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From 2014-2024, I was the in-house designer for
the schacht spindle cOMPANY
Working closely with the company's Founder, Creative Director, and Production Manager, I was responsible for design ideation, prototyping, refinement, photography, ads, and manuals.
THE FLATIRON SPINNING WHEEL
A MODERN TAKE ON ONE OF HUMANITY'S OLDEST DESIGNS
The Saxony-style spinning Wheel (The Sleeping Beauty kind) is believed to have become common among peasants in northern Europe in the late 13th century; it was a faster way to spin compared to the Charkha, a hand-cranked spinning machine previously used to twist fibers into yarn. Treadles were added sometime around the start of the 16th century, increasing overall output and ease of use.
Saxony-style wheels are known to be harder to spin on than their newer cousin, the Castle-style, but the larger drive wheel allows for more control when spinning finer and shorter fibers. The goal of The Flatiron was an affordable, flat-packed, Saxony-style wheel that would still be able to bear the Schacht brand, a worldwide trademark known for quality of design, craftsmanship, and precision in the fiber arts community.
A new way to consider the traditional wheel
Flat packed, spins all styles (scotch tension, double-drive, and bobbin lead), and can be assembled for left or right handed spinning, the Flatiron was an innovative and ambitious design, a clear new idea in the spinning and weaving community. Exceptional quality at a reasonable cost, achieved through design, shipped standard freight to most anywhere in the world, and the first product I shepherded from concept to introduction for the Schacht Spindle Company.
- Quick release maiden w/self aligning bearings
- Articulating MOA adjusts drive band tension and orifice height
- Spins all styles, sets up left or right-handed
- Designed, but not available: Single Treadle, Cherry and Walnut faced ply, or primed for personal decoration/color
A change in direction for Schacht Spindle
The Flatiron was Schacht's first flat-packed product designed to be shipped small and assembled in one of a variety of configurations, by our customers, with minimal tools, minimal experience assembling complex mechanisms, and (potentially) with English as a second language. Starting with a complex 3D model, I established a new instruction style, including custom colors and a style guide, that is now Schacht's standard for all new and updated instruction manuals.
See it on the Schacht Website
Learn more about what makes the Flatiron so distinct a product within the fiber arts community, or simply update your knowledge of an ancient practice and come off as super hipster at your next party.
The arras Tapestry loom SYSTEM
The Original Schacht loom...
Dan and Barry Schacht started Schacht Spindle in their van with an unexpected commission for 500 drop spindles, but the first product designed for their nascent company was a tapestry loom. Over time the tapestry loom was updated and refined.
...Reimagined to celebrate 50 years.
To honor Schacht's 50th Anniversary, I envisioned an integrated system that gave tapestry weavers of all ambitions and abilities the chance to create whatever they could imagine. The results were so ambitiously different from anything previously seen that the limited-run "50th Anniversary Edition" became a distinct new product line for Schacht Spindle, named to honor some of the most famous tapestries in the world.
The Loom
- The Arras is crafted from solid maple hardwood and maple plywood components that will hold their shape for a lifetime despite the high warp tension that tapestry weaving requires.
- The butter smooth and 3-way adjustable shedding device, the only wooden version available on the market, is easily controlled with the hand lever, it can be installed on the front or back of the loom, with the handle on the right or left side.
- The color-coded warp setting system (the space between each vertical threads) is based on compression, unlike other systems built on extension, this system will not be damaged through use.
- The legs hold the loom steady while allowing the weaver a range of heights and weaving angles. The legs fold up or can be easily removed without affecting the work on the loom, making the 10-pound weight something easily brought with or stored anywhere.
- Packs and ships flat (18"x12"x4") yet assembles easily with a single Phillips head screwdriver.
The Beam Kit
For most weavers, the 45" of continuous (looped) warping would be enough. You can create a tapestry around 42" tall with that much warp, but for some weavers that just wouldn't be enough. A sturdy base combined with ratchet and dog control on both sides of both beams allows the weaver to create tapestry of previously unavailable length from such a compact loom. The Arras Beam Kit ships flat, is easily assembled, and can be added, or removed, from the loom at any time between weavings projects.
The Trap
Everyone who works likes their tools close at hand. Whether used as a Trap (on the stand, below the weaving) or as a Keep (on the loom, above) The Arras Trap makes that possible. Why not get two?
