Skein winder

So after Macgyver-ing a spinning office chair and a lg silk stretching frame to make my first skein. I realized I would have to break down and get a skein winder, umbrella swift or niddy noddy. Well again, years back, I had seen one online that was simple and folded flat and of course I couldn't find it now. The ones I could find were upwards of $50 to start. So since I have enough skills to cut wood and drill holes, and friends with a well outfitted carpentry shop in their basement, I figured I could get this done, no problem.

So plans got drawn up in my sketchbook and then it was off to the hardware store to see if I could find the parts I wanted for this project.

One hour and $18.50 later, I had nearly everything needed to make a simple winder that is adjustable and folds flat. The following images show it set up and in need of some finishing up of edges but other wise I am very pleased with it's functionality.

Parts list:

• 4 washers 
• 1 long bolt (roughly 5x the thickness of my lumber) 
• 3 nuts 
• 1 3/4" piece of narrow copper tubing 
• 1 4" piece copper tubing with end cap (for use as a freely spinning handle) 
• glue 
• 1 8' length oak 
• 1 4' length hardwood dowel 
• 2 screws 
• assorted hand tools and a drill