Spinning Cotton on a Great Wheel

[christi1945]

I have a beautiful OLD norwegian horizontal wheel. It also has to be turned by hand. SO, I am thinking that I can use basically the same one-handed draft technique that you do. Also, the point is sitting in a cradle, but it looks like the yarn can still be pulled off the point. I could email you a picture. yours is the only video that does not treadle, and it is very clear. Thank you so much!

[ADHUK]

@christi1945 Ooh yes please do send a photo, it sounds really interesting!

Amanda

[youarv]

thank you so much for this most informative video yet on spinning on the great wheel. Thanks to your video, I just finished construction of my own "great wheel"

av

[ADHUK]

@youarv

Ooh great news about the new wheel. Is there any way you can show me pictures or a clip of it in action, I'd be very interested!

[youarv]

@ADHUK I have uploaded a video to show you my creation

av

[000Winter000]

Where can I buy a cotton wheel??

[ADHUK]

@000Winter000

I'm sure there must be modern as well as the occasional original great wheel available in the USA or Canada. Try a google search using the terms 'Great Wheel', Walking Wheel', 'Wool Wheel' (they weren't just used for cotton!) or even 'Charkha', you are bound to come up with something.

Hope this helps!

Amanda

[Spin2Weave]

Love the cotton sliver you're spinning. The colors are amazing. Is it availble commercially? Your wheel is beautiul. My great wheel is very old - from the Southern US and dates from the mid 1800. I love it, but it is not portable.

[ADHUK]

@Spin2Weave

Ooh lovely, I sometimes wish I had an old one, but I wouldn't have anywhere to keep it. The cotton was dyed by a friend of mine, I'll ask if she has any for sale and get back to you

[ADHUK]

@ADHUK

Hi again,

I think I've persuaded my freind to have a go at dyeing up a small amount of cotton for you! If you visit my website mandacrafts.co.uk, and click the link to email me, I'll put the two of you in touch!

[versponnenverwebt]

sehr gut gezeigt danke!

[ADHUK]

Sie sind willkommen, ich bin froh, es war nützlich!

[ADHUK]

Afraid so!

It is the extra speed of the miners head it doesn't like, it was reasonably quite before that so long as I fed it a drop of oil now and then. My husband has promised to try and fit a new bearing for me sometime, but he hasn't got around to it yet.

Luckily the noise doesn't seem to annoy me, so I'll just have to put up with it till it is fixed.

[calcrules]

This is fascinating! Does it really make that much noise or is it just the video that makes it sound so loud?

[Archer5219]

Thanks for the info! I was guessing it was about 36". I think that's a wonderful compromise! You get the advantages of the spindle wheel without the size of the traditional great wheel.

[Archer5219]

I'd love to know more about your great wheel! It's a little smaller than many I've seen, and I really like the size of it!

[ADHUK]

Hi,

It was made specially for me by a local craftsman. I told him it had to fit a small car to take to demonstrations. The wheel diameter is 36in, I think the old ones were 45 - 50ins or more (the size doesn't matter now with the Minor's Head). He also made it easy to dismantle, the wheel and legs both unscrew from the bed. As it's a modern copy and wasn't too expensive, I don't have to be precious about it, and anyone can have a go. I have had kids as young as 3 or 4 spinning on it. Amanda

[swimmingABCs]

Is this a more productive way of spinning? I am wondering why the Great Wheel was invented.

Thank you for this video, it is the best I have found on using the great wheel.

[ADHUK]

Hi

Glad you found it helpful!

The great wheel or spindle wheel, was invented somewhere around 1000AD, so it was definitely more productive than a hand spindle, but you did have to stay in one place to use it. I personally think that for some fibres, especially cotton and other short fibres, it is just as productive as a treadle wheel, and you get some excercise as well!

Thanks - Bye for now!

Amanda

[barca1au]

Thank you Amanda! Great video! I wish it had been around when I learned to use my upright charkha! I love the whirring sound the wheel makes - I think it comes with the style of wheel as I don't have a Minors Head on mine.

[calire4]

Really useful video. Found this helpful for spinning cotton on the charkha. Many thanks. Glad to hear your great wheel rattles like my charkha when I spin!!!!

[ADHUK]

Hi,

Thanks for the comment, glad you found it useful. Yes the wheel is a bit noisy, I think I'm going to need my spindle bearing looking at soon! It has definitely got more noticable with the increased speed from the Minor's head.

Amanda