Spin 190 - EEW Drum Carder Prototype 2

[@LisaMyEclecticLife]

Love the debris drawer. It is looking good.

[@marileerow]

I love the size and especially love the catch tray. I'm excited...can't wait!

[@HegenerHomestead]

After using bigger equipment that my friend has, I would recommend not slowing the motor down. If anything, you can have a different control to make the licker in go slower, but speed up the big drum. Slow feed in speed with a fast drum will help get a nicer batt. This is an awesome prototype though, and very exciting! Good luck with your adjustments!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

On my previous prototype I talked about the pros and cons of having a variable ratio between the licker and swift drums, but decided for this version I'm going to have a fixed ratio (though it could be changed by making 3D printed pulleys). If this product is successful I have some pretty interesting ideas to make a drum carder sized device that works more like a cottage carder, but that is more complex/risky so I'm going to do this device first.

[@jenchan4817]

I know you were just thinking aloud when you mentioned thinking of making a version without a motor. I'd be more interested in a nonmotor version than a motored one. Especially since it could bring the price down, which is the main reason I don't own a drum carder. Though I don't know if the motor really is what will make the big difference, I'm guessing that the cost of the carding cloth to go on the drum is a bigger expense. I love the dust drawer.

[@debgerish]

As you get older, you might be more excited about a motorized carder. I have a bum elbow that really appreciates the motor.

[@lindabishop-surbeck2575]

Love it! I’m happy to see how you’re getting your daughter involved.

[@erikagreenwell9892]

so cool!!! i am saving my money now. i think this is the way i'll be able to finally afford a drum carder!!!❤

[@sarahs9036]

Can’t wait for this!

[@emilythequeen1]

Can’t wait to buy this.

[@TheodoraLetz]

I love the debris drawer and cover for the belts. After owning and selling an electric Duncan carder because it was creating neps in my Finn and Shetland fiber I now own a Pat Greene carder with a much finer carding cloth on the main drum and double licker ins. This resolved the nep issue. It also came with a burnishing brush that has much softer tines than a hand card. What TPI is your main drum and are you planning to make this changeable?

[@iceberg232323]

He did some surveys about what TPI people might want and if they were interested in different drums. I think switching drums would be great

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Based on feedback from the community my main drum will be 72 TPI. I'm considering offering other drums and will make the final decision on this later. At the very least I'll make 3D printable files available so people can put their own carding cloth on new drums, but this process will be pretty involved. It will be an option though.

[@TheodoraLetz]

@DreamingRobotsBlog I think the option to add another drum will be very helpful. I went into carding my fleeces after googling extensively I ended up thinking the lower tpi was fine for most fleeces. There was no indication of it causing the problems that I ended up seeing carding my Finn crosses and Shetland Fleeces. Only after talking with spinning friends who also carded Finn I realized there was a systematic problem caused by using the common lower tpi for fine wool fleeces.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

@@TheodoraLetz Thanks for the feedback. When you say finer drum, do you mean something like 120 TPI or something else?

[@vampyyy]

@@DreamingRobotsBlog not the OP here, but 120 is a good carder tpi, a far far better all-round option than 72. 120 will work well on all types of wools and other fibres from fairly coarse to pretty fine, and limit the number of passes you need to do. 72 works ok on coarse and medium fibres, but terribly on fine ones, and needs more passes to get an inferior result. The only very minor downside is that you can get larger inclusions for art batts in 72 cloth than 120, but for general carding and blending (which the majority of users will be doing), 120 is far superior. I can't imagine why anyone who has experience with both would say they prefer the coarser in the poll, so I am expecting it was just people who wrongly assume a fine carder is only used for very fine fibres, or people who've only actually tried one sort of carding cloth.

[@leilanyvazquez1174]

I am so excited for this!!!!

[@daniellebissonnette3304]

This is an exciting product! The motor seems to be low noise, which I like.

[@melaniegudgel1]

Awesome! So cool. Guess what I’m going to get? 😊 your family is beautiful.

