# Blending boards ?!?



## Miz Mary

I just learned of them ! How fun !! Does anybody here use them ?? 
Here's a video ...

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/rollin-rolags/2429805/1-25#12


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## frazzlehead

I blend on the drum carder or on my hand cards or on my combs. Depending on the fibre, that is.

The blending board just looks like a really big hand card. Interesting!


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## Marchwind

Nope, but I've always wanted to give it a try.


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## Callieslamb

They are featured in the latest Spin Off. They might even be easier than a drum carder. The Spin Off article said you can use them with one carder and do the same job as a drum carder. I like the ways of doffing off - horizontal, vertical or diagonal to get different looks for the yarn produced.


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## Pearl B

That looks really interesting. Looks like you can get a good amount of control over what you make!


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## Miz Mary

Wind in Her Hair said:


> I was at a fiber thing and saw one for sale for $10- nobody knew what it was for or how it worked- but they seem to be making a comeback!



:shocked::shocked:

I looked up one , it was $140 .... you can make your own for about $65 ish


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## lathermaker

I've kind of looked into making my own by buying the carding cloth. But, right now money is tight with taxes coming due....uggghhhh the "joys" of owning your own business....


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## mtnviewpottery

Just finished mine. Glue is setting up now. Whole thing was less than $70. They're really making a lot of money off of these things. I have an Etsy source for the hardware cloth if anyone is interested. I put mine on a one inch hardwood chopping block, but any piece of hardwood the correct dimensions would work. I'm having some trouble stapling it, but thought I'd take it to the hardware store in the morning. I know somebody there will help me. I need to pick up a couple of dowels and a stiff paintbrush. I can't believe they're charging $130-230.00 plus shipping for these. My cost includes all shipping.

Next week, I'm making hackles from a pattern I found online. Whole thing will cost less than $20. 

Happy early morning after Valentine's Day,
Jan


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## Marchwind

Welcome to the Fold Mtnviewpottery!

Can you post pictures so we can see. Did your carding cloth come precut? Thankyou for sharing this with us.


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## mtnviewpottery

I'll be glad to take pics later today.I had my hardware cloth cut to 9 1/2 x 12. I had to remove some staples from the short sides, break up the finish on the chopping block with some sandpaper. Then I glued it down with some sort of super flexible Elmer' s spray glue. At this point, I don't even think it needs staples, but once I get the correct ones, I'll probably add them, too. Look for pics later today. SUPER simple project!


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## Miz Mary

Nice to meet you mtviewpottery !!! Cant wait to see your pictures !! This looks like a fun way to do fiber !!


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## mtnviewpottery

Well, I've just found out that my fuzzy mind doesn't know how to post photos here. Could anyone help me with that?

Nice to meet everyone here, too!

Jan


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## Lythrum

mtnviewpottery said:


> Well, I've just found out that my fuzzy mind doesn't know how to post photos here. Could anyone help me with that?
> 
> Nice to meet everyone here, too!
> 
> Jan


If you look above where you make the post, there is a button like a paper clip, you can use that to add photo attachments to your post. If you have a Flickr account there is a sticky that shows how to post from there at the top of the forum.

And welcome!


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## mtnviewpottery

I'll try again tomorrow, as I'm settled in bed tonight. Maybe by then, I'll have some photos of rolags, too. I'm definitely going to try to find a way to wear a gardening or quilting glove when I'm doing this! What a wimp I've become!


Night all,
Jan


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## mtnviewpottery

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnviewpottery/8477634529/in/photostream]

http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnviewpottery/8477637699/in/photostream]

I'm sorry if this doesn't work. I'll keep trying until it does. My paperclip has disappeared, and in it's place is the globe with the paper clip. The landscape where I should be able to transfer images asks me for a URL and then won't do anything. So, I tried to transfer from Flickr. You can also go onto my 
Flickr images...it's mtnviewpottery.

The Etsy shop where I bought my hardware cloth is 
[url]http://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalfiberyarns[/url]. Her name is Amy Pelletier and she is wonderful to deal with. It comes in 12 inch widths and she will cut it to the length you want. I just used a small knife to pick out the ones on the short sides to accomodate the staples.

