Friday, August 12, 2011

Before and After

We are often asked to custom make a certain mix of colors in the dymondwoods. I have to explain to them we do not make up those woods, we buy them already mixed and glued up. The woods come to us pre-dyed and pre-glued sometimes the colors are not as dark or light as the previous colorway. We  as spinners should understand this....we know to order enough of the same color yarn or fiber to finish a project. So sometimes a spindle of the same wood may be a slightly different shade from one block of wood to another.
 I thought it would be interesting to show you some before and after photos of the woods and the spindles made from them.


(If you click on the photos you will get a larger version so you can see up close.)

The smaller blocks with the oval holes are the spindle arms or whorls that have been pre-drilled but not yet cut out. Each tiny block with make the small arms, and the large arms for a complete set. They will be cut apart, sanded, buffed, and polished. We will then turn a shaft that also has to be sanded, buffed, and polished before completing the spindle.

Spindle alert: I will be listing several tiny and medium dymondwood spindle some time tomorrow. Each spindle gets 5 photos each....I then have to edit the photos for clarity....before listing them. This means if I list 10 spindles, I have to take 50 photos, which all have to be edited and then positioned in the folder so I can get them listed.....

We do have a few new colors and a few old colors not seen in awhile......we are working on them now.

Thanks for all your support.......

4 comments:

  1. It is so interesting looking at the before and after pictures. Those blocks of wood look super cool.

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  2. I thought you might like the photos... The wood is very hard and dense so it is hard to cut, we dull a lot of blades. I think the hardest of them all to cut is the Cobalt Blue, we have to re-sharpen tools before and after cutting it. It takes a lot of sanding to get them smooth, we use a machine to sand the pieces and then we go back and sand them all by hand. They are then taken to the buffing machine where they are sanded with a really fine grit wheel. They are then waxed using a machine that applies a lot of friction that really works the wax into the wood. Then they are polished smooth.... If you have any questions ask I'll be glad to answer them if I can.
    Barbara

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  3. Very cool. They remind me of tortes! It's neat to see how the holes are made first. Just placed an order for my first turkish. Can't wait!

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  4. Wow, this is so interesting to look at! It just shows how much work is going into every spindle. I love your spindles, they aren't only pretty but spin like a dream!

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