Spinning Wheels -- The Basics & More

Listing a spinning wheel?  Don't know what you have?  This guide will help you identify what kind of wheel you have and how to determine if it is a true working wheel.  I am primarily focusing on what are considered antique wheels -- those that were made and used before the 1900s.  Addressing how to estimate the age of a wheel will be in a later guide. 

Most wheels fall into one of four categories: great wheels, saxonies, uprights and charkhas.  The first three types are generally associated with American and European wheels and the last type is the one associated with Ghandi and India. 

• First of all, how big is it?  If the wheel is huge, as much or more than 3 feet across, its posts sitting on a long stock (what the legs go in) and has another shorter post at the other end and no treadle, this is a great wheel, also called a wool or walking wheel.  The shorter post at the opposite end of the wheel should have some kind of spinning assembly, sometimes a simple spindle held to the post with either leather straps or woven corn husks or else it will have something called a Minor's Head also attached the same way.  A Minor's Head is an accelerating wheel that was invented to speed up the process of spinning on the great wheel.  The spindle was attached to the Minor's Head instead of the great wheel.  It was patented and manufactured separately from the wheel itself.  Some of them can still be found with an identifying label on them but they should not be used to date the entire wheel since they could be and probably often were added separately.  Great wheels seem to be too large to be produced solely for a decorative effect so whether or not they are genuine I have never known to be an issue.  I don't want to say always or never but it's a good bet that a great wheel is the real deal.  The main thing that plagues great wheels is that they are often missing their spindle and/or Minor's Head.
• A saxony is what most people generally think of when they think of a spinning wheel.  These are also known as flax wheels altho these wheels can and do spin both wool and flax.  In comparison to the great wheel it has a much smaller wheel.  Its spinning assembly is more complicated and it usually has a treadle.  In very rare cases a wheel may have no treadle or a treadle and a handle on the axle of the wheel. This can indicate an older wheel.  But don't confuse a possible handle with a typical curve on the axle for the footman to hook onto, the piece that connects the wheel with the treadle.  If you see a curve on the axle it usually means your wheel is backwards.  And don't jump to conclusions because you are missing the footman and the treadle.  These pieces got so much use that they were usually the first to break so it is not uncommon for them to be broken or missing.  The up side is that they are not hard to make and thus not hard to replace. 

The spinning assembly is a different story.  This is also where you can tell if you have the genuine article.  A true working wheel will have a flyer (a U-shaped piece with hooks or small holes on each arm) with a bobbin in the center.  The bobbin slides on the metal shaft at the open end of the flyer after the whorl on the right side is removed. (Don't remove the whorl if you don't have to.  They screw on backwards and can be delicate and easily broken.)  On the closed end of the flyer where the two arms meet is where the opening or orifice is in the metal shaft.  If you do not have an opening at the end of this metal shaft that runs thru the end of the flyer, you do not have a true working wheel.  In order to spin, your wool or your flax has to twist thru this opening to wind onto the bobbin.  The other way to tell if your wheel can spin is to look at how your flyer is mounted.  If it has a metal rod running thru it but each end is simply run thru the wooden posts (called maidens) holding it up, it can't spin.  It must have an opening in the metal rod in order to be able to spin.  If you do have an opening and it is stuck into the maidens, then it is simply mounted incorrectly.  This is also a relatively easy fix requiring some thick leather pieces to hold the ends of the flyer and cut to fit into the maidens slots.  If you have a flyer with a broken arm or arms, it will have to be replaced if you actually plan to spin. 

Don't be deceived by sellers who claim you can pick one up on ebay, no problem.  All pieces on a spinning wheel were usually made for that wheel alone.  It is possible to find readymade replacements but get exact measurements -- how long is the metal rod, how wide are the arms from each other, will it fit between the maidens or where it needs to go without running into something, like the driveband.  Be very careful about depending on readymade replacements.  It's usually better to track down a spinning wheel repairer.  They do exist!  Check with your local spinning guilds.

Both the great wheel and the saxony operate on a horizontal axis.  When you sit down at a saxony or face your great wheel the wheel is almost always to your right and the spinning assembly to your left.  The drive band will go around the wheel and around a whorl of your spinning assembly running more or less left to right or right to left depending on what you are doing.  The saxony spinning assembly with the orifice end sticking out of the flyer should be to your left.  Your saxony treadle should lie more or less on the floor under your wheel with its back arm connected to your footman at the bottom.  The top of your footman should have some type of a cutout so it can slide over the projecting end of your axle behind your wheel as you are looking at it.

• An upright spinning wheel is usually but not always smaller than a saxony.  It operates the same way a saxony does with a flyer, etc., but its spinning assembly is on top of the wheel so it has a vertical axis.  Its drive band runs up and down.  It also may not be the genuine article in terms of being able to spin.  I have probably seen just as many uprights as saxonies that are "fake" spinning wheels.  Cute but fake.  It's anyone's guess why someone would go to all the trouble of making a beautiful wheel that can't spin but it happens.  BUT, here's the thing.  Some people don't care.  They aren't planning to spin.  They just think it would be nice to have as decoration.  The key is to be able to tell the difference so everyone gets the wheel they want.

