Drop Spindles
I have been spinning with drop spindles for several years and my love for spinning with beautiful spindles has led me to design and make my own line of drop spindles. There are many types of spindles on the market from wood to glass at a wide range of prices. I strive to make excellent quality, luxury spindles at an affordable price. All my spindle whorls are made from gemstones, resin, or polymer clay and the shafts are made from hardwood (oak, birch, or maple) or exotic woods.
A few things to note about my spindles:
I chose not to glue my whorls to the shafts. There are several reasons I chose not to glue. One being, no matter how good we are with spindles, we may drop our spindle on occasion. If the whorl is glued to the shaft, it results in additional tension on the whorl and if it is dropped while spinning it can crack the whorl (ask me how I know). I have found that by not gluing the whorl in place, if you drop it the rubber grummet absorbs the additional energy allowing the whorl to move and avoiding cracking. I also recommend that you be sure to spin over a carpeted area to help avoid unnecessary breaking of your spindle. If you drop your spindle while spindling over a hard floor surface, you could break both or whorl and shaft (again, ask me how I know).
Since the whorls are not glued in place, if you drop your spindle it will undoubtedly result in the whorl being knocked out of place. No need to worry because you can re-adjust and fix your spindle with ease! To fix your spindles whorl simply hold the spindle vertically with the whorl at the top and your fingers near the bottom of the shaft. Wiggle the whorl back and forth until the whorl looks straight, and then hold the edge of the whorl at your eye level and spin it in front of your eyes and if the whorl does not spin even or look perpendicular, keep adjusting the whorl back in place gently until it is balanced.
Also, your hook on your spindle can be knocked loose or even bent when dropped. If the hook is simply knocked loose you can apply a small amount of strong, clear glue at the base of the hook and hold in place until it begins to dry. Allow the spindle to sit for several hours after re-gluing to assure that the glue as properly cured and will hold up to spinning. If the hook is bent after it has been dropped but the hook did not come unglued you can very gently reshape the hook with a of pair of rounded needle nose pliers to its former shape. Be careful not to pull to hard while reshaping it or you could pull it loose. If you are unhappy with the hook after any attempts to fix it please contact me and I will gladly send you a new hook to replace the old.
Before purchasing one of my spindles you should note that this style of spindle is generally not rim weighted like some other spindles. This means that some of my spindles will not spin as long as others spin and need to be given a turn more often. I test each spindle before it is put up for sale to be sure they are well balanced. Some will spin longer than others will and I try to make note of that in the description for its listing. Depending on how the gemstone is cut will depend on how they spin. I do my best to by gemstones that are more rim weighted than center weighted but sometimes it is hard to tell until the spindle is complete. All polymer clay whorls are handmade by me and I make all of them to be rim weighted for a smoother, longer spin!
Each spindle is a one of a kind creation. While I am able to purchase the same type of stone again, these are natural stones each with their own character. So I may on occasion have similar spindles available for purchase. If you see a spindle in my spindle gallery that you would like me to re-create please contact me and I will be glad to let you know if I can get a stone again tomake you something similar. However, all polymer clay spindles are a one time offering and I cannot re-create those whorls.
Gallery of Spindles 1
