Last summer, I commissioned a weaving shuttle from a woodworker who sells at our local farmer's market: Chuck Spiegelberg of Little Things. I am very happy with this little beauty and can't wait to try it out on my floor loom!
I had a sample / model / unfinished shuttle from my friend Lynda (the smaller one in the photo above). It's one that she and her father started. She has several other ones, so she loaned me this one in perpetuity. I think it's dogwood from their property in North Carolina.
More than a year and a half ago (before Covid), I'd asked the local apple orchard (Redmond's Apple Basket in Ripon) for a chunk of apple wood. They trim and prune their trees in the winter, and were happy to bring me a log and deliver it to the winter market -- They want to see what we do with it! The wood has been drying in the basement ever since. I was hoping and praying that there was enough good wood to work with -- without cracks. And there was. He said there was just 1 spot he had to fill in a crack with glue--and you can hardly see it.
CL did his best to quarter it and tried to make some blanks to that it could dry with a minimum of checking and cracking. You can't really purchase apple wood for woodworking projects unless you harvest/procure it yourself. He was so frustrated with that process, that he politely declined making this weaving shuttle, though he has made several other weaving implements for me, for which I am ever grateful. So it was time to call in someone who knows what they are doing, with the tools and skills to do the job of a bona fide wood worker.
Here's another shot with a slice off the original chunk of wood.
Applewood is heavier and more dense than you might think it would be. Much heavier than the dogwood.
Fruit woods are very good for weaving shuttles because they are hard and have a closed grain, meaning: They feel good in your hands. Lynda swears by the dog wood and that there's no need to even finish it because the oils from your hands and use will finish the wood.
The Shacht cherry shuttles have a hand-rubbed Danish oil finish, so that's what I would opt for. Tung oil feels too much like plastic. I think I want to see how this does with the making it's own finish with use.
I asked if he'd make more of them for me, if I supplied the wood again. His wife said that it was an interesting project because it was new and he had to figure out how to make it, but it sounds like it was also kind of a challenge -- more of a challenge than he might want to be bothered with in future. I thought I'd ask the Apple Orchard people for a chunk of pear or plum wood next. ;-)
I may have to find a new wood worker, though.
1 comment:
I purchased a punching cradle from a woodworker specializing in bookbinding "equipment". It struck me as unfinished so I asked him if it was and I was right. It's not worth the time it would take for him to apply finishes to his pieces and would raise the price too much. So I asked for a recommendation, telling him I'd used tung oil on an unfinished quilting frame. He got almost apoplectic over the thought of using tung oil! So was not a fan although I had no adverse experience using it. He suggested a polycrylic type of finish which I happen to have on hand but have yet to apply even though I've been using the cradle. I guess not all would absolutely has to be sealed and I like the thought of your shuttles becoming sealed with your own hand oils.
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