[@Bobbieliz]

Interested in watching the development...looks so promising!

[@laurensavidge1356]

I am so excited for this! Love your work

[@therese1226]

I have a small Hero carder but a number of EEW wheels and the yarn counter. I am excited about this.

[@Tinas_Workshop]

LOVE the drawer!

[@sdeniear]

I love this. Can’t wait to see the progression on your prototypes. Would it be possible to add a cover to protect the carding cloth for storage?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

It is something I'm considering. I just want to keep it affordable so I'm not sure if this is worth doing, but it is being looked into.

[@goddesofwolves]

This is so cooooooool!!! I’m already a fan of your wheels. Now you’re doing carders?!?! Well I’m down for at least one. I have so much wool to process and blend.

[@zoeesheba]

oh wonderful, Ive been waiting for this!!!

[@alltangledup-afiberexplora8236]

Turn the little brush the other direction so it can pack the bat down.

[@beyenburgerindesign1393]

Looks good, pretty nice. The motor needs to be strong, that is the most important thing. My husband electrified two drum carders (because I sold the first one, without motor). He did a lot of testing. Also, you do not need too much speed. Maximum should be 120 revolutions per minute, but 60 to 80 should be just fine. A packer brush might be helpful to push the fibres down on the drum.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I talk about this some in the video, but the problem isn't the motor. It has a ton of torque. It's a slipping belt and I'm looking into several ways to address it. I expect my next prototype will have this solved (and I agree it's the biggest issue with the current prototype). Thanks for the feedback!

[@OvisAriesFarm]

Love the everything! And the purple!

[@kps59]

Absolutely love this new version and the improvements. I can’t wait for this to be ready. Are you planning a kickstarter run for it? Will it be possible to replace the carding cloth ourselves if we are technically inclined? I will need a 120 for pretty much all the fiber I process.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I'm planning a Kickstarter, but it is a long ways off. I'm still just working on improving the prototype. I am planning to make the parts available for 3D printing so people can make other drums, and I might sell extra drums (still undecided on this).

[@kps59]

@ thank you! Happy Holidays!

[@jenniferwade5486]

To help getting the batt off cleanly, i use an old, very flexible knitting needle that doesn't damage the tines on the carding cloth. Something like 1.5mm.

[@OvisAriesFarm]

Also porcupine quills work VERY WELL (Etsy)

[@dawanariley4183]

Beautiful. Love My opinion the motor needs to be stronger due to people like me that uses long wools and primitive wools.

[@dianewoodyard1927]

Brillant idea.

[@debgerish]

I am SALIVATING. Can't wait to get my hands on this carder. What's the width of the drum? I'm sure you've said it, but I can't remember. It was also lovely to see your family and your home. Your daughter is so big now!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

200 mm

[@deejcarter2003]

I do love the concealed belts and the debris draw. I think it would be nice to have the option of a 72 tpi drum or a 120tpi when buying. If you only do medium wools 72tpi is fine but the 120tpi covers pretty much all wools. I wouldn’t want to buy an extra drum just to get the one I’d use all the time.(120)

[@Jikky-1]

Looking exciting 🎉

[@nancycat2588]

Carding horizontally allows the fibers to trap more air for a fluffier batt and will blend better. A very slow ratio of the licker-in is required so the fibers (and carder teeth) don't break or bend.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I don't understand your licker comment. The most likely place for licker wires to bend would be against the swift drum and a faster licker would reduce the relative speed differences of these two drums. That goes against your comment for a slow ratio of the licker. That said, I believe a slow licker ratio is important, but for several other totally different reasons (the biggest two being in my testing the slower ratio aids in transferring fiber to the swift without being left on the licker and a slower ratio aids in even distribution of fiber onto the swift which is especially useful when blending). However, I have not seen any indication of wires bending, but I'd be interested if you have more information on that.

