Kilt hose on a CSM

[Steve Ashton]

David, "PeeWee" Erlbacher was one of those old school, decent and honest sort of guys.
A 5th generation machinist who's family had built and worked on Mississippi riverboats.
He passed just a year ago.




Perhaps if I relate a story you will get a feel for the respect I have for him.
I had owned a Circular Sock Machine before. An antique I got off Ebay.. Now, these machines are old world, steam engine technology. They love to be oiled and there is nothing automatic about them. You don't just turn the crank and out pops a sock.

But that old machine never did make a good sock.
It used to be that you could pick these up for a few bucks simply because no one else knew what they were. You could bodger one together from three or four separate machines and resell them for astronomical prices.
So I ended up my original machine for parts.

Then I heard about this new company that was producing new versions of these old machines. They have one feature that the antiques lack. It is called an "Equal Slot Ribber". All of the old machines have a ribbing attachment with 1/2 the needles as are in the cylinders. These new machines have the same number of needles in the ribber as the cylinder. Computer controlled milling machines now make this sort of precision possible.
I know this is total nonsense to most of you but it is a really big deal on these machines.



Each slot can produce either a knit stitch or a purl stitch depending on if you put in a cylinder or a rib needle. This was the first time in over 100 years that this had been done. When I heard about this feature on the Erlbacher machines I bought one sight unseen.

Well, as I said, these machines are totally manual. You have to fiddle with them and adjust them just to get them to run. The learning curve is huge.

So I get my machine and start out learning to use it. And one day I break a part. No fault of the machine nor the maker. It was all my stupidity.
So in a panic I call PeeWee. I'm apologizing and trying to assure the guy that it was not his fault.
In a quiet, calm voice he says. "OK Steve, don't worry, a new part will be in the mail today.".
And you know what? It was. No questions, no excuses. He didn't even ask for, or expect payment. A machine he made had a broken part and he replaced it. Just like that.

Well, I was so impressed I bought a plane ticket, flew and drove to Cape Girardeau, MO just to shake the guys hand. While there I was treated like a king. They gave me full run of the machine shop, took me to lunch each day, and even invited me to their home for dinner.

I now own three of these sock knitting machines. Two are new Erlbachers and one is an antique which has been upgraded with new Erlbacher parts.







And I love playing with these machines. There is something very soothing about turning a crank, hearing their rhythmic clicking and having a sock come out the bottom. My engineer's brain just syncs with the idea of how they work. And I have gotten pretty good with them. The CSM world is even smaller than the kilt world, so it is easy to become fairly well known. I am asked for advice and help about once a week. There will even be a gathering next year, here in Victoria, of people with old and new CSM's. We call them 'crank-in's" and we we share experiences and learn new tricks. A representative of the Erlbacher Co. will fly up just to offer expert advice and assistance.



If you hand knit it takes about a week to produce a pair of Kilt Hose. With these machines I can make a pair in a day. I will never be able to do this, and make a living from it, but it is not about making money.
I have one customer who lost the toes on one foot due to diabetes. I'm able to make the right sock only 4" long to fit him perfectly.
I have another customer who is a Highland Games athlete. He has massive calves. For the first time in his life he is able to have a pair of kilt hose that actually fit his legs.
Pretty soon I'll have my technique down and will be able to make Argyles and perhaps even full Tartan hose.

And I'm having a heck of a lot of fun doing it. An old, grey haired guy in a kilt, surrounded by women. The world just does not get any better.