Wide Kitten Drum Carder

[Deleted]

Hello everyone,

I have just finished reading about the thread on Drum carders...  Zed the photo of your drum carder is very lovely..  I never did find the video you supposed of Made... Reading the thread made me excited to start searching for a drum carder too.

So I am thinking of buying a "Wide Kitten Drum Carder" that can be converted over to a motorized one latter... My DH is a Master Electrician so I had him look at the motor on the web site and he said it would not be a problem to add latter. Big smile

my Question is what type of cloth to buy with it.... The guy that make them suggested a 54/54 for making Art Batt that would have lots of add ons... I would like to make Art Batts but I reckon there would be time when I would not want to put in all the add on... 

So what type of cloth do you all thing would cover art batts and smoother batts too??? All suggestion would be greatly appreciated..

A photo of the Wide Kitten Drum Carder???  It is a bit expensive at $699.00...  Zed how does that compare with yours in American dollars???

[zed]

Judy, the videos are here on this post, just scroll down:

feltingandfiberstudio.com/2014/05/02/using-a-drum-carder/

I got a 72 point classic carder, it was about £230, I think ($352)
A wide 72 point classic carder is about £438 or $671

The batt is about 10cm or 4inches wider from the Wide carder. It wouldn't be worth it for what I use the batts for, I tend to split them in two or 4 anyway, to use like tops. The 54 point cloth will allow very textured batts and keep locks more 'intact', but won't make batts as smooth as the 72.

[Deleted]

Hello Zed. Thanks for the information on your carder and prices compare to the US dollars... I always seem to want to double the British Lb. To get an American dollar price and I know that is not right anymore..

Zed. Your videos are wonderful.. It even makes me more excited to get one. Smile...

[Pandagirl]

Judy, I ended up with two carders. Even though I did my homework the first time I didn't really know what I was going to do with it. I bought the first one from alpaca farmer on Craigs list who didn't like using it. I discovered why later it was a very coarse carder I think something like 44 which would be great for art batts using yarns etc. however, it was terrible for fine fibers like alpaca and merino. So, I purchased a brother drum carder brotherdrumcarder.com off of ebay. I purchased a fine model I believe it's 110 cloth which took a little getting used to, but works great for the types of batts I like to use. I can use heavier fibers like Romney, icelandic, etc. but usually combine them with merino,alpaca, etc. with the Brother I can purchase other drums and it can be motorized. Unless I start doing a lot more felting or start selling, I don't think I'll need any other options. I do have the dog brushes, a hackle and often just use my hands to blend fibers.

Good luck! The main thing is to know what you're going to use it for and most of the manufacturers can help you decide which cloth is the best.

[zed]

I think it's roughly 1.5 times now for £ to $ conversion, Judy, and roughly 2/3 or a dollar the other way to get the price in £s (give or take a few cents/pennies)

[Deleted]

Thanks Zed and Marilyn for the information on your carders..

Zed, thanks also for helping with the comparison of the British lb.

I think I have made up my mind about which carder I would like to buy. Now it just a matter of when I want to part with my money!!! Smile..

[Frances]

sure would be nice to be part of a group where you could share expensive equipment.

[Shepherdess]

I would go with at least a 72. It will do most things, fine to course. Even art batts unless you are using large pieces of cloth. If you really wanted to do art batts with really big stuff it might be better to buy a blending board to go with your carder. I notice they are starting to show up second hand. I think a lot of people didn't really understand what blending boards do. For instance they do not blend. Things stay exactly where you put them. You don't have to make rollags like they show you. if you add a piece of thick plastic to one of the removal dowels it makes it easy to open it back up to a batt.

[Deleted]

Hello Ann thanks for your advice.. Much appreciated..

Interesting about putting the plastic into the "Rolags... I had NO idea what Rolags were used for until I started down the road of spinning,,, one learns something new everyday in the fiber world... That why I love fiber so much....

[Shepherdess]

I only know about the plastic on the dowel because I had a friend with an Elsacard electric carder ( big carder from Pat Green)and that's how you take the batt off.