SPIN WOOL WITH A POTTER'S WHEEL

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When any craftsperson/artist gets involved in more than one line of creative endeavor, it's always rewarding and economical if he or she can use the tools on hand-in an original way-to satisfy the demands of the new project. It was just such a situation that inspired me to turn my potter's wheel into a spinning wheel.

You see, I had been spinning and weaving (with a homemade Navajo spindle) for a year or so, using the combings from my lady Samoyed, Tika. However, the dog's "wool" output had become so voluminous that I seriously began to consider either buying or making a spinning wheel, even though the former proposition involved more money than I could easily afford and the latter required too much time.

A HANDY SOLUTION

Then one day it occurred to me that I already had a piece of equipment that went round and round. Realization begat action, and-barely an hour later-I'd developed a simple spinning device that was based on my potter's kick wheel!

When I began to contemplate this machine's spinning potential, I envisioned having to remove the wheelhead and attach something directly to the exposed shaft. An attempt at that, however, indicated that my yarn would tend to pick up grease from the shaft . . . and that the conversion would create unwanted complications when I was ready to switch back to ceramic work.

Luckily, my Brent wheelhead has symmetrically arranged pins (used for the addition of plaster bats) to which-I figured-I could affix a readily removable spinning rig.

Since I'm more familiar with the simple operation of a hand-or drop-spindle than with the workings of a conventional spinning wheel, I went scrounging for a dowel (or something similar) to use for the vertical shaft of my prototype spinner. What caught my eye was a wooden food masher that measured about a foot high.

I secured the implement to the wheelhead with a bracket made from a 6" X 18" flap from a corrugated cardboard box. (The size was somewhat arbitrary . . . the carton just happened to be handy.) First I pushed the handle of the masher through a hole cut in the center of the bracket . . . folded the cardboard down over the base and then flat onto the wheelhead ... and fastened the pins through corresponding holes on each end of my rectangle. I then made a pair of parallel cutsabout an inch apart and two inches deep-on each vertical edge of the cardboard . . . folded the resulting flaps inward ... and clasped them around the masher base with sturdy rubber bands. (Besides holding the assembly upright, the cardboard brace created a space for winding the newly spun yarn.)

And that was it! I could hardly wait to card up some "Sammy-wool" for the big test!

GIVE IT A SPIN!

After tying on a prespun length of yarn for a starter (Photo 1) and half-hitching it to the top of the shaft, I just kicked the wheel into a clockwise direction . . . twisted on the new wool . . . and commenced to spin (Photo 2).

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