What is a spinning wheel: types, instructions and reviews. Wooden spinning wheel with a wheel: description, specifications and reviews

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:47

Once without a spinning wheel it was impossible to imagine a single house, a single girl, girl and woman. Today's youth may not even know what a spinning wheel is at all. It's not even worth asking about how she looked and how she worked. But considering what place this device occupied in people's lives before, we must not forget about this once simply necessary tool.

What is a spinning wheel?

From the name of the item, it is easy to understand what a spinning wheel is - it is a device for spinning. The appearance of the spinning wheel was constantly changing - if earlier it was just two perpendicular boards, today it is a complex mechanism that produces yarn of various thicknesses and qualities. In addition to its direct functions, the spinning wheel was a participant in various signs and beliefs, not a single, even rich, house could be imagined without this device.

Spinning wheels in antiquity

Already in ancient times, people knew thatsuch a spinning wheel. This is evidenced by the legends, according to which Parks can lengthen or even break the thread of life. And they create this thread on it, on a spinning wheel. Athena was considered the patron saint of spinning.

Slavic spinning wheel

In Russia, old spinning wheels have been used since ancient times. This labor was purely female, a man could only make the very tool of labor. From the end of the harvest until the Great Lent, the spinners spent their days and often nights at this loom. Surprisingly, the spinning wheels were not similar to each other. Rather, the design was the same, but each spinning wheel was decorated differently.

Of course, initially only a wooden spinning wheel was used - maple, linden, aspen and birch were used for its manufacture. The decorations were unique - mostly wood carvings.

Distaffs in culture

Old spinning wheels were of great importance in the life of our ancestors, because they were not just a means for creating clothes and a way to earn money, but also played an important role in culture.

Each girl had her own spinning wheel. She received it at birth and changed only when she got married. Moreover, the umbilical cord of the newborn was cut precisely on a spinning wheel or spindle. At baptism, the girl was passed to the godmother through this device. Even a girl with a spinning wheel slept - they put her in a cradle for a child.

It was impossible to give one's own, nominal tool of labor to anyone even for temporary use: according to beliefs, in this case, a fire would certainly have occurred or people would have diedall bees. In the northern regions of our country, it was believed that if a young man wrote his name on a girl's spinning wheel, it was his duty to marry her. In any case, the groom made a spinning wheel for the wedding. The guy had to make this gift with his own hands, decorating it as best as possible.

The whole winter period was devoted to spinning, excluding Christmas days. The last working day for the spinners was the end of Maslenitsa. On this day, it was customary to ride on the bottoms from the mountain. It was believed that the length of the flax next year would depend on how far the rider traveled. If one of the riders had the imprudence to fall from the spinning wheel, those around expected her death even before the start of the new spinning season. At Christmas and Christmas time, all spinning tools were hidden in attics and closets to prevent them from meeting with spirits that could spit on tools.

In Serbia, it was customary on Christmas Eve, when visiting the buildings for animals, to spin some wool so that the cattle would not be left without wool. The inhabitants of Slavonia believed that the first guest should spin a little, so that the year would be fruitful for flax and so that the chickens would not run out. In addition, the young wife on the first day in the new status had to spin on a new loom, as it was believed that this promised a more prosperous life.

In all cultures where the spinning wheel was known, there were different, often unique, rituals and beliefs associated with this item. But all peoples were united in the main thing: the spinning wheel is not just a means of earning money, but also a talisman formistresses. For example, in Bulgaria, even when going to field work, girls took this tool with them. Often they even spun along the way if it was too crowded around. To treat babies from night crying, girls hid a spinning wheel under the cradle. She saved everything from insomnia - it was necessary to stick a spinning wheel with a tow under the mother, while saying special words. Even chickens were saved from caresses by a spinning wheel - it was necessary to throw it on the chicken coop.

Types of spinning wheels

Despite the fact that each was unique, there were not so many types of spinning wheels. The very first was the usual manual, which appeared in ancient Rome. After it, a much faster self-spinning wheel appeared. Since she did not give the opportunity to operate with two hands, she was equipped with a foot drive. This is how the spinning wheel was born. Well, much later, with the development of science and the advent of electricity, an electric spinning wheel was created. However, it is better to consider each of the species separately.

Manual

So, this spinning wheel appeared in ancient Rome, replacing the usual spindle and a pile of yarn on the knees. Then it was a breakthrough that simplified the hard and exhausting work of women.

