My antique spinning wheel is officially an orphan. Born in New Zealand (circa1960-1962), her past is a mystery. She became mine in 2017 and has spun many miles of wool and silk yarns.
She was made by a company called Majacraft, and dubbed, “Millie”. Another family later bought out the original makers; in 2020 all traces of Millie had been erased from their website.
This year I decided she deserved a makeover. Although I did not remove the original finish, I did totally disassemble her to check all the wooden parts for wear. Then I painted the parts in color groups from light to darker blue. It’s subtle, you have to see her in person for the full effect.
She now has a new dress, black fishnet stockings, gold shoes, and a coaster built in to the table. Only the coaster was cut in the Glowforge, but it makes her stand out in an ocean of natural-color spinning wheels.
The veneer already had a 3M adhesive backing, so securing it was easy. Best part, it hid the bad job I did on the stenciling and made the paint-by-numbers really quick. It was easier for me to brush on the liquid adhesive for the gilding than it was to do the stencil work. My hands are very weak, and they fail in the strangest of ways. However, when it comes to holding a brush with no pressure at all, imagining that the tip is touching the wood…accurately!..my hands are great. Tip: I used a wet-brush pen, the kind that has a water reservoir and shaped bristles with a soft body you can squeeze to get more water.
Getting the excess gilding off is still ongoing. It’s almost worse than weeding. Fake golden weed is what it is.
The stem that holds the wheel and head in place will be the next area to decorate. Waiting for inspiration, but you know it will be made on the Glowforge.
A truly amazing piece. Comming from New Zealand I would be very curious about what wood it was made from even if from 1960 and not 1760 that would be very believable.
FYI, cleaning actual gold gilding is no less difficult - but with the added stress of it being “valuable”. I switched permanently to the faux stuff as no-one could tell the difference!
Congratulations @kelley1 on giving a new lease on life to a beautiful piece of history.
Very few people care to research and understand the history of some of the everyday thing around us, and much less care for them in a respectufl way that enhances functionality with beauty.
I love the beauty treatment you gave to Millie.
But she’s not really an orphan - she’s been adopted by a remarkable woman!