# Spinning - Drum Carder



## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

For any who have a Drum Carder.... Do you love it? Sorry you bought it? Use it often? I guess I am looking for feedback as I am going to get one and have that little feeling of should I do it or not. It's the little queasy feeling of spending the money. Thanks.


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## Alpaca Farmer (Jan 19, 2011)

I have a drum carder. It is a great tool. We raise alpacas, and I use it to make spinning batts, and for blending fibers and/or colors.


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## Knitted by Nan (Aug 3, 2013)

I do not have a drum carder but have used one. I do not like the drum carder, I prefer wool combs. I have two pairs of mini wool combs and would love to have the Russian combs, unfortunately I cannot buy them here in Western Australia. The reasons I prefer the wool combs, not to be confused with the dog comb some spinners use to comb fleece.

Wool combs are cheaper
They are far more portable
They are far easier to clean. I find the drum carde fiddley to clean
The combs align the fibres in the fleece perfectly, I think far better than the drum carder
The combs remove any debris or foreign material in the fleece, as well as any shorter fibres. The drum carder does not do this.

The lady who owns and runs Bibly Yarns here in my state also prefers combs. She says she has to repair so many carders because some spinners try to push too much fleece through in one go. They let the fleece become tangled with the workings of the carder, especially the gears.

You live in the USA, therefore you have greater choice than we do here in Australia. Spinners here usually go for the Ashford carder. In Western Australia, where I live, we do not see mini wool combs. But living in the US you will probably be able to see many different carders in the craft shops, you may also be able to try them out.

A good source of information on drum carders would be the Interweave Publicatiob, _Spin Off_.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Alpaca Farmer said:


> I have a drum carder. It is a great tool. We raise alpacas, and I use it to make spinning batts, and for blending fibers and/or colors.[/quote
> 
> Thank you. I am looking at the standard Louet drum Carder.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Knitted by Nan said:


> I do not have a drum carder but have used one. I do not like the drum carder, I prefer wool combs. I have two pairs of mini wool combs and would love to have the Russian combs, unfortunately I cannot buy them here in Western Australia. The reasons I prefer the wool combs, not to be confused with the dog comb some spinners use to comb fleece.
> 
> Wool combs are cheaper
> They are far more portable
> ...


Thank you for you info. I really like spinning bats and I am looking at the Louet standard drum Carder. I have combs also and like using them but I also love spinning art yarn and can do that with a carder as opposed to combs. At least I think. Still not sure about jumping in. This will be used and not as expensive as new, which helps.


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

I have a brother drum carder and love it. I paid $400. with no shipping I did buy the brush and a extra bubber band. lol Just so I have it. I am going to play with it this weekend. Make sure it comes with or buy the table clamps. I bout dewalt clamps they work well but get in the way sometimes. I find if the fleece or fiber is clean and pooooofy it works well with the carder.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

mama879 said:


> I have a brother drum carder and love it. I paid $400. with no shipping I did buy the brush and a extra bubber band. lol Just so I have it. I am going to play with it this weekend. Make sure it comes with or buy the table clamps. I bout dewalt clamps they work well but get in the way sometimes. I find if the fleece or fiber is clean and pooooofy it works well with the carder.


Thanks. I did it and will get it on Sunday. So looking forward to playing with it. It comes with all of the tools.


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## crivitz (Apr 12, 2015)

I have a Patrick Green drum carder purchased many years ago. As long as I spin I would never give it up. I've used hand cards but I don't like them--I don't like the product it produces and I don't like how slow they are. A drum carder is great for art yarn, wonderful for blending and you can produce much larger amounts of a consistent batt.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

crivitz said:


> I have a Patrick Green drum carder purchased many years ago. As long as I spin I would never give it up. I've used hand cards but I don't like them--I don't like the product it produces and I don't like how slow they are. A drum carder is great for art yarn, wonderful for blending and you can produce much larger amounts of a consistent batt.


I have hand carders and also do not like using them or the result. Thank you for your reply.


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## shepherd (Feb 25, 2012)

My drum carder is no longer in production, but I seldom use it. DH did some carding for me and I do like spinning from batts, or I break them up into little sections we call "tribbles". But it really just sits there most of the time. I have blended with it once , but I find that others are so good at colors I will let them do it. I do like using natural colors and have plenty of roving handy - should really get it up for sale!!!


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Between money and space issues, I got a blending board. Fancy Kitty's largest. I really quite pleased with what I can do with it. Besides blending and rolags, I can pull off the fiber as a batt. Perhaps someday, I'll be able to get drum carder ????


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

mama879 said:


> I have a brother drum carder and love it. I paid $400. with no shipping I did buy the brush and a extra bubber band. lol Just so I have it. I am going to play with it this weekend. Make sure it comes with or buy the table clamps. I bout dewalt clamps they work well but get in the way sometimes. I find if the fleece or fiber is clean and pooooofy it works well with the carder.


I have the Brother as well and love it. I don't card as much as I thought I would when I bought it but hope to start making some batts in the future


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

I have had a few different drum carders, some I loved but not the one I have now. I have had Patrick green carder, work horse, sturdy, well built, does great job. Louet loved it, did great job, sturdy, well built. Now I have a fancy kitty and do not like it nearly as well as the others. Does not do as good a job, and the way it is built if you try to get fibers completely across the drum you have to be very careful not to get any stray fibers off the drum or you will need tweezers to unwrap it from the outside of the drum. Good luck.


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## ptober (Mar 24, 2011)

I just ordered a classic drum carder from England. Like others was concerned about the price but finally gave in and bought it. I spend a lot of time hand carding and wanted something faster. I made my own blending board for about 40.00 dollars but did not want to take on making a drum carder.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Thank you, everyone for your replies. I did get the drum carder. It is the Louet and I really am enjoying it. I made my first batt and today will make more.


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

I am sure you will be very happy with the Louet! Isn't it exciting!

Happy Carding and spinning



Cdambro said:


> Thank you, everyone for your replies. I did get the drum carder. It is the Louet and I really am enjoying it. I made my first batt and today will make more.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

spinlouet said:


> I am sure you will be very happy with the Louet! Isn't it exciting!
> 
> Happy Carding and spinning


Yes, it is exciting to see how layering different fibers can end up so soft and pretty. And then, it ends up yarn. Amazing. All things fiber are exciting to me.


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