Another kind of upright wheel is the castle wheel.  This is when the wheel is above the spinning assembly instead of vice versa.  These are sometimes called Irish wheels because this design is thought to originate there.  These are fairly rare and usually expensive when they turn up.  There is some evidence that this style was being produced in Pennsylvania during the 1800s, I believe, so it's good to keep in mind when they turn up that they are probably homegrown and not imports. 

• Charkha is actually the Indian word for wheel. Charkhas have no legs and their base, or stock, sits flat on the ground.  They often have a handle on the axle to turn the wheel. Older-style wheels are actually two disks with some kind of cording running back and forth between the two discs.  This cording is what supports the drive band.  More modern charkhas, like an Ashford, have the wheel made out of a single solid disk with a groove for the drive band.  The Indian charkhas are fairly small and Indian book charkhas have two sides that fold together like a book with all their parts contained within.  Charkhas operate pretty much the way a great wheel does but without the accelerating head.  Traditionally in India they are used to spin cotton.  Spinning wheels from other countries, such as China and Indonesia, look like the Indian charkhas but are usually larger.  The wheels themselves can be more than 18" across and the stock can be almost three feet from end to end which makes them good-sized but not as big as a great wheel.    Also, without some kind of corroborating information, it can be pretty difficult to date these wheels since there is evidence that these older styles with the cording are still being made.

Small wheels.  Something to keep in mind is that small wheels are probably not primarily children's wheels.  Something I think many people forget is how much smaller people used to be.  If you look at clothing in a history museum, say for the 1800s, you start to realize just how small people, perhaps especially women, actually were.  Think of the number of people nowadays who can wear the clothes from the forties or earlier.  Think of all the weight Renee Zellweger had to lose after playing Bridget Jones so she could wear her vintage clothing.

There is another reason for small wheels.  There are small saxonies as well as uprights that are very fancy and these are known as boudoir (boo DWAHR) wheels.  They are generally smaller than other wheels and often made out of finer wood like mahogany and decorated with bone or ivory finials as well as little wooden bells and other carvings.  They were meant to be used by ladies to show off their spinning skills but they were never meant to produce in great quantities.  By the early 1800s cloth was being manufactured and was generally available to women especially in cities so there was no need except in very isolated areas to focus on basic production of cloth.  I have a small saxony wheel that is decorated with small wooden bells hanging from its sides and I doubt very much whether its mistress ever produced very much with it!

There is another kind of wheel that has been turning up quite a lot lately that I call planter wheels.  These are not real spinning wheels in any sense of the word.  These come in varying sizes but one kind looks like an unusually small stripped-down saxony.  It has a small wheel, no treadle, no spinning assembly -- just a couple of short and shorter posts where the spinning assembly should be and usually a large rectangular hole cut out of the base where the planter insert would go.  They seem to be made in Japan and some of them do have labels that identify them as such.  There are also upright planter wheels but the main thing planter wheels always have is either a cutout or an insert of some kind in the base for plants.  It seems to me that the main purpose they serve is providing people with an alternative to cutting up real spinning wheels to turn them into planters which I think is heartbreaking.  At least one spinning wheel collector I know of got started collecting because she rescued a wheel from that fate.   

One last word about determining if the wheel "works."  First of all, as I noted above, you absolutely must have a complete flyer with bobbin and a wheel.  There is no spinning without either.  Having the spinning assembly is more important than being able to "make the wheel go around."  A treadle and a footman (what connects the treadle to the wheel) are relatively easy to replace if you have to.  So simply being able to treadle a wheel and make it go around is not enough to have a working spinning wheel.

Taking apart a spinning wheel -- spinning wheels were made to come apart! -- within reason of course.  If you are starting to take a wheel apart, take pictures before you start and as you go.  Don't trust your memory.  If there are nails or screws in an antique wheel, this is often an indication of a repair and is best left to a professional or just left alone but spinning wheels were often pegged together and that's the first thing to look for when disassembling a wheel.  Do not glue anything together just because it is loose!!!  You may be gluing together pieces, even by accident, that were meant to come apart. 

The wheel itself, no matter what size, should be solid with the spindles well set in the wheel -- these are not meant to be disassembled in any way.  Pegs often but not always hold the axle of the wheel down in the posts so when removed the wheel can be lifted out of its perch in the posts.  Many times posts have pegs through their bases underneath the stock (the flat base above the legs) that can be (carefully) removed before tapping out  the posts (carefully) from the stock.  Sometimes there are supporting spindles connecting the posts to the legs and in these cases it's best to leave these frames alone unless they are already falling apart. 

The treadle ends, where they fit into the legs, are also often pegged or should be.  If there are small holes in the legs or at the ends of posts or spindles, there is a good chance there are pegs missing. 

