Spin 191 - Drum Carder (Improved Drive Belt Power)

[@tracytroutman7188]

I am definitely going to try and hold my desire for a drum carder at bay until your's is available. I've been successfully talking myself out of one for a year and i do not need more than one.

[@sleepydrJ]

I love how the cats are exploring!

[@shaunastitches]

I love the updates and I’m very excited to hear when this will become available on kickstarter!

[@myroslavajacklitsch6039]

Smashing!Cannot wait!!!!!! Enjoyed your family and kitties😍😍😍 participating❤ Lord's Blessings!

[@melaniegudgel1]

This is so awesome! Roy Clemes would tell you not to hold onto the fiber and let the likerin take it. I haven’t tried a drum carder yet but I’m taking some classes and watched his class on the Ply guild online. So I’m certainly not an expert 😂

[@iceberg232323]

Good advice for a lot of carders! I know there's a few odd ducks out there where one likes you to provide a little tension, or the fiber gets stuck to the licker in more. And then there's one where you're supposed to actually have the teeth touch a tiny bit.. which would drive me insane from the sound lol

[@jsan3743]

This is awesome!

[@phyrewillow6463]

Oh boy! Can’t wait for this one!

[@Kristine6188]

How exciting!

[@Danielledavis-h8p]

Oh I can't wait for this!!!

[@daniellebissonnette3304]

I like the way the brush is set up. I hope that you will have TPI options 🤞

[@IcarusAerial]

I absolutely LOVE this! Such a great thing to create and from scratch, no less! I've created an electric system/drive for my wifes Brother carder and opted for gear drive for it. Much stronger and I needed the reduction to get the speed down a bit more while the torque was still higher. My 2 cents is gear drive/gear box for sure on the drum. If you're ever looking for beta testers with printers and experience in Fusion, I'd be super excited to help out!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I considered both chain and gear options for the swift. There is already a gearbox on my motor to reduce the ratio there (about 100:1). There were pros and cons to each option, but I think the timing belt that I'm using is working really well. I will probably stick with that unless I run into unforeseen issues.

[@IcarusAerial]

​@@DreamingRobotsBlog That makes perfect sense! As always, I love what you do, and I really do love the community around it. Keep up the amazing work!

[@BoomerKnows]

Really like this!!!

[@julieknitsandspins]

Wow!!! 👏👏👏

[@A3Kr0n]

She asked for a cotton candy machine and got a carding machine instead.

[@carolemorain126]

Nice!

[@Renmus1510]

I like the doffer design. One request for consideration my impatient and arthritic hands are making 🙂: Could there be (or is there) a spot where we could opt to use our own speed clamps instead of the screw clamp?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Yes, there is a flat 8mm edge on on the bottom where you could attach your own clamp. I'll probably show how that is done in another video someday.

[@Renmus1510]

@@DreamingRobotsBlog Good to know, thanks Maurice!

[@EbonRaven]

I saw some of the comments about the motor being loud, that motor is not very loud at all! That looks really pretty good! I like that timing belt change. The fiber looks like it was drawn on easily, though, like many others have said, the 72tpi cloth will not make as nice a bat for what looks like a soft alpaca fleece, as a 120tpi cloth would. Just because I'm intensely curious, how much is this prototype running for weight? Not that I ever intend to sling a drum carder around by a single hand, but I've had several drum carders, and boy howdy, some of them can practically throw your back out and any kids you have as well!

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I haven't weighted the prototype, but I'd guess it's around 6 pounds. I expect it will be much lighter than any similarly sized carder on the market even when you factor in a little extra weight for my motor. That's one of the advantages of my plastic design. I will do more testing later with different TPI. The drums are easy to change so I could offer both 72 and 120 TPI drums if my testing justify it.

[@heidiaussie5023]

@@DreamingRobotsBlog- I’d definitely be interested in having 2 drums. If you could include a cheat sheet on how to change/replace the carding cloth (with all its specs) that would be awesome - I’m looking to replace the cloth on one of mine now & not having that info is annoying. Agree that the motor isn’t too loud, but 👍👍 to your young designer 😀

[@zan_wild]

Do you know what TPI you are planning for the carding cloth on the drum? 72 TPI is the “norm” for most things, but a higher TPI for finer fibers is nice. Just a thought for a (far) future option might be the ability to purchase additional drums & change them out for TPI options?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

The current drum is 72 TPI. I've been told by some expert carders that I trust that in most cases 120 TPI would be a better default. I plan to test a few cloths later, but for now focusing on getting the carder working well.

