Pele's Hair Spindles: USA
If you have been waiting for a spindle that is a work of art, exotic, and perfectly made, your wait is over. International Fleeces is proud to offer Pele’s Hair Spindles by Glenn Grace of Hawaii. These are some of the prettiest spinners we have seen. It was hard to put them up for sale. Spindles made to inspire.
Each Glenn Grace Pele’s Hair Spindle is unique. The size and design of the whorl are dictated by the piece of wood that he is turning. Glenn specializes in making lovely, warm hand turned objects from those woods that grow in the Hawaiian Islands and his work is recognized for its beauty and collectors value.
Whorl size varies but most whorls are between 2 – 3 inches in diameter. Shaft length is approximately 11 1/2 inches from top of hook to bottom of shaft and about 9 inches from the bottom of the whorl to the bottom of the shaft.
Spindle wood choices include:
Koa: Koa is the largest of the endemic trees of Hawaii. It exists naturally nowhere else in the world. It was the native Hawaiian’s wood of choice for building their canoes. It’s color can range from a deep red brown through a light brown to a very light color. The wood grain is known for it’s beauty and curl. Figured Koa is in short supply and highly prized. Glenn’s Koa comes from trees that have either fallen of their own accord or that were removed because they were a danger to the surrounding area.
Kamani: Kamani was one of the canoe plants that were brought to the islands by the Polynesians when they settled here. It is a large, attractive tree and it’s reddish brown wood was prized for food vessels as well as other wood uses. The beauty of the kamani is in the fine grain and wonderful sheen that seems to move as the spindle is used and turned.
Mango:Mango is another of the prized woods in Hawaii. It’s color is lighter than that of Kamani or Koa. The mango that Glenn uses is often spalted giving it an interesting figure.
Milo: Milo was a canoe tree brought to the islands by early Polynesians. Although fairly rare today, it was a common shade tree that grew around homes at lower elevations. It’s scientific name is Thespesia populnea and it is a member of the hibiscus family. It was prized for food dishes because it didn’t change the taste of the food. It’s beautiful grain makes it a prized wood for all types of decorative items today.
Tropical Apricot: Tropical Apricot is a tree that came originally from South America. The fruit of the tree is edible. The wood in these spindles came from a tree in a neighbors yard. He needed to remove it from his property along with some other trees. It is a hard wood with an interesting grain.
Hau: Hau was a canoe plant that was brought to the islands by the Polynesians. It is a light weight wood that had many uses in their community including fishing floats, spears, canoe outriggers and the bark was used for cordage. Today it is a landscape plant found in many gardens throughout the islands. The wood has nice grain and a lovely purple color.
Pheasant Wood: Pheasant Wood is a beautiful, rare and hard wood that gets it’s common name from the black markings that resemble the feathers on the back of a pheasant.very rare, valuable, and stunningly beautiful wood produces shades of light to dark brown with fine black grain, which very much resembles the feathers of our local Hawaiian pheasant. Kolohala is a relatively heavy and dense wood.
Spindle shafts are made of birch.
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