The folks that sell my drop spindles asked me to build them a ball winder, after doing some research I've decided I can do it. I'm basing the design on this website I'll be hand cutting the gears for this one, which is something I've not done before with much success. Right now I'm looking for advice on what works for you folks.

Spruce Pine, NC is having their annual "Fire on the Mountain" festival at the end of April!
You can read about it here.

In addition to a great many hot people doing awesome things there will also be a pretty good showing from other crafty people and some folks from Penland School of Arts and Crafts will be there, after all they did organize it.

As you can likely guess, I will also be there and will be quite happy to meet any other crafty folk who care to turn up. If you are somewhere within 20 min of Boone, NC and wanna go let me know and we can carpool, I know the way there and I'm planning on going anyhow so if you wanna go.....

If you have any questions on the festival you can either ask me or email the fine folks over at Penland for more information.

I had the idea when looking at some of the sign-ups for ATC swaps, but as I'm not eligible yet I can't do any trades at this point.
So I did the following as a test run.

ATC


And the inchies!

Good afternoon everyone!

I've got an idea, I'm pretty sure I can make it work, but I'm going to ask for some feedback first if anyone has done something like this before.
Firstly I'm planning on using this instructable for doing the etchant, and likely wax as a resist.
Also this guy's tutorial is absolutely awesome and involves electricity.
So, any points, notes, ideas, etc?

Seems I should have said hello here first, but nooooo I just had to jump right in.
Quick details about me:
I'm a biologist in training (soon to be out of training)
Hobbies include:
Jewelry, Carpentry, Blacksmithing, Book-Binding, Sewing, Crocheting, Gardening, Cooking, bit of Masonry here and there, theatrical props, metal casting, and anything else that happens to catch my eye.

You may have noticed that I've kinda been wandering about here for a bit afore posting a hello here, I didn't notice this board till now and feel I should retroactively say howdy.

https://picasaweb.google.com/101877028092111877283/DropSpindles

As threatened I decided to start building some more drop spindles, not done yet but I figure I'll share where I'm at and what I've gotten done thus far.

First off wood, I've got bits and pieces from other projects, if they are big enough they go in the bag.


Couple different types of wood in there, black walnut, zebra, purple heart, orange wood (not from an orange tree), oak, and cherry. Might be maple as well in there somewhere.

Next lay out the pieces that I'm planning on gluing up, type of glue is kinda important.


I use a couple pieces of 1/4" steel plate to compress everything after gluing things together.


I cut a couple pieces of black walnut to use for the central spindles.


45 min later everything is set enough to take the clamps off and start doing things.

Do some geometry and figure out how to cut what you want, then lay it out, sand anything out of kilter angle wise.

Glue and clamp

Not 100% sure this is where they belong, but I'm gonna share anyway.
I made these today, quite pleased, now I just need some fiber to spin.

*edit: photos removed, seem to have deleted them by mistake*

I'm working on building a spinning wheel too, but these were easier and a hell of a lot more fun for a short term day project.
If you're wondering the woods are mostly South American hardwoods, the center spindle is red oak, I might do more of these, just gotta figure out what to do with them when I'm done making them.

*Edit: April 13, 2012
If you've not noticed by now I'm still making these, here is the current batch I've dropped off at my local retailer.

I make these in my spare time, people seem to think they are awesome.


This is the most recent one I finished, if anyone would like I can post a link to some of the others I've completed.

Well, I've ended up with two pairs of overalls that have a horribly huge waist in comparison to what I actually wear. Currently the waist on both pairs are about 40 inches, my waist is at 32 inches at most. So I want to tuck, dart, and re-engineer these into something that actually is comfortable to wear.

Right now I'm looking for any advise on where I should start or any ideas or suggestions for this project.

Hi there, as you probably guessed I'm not spinning anything, but I'm building a spinning wheel from plans on http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-projects/spinning-wheel-plan.html

It should look something like this when I'm done.
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/sites/default/files/free-plans-category/spinning_wheel.jpg

That's the general idea, but I don't do any spinning and I'm not planning on taking it up, so here's the question, what should I be looking out for in terms of things you don't like about spinning wheels? Any suggestions, points to watch for, things you always wished to have on a spinning wheel, etc, etc, etc. All comments input and feedback are welcome, as a bonus I'll try to remember to post pictures of my progress on this project, currently all I've done is get the lumber cut and in shape (all white oak and maple that I've salvaged from various places).