Building Your Own PVC Wheel- Image Heavy

[Rodelphia]

Hello to all! Recently I built my own spinning wheel out of PVC, and as of right now its the coolest thing I've ever built. I used the instructions found on www.pjsadventures.c om/DragonsKeep/personal/PVCWheel.html and when I took mine apart today to glue it together I decided to take pictures to show you how its done! Its really not hard at all, and if you don't already have one laying around, the bicycle rim will be the most expensive part of making this. I don't want to completely steal the tutorial that I used, so I'm going to direct you there for measurements and things.

Get all your pipe cut up, and make sure you mark them well. 5" and 6" pieces look very similar when they don't say what they are. Found that one out already.



I tried to make sure all the numbers pointed up so you could read them. The picture on the original site was not that good when it comes to assembling the base. The string is tied around the one end because it wouldn't stay together when I was gluing it.

This is where I am going to add extra supports to my wheel. The PVC gets a little wobbly due to the height of it, but it still works this way.

If you end up with a plastic wheel to go on the knitting needle like I did, you may want to rough it up a little bit so the string that goes around it will catch better. I just took a steak knife to mine and it works better now. lol. If the knitting needle that was suggested doesn't spin very well in the holes you have cut, try a smaller needle. The one I'm using is a size 9. I HIGHLY SUGGEST not gluing this project until you've put all your pieces together once. That way you'll know if everything fits right before you can't undo it. Anyway, these are just things that I thought might help you guys if you were interested in building your own PVC Spinning Wheel. It works like a walking wheel, and there are some good videos one YouTube of people using them so you can get the hang of how it works. So, don't cut yourself, remember plastic epoxy is very sticky, and have fun with your new wheel!
Here are a couple small skeins that I spun up yesterday (so you know that it works)

[craftylittlemonkey]

Oh my gosh, that's AWESOME! Thank you so much!

[lovesclutter]

How freakin cool is that?!?! I don't spin, but this rocks. So hitting the button.


ETA sticky o key and spacebar. LOL

[Belladune]

how awesome! I love that you posted your progress pics.

[ADDCrafting]

I've seen that tutorial. So cool! I love the pictures! I wonder how difficult it would be to add a basic manual pedal to it....

[ScrappySue]

amazing!
thanks for sharing
S

[Rodelphia]

I've seen that tutorial. So cool! I love the pictures! I wonder how difficult it would be to add a basic manual pedal to it....

i've been trying to figure that out too. can't be too hard.

[sheeshakaye]

Time to get the redneck engineer involved! "Brother, can you help me? "   *puppy eyes are optional

[ADDCrafting]

I've seen that tutorial. So cool! I love the pictures! I wonder how difficult it would be to add a basic manual pedal to it....

i've been trying to figure that out too. can't be too hard.

Now that I think about it, I think the easiest way to add a pedal might involve changing the way the wheel is attached...
All the bicycle wheel spinning wheels I've seen with pedals look kinda like this:
http://img3.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.295432059.jpg (This one's from Heavenly Handspinning.)
Hmmm.... :/

[LaughingLark]

Thanks for posting about this. I'm thinking that a wheel like this would also be awesome for making art yarns with texture and baubles, without having to buy a special wheel with a bulky flyer. No orifice to worry about the yarn getting caught in. It looks fun to make, too.