Clock reel
John Boyle
Category
Agricultural and horticultural equipment
Date
1998
Materials
Metal, Sycamore
Measurements
1150 x 770 x 460 mm
Place of origin
Springhill
Order this imageCollection
Wellbrook Beetling Mill, County Tyrone
NT 283310
Summary
A sycamore clock or click reel for reeling flax thread consisting of a hexagonal wheel mounted on a wooden vertical support attached to a four-legged stool base. The clock reel is used to measure thread yardage into 'cuts', 'hanks' and 'spangles'. 120 measured revolutions of the reel produces one 'cut' of 300 yards; twelve 'cuts' is known as a 'hank' and extends for over two miles in length. Four 'hanks' is termed a 'spangle'. The clock reel is sometimes known as a 'weasel'. After 120 revolutions the tenon piece at the front of the wheel pops out, giving rise to the nursery rhyme phrase 'pop goes the weasel'. Made by John Boyle, estate joiner at Springhill c.1998, as part of the interpretation of Wellbrook Beetling Mill and the history of linen manufacture.
Makers and roles
John Boyle, joiner