The handle at the upper end of the stock on a saxony wheel can be unscrewed and the whole spinning assembly lifted out.  The two upright spindles on the spinning assembly are supposed to hold a flyer (U-shaped with hooks) with a bobbin on it and the nearer spindle is usually looser in order to facilitate removing the bobbin.  That said these can be pegged as well.  It depends on the wheel. 

Basically if there are pegs or holes for pegs, that piece should be removable but common sense should be used when handling the parts of an antique wheel.  Not all pegs can be removed.  Plus pegs should be replaced in their holes as soon as possible to prevent losing them as this is a very common occurrence.

After the Basics

One of the most common questions people, myself included, ask about a wheel is, where is it from?  There are styles of wheels that are associated with certain countries.  No wheel can be said absolutely to come from a specific place unless information has been passed along about a specific wheel's history.  That said you can take a pretty good stab at identifying a wheel's origin by looking for specific characteristics.

Canada -- A Canadian production wheel is a fairly large saxony wheel with a metal piece on the treadle and a metal clamp rocker tensioner holding the entire spinning assembly.  It often has a metal rod for a footman (what connects the wheel axle with the pedal) and the entire wheel is occasionally painted yellow or red.

France -- A small upright wheel with a triangular base and the treadle inside and the spinning assembly off to the lefthand side is likely to be French.  These are often small enough to be considered parlor or boudoir wheels.

Scandinavia -- Two styles are associated with Scandinavia.  The first is of a medium-sized saxony wheel with a level stock (base) that is often carved or decorated in some way as well as having horizontal bracing between the wheel posts and the spinning assembly to the left.  The second is also a medium-sized saxony but with a severely-angled stock so that the spinning assembly looks like it's sticking out in the air by itself.  These wheels are sometimes painted, perhaps when they were passed on to another member of the family.

Finland -- The distinctive characteristic of a Finnish wheel is the double wheel posts with an arched piece connecting the two posts.

Switzerland -- Swiss wheels look delicate.  They are narrow upright medium-sized wheels with perhaps eight or ten spindles, a treadle that runs alongside the frame to the left of the wheel, a flyer that has holes for a peg instead of curved wires, and often carvings on the tops of the posts and the adjustable screw.  I've heard that these wheels came over in great quantities after WWII when antique dealers went to Europe to see what they could buy.  I would imagine this could be true for many things, as well as other spinning wheels.

Ireland/Germany -- This is the wheel known as "The Irish Castle Wheel".  This is the one that has a base with three legs, the spinning wheel on top and the spinning assembly below it inside the frame.  This is the only spinning wheel which has the wheel itself on top.  Why Germany?  Well, it turns out that there is evidence these wheels were made in Pennsylvania Dutch country as well as in Irish settlements in America.  So if you see one, don't assume it came from Ireland.  It could very well have been made here and called a German wheel by its maker.  It should probably simply be called a castle wheel.  Germany and Ireland both have enough castles for that to be appropriate.

Turkey -- This wheel looks a bit like a charkha wheel because it is so low to the ground but it does have three short legs.  There is no treadle but there is a large curved handcrank since you sit on the ground in front of it to spin with it.  It has a spindle with a bobbin like a saxony but it also has two wheels, each on its own post.  These operate together the way an accelerating head on a great wheel does.  The wheels often have small holes, the size of a pencil eraser, in a pattern on the wheels as well as carved free-floating wooden rings on various posts.  Often there is a solid elongated bell-shaped distaff as well.

USA & Canada -- There are a couple of styles that are ours.  By default most of the great wheels in this country are ours, altho the style itself is not.  They were just too big for most immigrants to bring with them so they made their own when they got here.  There are great wheels that are simple spindle wheels, others that have accelarating heads.  Some wheels have grooves in the wheels themselves, others have none.  There are various ways invented to adjust the tension of the driveband; some have no such ability.  Most were made for adults but occasionally smaller ones turn up that may have been made for a child or possibly a shorter adult.

Then there is the pendulum wheel which was also a spindle wheel and could be used while sitting down.  The down side for this is that you need a lot of room because they are at least as big as a great wheel.  There are other spindle wheels that were patented during the mid-1800s that were used during the Civil War and after but none, to my knowledge, ever became universally popular.

Hand in hand with the spindle wheels invented during the mid-1800s were the "Connecticut Chair Wheels" supposedly first made in Connecticut by a chair maker at about the same time.  They have double treadles and two wheels almost the same size in which one acts as an accelerating wheel all inside a frame that looks like a chair.

In conclusion I'd like to mention something a spinning wheel restorer said to me in passing, that he thought "more wheels traveled by antique dealer than by covered wagon."  I mention this only because it is so rare to have written family information about a given wheel that can be passed on.  It's like having a photograph of your family from the 1800s with no identification and no one still around who can tell you anything.  So I would encourage anyone who is selling a wheel to pass on whatever information you know and whoever is buying to ask.  Otherwise all we have is guesswork.

[To Be Continued]