My spindle and I just got back from visiting my son in Sandpoint, Idaho, a small town on the shores of the largest lake in the state and a sensible place to live if you happen to be an Idaho boatbuilder. And summer (Happy Solstice by the way --summer or winter depending on your hemisphere), by the water is generally pretty boat-centric if you are thus inclined.
But sometimes boatbuilders (or boat menders as the case often is when your boats of choice are made out of wood), whose mothers are obsessive spindle spinners, can't resist trying other things with interesting scraps in the stash, and a couple of days ago I actually got to watch a few Hepty spindles being finished.
(It turns out I'm too distracting for focused boat work, which makes sense as my work also comes to a screeching halt when anyone is around, and is also
1. a good reason to keep my visits short, because who wants to slow work in progress?
2. a good reason to keep a spindle handy wherever I am, so I never have to fully stop working .)
(It turns out I'm too distracting for focused boat work, which makes sense as my work also comes to a screeching halt when anyone is around, and is also
1. a good reason to keep my visits short, because who wants to slow work in progress?
2. a good reason to keep a spindle handy wherever I am, so I never have to fully stop working .)
Hepty #1 (bottom) and # ?? above. The newer ones have a slightly longer shaft than mine, leaving more room to actually twirl them on your leg as the cop gets big.
As some of you know, I've been seriously into these spindles for the last year and a half or so ago when Henry made his first hepty as an experiment. I was only supposed to test a few design ideas, but fell so hard for this one that it has been my primary spindle ever since and has, among other things, been the tool I used for all the yarn for this cloth.
 Each of the seven facets gets individual attention. |  Heating the piano wire just the right amount so it will bend without becoming brittle. |
Henry has now made and sold quite a few of these spindles, and I hope the new owners are as happy with theirs as I have been with mine.
Christened the "Hepty" for the heptagonal shape, they are fast and functional, the perfect tool for making the kind of yarn I like best-- fine, well twisted singles that I sometimes ply (2 or 3 or 4 depending), and sometimes use as is for weaving.
Christened the "Hepty" for the heptagonal shape, they are fast and functional, the perfect tool for making the kind of yarn I like best-- fine, well twisted singles that I sometimes ply (2 or 3 or 4 depending), and sometimes use as is for weaving.
Drill bit in a vice, spindle turned by hand to make the hole for the hook
The Hepty is one of the few spindles I've ever had I haven't had to wait for.
One good twirl on my thigh and I can spin a body length of yarn with a decent amount of twist without stopping or needing a second twirl. They are probably not spindles for the beginner as they don't much care for spinning anything thicker than the 7000 ish yards/lb singles that I like best, but that's physics for you. And since I tend to make and use a great deal of the same size yarn, I couldn't ask for anything more. And how else to get work done?
One good twirl on my thigh and I can spin a body length of yarn with a decent amount of twist without stopping or needing a second twirl. They are probably not spindles for the beginner as they don't much care for spinning anything thicker than the 7000 ish yards/lb singles that I like best, but that's physics for you. And since I tend to make and use a great deal of the same size yarn, I couldn't ask for anything more. And how else to get work done?
Pre-glue hook testing (my job)
The design has evolved over time:
among other things the spindles now have a longer shaft for easier spinning when the cop gets big, and this is the first batch with spring steel (rather than brass) hooks for extra 'drop' strength (check out the video in this two-image post).
They remain, however, within a gram or two of the original.
among other things the spindles now have a longer shaft for easier spinning when the cop gets big, and this is the first batch with spring steel (rather than brass) hooks for extra 'drop' strength (check out the video in this two-image post).
They remain, however, within a gram or two of the original.
 Ready for finish |  Oil and Wood -- such a combination |
Because they are faceted, these spindles won't roll of the table accidentally,
but because each facet is individually finished, the relationship between facet, hook and yarn is subtly different for each spindle. Most spin the most smoothly when the yarn comes from the facet at the back of the hook, but some prefer to go through the hook from left to right, some right to left, and still others want a single twist around. Still others (mine, actually), prefer one facet to the left or right of the back.
but because each facet is individually finished, the relationship between facet, hook and yarn is subtly different for each spindle. Most spin the most smoothly when the yarn comes from the facet at the back of the hook, but some prefer to go through the hook from left to right, some right to left, and still others want a single twist around. Still others (mine, actually), prefer one facet to the left or right of the back.
Wanut/ Madrone; Madrone/Cherry; Sapele/Madrone -- somewhere between 23 - 26 grams each
The black hooks are so handsome!
But though each one feels subtly different to me depending on hook and wood (amazing the difference a gram or two makes), I'd happily wander off with any one of them because they all feel like the excellent yarn-making tools I find them to be.
Except that I won't, because I'm still so in love with mine that I couldn't bear to cheat on her or hurt her feelings.
Except that I won't, because I'm still so in love with mine that I couldn't bear to cheat on her or hurt her feelings.
My fancy system for storing singles on the go, and a close look at a few scratches in my well used tool. Shortly after I took this photo, I, too, got a new spring steel hook! All of this sounds like a great deal of flagrant advertising, and I suppose in one sense it is as I cannot help being thrilled that my kid can make such fabulous tools. But since he only makes them when he has time between boat projects, usually just in the winter, and two of the spindles shown above are already spoken for, it's a little silly to 'advertise' now, so mostly I'm writing because I was so tickled to get to hang out in Sandpoint, watch these babes being made, and 'test' them till I ran out of fleece.
That said, though there will probably be quite a wait for the next batch, you can contact him at henrycedwards @ gmail.com (delete the spaces to make it work) and get on his list. And perhaps if said list gets long, and the wood stash gets interesting, and the belaying pins are all in place, and the boat deck gets done...
That said, though there will probably be quite a wait for the next batch, you can contact him at henrycedwards @ gmail.com (delete the spaces to make it work) and get on his list. And perhaps if said list gets long, and the wood stash gets interesting, and the belaying pins are all in place, and the boat deck gets done...