[@cynthiawatson7494]

Faster isnt better. Tender fleece will be pulled and torn causing neps if it's too fast. Also, holding onto the fleece while it's feeding will cause it to nep and stick into the licker in brush. This is going to be a game changer for those who are longing for a drum carder. And there are MANY! 😍

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Thanks for the feedback. We'll work on our technique and won't hold the fiber like we did in this video. I've probably heard from about 20 people now on how we did that wrong 🙂 As for speed, it can be controlled and I'm just talking about max speed. I'm still working with testers who know more about carding to me to figure out a good max speed. Obviously there could be too slow and too fast. I'm sure my current speed is fast enough. If others think it's too fast then I'll limit the speed more.

[@vampyyy]

I think it's important that the packer brush be able to be removed quickly, perhaps swung back somehow, and then quickly pushed back into place. Otherwise it can inhibit the backwards motion of the drum that you may need when removing a batt, and having to mess around with a screwdriver in between batts would be really annoying. I'd prefer some sort of thumb screw there rather than needing a screwdriver, but even better would be a way to swing it in and out of place and keep the setting the same between batts. If possible I'd prefer the feed tray to be a little longer, I like to be able to put my hand flat on the fibre to guide it in (but not pulling on it, which causes it to wrap round the licker in as you've found!), and this looks a little short to do that. Also a small lip on either side of the licker in would be useful.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I can certainly go to thumb screws for the packer brush. Making it articulating would add some complexity or expense, but I'll think about that... Changing the feed tray length is difficult. It's pretty much as long as it can be while being easy to store. I will think about it more though and see what kinds of changes could be made.

[@priscilladobson6699]

Doffing hook is wonderful. Have you investigated “shark tooth “ cardng cloth? I have an older Clemmes carder that has what I call “shark teeth” on the licker-in and it has done beautifully on every fiber I’ve ever used on it. You might want to think of using it as an alternative or add-on.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

I have spent a ton of time looking into shark tooth carding cloth for the licker. I talked with a lot of expert carders and some loved it and some didn't like it. In the end I've decided not to go with it due to manufacturing issues and cost.

[@Richardjaymz]

Hey DR could you try something for me, ya know the cone winder, could you try a bobbin of overlocking thread to see if it would work? Its called 120 size thread

[@robinr6399]

My frustration with my drum carder is when fiber gets wrapped around the drums' axles. Is there a way to easily take the drums off, or otherwise clean fiber out from the axles on your drum carder?

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

Yes, my drums are removable and interchangable. A complete drum replacement should be just 6 screws and take under 10 minutes.

[@robinr6399]

@DreamingRobotsBlog thank you!

[@nancycat2588]

Not sure about the brush - it looks too rough. I have a "packer" brush and a soft nylon single row packer brush. It does sound loud, and this would be a deal breaker for me.

[@DreamingRobotsBlog]

More testing will be done with packer brushes, but my understanding is that many people who use them don't get as much packing done with the brush because they aren't agressive enough with the use of it. I will collect info about this from the testing and from several carding experts and include any info I find about how best to use these brushes for different kinds of fiber in the instructional videos. I want to provide not just the best tools, but also the best instructions for these tools. While the hand operated mode is quieter, even that mode will always be more loud than my eSpinners (all drum carders I've seen are also more loud than my eSpinners). Not much I can do about this. As for the motor noise, that is from the gear box and without a significantly more expensive gear box or doing something custom, I can't make that portion quieter. I don't think I will be making those changes though since for most people I'm pretty sure the current sound level is ok, but I do understand it won't work for everyone.

[@nancycat2588]

@DreamingRobotsBlog Howard Brush Company's "blending/burnishing" brush is very good, and not as harsh as my drum carder "cleaner" brushes. I'd definitely pay more for a quiet drum carder but I guess I've said that already.