drop spindles and lace bobbins

[Tony Wheeler]

I have been ask to turn some drop splindles and lace bobbins and the closest thing that I know about them is I droped a spindle on the floor and it broke in half. I have seen a picture of a lace bobbin before but no idea on the actual size of them except for a guess and the drop splindles I dont have a clue what they are. Since you folks seem to know something about everthing I fugured this would be a good place to start my search. Any and all info appericated

[Curt Fuller]

If you google 'lace bobbins' and click on images you'll see some incredibly creative versions. My older sister has been after me to turn some for a few years. Basically all they are is a small stick to wind the thread on while tying lace so you can keep the threads from getting tangled. The rest is up to your imagination. My sister has a store bought set that is just plain sticks, about 1/4" diameter with a handle. I don't know much more than that and I don't know anything about drop spindles.

[thomas prusak]

I know you can turn your car into a lowrider with a set of drop spindles. Sorry......could not resist the temptation

[russell dietrich]

I have some patterns for lace bobbins & drop spindles with standard dimensions. If interested I can try to post a JPG or PDF. I made the lace bobbins for a homemakers club. They used them as decorations for their Christmas tree. I also put a picture of a Russian support spindle in my other turnings album.

[Ryan Mooney]

Lace bobbins are a good excuse to "noodle" on the lathe. Mostly you want to get them the same size/weight, but lacemakers an be pretty OCD about the specifics on their bobbins. I don't have a lot more to add on those as I haven't looked that closely at the details, google pictures and try a few samples then see what works/doesn't (and report back :D).

Drop spindles I have been spending a little more time on lately (loml is a spinner and asked for some). They're a fascinating mix of simplicity and complex physics. They look sooo simple and yet the tiny subtle differences make them perform very very differently.

First I would suggest getting this book:
www.amazon.com/Respect-Spindle-Abby-Franquemont/dp/1596681551/ (http://www.amazon.com/Respect-Spindle-Abby-Franquemont/dp/1596681551/)

Its more about how to use spindles (of all sorts) but has some good details on the design as well. I think in order to make really good ones you kind of have to know how they work anyway.

Also read this doc: http://www.hatchtown.com/tools/spindles/spindle-hook-tuning It was really useful for helping me figure out how to make and tune the hooks.

For the first couple I made I just straightened bobby pins and then re-bent them to make hooks, but have since ordered some 0.043" stainless wire from amazon small parts ("Stainless Steel 17-7 PH Wire, Condition C, Straightened, 0.043" Diameter, 60" Length (Pack of 5)" $13.29) which imho works a lot better.

As far as turning them here are the steps I came up with that ~mostly seem to work (definitely not claiming its the only or even best way :D)



Decide on the whorl and spindle sizes. Rough cut your stock
Drill a hole in the center of the whorl about the size of your spindle
Mount the whorl on a jam chuck (I just made one out of a piece of scrap) and rough turn, unmount the whorl/jam chuck
Turn the short end of the spindle round but a fair bit oversized between centers
mount the round end of the spindle in a collet chuck, this allows you to part off the thin end and let it float for finishing. If it floats true you know the spindle will be pretty true.
Turn the long end to size until just before where the whorl would go
turn the part where the whorl will be to juuust over the size of the hole in whorl \
unmount from the lathe and hammer the spindle into the hole in the whorl (I don't fasten them any more than this)
remount, and turn the whorl true and cut away what you want to change the weight distribution (outside heavier than inside usually).
turn whatever decoration you want on the whorl
part off the short end if you haven't already
finish turning the short end of the whorl leaving it attached
sand and finish, I just finish it with some carnuba wax now (you don't want it to smooth/finished or the yarn will slip)
part off the short end.


For putting the hook in, I made a small "drill bit" out by sharpening the end of a piece of wire and mount a chuck in the lathe and just hold the spindle up to it by hand ("center punching" it first - just a dimple works). Then I use some CA to glue a piece of wire in place, cut wire and bend with some pliers. I've also made a couple of "notch" spindles without a hook, imho they're more fun to do and from the (incompetent) test spinning I've tried more interesting to use, most spindlers don't like them as much though.

Other things to know:

Bigger isn't always better. Most of mine have been 3-4" whorls and 10-12" spindles and between 1oz to 3 oz in weight.
The weight distribution on the whorl makes a HUGE difference in the performance as does the relative lengths of the short/long pieces. I don't have any really sage advice here as I'm still figuring it out. Try making a bunch with different weight distributions (they take about 15m each once you get rolling) and see what your requester likes. So far is seems that weight very slightly biased to the outside works the best (heavier inside spins shorter but faster, outside slower but longer..).


Here are some pics of a couple different ones I've made

Relative sizes.

243366

The ends and layouts. This one has to long of a short end on the spindle imho.

243367

Just pretty wood :D

243368

You can also just make them out of a toy wheel and a dowel, but whats the fun in that :rolleyes:

[Tony Wheeler]

thanks for the info everyone russel if you could post your designs or email them to me I would greatly appericate that , Ryan thanks a lot it was a lot of info quick , thomas i think you need a set of air bags also, Curt thanks also

[Ryan Mooney]

Russell,

I would be interested as well, I've had poor luck finding useful patterns.

Thanks in advance.

[Robert Henrickson]

For lace bobbins, perhaps David Springett's bobbin book, available through his website would be helpful. http://www.davidspringett.fws1.com/Bobbin.htm

Drop spindles depend heavily on what material is being spun, and the nature of the desired end-product. I have at least a couple Near Eastern village-made drop spindles at home, and could post a photo later, just to show how simple they can be (if you know what you are after!)

[russell dietrich]

Here are some basic shapes I started with. I have to go through my files to find the drop spindle patterns, and other bobbins.243444