I think that next I'm making a hackle from plans I found online. It's made from six hairpicks--Afro type, screwed to a 1X2 and C-clamped to a table. Very effective in the videos I've seen. I'm sure it won't be as heavy-duty as the more expensive ones, but it will do until I can afford better. The diz is made from a gallon milk cap.

Good luck,
Jan


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## gone-a-milkin

blending board by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr


Here it is! 
I clicked on "share" above the photo then made sure to check the BBCode box,
grabbed the link, and pasted it right in on this message box w/o using any of the paperclips.

I wish I had a whole roll of that carding cloth.


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## SvenskaFlicka

mtnviewpottery said:


> Whole thing was less than $70. They're really making a lot of money off of these things... I can't believe they're charging $130-230.00 plus shipping for these. My cost includes all shipping.


Hi! Nice to meet you! Your board looks awesome and fun! (I want to try!)

As a person who sells handmade things to try to make a living, I'm not surprised that's what people are selling those boards for. I've always heard a good basic rule for pricing items is to take the cost of your materials, times three. This covers materials, time, taxes, bank fees, etc. Actually, at that rate I'm surprised there are some out there for $120.

So... If you want to make more of these and sell them on Etsy, don't undercut yourself. There are people out there who obviously will pay up to $240 for a good blending board, who wouldn't know where to start to make one. Keep up the good work!


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## mtnviewpottery

Thank you so much for posting the pic for me. I still can't find the share button, although I am usually pretty savvy in these matters.

Amy does have a partial roll for sale, I think I noticed in her shop. 

I guess you're right about the prices, especially since most have the keel on the bottom for holding it on your lap or propping it on a table. The majority of them also seem to have a flicker type brush.

It's definitely something I may consider, because honestly, this one was nothing to throw together.

Please give me some more direction about where to find the share button. I tried dragging and dropping and using the paperclip and the notepaper. I couldn't get anything to work.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Jan


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## mtnviewpottery

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnviewpottery/8477637699/

Trying again. Found the share button on Flickr.


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## Miz Mary

WAY COOL !! thats is definatly something I'll have to try !! Cant wait to see your rolags !!


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## gone-a-milkin

mtnviewpottery said:


> http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnviewpottery/8477637699/
> 
> Trying again. Found the share button on Flickr.


You've almost got it. You need the BBCode.


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## Marchwind

When you open up the share drop down menu at the bottom you will see two buttons you can click. One says bbcode, make sure that button is pressed. Then copy and past the link from the box above the buttons. Ad then just paste it into your message. You don't need to do anything special just copy and paste it here. You can preview you posts too before posting it to see if it has worked or not.


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## Callieslamb

I wonder if you could use one of these rather than a drum carder? It seems to work like a huge hand carder - kind of. 

mtnview- what number of points per inch did you use? I can't remember what we number we used for my drum carder, but I'm wondering if TIP isn't why I'm getting bumps in my batts.


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## PKBoo

That's awesome mtnview! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

I've watched the videos about blending, and it seems easier to do (you have more control with blending the colors)

Thanks for sharing!


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## mtnviewpottery

Hi, everybody! 
I got the 72 dpi cloth. I think it comes from 54-120, but it seemed that most people were using the 72. I did three rolags last night, and I have to say, I think I put too much wool and rolled them too tightly, because spinning from them was not easy. My spinning is rusty, anyway, and I didn't have dowels, so I tried to use the handle of a long-handled wooden spoon. I also don't know what type of wool this is. I've had it for years and it's a rough wool and may not be what I need for this project. I'm going to try again this week with some nice new wool I have and see what happens. I wanted to dye it first, but I may have to try some for rolags first. The brush you use to put the wool on the board needs to be very stiff--stiffer than the fuller brush or the little paintbrush I had on hand to do it with. I think it will all come with experience and the right tools! When I have some new pics, I'll post them. Thanks for all the helpful info about how to get pics posted on here!


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## mtnviewpottery

Oh, I think that it would be much slower than drumcarding, but I think that if you enjoy handcarding and have some handcards and one of these you could certainly keep yourself in wool to spin!


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## Marchwind

If you are rolling your fibers onto a dowel (spoon handle) would those not be considered punis? Are you spinning rom the rolled ends of them? How long are the fibers? 

