Advice on woolcombs
MIKISPIN
woolcombing. Which kind of woolcombs do you use? What types of fleeces are
good, expecially for a beginner? KNow anyone who doesn't use their combs,
willing to sell them? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks,
E-mail back anytime. MIKI
Judith A.E. Gilbert
I think I've tried every available comb. My advice is to go with
5 pitch (pitch = row) English combs. Peter Teal, who also wrote
a wonderful book on woolcimbing and worsted spinning has just
started inporting his 4 & 5 pitch combs into the US. I live near
Berkeley Ca, the closest retailer to me that carries 5 pitch in
Woodland Woolworks in Oregon ( check Spin Off for ad, don't have
mine handy at the moment, email me if you need phone 3, they
also have an 800#, check the 800 directory info) Also check
Bountiful in Colorado - she has very good prices on equipment.
Jim Creitzer(SP?) in Pennsylvania also makes very good combs
virtually identical to Teal's (sorry, don't recollect price,
check SpinOff ads). The cheapest 5 pitch combs are made by
Indigo Hound, and while they are lighter in weight than the
Teal's I found it more of a strainto work with them because they
are not well balanced, they are very top heavy, without sufficient
weight in the handles to counterbalance it. I also have a SET
of mini-Louets which I use to comb angora - quite laughing, it
works really well!! Alden Amost also makes quite beautiful
combs which are very heavy, too heavy for me but I'm little,
i know people who wouldn't comb with anythingelse. Email me
if you need more info, I'm sure I left something out!
Judith
Helen Fleischer
Mi> Hi, I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with
Mi> woolcombing. Which kind of woolcombs do you use? What types of fleeces
Mi> are
Mi> good, expecially for a beginner? KNow anyone who doesn't use their
Mi> combs,
Mi> willing to sell them? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks,
Mi> E-mail back anytime. MIKI
Greetings.
I use wool combs. Both English and Viking. My English are moderately
old Mecks. All my other combs come from Indigo Hound. I have a complete
set of all they make, except their English combs, since I already have
the Mecks. Any long staple wool will comb well. Romney is especially
nice to work when combed. English combs tend to make more waste, so I
use them less and less often, reserving them for the finer of my long
wools, or stuff that is too full of noils to come really "clean" with the
Viking combs. No, I don't know anyone willing to part with any combs.
Sorry.
... You can't act like a skunk without someone getting wind of it.
* Q-Blue 1.0 *
Ann E Durham
Hound's 5-pitch English combs. IMO, hand-combed wool is the ultimate
preparation--it's light and open, not compressed like commercial sliver.
I prefer the results from my English combs, but the Vikings are more
portable (you use one comb in each hand, in a motion similar to hand
carding, rather than having to clamp one comb down).
I even comb crimpy, down-type fleece with my English combs, but agree that
they leave a lot behind (but what they produce is choice!). I sometimes
take the "backings" (what's left on the combs), run them through my drum
carder to straighten them out, and then pull the batts into strips and
recomb them. This combing goes very quickly and I can usually salvage
quite a bit.
Indigo Hound also makes a two-row Viking comb, which I've heard gives a
better final product than the single-row but are still easier to use (and
less expensive) than the English combs.
--Ann
Gloria Hall
ask Paula Shull about wool combs. She is very very very good and knows
about all the different kinds. She also does wool combing classes. I
prefer to spin combed fibers as opposed to carded fibers when I can do it
myself. I use English wool combs because I feel they do the best job for
what I want. I know several people who use Viking combs and Russian paddle
combs and they love them too. Do you have a shop near by where you could
look at them closely? Gloria
Helen Fleischer
Ad> I even comb crimpy, down-type fleece with my English combs, but agree
Ad> that
Ad> they leave a lot behind (but what they produce is choice!). I sometimes
Ad> take the "backings" (what's left on the combs), run them through my drum
Ad> carder to straighten them out, and then pull the batts into strips and
Ad> recomb them. This combing goes very quickly and I can usually salvage
Ad> quite a bit.
With most fleeces, I pick and drum card before the initial combing, then
re-card the waste for felting if not for re-combing. I tend to use the
double-row Viking combs more often than the English (I have Meck's
English) because I can do that sitting in my easy chair and there is
so much less waste with them. It sounds like more work, but I find that
picking (Meck Mini Picker) is easy, the drum carding needs only one pass
if it's for combing, and it makes the combing need only one pass. It
also minimizes directionality/nap in the yarn without adding much loft.
Ad> Indigo Hound also makes a two-row Viking comb, which I've heard gives a
Ad> better final product than the single-row but are still easier to use
Ad> (and less expensive) than the English combs.
True. For things like clean Romney you get something that really
approaches the quality you get from the English, but faster and easier.
To be honest, I started saving my English combs for special projects to
the point where they spend their time gathering dust.
... Fiber artists dye laughing.
* Q-Blue 1.0 *
Marilyn Weyman-Kegg
I would definitely recommend any of the Viking combs. See one of the inside
covers of Spin Off for the ad for Susan's Fiber Shop in Wisconsin. Susan
MacFarland is the owner and one of the most knowledgeable combers I have met.
She will be able to recommend the combs you need for what you want to spin.
I have the first Vikings that were available (not the first pair, but the first
type) and a pair of Louet combs which are nice for really fine stuff like
Rambouillet or a fine, silky Finn. I did have a pair of Quest combs, but sold
them to a friend. I just don't want to comb the middle stuff - I love Romney
and Border Leicester and don't like Corriedale and the like much at all. The
Vikings are great for Mohair and the long wools I love.
Someone here posted about carding 1x before combing. This does not sound like a
good idea to me. It is contrary to what combing is supposed to do and probably
just make more work. To each their own, though.
Our spinning homestudy has been combing for about three years now. I think that
lots have been doing it. Patricia Emerick, Iris Dozer, and Patsy Zawistowski
are leading teachers who are proponets of Combing, and I am sure there are lots
of others.
Have fun!
Marilyn