Spindles | Hatchtown Farm

Hatchtown Spindle Shop Re-Opens

By Jim, on June 6th, 2016

The Hatchtown Woodshop Shop is back online. Don’t forget to let us know if you want the whorl of your spindle to have a notch.

To Notch, or Not To Notch? — there’s no charge for notches. Include a note with your order or send us an email: Notches@Hatchtown.com

Woodshop Shop Closed For Re-Stocking

By Jim, on June 9th, 2014

I’ve just “closed” the online shop for “maintenance.” There’s lots to do: I’m finally going to remove all the “SOLD” items that have been showing on the Shop pages since the deepest,darkest winter AND upload a bunch of photos of new and yes, available to buy, spindles. Nøstepindes and Orfooks.

The ewes are finally out of the paddock and eating grass as God intended.
It’s nice to have them on their own and not depending on us to carry bales of hay out to them every morning.

This past winter I began using the “Beall Wood Buffing System.” It is a three-step process in which each spindle is buffed against three separate cloth wheels:

Tripol (a fine Red Rouge??) abrasive
White Diamond
Beeswax

The three wheel system mounts on the lathe. I am very much enjoying the new look and feel of all the Hatchtown tools.

Pam and I spent this past weekend “vending” at the annual Maine Fiber Frolic. It is always fun to visit with all our Maine “fiber friends” …many of whom we only see just once a year at the Frolic.
We wish word of the event would finally spread past the state’s borders. There’re usually a few savvy shoppers from the Boston area, but nobody from much further away than that.

Yesterday, during the usual Sunday stretches of inactivity at the Hatchtown booth, I took all the spindles out back of Windsor Fairground Building No. 2 and photographed them. If I really apply myself, by tomorrow sometime, I’d hope to have inventory on display up here on the website.

Doing the Math: 2 x One of Two-of-a-Kind

By Jim, on November 13th, 2011

I thought fiber folks might be interested in seeing pictures of a couple of rare “One of Two-of-a-Kind” Hatchtown tools:

a square-shafted low whorl spindle and
nøstepinde-sort-of-thingy that is both a Wraps Per Inch gauge AND a 6″ ruler.

The spindle and the thingy date back to the mid-90’s. In both cases I had been commissioned by a customer to turn something unique — a special order. I have trouble remembering what it was like to have spare time enough to consider accepting special orders! LOL

Explanation: “One of Two-of-a-Kind”
— Any time I’m making ONE of something my instinct is to make a SECOND to keep as a physical record of my efforts. Having two widgets “in process” also protects me in the event my gouge slips spoiling the work on the lathe. Furthermore, even though I always tried to exactly follow the customer’s design constraints and guidelines, my having two “versions” left it to the customer to decide which was closest to their mental image. You know, the customer is always right!

A Square-Shafted Low Whorl

color photo: full view square-shafted Walnut low whorl handspindle

Length: 13 3/8" -- Whorl Diam: 3 1/4" -- Weight: 1.35 oz

As I remember it, the thinking was that the square shaft top would provide maximum grip ensuring a strong twist initiating super fast spindle spin. The customer, a gentleman handspinner, preferred half-hitching and was not concerned that the generously sized shaft top would set the yarn too far off of center generating wobble.

Square working end

Nøsty-Thingy — Six Inch Ruler AND a Wraps per Inch Gauge

As remember it, the customer in this instance was a knitter who wanted an elegant ruler to measure the width of the folded up section of the watch caps she was knitting. She had come up with the idea that the tool might look like a Nøstepinde. That a couple of the ruler’s sections could measure wraps per inch was my contribution.

a 2" gap for measuring bulky yarn's "Wraps Per Inch"