[@nancycat2588]

@DreamingRobotsBlog I'm not a tech person I just know/learned/read that a slower licker rotation aids the fiber in a more even distribution on the faster moving main drum. People are afraid to load fiber horizontally because of the teeth pulling on the non aligned fibers. But as I mentioned, one can get a really fluffy batt and better blended product by loading horizontally. That's all I have.

[@nancycat2588]

@@DreamingRobotsBlog a feature I'd appreciate built in, non adjustable slots for the drums. I've replaced belts on my drum carder and had a really hard time repositioning the the drums.

[@judgingoliveu6567]

Awesome, as usual, Maurice! Have you considered a chain drive? One feature I would like to see is a main drum disconnect so that accessory drums with different TPIs could be utilized.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Yes, that's on my list of solutions in this video's description. I list the top 4 in the video description, but since writing that I think I've narrowed my decision to a timing belt or gears. Chains had a few too many cons compared to the timing belt.

[@lou2shuify]

Saving my pennies and hoping the Aussie dollar strenghens against the USD before you release it.

[@MonicaLea]

I'm broke so I would buy a bargain version without the motor in a heartbeat! Do include at least the pick, and turn the tines on the burnishing brush the other direction if that is going to be included.

[@zan_wild]

Super exciting! I love that it has an integrated packing brush. I couldn’t tell for sure in the video, do the tines on the burnishing brush point up or down? They should point up…

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I'm not totally sure what you mean by up or down since it depends on how the brush is used and position on the drum, but I think up. That wasn't mine and if I do one then I'll make sure I do a bunch of testing to figure out the best setup.

[@sherizapadka3684]

This looks great! I am holding off buying a drum carder so I can buy one from you. I appreciate your attention to detail and your dedication to excellence. You have many great features here. How much longer will I need to wait?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

@@sherizapadka3684 I am still working on prototypes so it will be a long time. Probably 8 months or more until preorders and over a year until it ships.

[@OvisAriesFarm]

Gods I just LOVE this thing. Love the batt pick and burnishing brush (but have my own brush so don’t need that included). I think it’s more common to include the pick and not the burnishing brush?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I agree that is more typical. I'm going to price out all the tools and figure out what makes sense to include by either asking the community or a smaller group of drum carders I have been chatting with about various things.

[@howlingwind1937]

I think the drum rollers need to be closer together, the motor is rather noisy too, but it looks fantastic!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

The rollers are adjustable. The motor volume won't change. This is just how the gear box I'm using works. It's not loud as in hurting your ears over time, but it will make a lot more noise than my eSpinners.

[@howlingwind1937]

@DreamingRobotsBlog no it won't hurt ears or anything, but just thought I'd mention it anyway, the drum carder looks pretty smart actually, have you got a price for it yet? I love all your products and I'm getting quite a collection ☺️. Thank you for a reply. Cheers from Australia!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

@@howlingwind1937 My target price is around $400, but I really don't know what the actual price is until I'm finished with development and understand if tariffs change.

[@howlingwind1937]

@DreamingRobotsBlog that's a pretty good price, I'll look forward to it being available. 😊😊

[@xiulinhu]

please keep it motorized! there arent a lot of motorized drum carders under $1000 so it would be nice if this can fill in that price/market gap. the debris drawer is great thinking! what's causing so much noise? it sounds like there's a lot of friction. or is the motor that loud? looking good so far.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

The geared motor just makes that much noise.

[@holynic7451]

Do you sell the 3d files and instructions on how to build one?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I will give away some 3D printed files, but likely not all the files since some parts can't be 3D printed well and thus I don't want to support it. If you just want a lower cost, I don't think it will be that relevant anyways because it would be likely that the cost of the motor, a single pcb, the carding cloth, handle, and all the other parts that can't be 3D printed would be more expensive than what I sell my drum carder for since I get big discounts when I order parts in volume.

