Carding Drum finished!

beloitdavisja

James
Corporate Member
I finished up the Drum Carder for my wife! She's excited to start using it.

I cut the discs for the drums on my table saw, and turned the pulleys on my lathe. I did mount the drums on the lathe after gluing up for a light sanding. I ended up making 14 discs each of 2" and 7" diameters. Frame was made from maple I had lying around the shop. The fabricated metal parts were made from aluminum, and the shafts are plated steel, all from Lowe's. The gap between the drums is adjustable, as well as the drive belt tension. I put a couple coats of wipe-on poly on the wood after sanding for a smooth, snag-free finish that also won't possibly transfer to any of the fibers.




Some videos of it in action:
Just turning the drums

Carding some fiber (wife was cranking pretty slow)
 

awldune

Sam
User
Looks great! If you wouldn't mind sharing, what was the best price you found for the carding cloth?
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
Nice work. My daughter is into that whole sheep to sweater thing but so far she hasn't asked for one of those carding drums.

What are you using for the drive belt?
 

beloitdavisja

James
Corporate Member
Looks great! If you wouldn't mind sharing, what was the best price you found for the carding cloth?

I got the 72/90 TPI drum carder kit it from Howard Brush on Etsy. $90 for a 1ft length of 72 TPI, and a 2ft 90 TPI, 9.5" wide. Other places I looked at sell it for $30+ per linear foot, or $7 per linear inch. Howard sells a couple different combinations for the licker & swift drums. It was by far the most expensive component of the project.

Nice work. My daughter is into that whole sheep to sweater thing but so far she hasn't asked for one of those carding drums.
What are you using for the drive belt?

I got the drive belt off of amazon: Amazon.com: uxcell 16ft 6mm PU Transmission Round Belt High-Performance Urethane Belting Green for Conveyor Bonding Machine Dryer: Industrial & Scientific
After measuring and cutting to length, I used a blowtorch to heat an old razorblade to weld the two ends together (like this)

Does your daughter use hand carders? That's what my wife was doing until she asked me to build this. Considering the drum carders sell for $350+, building one might make a good present!
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
I got the drive belt off of amazon: Amazon.com: uxcell 16ft 6mm PU Transmission Round Belt High-Performance Urethane Belting Green for Conveyor Bonding Machine Dryer: Industrial & Scientific
After measuring and cutting to length, I used a blowtorch to heat an old razorblade to weld the two ends together (like this)

Does your daughter use hand carders? That's what my wife was doing until she asked me to build this. Considering the drum carders sell for $350+, building one might make a good present!
Thanks for the links.

She uses hand carding right now. No doubt she'll be wanting me to build a drum carder before it's all over. Just now her major request for me to build is a spinning wheel. She's researching just what she wants at this point so I won't start until she settles on one. She just told me this weekend she's going to make a day trip from Atlanta to somewhere in Alabama where they make a model she's interested in.
 

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