Update 2-22-20-This little wheel sold!
I promised myself I would not become a collector of wheels. This Spring/Summer I have come home with two "antique-maybe" wheels.
I promised myself I would not become a collector of wheels. This Spring/Summer I have come home with two "antique-maybe" wheels.
This is the first wheel: Smaller at about 13" diameter, with decorations and a distaff for flax.
My parents took pictures of it in a Texan antique store, sent them with their phones, and I said I would buy it. I learned a lesson in buying without seeing in person, and though I didn't spend a lot on it, I did spend more than I would have offered if I had inspected it in the shop.
Though it does appear antique-ish (defining antique as 100+ years old), there are some strange things about it. It does spin, but I think I can make it better. For all the fancy turnings, some of the holes aren't drilled true--one of the maidens is slightly angled down/ the mother-of-all isn't square/ the base or table sits a little wonky to the legs.
Whoever or however it was made, I speculate it could be a student project, mass-production piece, or broken and put back together with added embellishments.
Here is the underside of the table where the uprights are set into the table with . . . I'm not sure what you call this? It's a bowtie or butterfly shape with a shim/spline/ piece of wood pounded into it to splay the end of the round piece out so that it stays in the hole. You can also see the legs were glued in at one point in time.
On the topic of glue, here is the edge of the table with . . . "doo-dads"? "medallions" glued on. I point out the glue for a reason. Although I'm only an amateur woodworker, I think that any true craftsman worth his salt would not have done such a shoddy job on the glue and then put a finish on over top of it!
Here is the underside of the table where the uprights are set into the table with . . . I'm not sure what you call this? It's a bowtie or butterfly shape with a shim/spline/ piece of wood pounded into it to splay the end of the round piece out so that it stays in the hole. You can also see the legs were glued in at one point in time.
On the topic of glue, here is the edge of the table with . . . "doo-dads"? "medallions" glued on. I point out the glue for a reason. Although I'm only an amateur woodworker, I think that any true craftsman worth his salt would not have done such a shoddy job on the glue and then put a finish on over top of it!
This photo shows the footman slipping onto a tapered axle crank/pin with a turned "bead" to hold the footman on the axle crank/pin.
And here is the flyer with bobbin and whorl. The flyer is also tapered and the whorl fits tightly, but I wonder if there would be issues later with it loosening.
I believe the flyer and axle crank are cast metal. There is a texture to it like hammering, and no wear from use as far as I can tell--though someone waxed the wooden screw threads where the mother-of-all is raised or lowered for tension.
Is it legitimate? Well, it IS a spinning wheel and it does spin, sort of. Some of the turnings vary slightly in size instead of matching exactly, which makes the wheel look hand-made; but, the finish job is poor and sloppy. Kind of like those harps by mid-east manufacturing you see all over e-bay . . . they look like real harps . . . but you get what you pay for . . . or over-pay for.
But THIS wheel . . .
And here is the flyer with bobbin and whorl. The flyer is also tapered and the whorl fits tightly, but I wonder if there would be issues later with it loosening.I believe the flyer and axle crank are cast metal. There is a texture to it like hammering, and no wear from use as far as I can tell--though someone waxed the wooden screw threads where the mother-of-all is raised or lowered for tension.
Is it legitimate? Well, it IS a spinning wheel and it does spin, sort of. Some of the turnings vary slightly in size instead of matching exactly, which makes the wheel look hand-made; but, the finish job is poor and sloppy. Kind of like those harps by mid-east manufacturing you see all over e-bay . . . they look like real harps . . . but you get what you pay for . . . or over-pay for.
But THIS wheel . . .
This wheel "found me" on e-bay. I know it's a bizarre thing to say, but I now get what other people mean when they say similar things. Something about it caught me. It spins like a dream. The craftsmanship and engineering are excellent. And it is a mystery . . .
*Split table (the wheel sits down in the table)
*22" wheel
*Still has the top of its distaff
*double drive
*Irish tension or "drag"
*Metal bearings
*remnants of gold paint under new finishes all over the wheel
Parts of it have been painted black, and not too carefully. It smells like "Old Gold" dusting spray.
*Split table (the wheel sits down in the table)
*22" wheel
*Still has the top of its distaff
*double drive
*Irish tension or "drag"
*Metal bearings
*remnants of gold paint under new finishes all over the wheel
Parts of it have been painted black, and not too carefully. It smells like "Old Gold" dusting spray.
The bobbin and whorl fit tightly against each other. I had to borrow a bobbin from another wheel because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to work in double drive or if the bobbin wasn't original, or perhaps swollen with humidity?
The flyer is very nice, but the hooks look like someone put a varnish or shellac over them, which caused my fiber to catch occasionally.
The wheel axle even has a hole in the bearing cap to put drops of oil through.
It still has both axle caps.
No makers' marks. It's a mystery!
