Drum Carders: Selecting & Using a Wool Drum Carder
If you're a handspinner, or are interested in felting wool then one of the tools you may want to invest in is a drum carder. This simple, table-top device allows fiber artists to use raw, washed, or dyed wool to create beautiful, carded bats of wool that are ready to spin.
Fiber artists love using drum carders, because it is easy to create beautiful bats of wool, or wool blends ... combining unique colors and wool with different natural fibers (silk, alpaca, etc.), to create truly unique wool products.
In this article we'll cover the basics of how to use a drum carder (with a helpful video guide), and we'll also provide links to a few highly reviewed drum carders which are available to purchase online.
Fiber artists love using drum carders, because it is easy to create beautiful bats of wool, or wool blends ... combining unique colors and wool with different natural fibers (silk, alpaca, etc.), to create truly unique wool products.
In this article we'll cover the basics of how to use a drum carder (with a helpful video guide), and we'll also provide links to a few highly reviewed drum carders which are available to purchase online.
What is a Drum Carder?
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A Drum Carder (or Wool Carder), is a simple tabletop device which cards wool and other fibers to prepare them for spinning or felting.
Carding is a mechanical process that disentagles, cleans, and intermixes wool fibers to produce a continuous web of wool fibers which is ideally suited for processing. Drum carders use two cylindrical drums covered with coarse or fine metal "tines" which rake through the wool to comb the wool into a uniform wool "bat" which can be spun into yarn or which can be used in your wool felting projects. |
Why Use a Wool Drum Carder to Prepare Wool?
One of the advantages of a mechanical drum carder over traditional hand cards, is that it is easier to process both raw or washed wool into uniform, beautiful wool bats. With a drum carder, it is also easy for fiber artists to be creative and produce interesting blends of dyed wool colors, or to mix wool with silk, alpaca, or other fiber products to create truly unique and ultra-soft wool-based clothing products to wear or to sell.
Video: How to Use a Drum Carder
In this short video, fiber artist Jill Shepherd walks you through using a drum carder to create the perfect bat of wool - prepared for spinning or felting.
Our Picks for the best Wool Drum Carders for Handspinners
If you have already selected the best spinning wheel to suit your needs, then choosing a reliable drum carder is probably your next major purchase. The right drum carder, properly maintained, can last a lifetime and will hold its value should you ever decide to sell ... making it a good investment.
To help you choose the best drum carder for your professional or hobby fiber projects, we've provided links to a few of the most reliable brands (Louet and Ashford) and their most popular drum carder models below. These can be purchased online on Amazon for fast shipping and the peace of mind that comes with their ironclad return policy.
To help you choose the best drum carder for your professional or hobby fiber projects, we've provided links to a few of the most reliable brands (Louet and Ashford) and their most popular drum carder models below. These can be purchased online on Amazon for fast shipping and the peace of mind that comes with their ironclad return policy.
Louet Drum Carders for Sale
  
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The Louet brand is synonymous with quality, and they're well known for producing budget-friendly, high-quality products that last forever if well cared for. The Louet 7.5" Drum Carder is constructed of laminated birch and comes with either Classic (Fine), or Standard (Xtra-Fine) tines.
The Louet Drum Carder includes a doffer brush, doffer pin, tabletop clamps and operates at a surface speed ration of 9:1. Another nice feature is that this drum carder's gearbox is enclosed to prevent fibers or debris from interfering with operation. |
 
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Just like the classic drum carder, Louet's 4" Roving Carder is constructed of laminated birch and includes an enclosed gear box for years of hassle-free operation. The difference is the width of the drums (4 inches instead of 7.5 inches wide), making this cool little roving carder ideal for handspinners who only need narrow strips of roving to use on their wheel.
While this is a less expensive drum carder (usually it runs about $140 less), that savings comes with the price of lower processing power (it will take twice as long to card the same amount of wool). Even so, the Louet Roving Drum Carder is a great choice for spinners who want a smaller wool carder and only need narrow strips of roving for handspinning. |
Ashford Drum Carders for Sale
 
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If you're looking to process a lot of wool and fiber products very quickly, then the Ashford 12" Wide Drum Carder is just what you're looking for. It produces gorgeous 12" wide batts of beautifully carded fiber, allowing you to create truly unique and colorful rainbow blends of dyed wool.
The Ashford 12" Drum Carder is (in our view) more attractive than the Louet drum carders, as it is made from lovely silver beech hardwood which is lacquered for a beautiful finish. The nylon bearings allow for easy turning with the hand-crank, at either a 4:1 or 6:1 rate of operation. |
 
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Ashford's 9" Drum Carder is available with either coarse or fine teeth, depending upon what sort of wool carding you will be doing. Their standard-size carder is 1.5" wider than Louet's version, making it capable of processing more fiber and creating larger batts for just slightly more money. If you're deciding between the two, I prefer the Ashford carder for this reason, and because I love the solid-wood, lacquered appearance of the Ashford carders.
The 9" drum carder from Ashford comes with clamps, an awl/doffer, rubber feet to prevent slipping and protect your work surface, and arrives lacquered and pre-assembled so you can begin enjoying it immediately! |
 
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The Ashford Wild Drum Carder is designed specifically for blending and creating - perfect for the fiber artist who loves to create unique, fun, and funky wild batts of wool for handspinning or felting.The carding width is 4", making it fast and easy to create perfectly sized batts of roving that are ready to spin.
The Ashford Wild Drum Carder is portable and compact, with a well-designed hand-hold for easy transportation to and from your fiber festivals and spinning events. It comes fully assembled and lacquered, and this product includes a cleaning brush, doffer (awl), clamps, and a built-in adjustable packer brush. |
About Choosing the Best Drum Carder for Your Home or Fiber Shop
While any of the drum carders included in our list will function well, selecting the perfect drum carder for your home or fiber shop is a decision that should be guided by how you answer these three questions:
- What type of fiber will you be primarily working with? (Coarse Wool, Fine Wool, or Super-Fine Fibers such as silk, mohair, and alpaca)
- Do you need a packer brush on your drum carder? (Helps to pack more fibers onto the drum, creating thicker batts -- this is very helpful if you work with fine, low-crimp fibers like mohair, angora, alpaca)
- What size drum carder should you buy? (How much processing do you plan to do, and what size wool batt do you prefer to work with?)
The good news is that if you take good care of your wool carder, your drum carder should last a lifetime and retain its value ... so even if you eventually decide you'd like a larger or smaller model, it's very easy to re-sell your wool carder locally for about what you paid for it, making it an excellent investment.
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