, holds two spare bobbins.

Small spindle wheel from Korea. A crudely made wooden base has a cross piece at the left with two small posts to which a spindle is tied with string. The drive wheel on the right has two parallel sections that consist of a wooden disk into which 24 bamboo spokes are inserted. A strip of bamboo goes around each set of spokes and short pieces of bamboo connect the two parallel sections at each spoke. A drive band goes around those short pieces.

Cage swift from Greece. Wooden T-shaped frame holds at the middle of the long end a removable cage consisting of five chamfered rods set into two circular ends. At the other end are two nicely turned posts with finials with three rods between them. White yarn is wound in three places on the cage and drawn separately over the rods.

Charkha from Afghanistan. A wooden base has two ends with carving on them. At the left end are two turned short uprights or maidens. The spindle passes through holes in two wooden bearings that fit through slots in the maidens and are held in place by pegs. At the right end are two turned wheel support posts, the one in the front has a turned handle. The drive wheel, which fits between these posts, is constructed of two disks. Each disk is made from four riven pieces that cross at the center. The outer edge of each disk is notched, ready to receive the zigzagged string that joins them and creates a rim. The drive band goes around this laced rim.

Detail of Spin-Well label. Two color paper label on wooden upright.
On gold section at top in red letters, “Spin-Well.”
In red section with white lettering “Mfg.’d [abbreviation for Manufactured] by SPIN-WELL Manufacturing Co.”
In gold section at bottom in black letters “Sifton, Manitoba Patent Pending.”

Detail of Spin-Well bobbin/flyer unit. Aluminum flyer with wooden bobbin with white yarn on it. Sections of drive band shown over end of bobbin and whorl. Flyer sits on a wooden block in rear maiden. There is a slot in the rear maiden for the block to move. It is held in place by a wing nut.

Spin-Well wheel. Wooden spinning wheel with vertical frame consisting of four corner posts with horizontal crosspieces at top and one third up from the bottom. Two pieces, that extend above the frame at the middle of the front and back sides, hold the bobbin/flyer unit. Towards the bottom of these center pieces is the axle for the drive wheel, which is solid wood. The treadle is a wide board, with the footman connecting to it. A metal rod running between the three front pieces holds two spare bobbins.

Bright blue double-table spinning wheel. Rectangular table held by three legs, two in front one in center of back; treadle; vertical posts hold drive wheel with twelve spokes. Secondary table at opposite end held up by four short posts with two bobbin holders between them; mother of all on this table; two long threaded rods go from secondary table to wheel posts. Placed on driveway.

Single-flyer upright wheel with delicate turning on legs; cast-iron drive wheel with six spokes and decorative half spokes in between. Descriptive page in holder on table to left.

Front to back – track wheel with horizontal table with four legs and treadle; drive wheel with eight spokes on post; two posts hold track with a metal rod on which the accelerating spindle head travels. Middle wheel – Wooden frame with two solid wheels and treadle on right end; accordion arm holds spindle head. Last – X-frame for pendulum wheel has drive wheel and treadle on right; counter weight on end of X-frame, pendulum arm and spindle missing. Each wheel has descriptive page in a holder in front of it.

From left to right – reel with yarn around it; three single flyer wheels the first has fancy distaff, two reels; fancy upright double-spindle wheel with distaff. Each wheel has descriptive page in a holder in front of it.

White peg board holds six spindle whorls, two each made of basalt, bone and clay; two small hand distaffs, one Egyptian-style top whorl spindle; one Medieval-style spindle; seven examples of bottom whorl spindles from Peru, Turkey, Scotland, and Russia.

Cluster of spinning wheels and reels; can see old reel with clock face, wheel with two wheels one above the other painted red on a black frame; a dressed distaff; group of great wheels in back; top of pendulum wheel.