Reviews / Spinning

Review: Capar Spindles – a new spindle artisan

Called Natural Knot Wood on Etsy, this new Canadian spindle maker has already stolen the hearts of some spinners, including mine, and I guarantee that more will follow! Wayne Capar, the woodworker behind the Etsy shop, creates Turkish spindles from interesting woods, and creates them “first on quality, then uniqueness and finally from passion”. Sounds good, right?

Of course I had to try one of his spindles, and I ordered a 9 grams Small in teak with a walnut shaft. It arrived promptly within a week (which is fast!) and I’m already a fan. The spindle comes in a little box, just like the Jenkins spindles usually do.

The Box
The box
The contents of the box
The contents of the box

The spindle is protected by some sample fiber. It is unclear what it is exactly, and I wasn’t very charmed by it (but that could just be me). The spindle, however, is gorgeous. The shape is beautiful and the finish is perfect. Note the colours of the teak in the big arm, they are aligned very nicely.

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Capar Small – teak arms/walnut shaft
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Capar Small – from the back

The spindle is well-balanced. It is quite light for its size (apparently teak and walnut are not that dense), and the spindle doesn’t wobble. You can spin it fast and it will be very stable, even when there’s no to little fiber on it yet. It spins quite long too. The tip is nicely formed and the bottom of the shaft is pointy (but not sharp), so you could use it supported as well.

Comparing size-wise, the Capar Small is a bit bigger than for example a Jenkins Kuchulu. The Kuchulu is tiny, and it has thinner arms than the Capar spindle. The tip and point of the Kuchulu are sharper and more pronounced than the tip and point of the Capar, but to me it didn’t really make a difference. The tip of the Capar is still pointy enough not to cause too much friction when spinning supported. The Kuchulu keeps spinning faster a bit longer than the Capar, probably because the arms are a bit shorter.

Left: Jenkins Kuchulu, right: Capar Small
Left: Jenkins Kuchulu, right: Capar Small

Another spindle in the same size category is the Enid Ashcroft Midge. The Midge is also a bit smaller than the Capar spindle, and its arms are straighter. They spin about equally long and fast. The tip of the Midge is not as pronounced as either the Jenkins or the Capar one. The finish on the Midge is more glossy.

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Left: Enid Ashcroft Midge, right: Capar Small
From the back - Left: Enid Ashcroft Midge, right Capar Small
From the back – Left: Enid Ashcroft Midge, right Capar Small

The Capar Small spins surprisingly nice. I catch myself picking it up from time to time and spin a bit, even though I’m supposed to be working hard on my Just Batty Challenge on my Kuchulu. The craftsmanship is great on the Capar spindle. Its finish is a bit more glossy than that of the Jenkins spindles I own, but less than that of my Enid Ashcroft spindles.

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Left to right: Jenkins Kuchulu – Enid Ashcroft Midge – Capar Small

I must say I’m impressed. So impressed that a Capar Medium is already on its way to me (also in teak, it’s nice and light and pretty), and I’m still checking the website from time to time to see if anything new turned up… I can already highly recommend this spindle maker!

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