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I think a lot of people who buy drum carders somehow expect that
their batts should always come out looking like combed top.
Consequently, they break the batt repeatedly and pass it through over
and over again until every last individual fiber is aligned
absolutely parallel to every other fiber. This is a great preparation
for some types of semi-worsted spinning, but unnecessary for most
woolens or semi-woolens.
A drum carder is somewhat like the Mixmaster in your kitchen. Yes,
it's a timesaver over a hand held eggbeater, but not all batters need
to be mixed to the same degree of smoothness. If fact, sometimes over
mixing can ruin some batters. Drum carders are exactly the same way.
You only need to card your fiber enough to give you the results you
are looking for in your spinning. A drum carder is an extremely
versatile tool that is probably very under appreciated. If you
eventually buy a picker to supply your habit, you'll even find that
for some spinning the clouds that the picker produces require no
further processing to spin up some extremely beautiful yarns.
One of the most difficult lessons for people to learn who own pickers
and drum carders is that fiber does not need to be over processed. It
only needs to be processed to the point where it produces the results
your want in your spinning. Just as we don't necessarily spin to
mimic mill spun yarn, we shouldn't necessarily card to mimic mill
carded roving either. A spinner who knows how to use their carder can
match the preparation to the type of yarn they would like to spin.
Randall J. Hayden
Hayden Loom and Ainadamar Weaving
their batts should always come out looking like combed top.
Consequently, they break the batt repeatedly and pass it through over
and over again until every last individual fiber is aligned
absolutely parallel to every other fiber. This is a great preparation
for some types of semi-worsted spinning, but unnecessary for most
woolens or semi-woolens.
A drum carder is somewhat like the Mixmaster in your kitchen. Yes,
it's a timesaver over a hand held eggbeater, but not all batters need
to be mixed to the same degree of smoothness. If fact, sometimes over
mixing can ruin some batters. Drum carders are exactly the same way.
You only need to card your fiber enough to give you the results you
are looking for in your spinning. A drum carder is an extremely
versatile tool that is probably very under appreciated. If you
eventually buy a picker to supply your habit, you'll even find that
for some spinning the clouds that the picker produces require no
further processing to spin up some extremely beautiful yarns.
One of the most difficult lessons for people to learn who own pickers
and drum carders is that fiber does not need to be over processed. It
only needs to be processed to the point where it produces the results
your want in your spinning. Just as we don't necessarily spin to
mimic mill spun yarn, we shouldn't necessarily card to mimic mill
carded roving either. A spinner who knows how to use their carder can
match the preparation to the type of yarn they would like to spin.
Randall J. Hayden
Hayden Loom and Ainadamar Weaving
This was an open letter in the Yahoo
spin-list forum. I acquired permission from
Randall to put it on my website. I believe it
is the best explanation of carding I have
seen.
spin-list forum. I acquired permission from
Randall to put it on my website. I believe it
is the best explanation of carding I have
seen.
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