CARDING CLOTH TPI
Here's a little info on carding cloth to help you determine which cloth you need on your drum carder. TPI refers to "teeth per square inch". The higher the number, the more densely packed the tines/points are on the carding cloth. Also, the lower the TPI of the carding cloth the larger the diameter of the wire, with the coarsest TPI cloth having the largest (thus stiffest) diameter wire. The wire length is pretty much standard at .5 inches. Your drum carder will come with the appropriate cloth on the licker in, you just need to decide what you want on the big drum . The carding cloth on your carder will be listed as two numbers. For example: 90/120.........the first number is the cloth tpi for your licker in, the second number is the cloth tpi for the big drum. How do you decide?? Ask yourself these questions:
~what type of fiber preps do I want to make/like to spin.........smooth, a little textured, highly textured, or do you like it all??
~what types of base fibers do I plan on working with?? Super Fine, Fine, Medium, or Coarse fleece, mill combed top, mohair, angora (bunny), alpaca, etc.
Things to remember when carding fleece:
~The longer the staple, the harder to break the batt. Most folks card fiber with a staple length of under 6".
~It is much harder to get really smooth batts from fleece unless the fleece is prepared ahead of time, fed in very thin small bits, and carded very very slowly so it does not create nepps (this applies to fine fleece in particular). To produce super smooth batts easily we suggest using mill combed top.
We've posted pictures of each type of cloth so you can see the difference up close along with a brief description of what we and our customers have found concerning each type of cloth as to fibers used, types of prep (smooth to textured).
~what type of fiber preps do I want to make/like to spin.........smooth, a little textured, highly textured, or do you like it all??
~what types of base fibers do I plan on working with?? Super Fine, Fine, Medium, or Coarse fleece, mill combed top, mohair, angora (bunny), alpaca, etc.
Things to remember when carding fleece:
~The longer the staple, the harder to break the batt. Most folks card fiber with a staple length of under 6".
~It is much harder to get really smooth batts from fleece unless the fleece is prepared ahead of time, fed in very thin small bits, and carded very very slowly so it does not create nepps (this applies to fine fleece in particular). To produce super smooth batts easily we suggest using mill combed top.
We've posted pictures of each type of cloth so you can see the difference up close along with a brief description of what we and our customers have found concerning each type of cloth as to fibers used, types of prep (smooth to textured).
120 tpi
90 tpi
72 tpi
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190 TPI --SUPER FINE Fibers: works well with soft fine and super fine exotic fibers including mohair, and angora Preps: smooth **Note: the 190 tpi cloth is available on standard width carders by special order only. Please Contact us with the carder you would like it on for pricing. 120 TPI --Super Fine
Fibers: very fine fibers Preps: smooth, smooth with a tiny bit of texture 90 TPI--Fine
Fibers: will card all but is better suited to fine fibers Preps: smooth to lightly textured It 72 TPI --Medium
Fibers: all........smooth mill combed top to whole locks 90% of our Alpaca customers would choose this! It is extremely versatile and seems to be our top seller. Preps: smooth to a moderate amount of texture Smooth batts may need a few more passes due to the coarseness of the cloth. For highly textured preps we suggest:
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54 tpi
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54 TPI--Coarse Fibers: all........smooth mill combed top to whole locks Preps: all Smooth batts may need a few more passes due to the coarseness of the cloth. For highly textured preps we suggest:
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Why the 54/54 is our beta tester's favorite:
I love the 54/54 combination and find it to be the most versatile after having used the other tpi’s
~~I can do smooth items (batts, rolags, roving)
~~I can make textured items with whole locks, novelty yarn, sari silk thrums, and other add in type items that add texture
~~there is less waste when dizzing roving off of the 54 tpi cloth since the teeth aren’t so close together allowing the fiber to lift off easier. This also makes the cloth easier to clean I think :)
~~the teeth are a bit bigger in diameter and don’t bend as easy, this is important since I want to do both textured and smooth preps
I love the 54/54 combination and find it to be the most versatile after having used the other tpi’s
~~I can do smooth items (batts, rolags, roving)
~~I can make textured items with whole locks, novelty yarn, sari silk thrums, and other add in type items that add texture
~~there is less waste when dizzing roving off of the 54 tpi cloth since the teeth aren’t so close together allowing the fiber to lift off easier. This also makes the cloth easier to clean I think :)
~~the teeth are a bit bigger in diameter and don’t bend as easy, this is important since I want to do both textured and smooth preps
22 TPI
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22 TPI--SUPER COARSE--This cloth is only offered on the Blending Boards
Fibers: all........smooth mill combed top to whole locks Preps: all but is best suited for highly textured preps |