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My long awaited Schacht Sidekick I ordered from Spin to Yarn has arrived!  I didn’t waste any time putting her together.  Assembly didn’t amount to much.  The wheel arrived fully assembled.  I just had to figure out how to unfold it!  After she was unfolded, I read through the instruction manual one last time to be sure I had everything correct.  The manual specified oiling points, so I gave her a good drink of oil.

When I sat down to take her for a spin, I noticed she was a bit stiff.  I had read on the Schacht Ravelry forum to oil the treadle joints, so I added a few drips of oil there.  I didn’t see any improvement in treadling.  I figured the driveband was a bit tight and maybe it would break in after some spinning.

After a day or so of spinning the wheel didn’t loosen up too much.  I looked the wheel over wondering if I had missed something.  There is a rear maiden bearing and a front maiden bearing.

I had oiled both bearings (or so I thought), but decided to oil again.  After looking at the rear bearing closely, I realized I had oiled the inner white part of the bearing, but not the actual bearing line where the two black pieces of the bearing connect.  My dealer had explained to oil the bearing, but it was not until I looked at it very closely that I realized I had not been oiling the correct part of the bearing.

The bearing is made up of two black rings.  The dividing line between the two black rings is where the oil needs to be placed.  I ran the tip of my oil bottle around the line and added a good dose of oil.  As I started to spin, the difference was tremendous!  I spun for a bit and added some more oil.  It loosened up even more!!

It is amazing that just a little oil in the correct spot can make an immense difference in how a wheel spins!  I am always sure to oil all of my wheels after a couple of hours of spinning to keep them spinning well.  And remember even a new wheel needs a good oiling!