Spinning wheel

A spinning wheel is a device for making thread or yarn from fibrous material such as wool or cotton.

The spinning wheel was an advancement on the concept of the spindle, invented somewhere in China or India between 500 and 1000 AD ; like the spindle, it worked by spinning the material - twisting the fibers into a long continuous strand. Rather than relying on finger-twisting or gravity, however, the spinning wheel was turned by hand or by a treadle (a foot pedal) (or other motivation, such as water or electric power) to turn a large wheel, which, by the use of a drive band, turned a smaller wheel. The motion of the wheel twisted the thread, which was then wound on a post called (after its predecessor) the spindle.

Numerous types of spinning wheels have existed, including the great wheel or wool wheel for rapid long-draw spinning of woollen-spun yarns; the flax wheel, with its bobbin and flyer assembly, for spinning linen and worsted-spun yarns; and the charka, a small, portable, hand-cranked wheel for spinning cotton and other fine, short-staple fibers.

In the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, a young woman is expected to use a spinning wheel to spin straw into gold.

See also: Spinning (textiles), Spinning jenny

External links:

• http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~caj/wheel.html
• http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/~caj/diy.html
• http://www.spwhsl.com/
• Folklore of the spinning wheel (http://www.thorshof.org/spinyarn.htm)

sv:Spinnrock