painted spinning wheel – Exquisite Machinery

Collecting and rescuing antique wheels is like hunting or foraging. The hunt starts with scanning a parade of sale and auction photographs in hopes of finding unique and interesting wheel quarry. Because sale photos are often dark, blurry, and taken from a distance, details of construction and decoration can be obscured. It is easy to take a quick look, pass by, and miss out on a treasure.

Hjordis is a treasure that could easily have been overlooked. The sale photo showed a pretty painted wheel, likely Scandinavian. At first glance, it was hard to make out the gorgeous lyre-shaped nut on top of the upright–an indication that this wheel is something special.

The axle and footman seemed oddly out of whack in the photo, but it was hard to make out why. Fortunately, my friend, Sherran Pak, had spotted this wheel online. The sale price was ridiculously high, but since it was close to where she lived, and our curiosity was high, she went to have a look at it. Curiosity satisfied and interest piqued even more, we waited until the price eventually came down and, with Sherran’s help, I was able to rescue Hjordis.

The lyre-shaped nuts were even more stunning in person than I expected. They sit like twin guardians on top of the metal plates securing the axle ends.

But, an even more unusual feature was the wheel’s internal crank.

It was what confused us in looking at the sale photos. While internal cranks are found on many double-table Norwegian wheels, they are very rare on saxony-style wheels. Samuel Morison, in Vermont, used them on some of his saxony-style wheels, but aside from his wheels, they are scarce. So I was thrilled to find this beautiful example.

The inside part of the crank is actually embedded into the wheel hub. I would love to know why some wheel makers experimented with internal cranks. Is there any advantage to them? One disadvantage is that a traditional style footman is not ideal because it cannot easily be popped on and off the axle.

Hjordis’s maker solved that problem by crafting a special footman. A multi-sided wooden shaft is topped with what looks like a metal hood, partially surrounding the wood.

The hood is topped by a long metal piece that hooks over the internal crank and ends in a lovely curl.

The bottom end of the footman also is encased in metal with a small metal hook attaching it to a metal piece on the treadle bar.

So much beautiful work went into this footman. Likewise, the treadle is no plain wood piece, but shaped with a decorative flourish at the end.

The wheel end has a cross-bar between the wheel-end legs with supports extending to the wheel uprights.

The drive wheel has 12 spokes,

set on the flat inner rim

with a nail or peg securing them at an angle through the side of the rim.

The rim itself is four sections. The sections are fitted together with tongues (long on the top, shorter inside) going in opposite directions on two sections, fitting into grooves on the other two sections.

Hjordis has seen a lot of use but her flyer assembly is still going strong.

Her bobbin is cracked and there is a deep groove in the flyer front near the orifice.

Her whorl screws on righty-tighty, lefty-loosey, the opposite of most North American wheels, but found on many Norwegian wheels.

Her back leather bearing is a little droopy, but works well. The previous owner put an elastic band on it.

The orifice is quite smooth and the front bearing secured with some old yarn or twine.

Her paint colors are vivid,

but, in some areas, applied a little sloppily,

which is interesting, since the underside of the table is painted, something many makers do not bother with.

There is a crack in the table that I need to repair and a distaff hole on the spinner side.

The table bears a date and initials in elegant script.

Aside from the date, I have not been able to find out much about the wheel’s origins. I believe that she is Norwegian for a few reasons. The internal crank and righty-tighty whorl point in that direction and there have been a few other wheels that have come up for sale with sellers indicating they are Norwegian. These wheels do not have an internal crank, but do have the unusual lyre-shaped nuts and metal upright-tops.

*For sale in Minnesota, no internal crank but the treadle is very similar to Hjordis’s*

Although these wheels likely were made by the same maker, only Hjordis has the internal crank and creative footman, which kicks her up a notch. I am very grateful that she was not passed by in the hunt.

I bought Cocodris years ago from a woman in Bath, Maine. She told me that her grandfather had traded a gun for the wheel somewhere in the northern reaches of Maine.

I was attracted by the beautiful treadle curves, an oddly whimsical touch, especially for a wheel found in Maine.

The paint was a bit startling, though.

Cracked and peeling, bits almost exploded off the surface,

leaving a trail of black paint crumbs behind. While I rather liked the alligatored look, I was not enthusiastic about the paint litter so decided that I needed to address it.

I tried every suggested non-stripping tactic for alligatored finishes, but nothing worked.

I finally decided to use a citrus stripper and at least remove the worst of the flaking areas.

What a nightmare. Let’s just say that the paint won. I was trying for a mixed look—some parts painted, some showing the wood.

Instead, I ended up with a wheel that looked as if it had a terrible skin disease.

Rather than trying to strip it more, I repainted it, all except for the treadle parts and flyer, which I had not stripped.

They still have the original paint and wear.

It is a bit messy, slightly weird looking, and needs some touch up,

but the black paint highlights the wheel’s beautiful turnings.

And, as is often the case, those turnings started showing up elsewhere. I began to notice similar wheels coming up for sale. While the wheels had individual differences, most had “bowtie” spokes

and legs that resembled the Quebec Paradis wheels.

*New Brunswick wheel for sale on kijiji–bowtie spokes and three-tiered maidens*

The maidens generally came in two styles—three-tiered like Cocodris’ maidens, or bobble-topped like those on Philomene, the wheel in the previous post.

*South Carolina wheel for sale on FB–bowtie spokes, Philomene-style maidens, painted*

*For sale on FB–bowtie spokes and Philomene-style maidens*

When I acquired Philomene and started researching her maker, Thomas Michaud, it became apparent that this style wheel was commonly found in the upper St. John River Valley, on the border between northern Maine and New Brunswick.

*Philomene–made by Thomas Michaud, discussed in previous post*

I suspect that most were made by Thomas Michaud and his wheel-making brothers, Hubade/Ubald and Francois Regis (see the previous post “Philomene”). But, since almost none are marked, we can only surmise that they are related based on similarity of features.

Cocodris’ maidens, for example, are like those on Diane Howes’ marked Thomas Michaud wheel (with a few less tiers).

*Maidens on Diane’s Michaud wheel, discussed in previous post*

The curved table sides,

the under-table MOA post

and scribe marks,

and the flyer scribe marks also are similar.

Cocodris and Philomene share somewhat unusual metal work,

having distinctive angled knobs at the mandrel ends

and squared axle ends.

But, the most compelling similarity is the lovely treadle design.

It is so unusual and rare that it makes me think that Cocodris likely was made by Thomas Michaud. Even the wheels’ heavy treadle wear matches.

In fact, Cocodris is an even better spinner than Philomene—quiet and steady, perfect for fine singles.

Although one upright is skewed toward the spinner (it’s in tight) and the drive wheel does not directly align with the whorl, she is smooth, fast, and delightful to use.