Time for a spinning wheel roundup. I get a lot of questions about various wheels, rightly so I suspect, as I’ve owned quite a number of them. This post was born from a recent discussion with Manise. So here goes, all the wheels I’ve have/had. I’m trying to keep the herd stable so a lot of wheels go simply because a new one came in and one had to git.
1. Lendrum Upright – first wheel. Still have it. It is a great all purpose wheel. It was able to do everything I ever asked it to do. I have loads of bobbins and even a woolee winder (big surprise – this too is pretty common in my herd) for it. I don’t use it very often, especially since the ankle injury as it is a double treadle that puts a bit too much strain on the bum right foot. It now lives in Kat’s room and she has declared it hers. Updated – this is now SOLD too. I had to sell something when the Van Eaton was purchased. I wasn’t able to use this wheel thanks to the bad ankle, but still felt sad at its sale.
2. Lendrum Saxony – second wheel. Opted for both the Scotch and Double drive, used it primarily in DD. Sold it last year after MDSW and the Vermont wheel entered. It is a beautiful wheel that I produced some very very fine cobweb on it. Spun effortlessly. One complaint, and I mentioned it in previous posts, is the construction of the treadle support that caused it to flex when treadling and generated an annoying squeak.
3. Majacraft Rose – third wheel. Also a nice all purpose wheel, though a touch prettier than Suzie. The wheel is a bit heavier than I would like in a portable and the wood on the treadles was a tad too soft and would ding if something fell on them. Folding it up as designed would result in dings on the treadle. I took to wrapping the flyer in a towel before swiveling. I sold this one to Chris to support the purchase of my Womack Butterfly spinner as I was newly pregnant with twins and fully expected some kind of bed rest. Little did I expect that the bed rest would be in the hospital.
4. Womack Butterfly Spinner. Saw it the first time at MDSW. Perfect for the above mentioned expected bed rest. I liked it better than Chris’ Roberta electric that I tried during our trip to MDSW. The Womack is Scotch (flyer lead)tension while the Roberta is Irish (bobbin lead). Up until that point, all my previous spinning experiences had been with Scotch or Double. The Irish wasn’t comfy for me. The Womack is cool. I picked up a Woolee Winder for it. With the addition of a foot switch, this would be perfect. The wood base is absolutely gorgeous. Price on it has jumped considerably since I bought it too. Mr. Womack joked with me this weekend that he’d give me a full refund on mine 
Nice man, remembers me from year to year at the festival.
–its here that I loose what order they came and went.
5. Ashford Traditional – Had for a short time. Never really liked. Can’t exactly remember why. Does have lots of doo-dads that you can buy for it. I think her small footprint and the single treadle gave some fits as she was my first single. Ironic considering I started swapping the DT’s for ST’s not too long ago.
6. Kromski Mazurka – sold. Another ST/DD option wheel. Little thing. Never really bonded with her. Fell prey to the same problem that the Traddy did, single treadle. This wheel only allowed me to sit in one particular way to treadle and if I was out of place, the wheel would tip. Footprint I felt was a little too small and made it a bit unstable.
7. Jensen Tina II – still own. Lovely little wheel. Excellent spinner. Another ST/DD optional wheel. Another WW and bobbins. Has all sorts of extra whorls for a wide variety of speeds. Sweet thing that I should really use more often and completely forget about it. It currently lives in the entry foyer. If memory serves, the last time I used her was Mother’s Day last year when I remembered how very sweet she is. Tough to get one of these babies used. This is one of a few wheels that I didn’t buy new.
Update: 7/2011 – I still own this wheel. It unfortunately does not get the usage that some of the others do, but as she sits in the entry foyer, everyone sees her. When I do pull her out to use her, I’m reminded of how very nice a wheel she is. I’ve since sold the WW and bobbins and primarily use it with the higher speed whorls and fast bobbins.
8. Journey Wheel- sold to Deb. Another ST/DD optional wheel. Sadly, no available WW Single Treadle. First one that didn’t make me nuts. A gorgeous design and beautiful handiwork. The wood case though does operate as a bit of a soundboard reflecting the song of that wheel back at the spinner. Interesting. Definitely need to buy a fabric cover/bag for it as the wood can be damaged easily.
