18th.C. style thread spools I made the last 2 days

[george wilson]

These are made of dogwood,and are 1 1/4" long. What makes them a pill to make are those very thin edges. I swear,craftsmen at that time must have enjoyed torturing each other to see who could make their things the most delicate and difficult way possible. A war of quality,which I wish we had more of today.

The cutting tool must be very sharp,and be presented to the edges very carefully. These were not filed or sanded to shape. Just as cut,like the originals. There are 26 here.



At least some toolmakers are having a revival these days.

I don't know who besides my customer has "bespoke" thread spools. I must have made about 150 or more of these for her by now. Maybe 200. One of those repeat jobs I haven't bothered to photograph till now. And,I got my wife to take these with her good camera,and better skill!!

The order was for 25,but I threw in one that had slight burns on it,if you can find it.

I'm only good for a few hours a day with my bad knee. Hopefully it doesn't need a full replacement. Will see on the 9th.

[Trevor Walsh]

Awesome work George, what is the procedure for turning these? Are several done at once on the same length of wood and parted off?

[george wilson]

I turn a 3/4" dowel of dogwood,and make as many as I can from the dowel,feeding them out of a collet chuck. They have a 5/32" hole drilled through them,too. These vary in diameter and length as she needs them. They go on special little looms that she keeps buying. The spools are always gone.

[Trevor Walsh]

Thanks George that sounds smart, I imagine you've cut and dried the dogwood yourself? Or does a mill near you occasionally have some pieces?

[george wilson]

I was able to buy a big bunch of turning squares,but am running low. The power Co. cut down one of our dogwood trees(for no good reason) during the last hurricane. They are the state tree,illegal to cut,but the workers,who were from another state,didn't even know that. I plan to cut it into squares and dry it. I have a bunch of pink looking dogwood(as opposed to the whiter looking wood),but she has wanted them all uniform,in spite of the spools going into different looms. She might have to settle for some pink if she re- orders before I can get the new wood dry.

[Chris Vandiver]

Nice work George. It seems that dogwood is the wood of choice for loom shuttles and spools.
In case anyone is interested; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_(genus)#Wood

[george wilson]

It always is. Must be that it is a tough wood,I guess. But,it shatters just as easily as maple.

[Dan Andrews]

Beautiful work as always George. As someone who struggles with tough lathe projects I can immagine producing a 80% scrap rate if I tried to make them.

[george wilson]

They CAN have a VERY high scrap rate until I remember my little tricks. I only get an order for them every 3 or 4 years. By then,I forget how to make them,and waste 5 trying to make one. Finally,I get my act together again.

[Trevor Walsh]

Would making a video of your nailed down technique help as a refresher course?

[george wilson]

Maybe having a younger brain?

[Bill White]

George, do you ALWAYS have to show us your stuff that just makes us feel incompetant? (Jokin'!)
Great work.
Just an aside:
A partial knee was not an option I chose. I did not get any good vibes from the orthos. Had the total and life is sweet now.
Bill

[george wilson]

I'll find out this week what's what. Hope it's just a torn meniscus,which can be trimmed or sewn back through a scope. My right thumb joint truly needs replacement. I'm left handed,but played guitar right handed,finger picking,since age 13. Wore the joint clear out. I am NOT looking forward to that painful recovery,and loss of strength (50%) in that hand. I don't know what that will be like.

[george wilson]

I realize this looks like a ho-hum post. If you haven't tried to make these sharp edged,thin turnings,you might not understand the challenge.

[jamie shard]

I don't think it's ho-hum... speaking for myself, I'm speechless -- so to speak. :)

[Dan Andrews]

Now that is a problem I can identify with George.

[Trevor Walsh]

I like seeing these sorts of utilitarian items, they would be challenging to make, but still pretty simple and useful. I'm sure when you figure out the technique they go pretty fast, no? It's a great contrast to these crazy exotic hollow forms and finials. I think much of the things you show are inspiring/cool because it's reproduction work that not a lot of people know how to do/ are asked to do.

[george wilson]

It definitely is a challenge to figure out ways to do some things that were originally done by specialists who never did anything else day after day,and served stiff apprenticeships to do it. And,they seemed to make their products as difficult as possible to make so that they eliminated the competition in terms of quality. In this case,there really was no reason to make the spools so delicate and thin on the edges. That made it difficult to copy or improve on their product.

Consumers back then were attuned to knowing the best quality in workmanship and design,and demanded it.

[Dustin Keys]

I realize this looks like a ho-hum post. If you haven't tried to make these sharp edged,thin turnings,you might not understand the challenge.

I was a little underwhelmed until I blew the picture up to full size. I didn't realize at first that they were a single, solid piece of wood. Now that is a project that takes some real patience!

D

[george wilson]

Glad you investigated,Dustin!!:) not everything I make is difficult to make,but things can be deceiving.

[george wilson]

I shall redouble my efforts to keep the underwhelming pictures to a minimum!!!!:):):)

[Trevor Walsh]

George, Do you know what factors contributed to consumer's understanding of high quality goods? Or why it seems that many people today seem to devalue quality in favor of repeat buying crappy goods?

[george wilson]

The high quality goods were made for the best educated,richest class of consumers. That doesn't mean a thing today in terms of the rich having better taste,does it? I mean,look at Trump's furnishings!!

I think people back then were just more attuned to the arts in general than most today are. You proved you were educated back then by having the best things,not gaudy big gold chains and the like.

I'm tired,and need more time to compose my thoughts.

[Rob Damon]

We had a dogwood in the front yard that was dying and large branches where breaking off when the wind would get to blowing, so it was cut down. We saved the small main trunk (roughly 8" diameter x 27" long) and two small branches. The trunk and one of the branches are in the photo, bottom middle. Has been drying for about a year and a half now. Took one of the small pieces (4" dia. x 12" long) and resawed it into 1/8" thick mini-slabs. Not sure what to do with it yet. They should be dry enough now for making something for Christmas this year. I am pretty sure though that I could turn the entire log into sawdust and still not make a single spindle to match what you have made.
http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=53892&d=1297135243

[george wilson]

8" dogwood?? Sounds yummy!!

[Ted Calver]

Slight thread drift--Rob, That's a mighty nice wood stash!! Interesting use of banding. Is it difficult to access the pieces without a lot of hassle?

[george wilson]

Rob,I can NEVER make those little "?" blue squares produce a picture,and I'd like to see your picture.

[Rob Damon]

It's not showing up for me either. Will try again. The first pic is the one that should have shown up in the post above. Also, here a pic of it freshly cut and end sealed piece sitting on top of two wild cherry logs. Those are the only two cherry logs I could save. The neighbors behind us cut down three 60' wild cherry trees and their son snagged all of it for "burning" in his wood burning stove because he like the smell of it.

Ted, Nope banding is not a problem, so far. That pic is just a faction of the "stash" and was the only way store almost 4000 BF of various woods in a 20'x12' wood storage room. (The walls are 10' to bottom of the joist.) Rob

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[Rob Damon]

Here is another pic I found of it. 212538

[george wilson]

You seem to have a great deal of wood. Are you a wood cutter,or dealer? If so,I'd like to know. TOO BAD that cherry got away!!! What a waste!

[Rob Damon]

George, the wood is for retirement years. I have just run across quite a few deals on CL for bulk purchases. Rob