These are weights for holding down cloth pattern pieces when sewing which have been made in the form of old-fashioned wooden cotton reels. They are made from a cylinder of lead which is wrapped in small-print cloth and the wooden end caps attached. The lead gives them a fair bit of heft (in fact, it makes them reely weighty) and the printed exterior (to my eye at least) makes them rather attractive. The visible extent of the image is a little under 3 inches. Reel weights by John Liddle, on Flickr
John, I understand that the core is made out of solid steel, not lead, as the toxicity of that metal would prohibit its use for such a purpose today. Doesn't take away from the quality of the image though, it's lovely.
Having measured the items, they are approximately 2.45cm diameter (difficuilt to absolutely accurate because of the cloth wrapping), 2.6cm high and weigh 136g. The volume of the central core works out as about 11.75cc, which with Lead at a density of 11g/cc gives a mass of just under 130g, so allowing for the weight of the wooden ends and the cloth this ties in well with the weight as measured. Steel would weigh about 100g. So Lead it is!
Thanks for your explanation John. I was going to buy some of these as an Xmas gift for my daughter and granddaughter, however, there is no way I would buy them if the core is lead, so I have asked the company for clarification and I will report back when I get a response.
Keith - mea culpa. I misread one of my hastily scribbled notes of the dimensions of the reel. The diameter is more like 29mm and with steel at 8g/cc you get the 130g weight. My apologies for misleading you. I hope your daughter and grand-daughter enjoy them!
No apology needed John, it was a simple error, the same as me not reading the description properly in the first place - it's an age thing for me.
Nice image John, they make for a nice ........ thread first thing that come to mind with heavy reels are my rolls of mild steel Mig wire they would stop paper blowing away
