Spinning wheel for making yarn

[Thefishguy77]

Ok so random unrelated to anything automotive question. We have been wanting to get a spinning wheel to turn wool into yarn. We thought, still do, that my mom still had at least 1 in storage but as of now its missing. We have access to sheep and alpaca wool and love to be more self sufficient. With my wife knitting a lot a wheel seems a good thing to have. Well pre Rona there were a ton available between 150-500. Now it looks like a decent one is no less than $400. Anyone either have one they are willing to part with or have a decent source for one? I have checked out the wollery as well and NWweaversguild.

Do we suck it up and drop $400 on a wheel or is there still a hidden source somewhere.

 

[Johann]

We have two but my wife will not part with them because she plans to use them... someday.

Check the junk shops and antique stores. They end up there when Granny passes .

 

[Stuck]

Make one. Seriously. A few boards and a bicycle wheel. I saw one last year at a craft fair my wife dragged me to. Im sure theres plans online.

https://www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/564427765782171173/ heres some ideas. I asked my wife wont sell hers either. Never uses it. When I pointed that out she mentioned all of my projects and toys that are just sittinng there so I shut up walked away in shame.

Thinking more on this if you use a rear wheel with freewheel. You could mount the wheel vertically, hook the chain to the top of a pedal hinged at the bottom loop it up over the gear and hook the other end to a spring to pull the pedal back up.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Make one. Seriously. A few boards and a bicycle wheel. I saw one last year at a craft fair my wife dragged me to. Im sure theres plans online.

https://www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/564427765782171173/ heres some ideas. I asked my wife wont sell hers either. Never uses it. When I pointed that out she mentioned all of my projects and toys that are just sittinng there so I shut up walked away in shame.

Yea mine says the same thing. I dont get on her about selling her stuff because I know I am the worse offender. I had though about making one but was hoping for a “here ya go” type deal. I guess if I cant find one in a thrift store then I will add it to my project list. I just knocked 2 off the list so fuck it why not add 1 more

 

[dntsdad]

Never know what you are going to see on this site!!

Isn't yarn like $2 for 1.5 miles or some shit?

How long before you make a ROI in the self made yarn world? And what the hell do you actually make from yarn besides ugly Christmas sweaters?

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Never know what you are going to see on this site!!

Isn't yarn like $2 for 1.5 miles or some shit?

How long before you make a ROI in the self made yarn world? And what the hell do you actually make from yarn besides ugly Christmas sweaters?

Lol I was thinking the same thing. How often do you wear yarn based clothing. Me it’s once or twice a year and that’s for a ugly sweater party or some shit like that.

 

[GonPostal]

I had a teacher in college that spun his own yarn from wool. One day he didn't show up for class and it turns out he died of Anthrax from some contaminated wool......

 

[ExWrench]

I dig random info - that's one more reason this place fawkin' rocks (and the old place used to . . . :( )

Thread w/ pinterest link to making spinning wheels is probably creeping some member out right now.

Be on the lookout for a "cauterizing your own chainsaw wounds" thread - that'll be the guy

 

[Stuck]

I dig random info - that's one more reason this place fawkin' rocks (and the old place used to . . . :( )

Thread w/ pinterest link to making spinning wheels is probably creeping some member out right now.

Be on the lookout for a "cauterizing your own chainsaw wounds" thread - that'll be the guy

Shit on pinterest is right up my alley. The ispiration for the crib I built my boy and my weld table came off pinterest. I should actually sign up for an account but for now I just browse the pics on google. Im a true renaissance dude. I can weld, machine, lay block, frame a house, form and finish concrete, build cabinets, hell I even have two sewing machines. I like to be able to do anything I need on my own. On my old boat I redid part of the deck glass work, rebuilt both outboards, redid all the interior and exterior upholstery and welded up a new larger aluminum Ttop for it. On the new one I sewed all new isinglass panels for it.

 

[Thefishguy77]

I am a big fan of self sufficient. I try and sew my own gear when I can. I have an old singer, WW2 era, that I need to finish getting back together and an old school all metal gear kenmore that I use as a primary machine. I do want to find an old treadle machine, just in case we go back to the dark ages.

Always make sure I break it proper like before paying someone to fix what I broke trying to fix it. Even then I can normally hillbilly together to get it to the shop.
Hell, about 15 year ago a buddy ripped a fender off his trailer because he was an idiot and couldn’t drive a trailer. So I tied that bitch back on tight in the parking lot, JB Weld and we waited a few hours for it to set ish. I saw that trailer about 2 months ago, still in the group, and the JB Weld fix still holding.

I have been called the Crown Prince of Mickey Mousing shit back together to get it done.

 

[evernoob]

Never know what you are going to see on this site!!

Isn't yarn like $2 for 1.5 miles or some shit?

How long before you make a ROI in the self made yarn world? And what the hell do you actually make from yarn besides ugly Christmas sweaters?

