The Spindle

All shapes and sizes. The ideal shape is always straight and eight to ten inches long and the thickness of your thumb. Taller people should use longer pieces and shorter people.... The thumb thickness allows a smaller person to possess the strength to spin a smaller piece of wood with less friction. Bigger pieces cause more friction which in turn requires greater strength. This will make more sense later.

Most importantly, the spindle and baseboard need to be dry and the right hardness. When searching for the approriate wood, consider areas where the sun keeps the tree dry on Southern slopes. Avoid any wood found on the ground--trust me on this. You do not need to know one specie of tree from another--but it helps. Heres what you look for: Find a standing or leaning dead tree. Ideally, it should be a managable size--or the branch should be. The first question you ask yourself is if the wood is dry enough? The second question is if it is hard enough?

Dryness check. Shave a piece off the outer wood. Put the inside of your wrist on this exposed area. If it feels cold (regardless of ambient temperatures), for more than a couple of seconds then there is too much moisture in this wood. It may be dry three feet higher up though.

Is this piece of wood the right hardness? Drive your thumbnail into the same area. Look at the dent it made. Generally, if it just slightly leaves a dent it is too hard of wood--move on. If it easily left a dent then move on--it is too soft. You guessed it, somewhere inbetween is just right. For those of you who know your trees look for Cedar, Willow, Poplar, Aspen, Basswood, Balsaam (maybe) and Tamarack (maybe). Do not limit your choices to these either. It all comes down to the hardness and dampness check. Moreover, as you experiment, you will begin to understand the look of an appropriate tree within a certain specie. This takes a lot of time.

If you find a branch that is the size of your thumb then you saved yourself work--good for you and those waiting to get warm. If not, start whittling. Next, you shape the spindle ends. The top is tapered to a point over the distance of one inch. The bottom is tapered to a point over the distance of 1/2 inch. DONE! Now do not ever put this on the ground-it will soak up enough moisture to limit your success.