How to Make A Spinning Wheel

Ever wondered how to make a spinning wheel? Check out this DIY spinning wheel project made out of unexpected materials.

By Bernie Lichtenstein
Updated on November 10, 2022
article image
by Adobe Stock/David Ross

Here’s a gem from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS archives: How to make a spinning wheel with common items. This DIY spinning wheel uses an old bicycle wheel and a little bit of grit. 

One day Barbara–that’s my best friend–and I got this wild idea: Why not try to make a spinning wheel?

Up until then, Barbara had been spinning our “homegrown” wool (which comes from a little black sheep and a white woolly that we keep here on our ten acres) on a drop spindle. In case you didn’t know, a drop spindle is nothing more than a tapered dowel–weighted at the bottom–which you hold vertically and let rotate while pulling wool from the top. It’s a slow-but-simple way to spin wool.

Now, it takes a long time to make even a two- or three-ounce skein by the drop spindle method. Not that it isn’t fun: Barbara loves it. (The way I see it, you’ve got to love spinning to do it in the first place!) But an honest-to-goodness spinning wheel . . . now that would certainly make the whole process a lot easier, and a lot quicker.

We thought awhile, and–after seeing diagrams and pictures of homemade wheels in Foxfire2–decided we couldn’t wait any longer. We started to track down materials.

A black and white photo of a spinning wheel made from a bicycle tire
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