Full Chisel Blog

August 31, 2010

Curly Maple Spinning Wheel 5

Filed under: Carving, Drilling, Finishing, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Restoration, Scrapers, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized, Wood — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:05 pm

I thought that this would be my last post, however when I put the wheel together today I noticed it was missing a pitman.  Well it will not work with out one so I turned one up.  I measured from the treadle up to the crank at bottom dead center and subtracted an inch to keep the treadle off the floor. 

After it is turned, I got it wet with water to raise the grain and allowed it to dry before scraping off the raised grain and burnishing the surface on the lathe with shavings.

Using a wide chisel I made the upper part flat on both sides, so it would fit on the iron crank.  I drilled the holes from both sides, a large 1/2″ hole for the button on the end of the crank and a smaller one for the shaft of the crank 3/8″.  I need to drill one more hole on the other end for the leather strap that connects the bottom of the pitman to the foot treadle.

Still need to finish the hooks on the flyer, but did get the whorl working, had to re-line the inside of the pulley with some very thin leather glued on with fish glue.  The shaft of the mandrel was not threaded but friction fit, interesting, so the leather was necessary to make the pulley hold tight.

I have an old pioneer wool walking wheel in the queue and have already made one part but trying to decide the tension mechanism.

Stephen

August 13, 2010

Curly Maple Spinning Wheel 4

Filed under: Carving, Clamping, Drilling, Finishing, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Restoration, Sawing, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 8:00 pm

The broken leg also had some damage and missing wood on the foot, so I made a couple of cuts to square off the damage and used the remaining part I cut off the top repair tenon to replace the missing wood.  Because it was too difficult to clamp, I relied on the fact that hide glue shrinks as it dries.

Having good mating surfaces between the old and the new was essential, I toothed the surface to help with adhesion and let the hide glue do the rest.

I also worried out the leg that was stuck in the base.  This is a traveling wheel, so it is made to take apart and move.  I introduced alcohol by pouring it onto the spatula then touching it to the joint.  This was in case it has some remnants of hide glue remaining, but it was just a tight fit, but the alcohol did help in the successful removal of the leg.

I also decided to add one small peg/dowel to help strengthen the splice to the top of the leg that makes the new tenon.  I drilled it in through the old wood and into the new.  This will help with the shear force on the joint.

I still have to finish the whorl, but almost done.

Stephen

August 9, 2010

Curly Maple Spinning Wheel 3

Filed under: Clamping, Drilling, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Sawing, Scrapers, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 5:55 pm

On the last leg of the project.  I cut off the repair dowel and accompanying plastic wood resin stuff, flush to the bottom of the base of the spinning wheel

I then had to go after what was plugging the socket/mortise with a couple of different size twist auger bits and a gouge.

I then needed to fit the replacement tenon into this hole.  I used a rasp, float and card scraper to make the new replacement part.  I then took the broken leg and squared off the bread to splice the new part in place.  I then traced the outline of the splice to the new part and cut them out using a cross cut saw for cross cuts and a rip saw for the rip.

I used a rasp to shape the new part to fit the old and to provide a tooth for gluing with liquid hide glue.  Once it was fit I saturated the old leg first to allow the glue to flow down into the worm holes, providing an excellent key.

I clamped the piece along its length and served some hemp cord around the pieces to provide uniform clamping pressure.  I also used a wire clamp to add additional pressure.  The scarf joint should be strong enough, but I will probably put in a couple of pegs.

Next the whorl.

Stephen

August 2, 2010

Curly Maple Spinning Wheel

Filed under: Carving, Finishing, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Mortice & Tenon, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 1:27 pm

Here are some more pictures of the restoration process for this early Curly Maple Spinning Wheel.

The above picture shows the distaff without the broken and repaired rib with end tenons.

I had to ’spring in’ the repaired rib, after using liquid hide glue to coat the tenons and round mortise.

The treadle was in good condition, but all but one of the pegs were missing.  They were made of maple which I thought was unusual, with the hickory used on other parts.

The above peg is the only original that survived.  I think the piece was made from unseasoned wood and the square pegs were pounded into round holes.

This is a peg fragment and shows the joint between the turned axle and the flat foot rest.  I cleaned off the joints and glued them back together as they had been originally.

The base or shoe of the mother-of-all was split, made of birch, I used birch to fill in the gap.  The split was fairly straight, I did use a chisel and fine rasp to smooth out the crack and glued in two pieces of end-grain birch to replace that which was missing.

I worked off the excess with a flat chisel and small scraper, then colored with pigmented shellac.  Needs a little more black pigment daubed on to complete the effect.

One spoke in the wheel was missing and the one at the bottom is broken and will require a new tenon on the left end.

