Functional art, and a piece of history

I drove out to Wellsville, MO this morning for a farm auction. A photo of a small gypsy-style wheel, likely German, caught my eye. Unfortunately I wasn't the only one bidding on it, and it went for way more than I had budgeted. But I did snap some photos for my own edification.

It was a very small wheel - maybe a 10" drive wheel - with a small footprint. It would have needed a bit of work to get spinning again, mainly fixing the split whorl and adding new treadle leather. And the bobbin was fused to the whorl... a bit of elbow grease to loosen that up. It did come with an extra bobbin and a half, which is very rare for old wheels. It had been painted, too - in reds, yellows and blacks. Hopefully the couple that got it can restore it and keep the remaining paint intact.

Meet Tess

She is here! Meet Tess. She's a Carson Cooper Sabrina, a small folding travel wheel, made specially for me in birds-eye maple and camphor burl. She's a sweet little wheel.

Tess - a Carson Cooper Sabrina folding wheel

Front view

She's going to accompany me up to Michigan in July, when I head to The Spinning Loft in Howell, Michigan for the first level of the Master Spinner Program. We've already had fun getting to know each other. Again, I seem to default to spinning thing on every wheel.

Testing different fibers

Did I mention she's small but mighty?

Spinning on the deck

Despite the current record heat, I've been keeping to The Schedule. Catching up a bit...

Sunday, June 10: 5 mi on the Elliptical Machine of Death in 68:17
Tues., June 12: 5.5 mi in 5:03:37 (5 mi = 57:17)
Wed., June 13: 6 mi in 1:07:53
Fri., June 15: 6 mi in 1:07:50 (5 mi = 56:29)
Sat., June 16: 5.5 mi walk in 1:16:31
Sun., June 17: 5.5 mi run/walk in 1:08:19 (hot)

Tues., June 19: 6 mi in 1:09:58 (still hot)
Wed., June 20: 5 mi on the EMD in 71:51
Fri., June 22: 6 mi in 1:09:11 (5 mi = 57:03) ... still slowing down
Sat., June 23: 6.2 mi in 1:13:59 (5 mi = 59:30) ... still wfhot
Sun., June 24: 5.3 mi walk in 1:14:31

Tues.: 6 mi in 1:05:56 (5 mi = 55:10)
Wed.: 6 mi in 1:10:17
Fri.: 5.6 mi in 1:04:23

Making Old New Again

Monday: rest day
Tuesday run/walk: 4.5mi on the dreadmill in 57:39
Wednesday run/walk: 4.25mi on the dreadmill in 55:05
Thursday: rest day
Friday run/walk: 5.3mi in1:04:21 (hit 5mi in 59:53 - woot!)
Saturday run/walk: 5.25mi in 1:01:49 (hit 5mi in 57:53 - bigger woot!)
Sunday: blew off running in the rain to spin

Total for last week: 19.3 mi (yeah, lame)

Back to spinning wheels. Back in September, I picked up two small wheels out at an auction in Washington, MO. I posted about the Frank Fell/Mayville wheel. I also got this little thing...

Small 'gypsy' wheel

On the bottom was the name Anna Schmidt, and 'den 30 juni 1860'... or June 30, 1860. The card attached to the wheel said that Anna was a friend of the family, and never married or had children.

The flyer was a bit of a disaster... the hooks were bent or missing, and the nut embedded in the whorl was stripped, so it snugged up too high on the flyer shaft, in effect locking the bobbin in place so it could not move freely.

Little 1860-wheel flyer and bobbins, in rough shape. And - note the itty-bitty tiny flyer hook attached to one of the maidens.

I got in touch with Fred Hatton, and he agreed to take a look at the flyer and bobbins, so I sent them on. I got them back last week - in amazing shape! The hooks had been replaced, the nut reseated, new brass bearings put into two of the original bobbins (the third wasn't in any condition to be saved), and Fred made a third bobbin for me. He also said all this was walnut.

Being quite motivated, I took advantage of yesterday's decent weather (for this time of year), and scrubbed down the little wheel. Once it was dry, I rubbed in a coat of Howard's butcher block oil. What a difference it made:

Post-spa-treatment

All cleaned up and ready to go.

And best of all, she spins like a champ! I expect a lot of enjoyable spinning time with this little wheel.

