Is the Uncle Kolya Drum Carder Worth It? Tour de Fleece Part 2

Welcome back to Part Two of my Tour de Fleece 2024 series. Today, I’m excited to share my in-depth review of the Uncle Kolya Drum Carder, a high-quality carding machine made in Ukraine that I purchased on Etsy. This drum carder comes fully assembled and includes several accessories, making it ready to use right out of the box. Despite its excellent value for money, this carder hasn’t received much attention-until now! Join me as I set up and test out this rare gem. We'll explore its features and performance, and see why it might be the perfect addition to your fiber arts toolkit.
Plus, meet my trusty spinning wheel, Arda-a Kromski Fantasia castle-style spinning wheel-as I introduce her as part of this year’s Tour de Fleece.
Stay tuned for my next video where I’ll be spinning the fleece prepared on the Uncle Kolya Drum Carder. Don’t miss it!
Check out my Blog on my Website: www.theweftwrig...
Here is the link to the carder: www.etsy.com/l...
Here is a link to the Spinning Wheel: paradisefibers...
0:00 Introduction
1:00 Specs
2:45 Setup
3:15 Demonstration
11:30 Spinning Wheel Introduction
13:40 The Results
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#UncleKolyaCarder #etsy #FiberArts #DrumCarderReview #SpinningWheel #KromskiFantasia #TourDeFleece #Handspinning #Weaving #TheWeftWright #FiberArtTools #CardingFleece
Thank you for watching and happy crafting! ✨

[@theresazelazny7445]

I have used a drum carder for years. Some tips can save wear on your carding cloth and make a more pleasant experience. Put time into preparing your fiber. Pull your wool locks apart sideways and don’t put too much fiber in at a time .Be gentle, don’t force the fiber. What you do to prepare the wool before you put it through makes a difference on the quality of the bat coming out. Pulling the whole bat off before making a rollag is easier. I prefer not to make a rollag (the fibers are nicely parallel) I roll the batt sideways and predraft the fiber into a continuous, very long roving.

[@TheWeftWright]

Thanks for the tips

[@MorgoNism]

I bought this drum carder because of this review. Thank you for taking a chance on it, so I would, too.

[@TheWeftWright]

I think it is really well-made. I hope you get lots of good use out of it. I just published a review of the same company’s e-spinner. I enjoyed that as well.

[@Mortisha2126]

Hi, Here a few tips which hopefully make your life easier😉 When you turn the crank standing on the right side of the drum feeding in fleece, don't reposition yourself. Just take the brush into your left hand while turning. I am right handed too and it's easy to do. i usually slip the brush under the table gap, where you feed the fleece on top, tines down. This way it is out of the way and I can grab it straight facing the right direction when packing the fibre on the drum. If you want to take rolags of it, get yourself one of the under the door rubber stopper and squish it between the drum wall and outside wall. Or wherever most handy. And as you noticed the carder will not flip, if you here too stays put on the crank handle side and lift the fleece of like straight ahead right hand sided, or turn your body slightly to the right and a little closer to the feed in side. You will get the hang on it 😊 There is no way otherwise the drum wouldn't flip, as long it is not fixed on both sites. One more thing. To get a nice smooth batt feed the fibre longwise in after the first time. I also tear lenght wise strips off the batt and then draft them out before each new feed in. That way you lose even more veggie matter during the process. I am sorry I wrote in the hurry. So don't mind any mistakes please. It is not my native language, and in the hurry I don't think too well when writing and without checking again. However, If you have any more questions don't hesitate. It is always the way later on one remembers more. Is it not?😊 Best wishes and lots of fun from Australia 🦘. Btw. i love my carder. I have the same now for about 4-5 years, and still strong standing

[@TheWeftWright]

Great advice

[@tracybird4547]

To stop the drum carder from moving when you’re making rolags,you can use a rubber door stop and wedge it between the drum and the supporting wall. I saw this on other videos where folks were making rolags off their carders so I tried it. It works very well. I like the rubber wedge one with a metal loop at the top to make it easier to remove. I bought mine off Amazon. 😊

[@TheWeftWright]

Great idea, thanks

[@Suzco123]

Thank you for this review, it is so helpful.

[@TheWeftWright]

Glad it was helpful! I’m looking at their e spinner next. Just need to get the funds

[@silkspinner7010]

Very interesting video.. you might have had an easier time making rolags if you had taken the batt off altogether. Or you could split the batt into lengths and do a worsted spring.

[@TheWeftWright]

Thanks for the tips!

[@MayBrox]

Thank you so much for this. I've been looking for a cheaper drumcarder. I'll check this out. 😃

[@TheWeftWright]

I found one slightly cheaper, but it didn’t look as well made. I’m very happy with this one

[@MayBrox]

@@TheWeftWright I'm happy to hear that. 😃

[@chanapearl1]

Thank you for the reviews -- very helpful. Will you wheel still work if you only use one treadle? I can do that with my double treadle wheel -- and always do, because the double treadle is hard on my back.

[@TheWeftWright]

Yes, it will work with one treadle… though the hinge in the treadle squeaks when I do that. Oh well lol. Thanks for your suggestion.

[@nyxnotnicks]

I had similar problems using the double treadles on my sonata. I found that I could do one treadle at a time when my hips got tired from doing both at once. I'm not sure if the fantasia would be agreeable to that, but it's worth trying. Also thank you for the video, I might check this carder out now.

[@TheWeftWright]

@@nyxnotnicks I’ve done that too, though my treadle squeaks when I only use one foot lol.

[@Mortisha2126]

Ps. If anything doesn't make sense I wrote, please let me know. So I will take more time to write in proper grammar, vocabulary, and better explanation.

[@TheWeftWright]

Everything is very clear, thank you. Where are you from?

[@Mortisha2126]

​@@TheWeftWright​ Originally from Germany. From the west side of West Germany ;-). We moved to Australia Melbourne in 2008. Where are you located? You don't have a strong accent. So I can't guess.