We want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures!!!!!!!!!!! Please


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## mtnviewpottery

Marchwind and everyone, I promise pictures very soon. I've been in bed most all this week with a horrible cold which now may have turned into pneumonia. I haven't felt like doing anything. I did make some soup and bread today, and played just a little bit more with my blending board. The best thing I've found to blend the fibers is my Clemes flicker brush. The rolags the woman in the video makes are very skinny and do resemble punis, although I've always thought of punis more in regard to cotton. Mine are bigger and fluffier. I also forgot to hand tease them before I began spinning. I do spin from one of the rolled ends. It would be very easy to pick up the whole batt and remove that instead of rolling rolags. I also played a little using one handcarder to put the fiber on, but found the flicker brush works better for me. I'll do my best to post pictures tomorrow. I'm really excited because I ordered some sari silk and tussah silk today for including on the blending board. I hope to get some dyeing done this weekend, but I hope it's fiber and not me from coughing.

Jan


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## mtnviewpottery

Oh, and I saw on the Clemes website that you can use a diz to take the fiber off as a batt to have a worsted fiber prep.

Woke up again coughing and can't go back to sleep.

Nite,
Jan


back of blending board by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr


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## Marchwind

MTview I hope you feel better soon. Get to the doctor so you don't end up in hospital.

I was going to suggest you pull it off as a batt and make a roving. I made a video on YouTube on how I do it. I just use a spice top or button with large holes.


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## mtnviewpottery

OK, I went to bed at 8:30 because I was exhausted from all the coughing. I woke up wide awake at 12:30am, and instead of stressing about not sleeping, I made myself a hot toddy and got out my fiber and blending board.

I learned a lot in two hours, and ended up with 18 beautifully blended rolags--well at least to me, anyway. I learned to hold the board between my knees (I was sitting on my bed, which was not a problem, as this is not a terrible messy process. All my wool was clean, and except for the beautiful burgundy mohair, which I washed myself, and had no VM.) I held the board tilted down, so I could brush up on the tines. I learned to brush in a way I could use my little Fuller brush hairbrush or my Clemes flicker brush. I started out with one handcarder, but found that to be cumbersome. I also learned to brush the wool on from the end of the top instead of small pieces as shown on the video. I added the beautiful, shiny mohair locks randomly, usually buried deep in the batt. 

This is a relaxing, meditative process, and in two hours, which flew by, I have 18 really nice rolags to practice my very rusty spinning on. My cat and dog who sleep with me were totally insulted by my interruption of their sleep. The cat got off the bed and sat on the dresser and watched the process, while my Boston Terrier buried herself under the covers at the far end of the bed.

I would highly recommend this board. It can be so easily made with no special talents. The major expense is the carding cloth and that is less than $60, shipping included. I think any cutting board would work, although the heft of this one, at 1 inch thick, helps keep it where I need it. I haven't even stapled my cloth on yet, and may never need to, but I intend to when I get some shorter staples than I have. It has rubberized corners on the back, but I also bought rubberized shelf cover at the dollar store.

I've named my Flicker brush Mollie. The Fuller brush is Millie. And my burned wooden spoon, which I've decided is perfect for this job is Minnie.
I believe I'll call my blending board Susan, after my great-great grandmother who was a midwife and Lumbee Indian.

So, here's my attempt to upload the photos. They were taken without flash in poorly lit conditions. I'll have to get somebody to help me do some tutorial pictures of the process, or maybe I can get my camera mounted on my tripod. That's a project for another day.

The colors I used were navy blue, gold, cream, and the burgundy mohair. I'm definitely dyeing tomorrow. I have some cream colored mohair locks I can't wait to see!

Hope you're all sleeping soundly,
Jan



Bats late night style by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr


blending board buddies by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr


Lily inspects by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr

PS...that's Lily the cat inspecting AFTER I cleared all the working equipment off the bed, and the small lump to the left of her is Bea, the Boston Terrier.


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## mtnviewpottery

Marchwind,

That's the next thing I'm going to try. I wonder if it might not spin easier that way. I'll try these rolags and see if I draft/tease them more before spinning, they're any easier. But, I like a light, lofty batt and think that would come with using a diz. I have a heavy juice lid I've saved just for that purpose, I just haven't drilled the hole yet.

