cyndy1

Spinning wheel, sitting distaff, and spindle from Hungary

Upright, single treadle spinning wheel, freestanding sitting distaff, and spindle, all from Hungary.

cyndy3

Spindle next to top of distaff with flax

Spindle next to top of distaff with flax.

zuber1

Spooling wheel marked "H. Z."

Spooling wheel marked “H. Z.” Wooden, looks somewhat like a horizontal spinning wheel. It has a boxy structure on the table where the bobbin and flyer or spindle would normally be and has no treadle.

zuber2

Spinning wheel marked "H. Zuber"

Spinning wheel marked “H. Zuber.” Single treadle, bobbin and flyer wheel with attached basket distaff.

swift1

Carlton's swift

Carlton’s free-standing umbrella swift.

swift2

Rebecca's swift

Rebecca’s free-standing umbrella swift.

strickland_1

Strickland Silent Spinner

Strickland Silent Spinner. A relatively small, single treadle, upright, bobbin and flyer spinning wheel. Most of the wheel is wooden; the drive wheel is metal.

strickland_2

Detail of bobbin/flyer unit

Detail of bobbin/flyer unit on the Strickland Silent Spinner.

american_traveler_1

American Traveler front

American Traveler wheel, front view. An upright, double treadle, bobbin and flyer wheel designed, patented, and manufactured by Doloria Chapin in New York State in the late 1970s.

american_traveler_4

Doloria Chapin's Yarn Guide, Patent 4,090,347

Doloria Chapin’s Yarn Guide, Patent 4,090,347. A system for guiding yarn onto a bobbin.

SWSO_1

Decorator - non-functional spinning wheel

Decorator: non-functional spinning wheel. Appears to be a wooden, single-treadle, bobbin and flyer wheel.

miller_1

Henry Miller lever-action spinning wheel

Henry Miller lever-action spinning wheel.

USA100071897

Miller's patent #71,897

Miller’s patent #71,897 for a lever-action spinning wheel.

nixon_1

Francis Nixon tabletop spinning wheel

Francis Nixon tabletop spinning wheel. Small metal wheel with gearing mechanism.

nixon_3

Nixon's patent #88,065

Nixon’s patent #88,065 for geared tabletop spinning wheel.

swiss_1

Susan's Swiss wheel

Susan’s Swiss wheel; small, wooden, upright, bobbin and flyer flax wheel.

hetchel_1

Example #2. Inscription on example #2 reads: "MAY THE 18 AD 1797 JOHN MATHEWSON LYDA MATHEWSON STAY AT HOME AND USE ME WELL."

Example #2 of an inscribed hackle, hatchel, or hetchel. Inscription on example #2 reads: “MAY THE 18 AD 1797 JOHN MATHEWSON LYDA MATHEWSON STAY AT HOME AND USE ME WELL.”

charkha2

Peter's charkha from rear showing plying arrangement

Peter’s charkha from rear showing plying arrangement. Charka top has two full bobbins set up on vertical pins. The spun fiber on the bobbins feeds on to a horizontal bobbin and flyer mechanism.

double_treadle_1

Incomplete example marked "SS"

Incomplete example marked “SS.” Upright bobbin and flyer wheel with two asymmetric drive wheels. This example is missing one of its treadles.

double_treadle_3

Example marked "W. KILBOURN"

Double treadle upright wheel with asymmetric double drive wheels. Marked “W. KILBOURN.”

charkha1

Linda’s Bageshwari Charkha

Linda’s Bageshwari Charkha. A single treadle, wooden, table-like spinning wheel.

folk_wheel1

Folk wheel side view

Folk wheel side view. A rough-looking, wooden, double treadle, upright, bobbin and flyer wheel.

distaff2

Ancient glass distaffs

Ancient glass distaffs. Three glass rod-shaped distaffs with a loop of glass at one end and varying styles of finials on the other end. One distaff has a free ring of glass around the shaft of the distaff.

frost2

Reel marked "E. FROST" front view

Reel marked “E. FROST” front view. A free-standing, four-armed wooden reel.

stickney3

Horizontal arrangement reel/swift patented by James Forman Palmer, 1867

Horizontal arrangement reel/swift patented by James Forman Palmer, 1867. A metal reel/swift is clamped to a table. The four arms of the reel/swift are parallel to the plane of the table.

german2

close-up of bobbin/flyer arrangement

Close-up of bobbin/flyer arrangement on parlor wheel from Germany.

debbi1

C. Norman Hicks' "Debbi" wheel

C. Norman Hicks’ “Debbi” wheel. Wooden, upright, double treadle wheel with adjustable bobbin and flyer position.

taylor1

Wheel marked "MJY 407"

Wheel marked “MJY 407.” Upright wooden bobbin and flyer wheel, double treadle, with secondary accelerating wheel and distaff.