# MoGal's Antique spinning wheels



## MTDeb (Feb 20, 2003)

Here's some of Mogal's antique spinning wheel and equipment AND history....









This wheel was missing the entire distaff and the treadle assembly when I got it. I took it to a friend who is a wonderful woodworker/spinning wheel builder and restorer/spinner. He was very careful to reproduce the turnings found in the original parts to the new ones. He also built me 4 new bobbins. The new woods were of different types so the stain didn't take uniformly. The wheel spins very well and is very fast, being set up primarily for linen spinning which is what you see on the bobbins. The drive wheel is slightly warped so it will throw the drive band when you spin to fast. 









Some friends and I were on a fiber quest when we found this wheel in a Jonesboro AR antique shop. It was marked higher than I wanted to pay so the lady who ran the shop and I had to haggle a bit. She couldn't believe I was actually going to spin on it. She was even more dumbfounded when I asked for a box and dismantled the wheel into it for the ride home. It's all oak and the bench is quarter sawn oak. Only the spindle fittings, the drivewheel axle/crank and the pins in the treadle pivot rod are metal. All joins are pegged. Antiquities curators at a museum where I demonstrated and taught spinning to interested docents dated it 1750-1800. Distaff assembly is there but the distaff itself is missing. Spins nicely. Also a fast wheel. 










This cherry wheel was marked "Scottish" in the shop where I found it. According to my references, the small drive wheel and longer wheel supports agree with this. The distaff is itself is missing but it has a removable lazy Kate that fits the distaff arm or the hole in the bench for the distaff. I've spin a lot of wool on this wheel even though it was set up for flax. 


http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?image=germanwheel2ho.jpg
The provenance I have on this wheel says that it was built in Germany shortly after World War I as a survival tool. The builder had access to wool but no way for his wife/daughters to spin the wool yarn they so desperately needed. He was a better woodworker than wheel builder--or maybe I've not held my mouth just right because I've never been able to spin on it. The little wheel in the middle of the bench is an auxiliary tensioning device although the drive wheel will move back and forth. It's some sort of soft wood I don't recognize. 










I bought this squirrel cage swift for sentimental reasons. It was owned by a lady who had been active in the Missouri fiber arts scene for years and I wanted a reminder after her passing. It's probably not over 60 years old. 










Another great wheel with Minor's head. It came from a shop in Clinton MO and spins very well. If you look closely, you will notice that the wheel post is heavier with more turnings than the clean lines, probably Shaker, of the rest of the wheel. The neat thing about this wheel is that both the high end of the bench and the "foot" of the head post are stamped with "S Barr." I've checked my wheel reference books and can't find any other mention of him. 










Poor little headless wheel. I got it at auction because there wasn't much interest in it. The unusual thing about it is the tensioning device is a pivoting section of the head post held by a wooden screw rather than the whole post moving. The spindle and mother is missing but I have a replacement that I got at another auction.


THERE'S MORE BUT I JUST GOT A PHONE CALL SO WILL POST THEM LATER!!
Wonderful wheels Mogal!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

These are beautiful wheels Mogal! 

thanks so much for posting them Deb!!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Deb Thanks for finding them and posting them here.

Mogal has quite the collection. She is definately the goto person for restoring old wheels.


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## Aunt C (Aug 29, 2005)

Um...Deb, more pictures please.

I love MoGals wheels. Her collection makes it easy for me to justify my obsession. :dance: 

I would really like a Great Wheel, but I have no room for one. However I did show DH some pics, he really likes them so I am sure to get one soon. Maybe I could get rid of the dining table, or the couch. :rotfl:


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Aunt C said:


> Maybe I could get rid of the dining table,


Picnics in the house are always fun! :shrug:


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Anything at Cyndi's house is fun!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Yeah?

Then you can come help me clean house today. ARGH! I have farmer's market this morning and 3 couples from church coming for dinner tonight and my house is a MESS!! 

Projects half done, canning jars left out, paperwork, books and more books and laundry!!! not to mention washing the floors!

And I'm cooking a pan of lasagna with homemade garlic rolls

so .... wanna come have fun?? 
:rotfl:


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Pbfft, sounds like the companion place to Petunia's Fortress of Country-tude.

(Petunia is an alter-ego of mine at the writing site I co-edit and the name is what a dear friend who came to visit called our house. He wrote it up in a funny little ditty.)


I don't think I can make it in time to help clean, but I'm pretty sure I can be there just in time for supper!


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Drat! I missed it! Durned ol' employment...

First, throw something yummy all over the floor, then let the dogs in. Presto!! Floors are washed.

Second, who says laundry has to be folded? That's what closed doors are for...hiding baskets of unruly laundry.

Third, laundry baskets aren't just for laundry! Set one on a bench or chair, and simply sweep the layer of stuff off the table into the basket. Utilize the closed door mentioned in #2.

Your projects are pretty, so that just leaves you with the canning jars.

Glad I could help, and I hope y'all are enjoying the fellowship and the lasagna!


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## avians (Aug 12, 2012)

I was recently given a great wheel by a friend. I promised to love her and use her once I got her going again. I am in dire need of a MOA. I need Minor's head, uprights (they're broken) and a spindle which is the entire Mother Of All, am I right? Anyone out there have a head I can purchase or know where I may be able to get one reasonably priced? I have been searching all over the internet and can't seem to find one. Hope the pictures show up
Thank you in advance for your help.
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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

My Philip has told me we can get a great wheel when we have a house instead of an apartment.  In the meantime, I think I'll be fine with my two wheels. (One is antique Norwegian.)


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Why can't I see the pics, I only get a square box with an x in it.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Avians, first thing: your drive wheel should be mounted to the other side, just twist that upright that holds the big wheel 180 degrees so that if you stand to the left of the table you turn the wheel with your right hand. That's how spindles are configured - you can use it the other way but only if you rejig your spindle head from 'standard'. 

Second: a miners' head. Watch eBay and etsy, they show up there periodically. And what you are looking for is a WHOLE miner's head - it will come with the pieces you already have, you don't just buy the wheels themselves and the spindle, not usually, though if you are good with woodworking you could probably make it fit. You may also try posting in the Spindle Wheels group on Rav, people there often have them available for sale or trade. There are reproductions made but they are very expensive.

Lovely wheel, great wheel spinning is awesome!

Oh, you do realize you can spin direct drive, if you just get a spindle and a bat's head, right? You don't have to have the accellerator head. Check out the pictures in Spindle Wheels on Rav, you'll learn lots.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

7thswan ... probably because this is a resurrected thread from 2007! What a blast from the past!!

hmmm, wondering if you could jerry rig up a metal spindle with some tinker toys and make it work until you find a miner's head.

And yes, turn that drive wheel around to the correct side!


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