Warp and Spin

What Is an E-Spinner? A Plain Guide to Electric Spinners

Updated · E-Spinners

An electric spinner on a table: a bobbin and flyer on a wooden stand, driven by a band from a wicker-covered motor box with switches on top
Photo: Natalia Wilson, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. All photo credits

An e-spinner is a small electric spinning machine. On a treadle wheel your foot turns a large wheel, and a cord carries that turning to the part that twists the yarn. On an e-spinner a motor does the turning instead. You still draft the fiber, which means drawing it out a little at a time, and the machine still twists it and winds it onto a spool. What is a spinning wheel explains the parts named here.

What the motor replaces, and what stays the same

The motor replaces the treadle and the large drive wheel, and the speed comes from a dial. On Ashford’s e-Spinner 3, the flyer, the U-shaped part that twists the yarn, starts turning when the dial reaches about 10 o’clock. Ashford tells you to begin slowly and raise the speed once you are spinning. The motor has a soft start, taking two to three seconds to reach the speed you set, so the yarn is not jerked out of your hands.

Everything that handles the fiber stays the same. There is still a flyer, a bobbin (the spool the yarn winds onto), an orifice (the small opening the yarn passes through), yarn guides and a threading hook. You still tie a leader, a length of yarn on the bobbin that your new fiber joins.

On the e-Spinner 3 the brake band, which slows the bobbin slightly so the yarn winds on, is set the same way as on a treadle wheel, with its springs only just starting to stretch. Plying, twisting two strands together, still needs a lazy kate to hold the full bobbins, and the e-Spinner 3 includes one.

Your hands also do what they did before. The front hand pinches, the back hand holds the fiber, and you feed the yarn on. Speed and twist are still linked: a thick yarn needs less twist than a fine one, so you lower the speed for it. Yarn that overtwists will not feed onto the bobbin.

Ashford’s Learn to Spin booklet covers both its wheels and its e-spinners, so the drafting steps in how to start spinning yarn apply, with the dial doing the job of the treadle.

Some e-spinners keep bands inside: SpinOlution’s Firefly and Ashford’s Super Jumbo both use drive bands from the motor to the bobbin.

Direction

A switch sets the direction. On the e-Spinner 3, Z twist, clockwise, is for spinning, and S twist, counterclockwise, is for plying. Ashford says to stop the motor with the ON/OFF switch before you reverse it, and to stop with that switch rather than the speed dial. Louet’s Jenn-E has left, right and a neutral position that also acts as off.

Power

Power varies by model.

Size and weight

An e-spinner is small enough to carry. Ashford’s e-Spinner 3 weighs 2 kg (4.4 lb), against 5.5 kg for its Kiwi 3 treadle wheel and 8 kg for its Traditional single drive wheel. Weights run from 1.4 lb (EEW Nano 2.1) to 13 lb or more (Firefly).

A small black electric spinner with a purple flyer and a bobbin of striped yarn, running on a table at a fiber show. The uploader identifies it as an Electric Eel Wheel 6
An Electric Eel Wheel 6 at a fiber show. Photo: Tangledyarn, Wikimedia Commons, CC0. All photo credits
Model Weight Size (inches unless noted) Top speed Bobbin holds Price, 31 Oct 2026
EEW Nano 2.1 1.4 lb 5.25 W x 4 L x 5 H 1,200 RPM 2 oz $139 list
EEW Fold 2 lb 5.1 W x 7 L x 7.9 H (3.3 H folded) 3,000 RPM 4 oz $279 list
EEW 6.1 3 lb 5 W x 7.8 L x 8 H 1,800 RPM 8 oz $299 list
Louet Jenn-E about 820 RPM $1,057.35 list
Ashford e-Spinner 3 2 kg (4.4 lb) 26 x 14 x 21.5 cm 1,800 RPM 225 g (8 oz) $899 at The Woolery
Ashford e-Spinner Super Jumbo 3.6 kg (about 8 lb) 500 RPM 1,400 g $1,079 at The Woolery
SpinOlution Firefly 13+ lb 22 W x 10 D x 12-24 H up to 3,200 RPM (4A flyer, wall power) $1,395 list (4A flyer, 3 bobbins)

RPM means revolutions per minute. Here it is the flyer’s speed, so it is not comparable with a wheel’s comfortable treadling speed. A high top speed is not something to aim for as a beginner: Ashford says to start slowly. A dealer can quote any model.

Do you still use your feet?

Your feet no longer drive it. Several models have a foot switch to start and stop the motor, and they differ.

These switches start and stop. On the Ashford and Louet models, the dial sets the speed.

Who chooses an e-spinner, and why

Spinners give a few reasons.

E-spinners are at home in guilds, too. The London Guild of Weavers’ spinning group covers spinning wheels, spindles and electric spinners.

E-spinner or treadle wheel to begin?

Teachers and writers differ, and both sides have reasons.

In a 2018 class guide, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota listed a three-hour e-spinning class for new spinners, with e-spinners provided. The guild’s guide says the motor spins the bobbin at a consistent speed, so new spinners can focus on coordinating their hands. Wikipedia makes the same point: with no treadling to coordinate, it can be easier to learn on.

A spinner’s blog post on the EEW also finds the set speed a help to a beginner. It adds that the skill lies in the drafting, and that a set speed can lull you, so the spinner has to make a point of watching the twist.

Treadle-first teaching has its own logic. Ashford’s booklet for its treadle wheels has you practice the treadle on its own, then add your hands, so the two skills are learned together. One buying guide advises a treadle wheel unless portability, quiet or a physical limit decides it.

The drafting is the same either way: pinch, draw out, slide your fingers, let the twist follow. What changes is whether your feet or a dial supply the turning. Choose on how you want to learn and where you will spin.

Where to go next

FAQ

What does an e-spinner do?

It twists fiber into yarn and winds it onto a bobbin, with a motor in place of a foot treadle. You draft the fiber with your hands.

How is an e-spinner powered?

Models vary: a wall adapter, a USB cord, a car cord, or a built-in rechargeable battery such as the Firefly’s.

Does an e-spinner have a foot switch?

Several do, to start and stop the motor. The e-Spinner 3, Super Jumbo, EEW 6.1, EEW Fold and Jenn-E have one; the EEW Nano 2.1 sells one separately.

Can a beginner learn on an e-spinner?

The Weavers Guild of Minnesota listed e-spinning classes for new spinners in 2018, and a buying guide advises a treadle wheel unless portability, quiet or a physical limit decides it. The drafting skills are the same.

Further reading

More on each one

More e-spinners