[@holynic7451]

@@DreamingRobotsBlog Maybe as an initial project it is better that it be manual and not electric. Do you think there is a way to build one at home with a printer in a simple enough version to make it work?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

@@holynic7451 My expertise is in electric and all my testing shows lots of value in an electric version so that is where I'll spend time. I think it's possible for someone else to make a 3D printed version, but you'd still need to get several parts to make it work the most expensive being carding cloth.

[@catherinepoloynis]

Maybe a 'push' tool to keep little fingers out if the works.

[@raggedflyer4427]

Maybe include a one way bearing to automatically decouple the drum drive when removing the yarn against the normal direction of rotation.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

One way bearings are somewhat expensive and I don't really see the advantage of them. In fact I can see some use cases where you might want to go a little backwards and that wouldn't be possible with such a bearing. Could you explain this request a little more?

[@EddyvanderVoorn]

INDEED very promising

[@howlingwind1937]

The hook is called a doffer

[@lisaml7411]

I’m going to watch for this! Looks like she’s carding alpaca?

[@kellym4169]

What do you think you'll charge for it?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I don't have a price estimate, but I will price it affordably. My prices are based on the cost to make it. I think previously I said $300-400 (kind of regretting putting that out in the last video since I'm not very sure anymore based on the changes). I really won't know until I price all the parts out in volume and I don't do that until I have a prototype I'm happy with.

[@sharonromance4700]

A friend and I made a triple drum carder (I was the grunt), and he put a reversible motor in it. I can turn the speed to really slow and it eases doffing. Have you tried this?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

This sounds more like a mini cottage carder and not a drum carder. This is something I've considered, but decided against doing since it increases cost significantly. If the drum carder goes well and there seems to be demand for a higher end carder I have some cool ideas in this area.

[@OvisAriesFarm]

If it’s not too late, maybe consider switching to 120 tpi cloth while you still can, esp if it’s going to make a vastly superior product?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

That is actually my most likely plan after I talked with some others who do a lot of carding. I plan to test a few different cloths later in development and make a decision then. That can be one of my later decisions.

[@OvisAriesFarm]

@ I card almost exclusively Romney, so I don’t really have a dog in this fight: either will work well for me. However, I’m sensitive to the reality that 120 is definitely a better choice for most folx

[@catherinepoloynis]

Maybe a foot-powered wheel ( ala potters' wheel ) or pedal ( ala sewing machine) at bottom for power. Safer than motor too.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I didn't cover it in this video (though I did in in the first prototype) that I will include a pedal to start/stop it just like I do with my eSpinners. Thanks for the feedback!

[@anonatase67]

Are electric drum carder motors that whiny sounding? I have a manual drum carder so this is a genuine curiosity question.

[@iceberg232323]

Each different brand sounds different. Some are really loud

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Most of that noise is from the geared motor I'm using. It is a lot louder than my eSpinners and I expect it to stay that way. If you don't use the motor then it can be quiet if you aren't brushing the fiber too hard, but if you are really pushing down on the fiber then it will still be fairly loud (most of the noise in this case is just the rubbing of the metal wires on the drum with your brush).

[@anonatase67]

@ thank you for replying to my question. I’m pretty sure I will be buying one once it becomes available. I like the design options of electric and hand crank.

[@monicamccoy8875]

I'm starting to watch , thinking, I kinda wish it were manual, and then BOOM! Wish granted!!

[@sonyamah5444]

Please include all the pieces!,

[@julietpage4322]

Nice! But The teeth on the packing brush should be pointed the other way.

[@mums4000]

Are you willing to sell the 3d printer files as well? I would be happy to buy the files and print my own!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

@@mums4000 I give away some of the 3d files but not all of them. My parts are designed for injection molding and this don't 3d print well. Plus you still need other parts like carding cloth, circuit board, motor, custom milled metal parts, ...

[@raggedflyer4427]

Toothed belt would be an improvement

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Just to make sure it's clear, that is what I referred to as a timing belt in the description.

[@EllenParham-zz5ni]

I like the handle because I live in California.