View allAll Photos Tagged Spindle
Who says orange and pink clash?
Industrious, delicate, colourful. The spindle is at its loveliest in autumn when its leaves turn russet and its pink and orange fruits ripen. Wildlife loves its leaves and fruit, and aphids flock to it, bringing with them an array of their predators.
Spindle is an ancient-woodland indicator. If you spot it while out exploring, it could be a sign of a rare and special habitat.
Spindle timber is creamy-white, hard and dense. In the past it was used to make ‘spindles’ for spinning and holding wool (hence its name), as well as skewers, toothpicks, pegs and knitting needles.
The fruits were baked and powdered, and used to treat head lice or mange in cattle!
Both the leaves and fruit are toxic to humans – the berries having a laxative effect.
Today, spindle timber is used to make high-quality charcoal for artists. Cultivated forms of the tree are also grown in gardens for autumn colour.
I'm still saddened that this piece of funky art was demolished to make way for a Walgreens store. When I lived in Chicago it was always fun seeing it...plus it made a cameo appearance in the movie "Wayne's World"...scanned from a print with no date information.
Clockwise, starting at the outer ring with the Maxi:
- Birds Eye Maple Maxi, 42g
- Bubinga Midi, 29g
- Sumach Featherweight, 12g
- Canarywood Featherweight, 14g
- Moosie, 27g
- Olivewood Mini, 18g
- Morado Midi, 34g
- Ambrosia Maple Midi, 24g
- Karelian Birch Midi, 30g
Clockwise, inner ring, starting at the striped one on the left:
- Zebrawood Mini, 20g
- Red Cedar Featherweight, 12g
- Gabon Ebony Midi, 41g
- Tulipwood Mini, 24g
Not pictured:
- Tiger Maple Mini, 16g
3 purpleheart Russian lace spindles & thread winders atop 2 nålbound spindle pouches (left one is Åsle stitch, the right one Oslo -- both with Reynolds Lopi burgundy icelandic yarn). In-progress on the spindle is homespun natural cotton. 6/15/07
I am a very good drop spindle spinner. I am spinning bamboo fiber in this picture. It will be used as weft for some pillowcases I have designed. I finished spinning the warp a couple years ago.
I only work on this project while in waiting rooms or when I'm on buses, airplanes and trains. I don't get out that much.
Yes, I really am a handweaver too.
How I really make a living is nobody's business except mine.
Sadly, this little part of our cultural landscape will soon be history, as the owners of the shopping center where this "art" is located will be building a Walgreens (!) on the site. They claim it's too expensive to move. Oh well. More Info: www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/461948,6_1...
UPDATE 4/14/08: It's for sale on EBAY! www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-spindle-both-14apr1...
UPDATE: Alas, the Spindle was demolished....5/2/08 : www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-spindlemay03,0,7042...
Shadow had fallen over the garden when I got home, took the camera for a quick tour anyway (I want sunlight to get that magical light). Got a few shots that turned out ok anyway, these two are my favorites to far.
More spindles I made. These are exotic woods like purpleheart, canarywood, and bloodwood. All are made using layers of 1/8" or 1/4" thick shapes. Some spindles have cherry shafts, the rest use generic plain dowels.
Manufacturer/Model: Spindler & Hoyer Gottinga 8X Modell B, 8X24
Field of View: Estimate 6.3 deg = 110 m/1,000 m; APFOV 50.4 deg
Weight: 488 gr.
Exit Pupil: 3 mm
Serial #/Year of Manufacture: 44979 = Probably 1920’s
Notes: Overall a satisfactory binocular but not outstanding. Build quality is certainly not as high as that of comparable models made by Zeiss or Ross (prism seating a little insecure, no baffling, collimation by manual prism adjustment instead of eccentric rings) but still better than that of many of the low-cost French 8X24’s flooding the market during this period. The center focus mechanism is actually quite good and is very much like the fine one Ross used on its Stepruva, Stepron and Stepnada Porro I models. Under normal daylight conditions optical performance is alright but with a rather narrow FOV.
Spindler & Hoyer continued to make binoculars after World War II at least into the late 1950's. A Cogswell & Harrison catalog dated 1959 offers four Spindler & Hoyer binoculars, all center focus and with coated optics - a Gonom 6X24, Goett 6X30, Moacht 8X30, and Goa 8X30.
Revised May 12, 2012
Note: If you have a vintage binocular you either wish to sell or would just like some information about, I can be contacted at flagorio12@gmail.com .
The moon had set, and the night was crystal clear but very cold. Even from my suburban backyard, NGC 3115 (the Spindle Galaxy) was not difficult to see in the 155mm refractor. A bright nucleus surrounded by an extended sphere of light with thin straight arms spreading outward in opposite directions. It was a fine sight.
This galaxy was missed by Messier but made the Caldwell List (#53) and the Herschel 400 list, so it is often visited and enjoyed by amateur astronomers. NGC 3115 has the distinction of having the nearest-to-Earth, billion-plus solar-mass black hole. With an active 2 billion solar-mass black hole at is core it is not a surprise that its bright nucleus shows so well in the eyepiece.
To see additional astronomy drawings visit: www.orrastrodrawing.com