Spider Silk - At Natural History museum in New York

[David Hober]

I was fascinated to read that two gentlemen have actually made a beautiful tapestry for Madagascar Spider silk.

It is on display at the museum of natural history in New York (I think).

I would love for someone who lives in New York to visit and post photos and comments.

Maybe one day we will make spider silk neckties?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/arts/ ... ml?_r=2&em

[JDelage]

Single threads of up to 400 yards...

I wonder what are the other physical characteristics though. Tensile strength is not that important for fabric. Still, a very cool endeavor.

[David Hober]

"....brilliantly golden-hued cloth,..."

It sounds like the way light reflects of the cloth is something very nice.

We need a New Yorker to venture forth and give an eye witness report.

[storeynicholas]

I mention the golden weaving spider's silk in my book and the fact Roald Dahl's fictional Uncle Oswald had Sulka make one tie a year for him (from his own spiders naturally). Maybe Sulka (in its website) can tell whether they have made up areal one.Wouldn't it be nice to be able to emulate Uncle Oswald - beyond the merely elite and nearly Olympian.
NJS.

[David Hober]

I mention the golden weaving spider's silk in my book and the fact Roald Dahl's fictional Uncle Oswald had Sulka make one tie a year for him (from his own spiders naturally). Maybe Sulka (in its website) can tell whether they have made up areal one.Wouldn't it be nice to be able to emulate Uncle Oswald - beyond the merely elite and nearly Olympian.
NJS.

NJS,

Sadly It is highly unlikely that anyone has made a tie from spider silk yet.

Sulka ties while they were quite elegant are constructed in a very normal way.

[storeynicholas]

Do you happen to know how much silk it would take to render enough silk for a simply constructed four-in-hand? Since the devil findeth work for idle hands to do,I have a mind to try to produce some raw material and, if it were correctly harvested and up to snuff, maybe we could have a crack at production and auction the result for charity (deducting production costs)? I wouldn't see initial LL Cloth Club interest - but who knows? PS I have read an article about the tapestry and I can see that there is a long, slow process of inducing production and the need for much research.

I have seen a pair of ladies' gloves made of spider silk.
best,
NJS.

[David Hober]

Do you happen to know how much silk it would take to render enough silk for a simply constructed four-in-hand? Since the devil findeth work for idle hands to do,I have a mind to try to produce some raw material and, if it were correctly harvested and up to snuff, maybe we could have a crack at production and auction the result for charity (deducting production costs)? I wouldn't see initial LL Cloth Club interest - but who knows? PS I have read an article about the tapestry and I can see that there is a long, slow process of inducing production and the need for much research.

I have seen a pair of ladies' gloves made of spider silk.
best,
NJS.

NJS,

I have notes on the complete cycle of mulberry leaf harvesting to feeding worms to yield of silk, at our farm in Isan.

We would probably want to use hand reeling equipment such as in this photo which shows my wife Noina reeling silk:



Then we would want to hand loom the silk - here is Tongma who lives down the road from our farm house weaving by hand:



Now as to how many strands of silk to twist together I am not sure what would work well. The textile had according to the article I think 32.

Also I do not know what spiders prefer to eat and what would be best for production. I would imagine that the museum of natural history staff in New York would be a good starting point.

Donating profits to the institute of Spider Silk Weaving would be a good idea.

I am still looking forward to a volunteer providing a report on the texture and sheen of the silk on display. If photos are allowed that would be a bonus.

A thought just came to me gold is also the natural color of Thai silk. All the colors that Thai silk is famous for are the result of bleaching the silk white and then dyeing other colors.

Would we want to keep the silk the natural gold or bleach and dye perhaps with natural madder root and indigo and so on? While there are some artisanal weavers that also use natural madder for wall hangings and so on, no one is currently doing it with ties. So it might enhance the project to use natural dyes - just a thought.

[storeynicholas]

This is amazing and I need to read up more - here is a link with pictures, by the way
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/spidersilk/?src=h_h

- the natural colour is wonderful.

NJS

[shredder]

I understand that the piece will be exhibited in London next year... As it was an article in the Daily Mail (OK, I admit to reading the Mail ), it failed to specify the venue or the exact dates. If the natural colour is as amazing as that in the photos, then it might be a consideration to take advantage of it.

[David Hober]

The part about the spiders eating each other could certainly slow down production......

[yachtie]

Much prettier than Kevlar while approximating its strength.

[storeynicholas]

The part about the spiders eating each other could certainly slow down production......

I am still reading it all up but it does seem that the excruciating process of production is one reason for the scarcity of the finished material - however fine it may be! Still, there is no deadline - and it makes for an interesting hobby.
NJS

[David Hober]

The part about the spiders eating each other could certainly slow down production......

I am still reading it all up but it does seem that the excruciating process of production is one reason for the scarcity of the finished material - however fine it may be! Still, there is no deadline - and it makes for an interesting hobby.
NJS

Do they have good silk spiders in South America?

[storeynicholas]

Apparently the golden orb weavers are found throughout the tropics and I have seen spider webs here six feet across - and that's just in the garden, so I think that there are. One problem might be the Brazilian legal system, as I doubt whether there are many spiders in captivity and taking creatures from the wild is strictly prohibited but I am still reading...There is much to read!!
best,
NJS

[David Hober]

Apparently the golden orb weavers are found throughout the tropics and I have seen spider webs here six feet across - and that's just in the garden, so I think that there are. One problem might be the Brazilian legal system, as I doubt whether there are many spiders in captivity and taking creatures from the wild is strictly prohibited but I am still reading...There is much to read!!
best,
NJS

I think I may have a Gordian knot solution to the slow process of reeling silk and legal issues of captivity:

We could collect spider webs not spiders and spin the silk into yarn.

Also we could look into different types of spiders. Having the silk be golden is not that important as there is little demand for pure gold ties. So we bleach our native Thai silk white first and then dye the silk.