I have made some thread reels based on a finding from London. They aren't exact replicat, they are meerly inspired by the look of the original.
The original can be seen in the book: "The medieval household"
The thread reels I made have been turned on an electrical lathe and are all made from elderberry wood (Sambucus nigra).
Elderberry wood is very hard, despite the fact that elderberry is a quite fast growing tree. The grain is also very uniform and therfore, well suited for turning on a lathe.
The threadreel on the far right is a leg bone from a lamb. I have been using this for a long time and I think it has a very practical feel to it :-)
There are findings of this type of threadreels too, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it.