The Stand
Initial prototyping made it very clear that Schacht's standard "Trestle" stand was inadequate to handle the weight of the Arras Loom while in use. A new stand was needed, which opened the door to a whole new list of features that we could offer.
The Arras Stand offers 18" of height adjustability while securing your loom in position for the hardest of weft beatings.
The Treadle Kit
The ultimate luxury in tapestry weaving. The Arras Treadle Kit, like nearly every other part of the Arras Loom design, is infinitely adaptable to make your time in front of the loom as comfortable as possible.
Learn more about what makes the Arras so distinct in the fiber arts community, or update your knowledge of an ancient practice and come off as even more of a hipster than that dude going on and on about spinning wheels last weekend.
The Cricket Quartet
How many great ideas are born from contradiction?...Or maybe boredom?
Lamborghini, The Gap, and Virgin Atlantic (among others) were created out of either spite or frustration. I'm convinced that the Cricket Quartet was born from exasperation. Starting the second hour of the scheduled half-hour meeting about the future of the underperforming table looms, Pete Wilson, Schacht's Production Manager, wondered if there was a reason we didn't just convert the Cricket Loom into a 4-shaft table loom. There wasn't, so we did.
Schacht's bestselling introductory loom leveled up.
The Cricket is Schacht's all-time bestseller. This economical rigid heddle powerhouse is available in variable weaving widths. Flat-packed for shipping and portable when assembled, the Cricket has been an economical way for weavers around the globe to start their journey for 20+ years.
Yes, and....
Being a fiber artist is not an inexpensive pastime. From knit and crochet to spinning and weaving, any pastime that requires specialized equipment adds up fast; ask a golfer, skier, or road cyclist. Knowing that cost and space are consistent barriers to expanding the weaver's toolshed, we designed the Cricket Quartet to be a product extension, not a product conversion, creating a shafted loom without sacrificing reverting to simple rigid heddle.
Design and manufacturing efficiency
NIDDY-NODDY
A Niddy-Noddy is one of the most useful tools a fiber artist can own. It allows for the quick measuring of your yarn, even spacing for dyeing. and simple skeining, but even before the 2020 global shutdown, the Schacht Niddy was too expensive to produce and not selling well because of it. A change to the design of one end made removal of the skein easier. A complex closure mechanism was changed in favor of a snap button, the rubber grip was changed to foam, and changes were made that eliminated expensive out-of-house operations. Design and efficiency kept a price increase at bay until years into the post-pandemic inflation.
Duet tAPESTRY bEATER
Like a hammer for building or a knife in the kitchen, a Tapestry Beater must be comfortable and well-balanced to prevent daily fatigue and long-term damage to the hand and wrist. Schahct's tapestry beaters are priced accordingly...and slowly losing market share to competitors' cheaper iterations. The challenge, as always, was to re-design the product to make it viable in a competitive market without sacrificing the value added by the Schacht Brand. A metal comb (2, actually, with different spacing) replaced the wooden tines of the original eliminating 22 minutes of hand work per unit, slashing the sales price without sacrificing product quality.
Very few creative projects come together without a team to make them happen.
Very few creative projects come together without a team to make them happen.
These designs that I am calling mine are no exception. Barry Schacht (Founder, CEO), Jane Patrick (CCO), Michael Yeager (COO), and Peter Wilson (Production Manager) all contributed design and/or production ideas to most every product Schacht released during my tenure.
Most every photo on this website has been digitally altered in some way or another. For the longest time, Schacht's standard was product alone on a white background, which offers little chance to hide your mistakes.
Wherever possible, I have tried to give credit where I could to specific ideas that were not mine, more like mine to take the napkin sketch and make a product from. For some products, entire categories of work were done by someone else. I want to give them credit here.
Very few creative projects come together without a team to make them happen.
Michael Lichter
Michael Lichter
For my first few years at Schacht, new designs were sent out of house for photography. Michael Lichter, a world-renowned photographer, is an old friend of the Schacht's and had been taking their product photos for at least a decade. We worked together on The Flatiron, where he shot raw photography before I processed it.
Kelli Mackenzie
Michael Lichter
Kelli came to work at Schacht in 2016 and our media presence immediately turned up to 11. Kelli took control of the photo studio as well as the social media. Check out her website, it's way nicer than mine.