I applied a coat of linseed oil/turpentine with a bit of yellow ocher to get the right color base coat.  I allowed this to dry for several days before proceeding.

The burnt umber in shellac just didn’t look right, too red, so I stripped it off by saturating a paper towel with alcohol and wrapped it around the spoke, letting it sit for a few minutes then wiped it off.

I also discovered that the tenon on the end needed to be longer, the spoke shorter, so I turned it to the right length before continuing.

With some yellow ocher and black iron oxide mixed with the burnt umber got the color closer.  Tomorrow I will give it a glaze to bring it to the right tone.

Stephen

July 12, 2010

Tiny tenons on a Distaff

Filed under: Drilling, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 1:03 pm

A spinning wheel came into the shop today, made mostly of curly maple with an oak base.  One spoke is missing, no pitman, the flyer needs repair and wire hooks, the whorl needs to be fit to the mandrel and one leg needs some attention.  I need to repair the treadle replacing the missing or broken square pegs.  I will also treat the wood with thinned linseed oil, the wood is suffering from worm damage, the probable reason the leg failed, as did the ‘repair’ made of plastic wood.

The Distaff (the part that holds the fiber being spun) is usually missing on old wheels, this one is a fancy three piece distaff, made of maple, but the bent parts are hickory and probably bent green.  One was broken off on both ends and required me to make the smallest tenons I have ever made.

The replacement tenons are made of some split hickory, the split I used is in the foreground and the tenon on the left is ready for glue.  I hand whittled them and drilled the holes for the tenon with a small pin vise with a twist drill bit.

As you can see by the one inch square on the gnomon that it is quite small.

The new tenons are fit and I used liquid hide glue to secure the smaller tenons into the small holes I drilled in the original piece.  Fortunately hide glue shrinks as it dries as there was no real good way to clamp these.

Stephen

March 18, 2010

Early American Spinning Wheel

Filed under: Finishing, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 9:03 am

 

I am not sure the exact number but I would imagine I have repaired nearly a hundred spinning wheels, not to mention clock reels, kniddy-knoddies, bobbins, whorls and fliers, &c. And I really enjoy the challenge because all of these needed to be restored to usable condition. Although several are just sitting looking pretty in someones home, most of them are made to use.

I feel the same way about old tools they were made to be used and if no abused can last for several lifetimes. This particular wheel probably dates from the early 1800’s and was very well made. It has been used and in later life suffered a bit, but I am putting it in good order.

There are several ways to repair a flyer, the U shaped part that plies the yarn to the bobbin. I have repaired fractures with pegs and also with wire, I contemplated doing that to this one, but because the fracture was near the mandrel, I decided against pegs and the wire repair just didn’t seem right in this instance. So I decided to do something completely different.

I have shown pictures of the repairs in progress to the whorl and bobbin, here they are completed. The whorl fracture has been glued back together after some work to the joint. The metal mandrel had caused the wood to swell and it the maple break. I had to carve away some wood in order to get the break back together again, then glued with hide glue and allowed to sit overnight.

This repair I deemed causing the least amount of damage to the original and is easily reversed, unlike some other repairs I have ran into in my career. I cut two small pieces of very thick maple veneer and prepared the surface for gluing by gently scraping off the finish just where the external splines will be glued with hide glue.

Hide glue doesn’t stick to old finishes, which can come in handy for most repairs, but because this is a finished area I removed and roughened the old wood underneath to accept the glue. I glued the maple splines with the grain going across the repaired crack in the flyer.

I noticed that I still need to repair a strut on the upright and I completely forgot I have to make a pitman to replace the metal rod replacement. Hope to get that done today.

I would like to thank Michael D. for saving the text of the original post, to which I have added these photographs and have finished the wheel.

Stephen

January 14, 2010

Repair(s)

Filed under: Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 8:50 am

Spent some time in the shop yesterday and got work done on a few projects.  The first is the next spinning wheel (Ft. Ticonderoga) was to clean up the ‘repaired’ fracture on the whorl.  I spent about an hour cleaning off the modern glue (have I mentioned that I don’t like modern glues?) and have yet to decide on how best to repair this one.

And as with most spinning wheel repairs, the pulley and bobbin both require ‘Dutchmen’ repairs of end grain white birch.  I have repaired dozens and dozens of these fragile items.

The replacement pieces are held in by dovetails, cut with a fine blade brass backed Gent’s saw and secured with liquid hide glue.  It was cold in the shop so I had to warm the glue in a hot water bath.

I will shape them with a sharp flat chisel then they will require staining them to match the original.

