The Selfactin is a spinning machine that first stretches and twists the strand and then winds the fibre onto a spindle. It consists of two parts: the fixed part, called a rack, responsible for the stretching, and a detachable part, called a shuttle, where the twisting and the winding of the fibres took place. The invention of the Selfactin, in 1824, led to women becoming involved in spinning, as it required little physical effort and great manual dexterity.