It consisted of, roughly speaking, two boards attached at right angles to each other. A spinner sat on one part, yarn was attached to the upper part of the second. The part intended for sitting was called the bottom. The vertical part consisted of a neck and a blade. They decorated with carvings, for the most part, exactly to burst (as the most noticeable part of the instrument).

Spinning wheel

Self-spinning wheel - a wooden spinning wheel with a wheel - appeared in India. Gradually, from this country, it spread all over the world, greatly facilitating the life of the spin.

Its design is simple, but ingenious: the cylinder, in which the spindle is installed horizontally, is installed on the board. The hand rotates the wheel, which, thanks to the belt, turns the spindle. The left hand of the spinner feeds the fibers to the sharp end of the spindle while the right hand turns the wheel. As soon as the thread "grows" to the length of the arm, it is wound on the spindle and the process continues. The speed of spinning with the advent of such devices has increased significantly. In Russia, these cars were divided into Russian (with a wheel located perpendicular to the floor) and tubs, in which the wheel was at an angle.

When the spinning wheel was equipped with a flyer in the 15th century, there was no need to take breaks to wind the thread around the spindle - it happened by itself.

Foot

In the 19th century, the need for yarn increased significantly. In as much yarn as possible. For this reason, a wooden spinning wheel with a wheel that must be rotated with one hand has ceased to satisfy the consumer. Fortunately, there were craftsmen who were able to fit a pedal to this design that allowed the wheel to be rotated with their feet. Both hands could do the yarn, which greatly speeded up the work. Otherwise, the principle of operation remained the same: the tow was still attached to the upper crossbar of the bottom, the spindle rotated due to the torsion of the wheel, the finished thread was wound on a flyer attached to the free end of the spindle - this was the last mechanical spinning wheel.

Electric

Oddly enough, with the advent of electricity, fundamentally, the design has not undergone any changes. Yes, the electric spinning wheel does not at all resemble any of its predecessors. However, it is still the same tool, with the same basic elements. It's just that today, in the age of minimalism, they look a little different.

The main node of the new spinning wheel was the stag. It consists of an axis that replaced the spindle, flyers, pulleys and coils. Understanding how the machine works is easy. An electric pulley drives a spindle axle, at the end of which there is a hook and flyer. In addition, a coil is put on the axis. It also rotates from a pulley, but from another. The whole structure is driven by an electric motor. Only now the diameter of the discs of the coil pulley is smaller, so the same parts that drive the spindle. This allows the spool to spin faster than the flyer and spindle.

What happens to the thread that is tucked into the spinning wheel? Imagine that a bundle of wool fibers has already been twisted. Now let's pass this thread through the hook, then you need to put flyers on the hooks and tie to the coil. Starting to work, the spinning wheel continues to twist the fiber bundle into a thread. As the spool spins faster, it pulls and wraps the thread around itself. The worker simply pulls the fiber evenly.

Choice

Buying a spinning wheel these days is easy. But many want, as before, to make it on their own. This is quite possible, since the design of the spinning wheel is very simple. Not eventhe need to perform turning work. You can get by with plywood of various thicknesses or textolite. This will require a metal tube, two beech or birch bars, nails and screws, and epoxy glue. Also, thick paper is needed. In addition, you need to get an electric motor from a sewing machine or something similar. It is preferable that the motor is commutated. You should prepare two toggle switches and a rheostat that regulates speed. Of course, you can do without the latter, but this will reduce the comfort of the machine.

How a spinning wheel is made (assembly instructions and recommendations for individual units) is not difficult to find out today. Before you start manufacturing, you should carefully study these very instructions, realistically assess your strengths and decide whether it is worth doing this or is it easier to just buy a ready-made spinning wheel. When buying, you can choose both the appearance and technical characteristics that are required specifically for your purposes. Therefore, if you are not sure about the desire to assemble the instrument yourself, it is better not to waste your time.

However, if you have the desire and strength, you should make it yourself, because even after becoming electric, the spinning wheel has not completely lost those extraordinary properties that were awarded to it in antiquity. And even if now few people take this mechanism with them to work, just as no one puts it under the bed of a crying child, nevertheless, things knitted from not only hand-made threads, but also on a hand-made machine, bring their owner not just warmth and pleasure, butand a bit of magic.