Updated: I’ve since replaced this with another Journey Wheel. It wasn’t long after selling mine to Deb that I wanted it back. Took a while, but I managed to put my hands on another one. It is of older vintage then my original but that just means that the Cherry wood is just that much more beautiful.
9. Hitchhiker – sold to Dorre – Bought one from the initial batch if I remember correctly back at the first MASW where they were sold. Even had a lefty one. Cute. Plus is that they use ashford bobbins. When the multiple ratio option was added, made the wheel a bit more versatile. Excellent for portability, couldn’t spin on it for long periods.
10. Majacraft Suzie Pro – sold. Nice wheel. Have WW for it. No difference really between this and the Rose. Originally bought it because of the plastic bobbins and the grease spinning I was doing at the time. It lives in the den right now and hasn’t been used in a while. Both Mom and Alex consider it their wheel. Sold this wheel as I don’t use it. While it is an excellent all around wheel, I have a couple all around wheels and really needed a wheel that was small and folded pretty darn flat (so that I can take it on the boat and tuck it in the forward cabin closet and dad wouldn’t object). I’ve replaced it with an Ashford Joy.
11. Fricke E-Spinner – still own. Woolee Winder. Foot switch. Box. A very decent espinner. Uses Majacraft bobbins, though a modified version of the flyer as it doesn’t turn on, but has a thumb screw. I use it primarily for plying. Between the foot pedal and the WW, it is ideal for that. Not quite as pretty as the Womack (which is currently in storage), but with the case, it isn’t bad 
– Updated – this is now SOLD – I honestly didn’t need both the Fricke and the Womack. The Womack was prettier and finally came out of storage so it won. I did keep the pedal though
12. Vermont Wheel – LOVE. I heart this wheel. It is FAST. SMOOTH. SUPERB. It is a single treadle that I can use either foot with. Can spend many hours on this baby. Not a single complaint for this one. One of my two desert island wheels. She’s a production wheel so she gets the big spinning jobs, ie 3 lbs of black corrie, as well as perfection for fine spinning. I have a number of lace projects earmarked for her.
13. Schacht Matchless – LOVE. Single treadle. ST/DD. This is my utility player of a wheel. A little too heavy to make a fabo portable wheel (ie the purchase of the trundle kit). Many whorl options. WW and bobbins. This is my other desert island wheel.
14. Majacraft Little Gem II- sold – Super portable. Did not agree with the bum ankle. I did like this one. A smaller footprint than the Suzie or Rose and different to work with. While Suzie doesn’t bother the ankle, Gem does.
15. Louet Victoria – sold – Never bonded with her. Another very portable wheel. Got an early one. Had trouble with the scotch tension knob actually staying put. The plastic cup that connects the treadles to the wheel made me nervous that it would snap. Having said that, I got her during the height of the construction period at the house and she stayed in the box for most of the time. I think I used her once.
16. Danish Flax Wheel – own/walkabout – Small Danish repro wheel that I bought on ebay during a flax phase Very tiny. Has been touring about on extended test drives, not entirely sure where she is at the moment. Will have a home at some point. Also a single treadle that gave me some fits and being a flax wheel, the ratio is very low. This lace spinner didn’t enjoy that very much
17. Schacht Ladybug – LOVES. Though we’ll see how much loves there is when I take her out as the portable wheel I suspect she’ll do fine as long as I don’t have to schlep her very very far, like say from the Main Barn to the car at Maryland. As I haven’t flown since 1997, I don’t think her lack of foldability is going to cause a problem. – Updated – this wheel is now SOLD. While I did love her and have absolutely no complaint about how she spun, she didn’t meet the true portability need. I need something that can tuck in the closet in the front cabin on the boat. Not folding is a problem there. Now I hear Schacht is working on a folding wheel…
18. Ashford Joy – bought, haven’t gotten yet, will hopefully have soon. As noted above in the Majacraft Suzie Pro entry, I needed something small to take on the boat or where I need to carry a wheel a distance. Ladybug is an awesome little wheel, but I can’t carry her very far, though farther than I can carry the Matchless. Look for an update here when I’ve had a chance to play and tote. – Updated – This wheel is now sold. I like it. It was okay. I’m just not a huge Ashford fan.