Lol I was thinking the same thing. How often do you wear yarn based clothing. Me it’s once or twice a year and that’s for a ugly sweater party or some shit like that.

Because he has access to alpaca and sheep's wool. He likes to be self-sufficient.

Spinning is not a high-overhead type of activity. You can keep the spinner set up and just grab it out and start spinning while talking to people or watching netflix. You could do it on the john.

Taking raw materials away from India and manufacturing them then selling saris back to the Indians was the entire point of Gandhi's wearing of the robes and always having a cotton spinner with him. His contention was that Indians should be spinning a bit each day, and that Indians used to do that before the British Mercantilist Empire.

So I'm saying that spinning does not have a high opportunity cost. You can do it on downtime or dead time. There's not really an ROI.

If you want to be self-sufficient, it's a relatively easy piece to add to your collection of tools. If there is an apocalypse, washed and processed alpaca underjohns are going to be a lot better than plastic bags or deer hides. Wool socks and sweaters speak for themselves, still better than synthetics. You can just spin for a few weeks, grow tired of it, pick it back up again, processed yarn doesn't go bad unless it's wet.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Lol I was thinking the same thing. How often do you wear yarn based clothing. Me it’s once or twice a year and that’s for a ugly sweater party or some shit like that.

I live in wool during the winter months. Sweaters, Hats, Gloves & Socks. I buy surplus wool pants.

 

[Truckedup]

My woman companion is a hillbilly and does all traditinal women's skills like knitting ,sewing, cooking and pleasing the man. She considered a loom or spinning wheel, but said fuck this shit, takes too much time..

 

[woods]

Mrs. Woods here, all. After seeing some of the comments here about the ridiculousness of this request, I would like to insert my 2 cents for your entertainment and knowledge. I worked at an internationally acclaimed knitting store for 8 years. Knitting is an extremely popular art form as well as survival skill. Spinning your own yarn from locally sourced wool? You have no idea. As well as selling your hand-spun wool for $$$ it's also huge deal in this community. To THEFISHGUY77. I have (1) wheel, a Fricke, that I adore and will never part with. I purchase wool from my neighbor and am in the process of making fall riding sock yarn for Woods as we speak. It was bought new, and I'm sure my husband can get you some more info on where it came from as he found it for years ago. Well cared for her wheel will last for generations. You could try to find one on FB marketplace, or at an antique store... but you may not know what it is missing.

Here is my suggestion THEFISHGUY77, have your wife try a drop spindle first. It's a super inexpensive way to start, see if it's something that she feels like she wants to continue with, and also super therapeutic. All she needs to do is search for drop spindles on Etsy and there will be a plethora available (but my First suggestion is Akerworks.com and their 3D printed drop spindle systems, though. They're. Awesome.)

^^That's from the missus.

To give you an idea of what she's working with:

And that's....maybe a third of what she has on hand.

But yea, if you're looking for patterns or suggestions, help, or perhaps I can even get her on video with yea. She knits socks, two at a time, without even looking. No joke, we'll go for a walk somewhere and she's stitching away without looking.

 

[mdmike]

And that's....maybe a third of what she has on hand.

But yea, if you're looking for patterns or suggestions, help, or perhaps I can even get her on video with yea. She knits socks, two at a time, without even looking. No joke, we'll go for a walk somewhere and she's stitching away without looking.

Pretty sure our Wives would be best friends if we lived closer to each other.

Like said above, I keep my mouth shut about her yarn "collection" and she doesn't say much about my vehicle/atv "hobby". She has a room in the basement stacked floor to ceiling with bins of yarn, another couple corner cabinets in the family room, and her spinning wheel has permanent residence next to the couch where she pedals her feet off while watching TV. She knits socks like we're never going to own another pair of shoes ever again, and hats like it isn't 100* outside.

 

[Duoglide]

Wife has one she may part with but it’s in Arizona and we’re not. She says to pony up & buy a good quality one (like Jeep parts) or buy cheap-be unhappy-by another and take a bath on the first one. For example hers is a Kromsky Sonata in mahogany with a Wooley Winder and she’s looking at $650 ish. Her other one is a traveler style and they’ll bury it with her I guess.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Mrs. Woods,

Thank you for the education. She has a drop spindle and is ready to take the next step. I will start looking in the antique and thrift stores.

 

[Provience]

Never know what you are going to see on this site!!

Isn't yarn like $2 for 1.5 miles or some shit?

How long before you make a ROI in the self made yarn world? And what the hell do you actually make from yarn besides ugly Christmas sweaters?

you would think, but the 50% alpaca or 50% wool yarn I buy for making hats and blankets and such is $10-20/skein.

I put over $100 into making a 4'x6' ish blanket

 

[woods]

you would think, but the 50% alpaca or 50% wool yarn I buy for making hats and blankets and such is $10-20/skein.

I put over $100 into making a 4'x6' ish blanket

Yea, some of the sweaters my wife made for herself are easily in the 100s if someone else had to buy the materials.