This page and all pages of my website are in the process of being modified due to a change in Internet Service Providers. Some links may not work at this time. We are also going through a complete revision of our website, and many pages will change.

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Bobbins

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Lace Bobbins

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What are lace bobbins?

Lace bobbins (at least, the Torchon-style bobbins I make) are short wooden shafts used to make bobbin lace. They are a little more than four inches (10cm) long, turned on a wood lathe from VERY HARD exotic and domestic woods, and tooled in a variety of different styles. Each has a spindle end where the threads are wound, and usually they have some type of weight attached to the opposite end, to hold tension on the threads when the lace is being made.

My wife has about 250 to 300 different, including well over a hundred I've made for her. These include bobbins made from CocoBollo, Ebony, Kingwood, Ceylon Boxwood, Zapatero (Mexican) Boxwood, Hickory, Zebrawood, more than a half-dozen different kinds of Rosewood, Cherry, Maple, Apple, and much more.

Resiny woods, such as cedar, pine, and spruce, can't be used for bobbins. Their sap oozes through even the best wax or shellack, and can stain the threads used to make the lace. Really soft woods, such as Cottonwood or Aspen, can't be turned without breaking. I only use woods with a specific weight of about 40 pounds per cubic foot and up.

For those that have been watching these pages, waiting for scans of my bobbins, here they are!

Lace Bobbins

Kingwood	Tulip wood
Ceylon Boxwood	A Painted Bobbin
Rosewood	Osage Orange

I've retired from the bobbin-making business, due to deteriorating muscle control caused by pinched nerves. I used to make bobbins in about 25 different patterns, some of which are shown here. Over the years, I've developed what I think is a somewhat unique style to them. There are two people who deserve all the credit for what I do: my wife, Jean, who has always encouraged me, and Mike Playford, of Wroxham Barns, Norwich, England, who encouraged me, sold me bobbin blanks, and showed me how he turns bobbins. Thanks, Mike!

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