I also took the time to cut the splines for the bamboo side chair that is having its caned seat replaced.  I may have to trim them once the seat is installed.  I will have to soak the factory woven cane in water and glycerin in order to soften it an allow it to be installed.  The hardest part of this job was removing the old glue, not old enough it was modern white glue.  Have I mentioned that I do not like modern glue?

I did some more work on the mahogany side chairs that I am restoring.  The joints were all loose and some of the dowels were broken and there were over a dozen nail repairs that did noting but damage the chair.

Here is one method of removing any loose broken off ends of dowels.  I used a scratch awl to make a hole then screwed in a pointed screw and extracted the loose stub of a dowel.

Some broken off dowels that were not loose required that I bore them out.  I use a smaller diameter drill bit and drill down the center of the dowel, then break off the excess.  I will run a proper size bit down the hole once it is mostly clean to prepare it for re-gluing.  These chairs were originally glued with hide glue, so the repairs are easier, but there are some repairs with modern glue, did I mention…

Here are all the parts ready to be assembled in a dry fit to make sure all of the replacement dowels are the right fit before I glue it together.

This also gets the necessary clamps together and set at the proper position for ease of assembly when the glue goes on.

I took the opportunity to repair a bamboo cane I found in the trash.  As it were a 3/8″ diameter dowel fit exactly down the hollow center of the bamboo.  As you can see by the handle, heat was used to bend the handle.  This is a cheap cane but a repair challenge I can’t pass up. 

I used thread served around the bamboo to hold it in place.  I used fish glue to repair the bamboo.  I will need to put a coat of shellac or two on the cane and it will be ready to use.  Another day in the shop.

Stephen

December 14, 2009

Spinning Wheel – finished

Filed under: Historical Material, Of Interest, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:48 pm

Spent a couple of hours this morning cleaning the mandrel and bobbin, making a small leather washer for the flyer and added leather hinges to the treadle and attached the pitman.  I had to make a couple of chestnut pegs to hold the wheel in the uprights and a length of hemp cord around the wheel twice, once around the bobbin and once around the flyer pulley with a proper knot and it spins just fine.

I then spent a couple of hours and made up some copal oil varnish, it will need to age properly and I will post about it on the morrow.

Stephen

December 7, 2009

Spinning Wheel Flyer

Filed under: Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 1:48 pm

Well I finally finished the repair on the flyer of the spinning wheel I have been restoring.  It is the final repair work that needs to be done and it is time to put it all together.

Three hooks were missing and I replaced them with appropriate size piano wire from my endless supply.  The wire is hard yet it can be bent into a proper shape with some effort but it stays in whatever shape it is bent.  I also used Fish Glue to repair the crack on one arm of the flyer and added glue to the other side to set any loose wire hooks.

After the glue had dried, I clean off a couple of drips and then served the arms with hemp cord.  This will not only help hold everything together but smooths out the surfaces, the bottom of the hooks protrude on the other side and could snag the fibers as they are being worked.  I then scorched any loose fibers on the hemp cord to smooth it prior to varnish.

I then put on a coat of thin varnish, only one arm, the dark upper one has varnish in order to show the contrast.  I then varnished the other side and it is drying.  Hopefully I can get the wheel together and get it delivered this week.  It was a fun project and I have another one in the queue, but I will have to get to that one after I get some other repair work completed.

Stephen

December 3, 2009

Repairs, spinning wheel and arm chair

Filed under: Carving, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 10:54 am

When it came time to make a repair in the treadle of the current spinning wheel I am working on, I was surprised that the wood was Red Oak, I had expected it to be White Oak.  So I used a piece of red oak to do the repair.  I smoothed both sides of the existing wood to get a good glue surface, then shaped the new piece to match.  I warmed up the liquid hide glue in some hot water, the shop is cold, put glue on both surfaces, pushed the new piece in place and allowed it to sit overnight.

I then used sharp chisels to shape the new wood to match the old without damaging any of the original surfaces.  A bit of pigmented shellac and it will match the original color.  The red oak was split out of green wood and did have some internal cracking that followed the grain.  I glued and clamped them, just to strengthen things up.

This is the piece after I washed it down with water and shaped the missing piece of wood.  I cut some new leather to replace the leather hinges that goes through the holes on the treadle.  This wheel is nearly done, still that flyer.

I also started to repair one of 6 chairs, this the only arm chair and it had wood missing at where it is secured with a screw into the back upright.  It is not genuine mahogany and I had to search around to find some African mahogany to match.  I smoothed up the broken wood on the arm and made two surfaces flat to accept the new wood.  I try and replace as little as possible to maintain the integrity of the original.  These chairs were made in the late nineteenth century, are all loose and this is the only visible wood repair the rest is replacing broken dowels and re-gluing.

Stephen

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