Ashford Handicrafts, Ashburton (South Island), New Zealand

It was a real treat to visit the "home of modern spinning." Ashburton is the home of Ashford Handicrafts and perhaps the most recognized spinning wheel in the world: the Ashford Traditional. After a nice lunch in their cafe, we shopped and then were given the grand tour by Elizabeth Ashford and ended up talking with Elizabeth and Richard about my thoughts about their products. It was nice to be asked.

Safety is a priority at Ashford: Here Anne Field, Elizabeth Ashford and Mariah pose in the factory with their ear protection firmly in place. It was a real treat to go to Ashfords with Anne because she wrote both the Ashford Book of Weaving and the Ashford Book of Spinning. While we were in the gift shop she noticed someone purchasing her book and offered to sign it for them -- turns out they were from the Toronto area, a couple hundred miles from home. It is indeed a small world!

Although the Ashford factory is nestled in a very tiny little town far away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world, they are, never-the- less, at the forefront of technology for woodworking businesses. They use CNC machines to cut parts and perform many of the repetitious jobs that people don't enjoy doing much and often suffer injury from. The left photo shows a stack of wood pieces that have just been assembled into what will become a wheel. After drying, they will be trimmed to form the circle shown at right. In the photo on the right, finials are being inserted in a machine that was designed by Richard and his father. The next step will be to have the hub of the wheel installed. Ashford Handicrafts is more than just spinning wheels. They also manufacture dolls houses, toys and dog houses. All using processes similar to those used in wheel manufacturing.

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