She may be at least 150 years old, but she still works perfectly.

Why I love my Subaru, reason #127

Today's walk/run: Garmin says 5.2 mi in 1:07:21.

The weather had a definite Florida feel to it when I went out - cool to start, but the sun really warmed things up quickly. And the wind in the trees reminded me of the rustling palm fronds along the gulf coast. I chose correctly with a technical t-shirt and running skirt.

Ingrid went for her play-date today. Here she is...

Ingrid, the Frank Fell/Mayville wheel

Isn't she cute, all strapped in? She fits perfectly in the back seat, and the belt holds her in place.

Ann was kind enough to take some pictures of her in action, while I was spinning some alpaca.

Hello, Sweetie

Today's walk/run: nada. Rest day.

Isn't she cute? She finally told me her name is Ingrid. She's excited to go to spinning group on Sunday, too.

Frank Fell / Mayville Spinning Wheel

A Bit of History

Today's walk/run: nada. Rest day.

Getting back to Frank Fell... let's get into some history regarding those little spinning wheels. To do that, we need to look at spinning wheel production in Wisconsin.

Back around 1862, the price of raw wool - and subsequently dry goods - went up quite a bit thanks to the Civil War. Unfortunately, farmers didn't see a corresponding spike in what they got for their labors. Long story short, to save money, manufacturers saw an increase in demand for spinning wheels and looms, and were happy to oblige. One such company was the Mayville Furniture Company in Mayville, Wisconsin. Mayville was one of the few communities where wheels were made almost continuously from the Civil War up through the early 1900s.

A gentleman by the name of Frank Fell went to work for the Mayville Furniture Company in 1884. In 1904, the company stopped manufacturing items, and went to retail only. Frank purchased some of their equipment, and along with some tools he had inherited from his father, started making wheels under the label "Mayville Spinning Wheel" in 1905. He continued making them up through 1935, when he passed away. His son Sidney assembled some of the wheels that had been left unfinished, and apparently continued making them on and off until he passed away in the 1950s.

I've not yet discovered any definitive characteristics that would distinguish a wheel made by the furniture company, to one that was made by Frank, or by his son Sidney. There is one wheel pictured on Flickr that has a very nicely preserved label on the underside of the table that indicates it was made by Frank. There are minor differences in the thickness of the front legs, as well as the "donut" turning near the top of the uprights between these two wheels. (The blue table may be at more of slant than the other, also.) But - nothing to tell who made which wheel. That just means more research to do!

Much of this content comes from the excellent research provided in the historical document found here.

A Productive Weekend

Today's walk/run: Garmin sez 5.5 miles in 1:11.26

No unusual squirrel activity noted.

When we last left the little Frank Fell wheel, it had been scrubbed to within an inch of its life, and was in pieces. But, all the ancient dirt and gunk and oil (and mud wasp tubes) were gone. Note the water in the bucket.

Dissected and scrubbed

It was left to dry overnight. Then today, it got two coats of Watco Butcher Block oil. Looking much better, yes?

With two coats of oil

 Now to let it cure and dry. Then it'll be reassembled, and let the test-spins begin! My wheels don't usually tell me their names until I spin on them, so we'll see if Frank remains Frank.

What am I doing here?

I need somewhere to ramble on about things... so here I am.

This morning's run/walk... Garmin sez 4.5 miles in 57:11.

It was a lovely October morning - much warmer than I expected. On the way back, I was minding my own business, singing along with k.d. lang to 'Hallelujah' (not loudly - I'm not that weird) -

... she tied you to a kitchen chair,
she broke your throne and she cut... AAAIIEIEEEEE!

A squirrel was playing beat-the-train and dashed right in front of me across the sidewalk. I think I might have hit it with my right toe... any closer, and I probably would have launched it ten feet down the sidewalk.

And, for the love of wool, about 30 yards later it happened again. I jumped that one.

Safely home now, and about to work on cleaning up a vintage Frank Fell spinning wheel I picked up at an auction a few weeks back. These wheels were made from approximately 1900-1930, and are reputed to be fine spinners.

Vintage Frank Fell spinning wheel

From what I can tell, he (my wheels are normally 'she', but this one is determined to be called Frank) is just quite dirty, and needs a tune-up. We'll see how that goes.