It's a book! It's a great wheel! It's a Book Charkha!

December 29, 2022 1:36 PM

Madhav Sahasrabudhe shows how to spin cotton yarn by hand with a peti charka or book charkha. The peti charkha is a foldable, accelerated spinning wheel invented in India in the twentieth century (perhaps by or at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi) - giving all the functionality of a great wheel, in a package the size of textbook, with an enormous 1:125-1:150 drive ratio. Want to try one? Mark Shepard wrote up detailed tips in 1983. Don't want to buy one? You can DIY your own from mid-90s craft store items, or 3D print the pieces.
posted by janell (10 comments total)

oh neat, i should make sure janell sees th—
posted by cortex at 3:16 PM on December 29, 2022 [5 favorites]

He makes it look so effortlessly easy, and I'm sure it's hard as heck!

I do want to learn to spin so as to up my post-zombie-apocalypse survival-group-member value, though.
posted by BrashTech at 3:30 PM on December 29, 2022

This post is 100% the result of my recent thrashing about with a new book charkha and some cotton fiber. I am breaking threads when half-done winding on, which means I am wasting the maximum effort before each fail.
posted by janell at 3:44 PM on December 29, 2022 [5 favorites]

I want to pull out my charkha now! It's still packed away from my last move. There's probably a half-full spindle, and I'm absolutely going to try to spin in the wrong direction at first.
posted by Akhu at 4:29 PM on December 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Quality wise I wonder, but I've seen new book charkhas going for well under $200. Janell, Akhu, any recommendations?
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 7:11 PM on December 29, 2022

Most of the sub-$200 ones available in the US are all imported from the same ashram workshop - that’s what I got. In my YouTube rabbithole I ran across various sniffy western women lamenting the build quality and the braided drive band… but that’s a bunch of poor-craftsman-tool-blaming nonsense. As a tool, it is functional and fit for purpose, especially if you follow the Shepard notes linked in the OP. Lumps in the drive band aren’t going to make or break your long draw drafting or your fiber preparation.
posted by janell at 8:26 PM on December 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have one of the ~$250 ones that has O-rings instead of cord, but I agree with janell that the less expensive ones work perfectly well. I've spun on both and on a Bosworth, and they all do the thing they're designed to do.

The one real recommendation I have is to try spinning punis if you haven't. They're amazing. I'd been spinning cotton on a tahkli for a long time, but I struggled on the charkha until I tried punis. They're more forgiving to draft, which was a big help while I was learning how to control the speed of the twist.
posted by Akhu at 8:59 PM on December 29, 2022 [3 favorites]

It's so ironic charkhas are so expensive, considering my proximity to India... Been wanting to try cotton spinning for years. Thanks for the post, janell!
posted by cendawanita at 10:43 PM on December 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I can enthusiastically recommend Eileen Hallman's New World Textiles site. She takes the traditional, slightly rustic charkhas and tunes them a bit. No affiliation, just a happy customer.

I have one of the larger "attache" size traditional charkhas. It's faster than a book charkha, but a bit less forgiving. I recently got one of the updated Mahatma Centennial charkhas. I like it a bit better than the more traditional charkhas.

I can confirm that spinning punis is MUCH easier to start with.

I'm no expert, but I have fun with it.
posted by Archer25 at 6:49 AM on December 30, 2022 [3 favorites]

I live in Texas, where there is currently cotton left over from the harvest blowing around and collecting on the sides of the road. I have been thinking about collecting some and trying to make some sort of yarn or thread, and this might just push me over the edge! Wow!!!
posted by TheCoug at 2:06 PM on December 30, 2022 [3 favorites]