Drop Spindles!

Drop spindles! More specifically, the drop spindles that I make - usually as SCA largess in little beginning drop spindle kits, but more recently and more specifically, the drop spindle I made for Kira so she can start learning. Getting crafty up in this household!

My basic supplies are 3/8" hardwood dowels and wagon wheels - I have two types, and use different ones depending on what I'm doing - one of them can have more weight added easily, though only in the center, and the other makes a better base for decoration.

(*note - not actual pics, just the closest I could shlorp out of google)

Take your dowel, and after making sure you don't have a shitty one - an all too common issue - you wanna pick out a wheel that is a nice snug fit. If you plan on painting your dowel and wheel later, it doesn't hurt to have it a bit loose instead.

Next, you need to carve out the point and the hook. Now, it's fully reasonable to just shove a metal hanger hook in one end and call it good, but I am an overachiever who likes making my own life difficult.

Figure out which side is going to be which, and carve points into each end - I use a pocket knife, but something a little more substantial would not go amiss. On the bottom, a long, sharper point is appropriate, on the top, you only want a dull rounded point like the top of a crochet hook.

A crochet hook is actually a really good description of the shape we're going for on the top. I usually achieve this by taking out a wedge, then working my way up into the corner of that wedge until it looks satisfactory. I have done this with just a knife, but having a thin file helps enormously to get a nice clean cutback. (Also, if you're doing a top whorl spindle, cutting a light groove for your yarn in the whorl itself can be nice, and easily accomplished with a thin file.)

One concern you may run into is that if your hook is not deep enough your yarn will keep slipping off your spindle. If you're having trouble I recommend simply getting a metal hook instead. It might not be worth the fight with the dowel.

Once your ends and hook are satisfactory, sand the hell out of that thing. It doesn't have to be butter smooth - in fact, depending on how barely not-shitty your dowels are, "not hideously rough" might be the best you can get.

But once you're happy, then comes assembling!

If you're leaving it plain, or staining it instead of painting, do that and then glue the whorl into place - this is where a snug fit comes into play, as you don't need much to lock dowel and whorl together permanently.

If you ARE painting, paint the whorl and dowel separately first with some sort of base coat - white is my go-to. Depending on how snug the whorl fits, you might only want to paint the dowel down to the point where the whorl will sit - a layer of paint might take you from snug to can't-get-the-fucker-on.

This also gives you a chance to make more ornate decorations on your whorl without having to work around a goddamn stick that wants to poke you in the eye, be they with paint or by woodburning.

If you're going one color though, this is the point where you jam your shit together. I find that usually the layer of paint is enough to keep the whorl in place once I smash it on there, but a touch of glue if it's still loose is appropriate.

Then paint the damn thing. And paint it again if you need another layer. (A foam block makes a nice stand while waiting for the paint to dry. Also ignore the fact that I paint shit on my bathroom counter.)

While painting, make sure you don't let a lot of paint build up in your hook, rendering it totally worthless.

Last step is to put some sort of glaze on - I usually just do a DuraClear in a satin or gloss finish, depending on which bottle I can find. If you're just staining your spindle, that step is not required, as there is no paint to protect from chipping. It doesn't hurt to cover any surface with decoration on it. Again, you may run into an issue with yarn slippage, depending on how slick your finish is. You may need to go back in and rough it up.

As is, Kira's drop spindle (the purple) is approximately 1.4 oz; a little more due to the weight of the paint. The nice part is that if she decides she wants it to be heavier, all that needs to be done is to glue metal washers into the little inset spoke - boom! Heavier spindle! Though it is a center-weight, so if you like edge weight it won't work.

If you're just making a spindle for yourself, you're done! If you're doing it as largess, I suggest adding a few grams of some sort of fiber, a leader, and some nice, clear directions.