Schacht Matchless Spinning Wheel (circa 2001)
I always thought if I needed to replace my Louett S90 Spinning Wheel (circa 1998), that the closest thing available would be a Schacht Matchless. They are both castle wheels, both elegant in design.
This week, someone nearby posted a used Schacht Matchless Spinning Wheel on Facebook Marketplace for what I considered a reasonable price for a used wheel of this caliber. New ones sell for about $1800. It needed a little little love and attention -- not too much. Just a good cleaning and oiling, and a minor adjustment to the treadles, and it is back in working order again!
On the back is a serial number so you can figure out how old the wheel is. It's more precise than the serial numbers on the old Singer sewing machines. The number above tells me that it was made on August 29, 2001 and it was the 6th Matchless spinning wheel of the day.
I may need to replace the treadle brackets underneath the wheel. They
are a bit worn. One of the treadles popped off as I was spinning the
initial test yarns. Plastic parts don't last forever. It's too bad
these wheels are not outfitted with speedometers, so you can tell how
many miles are on it -- How many miles of yarn spun!
I pulled a variety of fibers from my stash to "give it a whirl" and see how she spins. To my utter delight, she spins like a dream! I tried various fibers in my stash, and they all come out pretty nice on this wheel! In the photo is some old wool fleece (some of the first I bought in 1998 from Patty Reedy at Rainbow Fleece Farm -- It sparkles!), and some newer alpaca. It all looks pretty good!
What I really want to spin on this wheel is fancy art batts, and sparkle yarn. ;-). The Louett is reserved for plying these days, although I can spin pretty much anything on it. ;-) The Schacht-Reeves Wheel (aka the sleeping beauty wheel) seems to be optimized for alpaca. A few weeks ago, I grabbed some white fiber to continue spinning, and it was coming out so wiry and crinkly -- I felt like I was a brand new spinner again, like I had to start over and learn it all over again. It was pretty bad yarn--until I realized it was merino, not alpaca. When I realized the fiber didn't feel so nice and silky as alpaca, and went back to the alpaca, the spinning looked normal again. It's kind of a touchy / finicky wheel. Beautiful to look at, though!
I am so pleased with this Matchless! Also to know that I still know how to spin! And equipment makes a difference.
The Schacht Matchless has 2 treadles, rather than the 1 treadle I've been used to for the past 26 years on other spinning wheels. I thought that might be harder to get used to than it has been. Not a problem!
I asked the seller if she had named this wheel. She didn't even an bat an eye at the question. She said she got it from a woman in Chicago named Ekaterina, so she called it Katya. It sounds like this lady got old and couldn't do it anymore, and her family didn't know what to do with the wheel. Lacey, the seller, hasn't been able to give it the love and attention it needs. Life got in the way, and she had no time for it. Although she did take the time to outfit it with the bulky flier -- She sent it back to Schacht in Colorado to have it fitted to this particular wheel. That's cool!
There are bobbins with yarn spun by both women, plus 2 by me. Some of it is quite nice! Some of it I may use to practice chain plying ... But that will be a separate post!
The seller also outfitted it with the bulky flier and sent it back to the Schacht factory in Boulder, CO, for it to be perfectly fitted to this wheel. That was an investment!
Last but not least, I also purchased this Vera Bradley backpack used on MarketPlace for only $15. I will use it to hold the extra bobbins, fiber, manual and other supplies together for this wheel. It also makes it easy to take-it-on-the-road if I want to take it somewhere else ...
In the photo above, hanging from the mother-of-all is the tiny tool box I made for oil, lube, oriface hooks, and whatever else might be required to keep such a machine in running order. I will make a separate post on that little project.
I was watching a number of videos to prepare for owning a Matchless -- Where to oil it, how to use the various tensionning options, etc. That may be a separate post in and of itself. I am used to the Irish tension on the Louet, which is easy to manage. The double drive is a little trickier. I have not used the Scotch tension. Each one has it's uses!
For now, I'll leave you with a shot of the old fleece from Patty Reedy's Rainbow Fleece Farm. It's a good looking single! I love her fleeces because they just sparkle naturally. They have such a lovely luster. With the new wheel, I am committed to finally spinning up those old fleeces.
I made the realization that I can use singles as the pattern yarn in coverlets. So there's no need to ply them, as they can be used without the additional processing.
More to come ...
