Weaving Shuttles and their Spindles

 

My basket of weaving shuttles -- including the brand new apple wood one in the middle. 

Pia Thadani commented on "Hand Made Boat Shuttles for Weaving"

Oct 26, 2021

I have recently come by some handmade shuttles but they don't have spindles in them - what do you use for a spindle and how do you attach it? Any ideas? They have little holes in them where a spindle wood go, just no spindle.

 

Dear Pia--

This is a great question!  In this post, I will show the spindles and methods for attaching them from my collection of weaving shuttles.  There are many ways to attach a spindle to a weaving shuttle.

This is one of my antique shuttles.  

It has a heavy gauge wire for the spindle that slips into the slots built into the spool space.  

Very simple solution.

  

 The brand new apple wood shuttle has a very simple spindle. Just a piece of wire, bent on one end.

The straight end slips into the whole on the right side, 

while the bent end slides into the slot on the left side, so that the spindle sits parallel to the shuttle body.

It's an ingeniously simple dot-and-slot solution:

 

Here's another one that uses just a straight piece of sturdy wire for the spindle:

 

 The ends of the wire sit in this little metal receptical, worked into the wood.  It has a little bit of spring to it, making it easy to get the wire in and out, but also holding the wire fast so the spool stays in place as it unwinds.   I think this is the Hammet shuttle that came with my Kessenich Loom.

 

Here's another one of the wire spindle types.  This time with a new twist!

 

The wire spindle is held in place with a small round magnet that has been inset into the wood at just the right depth.    In this Padouk wood shuttle, the magnets are on both sides, making it very simple to operate and reload the spindle with a spool of yarn.

 Here's one of my favorite sherry Shacht kayak shuttles.  It uses a different method to hold the spindle pin in place. 

 

One end is free to swing up, while the other end is help in place with a pin shot through the spindle.

There's a small hole with a pin perpendicular to the spindle, holding it in place on this one. 

Here's another shuttle from Handy Woman in Texas where she combines a lot of these ideas all together.

Here we have the small magnet on the "free" end of the pin ...

... while the anchor side has another pin stuck through the side allowing it to swing up and out.

Here's the hole on the side where the pin anchors the spindle.

 

Too many shuttles?  Maybe -- You don't figure out what you like to use until you try them. 

Different woods - Different feels - Different purposes - Different weights - holding different sized spools -- Different makers.  Easy to collect!

 

I leave you with a little fall color -- The Sumacs in the neighbor's yard.

The Haul from Sheep & Wool Festival 2018

My main mission this year was to get an Alpaca quilt batting.   I'd tried to find them online earlier in the summer, but every place seemed to be out of stock.  When I got this one, the vender / farmer said that was the last one he had, and that another alpaca farmer said Pacafil was no longer making these batts for quilting.   Hmmmh ---  I wonder if there's a production problem, or what?

Of course there was lots else to see too.  I had to get another alpaca fleece in preparation for the new Schacht-Reeves spinning wheel coming in October!  I've been working at carding the older fleece I have (from last fall), but it's slow and seasonal work -- and it's not a clean fleece.  Alpaca doesn't have the lanolin in it that sheep fleece has, but there's something in this one ...    Since I started spinning alpaca, most of the sheep's wool --even merino--feels course and rough to the touch.  This 2.4-pound fleece is clean and already carded.  With a little dizzing, it will be easy to spin on the new wheel in a few weeks.  This came from Sharoza Ranch Alpacas by Zach and Sharon Allen in Pine River, WI.  It sounds like they a have a carding mill and offer the service. 

The Weaver's Loft had a few more Jim Hockett shuttles at a really reasonable price.  $35 for this double shuttle in bubinga wood.  Beautiful!   I think Lynda bought one in a dark color, lighter weight wood -- walnut maybe?    She also had some Jim Hockett end-feed shuttles.  You see them for sale online, and they are always so much more expensive than other shuttles -- they are smaller, slimmer -- which makes sense, if you have a tight end of the warp you're trying to wring every last bit out you can, and can't raise the shed much anymore, you want a thin shuttle to squeak through there ...  I didn't get one, but I probably should have!

I always like to buy something at Mielke's Fiber stand, too.  This year, they had 1 cherry Schacht boat shuttle left.  If they'd have had more sizes in cherry, I'd have gotten them, too.  I've decided this is my favorite shape (that kayak shape) and the finish is what I like to touch.  Of course, you need a variety of shuttles for different jobs, but the Schacht cherry is one of my favorites!

Finally, at The Wool Gatherer's stand, I bought a small bottle of "Hans' Own Spinning Wheel Oil."  Lynda asked if 3-in-1 machine oil, or regular old sewing machine oil would work just as well.  Hans said, "No--those oils are not heavy enough for spinning wheels.  That's 10-30 weight motor oil."  I know I can pick that up at Fleet Farm, but it was the bottle I really wanted, with that needle nose spout to help you get the oil right where you need it.

I did stop by Patty Reedy's Rainbow Fleece Farm stand  -- such nice fleece she raises there!  When I first started spinning, I remember her fleece really had me mesmerized because it sparkled.  It actually had a luster and a sheen you just don't see anywhere else.  Not sure how she does it ...  Like magic!

Lots' of gorgeous hanks of spun yarn ...  I would like to try something more artistic and adventuresome than just my straight run-of-the mill spinning.  Perhaps mixing 2 colors in the plying stage?  Or adding some bling?  I think I saw a video about how to add sequins ...  Someone was selling orphan calls of spun yarn with tiny seed beads incorporated into it.  Very nice -- I'd like to learn how to do that!

One stand was selling rugs as what seems to be more than reasonable prices for a buyer.  Might have been slave labor to her -- because I know what it takes to make one now.  Beautiful color combinations at her stand.

Another lady was selling felted scarves --  some looked like northern lights!  Neat!  I think she also had some nice shawl pins there made from cut off tree branches -- finished nicely.  There is always something I wish I would have purchased, but didn't.  I think if I'd have gone back on Sunday, I probably would have gotten one of those shawl pins.

Soap -- One stand was selling French soaps, so I got 2 bars of my favorite Miel (honey) soap.  I don't know what they do to it!  I know I can make soap, and I put honey in it, but it never comes out smelling so light and flowery as the French Miel soap does.  And so I keep buying it when I see it!

After we got tired of shopping, Lynda and I went to sit and spin in the park area -- same place we were last year.  Much cooler this year, with a breeze.  Last year we had company as other spinners came to work their magic alongside us.  This year, it was just the two of us.  Lynda brought a Turkish drop spindle this time -- more portable than her wheel.  I had my trusty Louet S90--plying some of that silk and wool mill end mix I got last year.

Another good day at The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival!