I once heard David Springett speak on the topic of the old bobbins, and
he said that those bobbbins which have the pewter rods going through
("proud" spots) were thought to help people with arthritic hands. He
did not make it clear whether that meant that it made the bobbins easier
to work, or that it somehow relieved the pain.
The corrosion of the pewter is what David calls "rotten" pewter, and
this occurs when the bobbin maker mixed in too much lead making the
pewter. Pewter is made with tin and small amounts of copper and
antimony and sometimes lead was added. The lead made the pewter easier
to work (softer), but too much of it caused it to corrode over the years.
So the proud spots and the rotten pewter are two completely separate
things with bone bobbins - although it's possible for one of the proud
spot bobbins to have rotten pewter!!
Clay
Jean Nathan wrote:
Liz wrote:
<The raised pewter is due to rusting.>
The bobbins are wood and the spots, which are actually rods of pewter
and go right through the width of the bobbins. I had one fall out of
one bobbin and I superglued it back in. Neither pewter nor wood rust.
Only iron does.
Can you explain further what you mean by rusting.
Each pewter spot on the one I have (which I can't find at the moment)
is proud of the wood by the same amount, and the wood isn't worn in
one place more than others. It definitely looks as if it was made that
way and not that the wood has been worn away.
Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK.
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