19. Reeves 24″ Saxony – I bought this oak beauty from Chris (who bought my Rose). I heart this wheel too. She’s gorgeous, fast and just an excellent spinner. I added a few newly made bobbins and use her for lace spinning. I know I didn’t need another saxony, what with the Vermont Wheel hanging about, but I couldn’t pass up a chance at an original Reeves at a friend price
20. Van Eaton 24″ Production Wheel – in Black Walnut and 7 bobbins in various exotic woods. I LOVE this wheel. Heavy. Solid. Superb spinner. Both double and scotch tension like a bunch of other wheels that i have. I find it spins better in ST mode and that works for me. Updated: 7/2011 – this is the only wheel I can spin relatively heavy weight singles on. I use this one when I’m spinning for a worsted weight end product. Not seeing a great deal of usage at present, but won’t part with her.
21. Louet Victoria – No, you’re not seeing double. I did buy a new one. This time a beech one and with the problem of the tension knob that I noted on the earlier model addressed. With the screw holding the knob in from the other side, that popping problem is gone. I did find after a weekend of play with it, that the ring on the flyer arm slides a little to freely resulting in singles that pile up on the closer end of the bobbin. I solved this little problem by picking up a woolee winder at MDSW’09. We’ll see how she does on the boat this summer. I bought this to replace the Joy.
Updated: 7/11 – This was sold last year after I got another Gem (which itself was sold in May 11 to prepare for the arrival of the Sidekick) to use as the portable wheel. It worked on the boat, being small and lightweight. I just didn’t really like spinning on her for any length of time and would take another wheel if the spinning time was more than an hour or so.
22. Reeves 19″ Frame Wheel – LOVE – bought this from Carolina Homespun at MDSW’09 after sitting down to try it. Other than the creaking of the leather in the treadle, she’s almost perfectly silent. Wonderful spinning experience. Sadly, only came with one bobbin, but the flyer from the Saxony is the same size so they can be interchangeable. I have 5 bobbins now for that wheel so I can wait a bit to order a couple more.
Updated: This too was sold. I just never bonded with it. It squeaked. Was heavy. And I just didn’t really need two Reeves wheels.
23. CPW – marked Borduas 30″ Canadian Production Wheel – Purchased from Merlin Tree at MDSW in 2010. Lovely fast wheel. Sadly only one bobbin, means that the electric bobbin winder and cardboard storage bobbins gets a lot of usage. I haven’t used it much in the last year. The dry air in the house means that the joints are a tad wobbly. Could use a bit of humidity in my house, but that’s another story. I’m tempted to move her along, but can’t pull that trigger quite yet. (actually went through 2 other CPW’s before getting to this one. first was a franken-wheel from the midwest that I just up and gave to Dave Paul to get it off my hands, the other was a 24″ that was sold to Sharon)
24. Schacht Sidekick – Added 7/11 – Hopefully this will be the portable wheel that I’ve been questing for. She folds down pretty small (a tad heavier than the Victoria / Gem) but a very solid feel when spinning. From my memories of the Ladybug, I find that the spinning is the same.
I think that’s it, and no I’m not including the charkhas (had an Indian – sold, have a Bosworth book sized). I’m sure someone who has been paying attention for a while around here can remind me of something I’ve missed
Spin On!
[Edited 2008.5.21 to indicate the Gem has now been sold]
[Edited 2008.10.09 to indicate the Suzie Pro has now been sold and an Ashford Joy purchsed.]
[Edited 2009.05.04 to indicate purchase of the Reeves Saxony, Van Eaton, Reeves Frame, Louet Victoria. Also indicated sale of Ashford Joy, Lendrum upright, Schacht Ladybug.]
[Edited 2011.07.18 to update reviews / sales / purchases]