I'll probably do that tomorrow. I'm going to my primary care FNP on Monday if I'm still coughing up stuff like this. It's definitely bacterial now and I need an antibiotic. I should have gone last week, but I felt too bad to go...

Thanks a bunch. Right now, I'm going to try to find your video.

Jan


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## Marchwind

If your rolags are that tightly wound I guess I can understand you having a difficult time with the drafting. I think you would have to seriously predraft before spinning. Otherwise, you would end up with the twist entering the rolag and have a huge mess. Kind of like. Big old tornado twisting everything up. I don't actually know if that is what is happening but in my minds eye that's what I see. I'll see if I can find my video to post it here for you.


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## Marchwind

Okay here it is. http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plpp&v=UJCPkCoi3T4


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## mtnviewpottery

Marchwind,

That link takes me to a place on Youtube where I can see a thumbnail of the video, but it won't let me play it. I'll keep messing with it.

Now that I have all these rolags made up, I've definitely decided the diz route is the way I want to go.

Thanks,
Jan


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## mtnviewpottery

Marchwind,
I had recently cleaned up my internet history, so I wasn't logged into Youtube. I logged in and accessed your video with no problem. It's great. I really appreciate all your help. Everybody here is so nice! It's the best fiber site I've found online.
Thanks,
Jan


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## Marchwind

Oh good Im glad you could access it. The are other fiber related videos on there you might find helpful. We all have our own way of doing things so you never know if someone might find a thing helpful.

The only thing you might want to be careful of if you drill a hole into something, is how rough the the edges will be. I would worry that the wool would catch on the hedges making drafting it the hole difficult. That is one good reason to use a spice top or button with larger holes.


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## mtnviewpottery

Hi, Marchwinds and everyone,

I tried the largest button I could find last night, and had a heck of a time pulling through the wool. Today, I'm at least going to try to drill this lid I've been saving. Maybe I can clean up any raw edges with jewelry-making files or something. Anyway, I'm having fun playing with it all. And feeling better too. Your videos are very helpful. 

Hope you have a good day and aren't in an area that's going to get hit by this most recent blizzard they're calling for!

Jan


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## Callieslamb

mtnviewpottery
Do you think the blending board could be used to card fleece rather than just blend it? I have a drum carder, but sometimes, it's a lot to dig out and use. I'm considering making a blending board to use.


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## mtnviewpottery

Callieslamb,
That's basically what I've spent all day today doing. I decided to take Marchwind's advice and rethink how I was doing this. Maybe with some really soft wool, the rolags would work fine, but this stuff I'm practicing on is a really tightly crimped, rough wool. So, I've recarded all of the rolags using the blending board. My drum carder is a small Clemes and Clemes one, so it's kind of difficult for fancy/art type batts. The board allows for great blending possibilities. I personally enjoy handcarding, and the board makes that process much easier. It just seems to make more sense that the fibers would flow easier from the roving than the tight rolags. Especially this tight wool I'm determined to use up. I love my board, and I've decided that the materials to make it were a great investment, and the cost of the other boards probably would be, too. I did loose a lot of skin off of my right middle knuckle, but that was operator error..lol! 

Oh, because of the knuckle problem, I found that I had to have a larger hole in the diz I made from a juice bottle lid a few times. That's probably exactly why a lot of dizzes have several different sizes of holes--so that they're able to accomodate different types of fiber. You definitely learn this stuff as you go along. It took me a long time to finally get a board-full off in a continuous piece of roving.

Wishing everybody a good day,
Jan


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## Nimily

Hello everyone! I am brand new here, and wanted to ask if anyone has any information about how to make a blending board? I have been reading through the different posts on here and found the etsy shop with the carding cloth, but I'm not sure what to do once I have that? Is it enough to just glue it onto a piece of wood? Please forgive me if I sound dumb but I'm pretty new to this and on a fixed budget, so if I can make my own it would be a huge help. Any instructions for that would be very much appreciated! 

Thanks so much,
Holly


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## Marchwind

Hi Holly! Welcome to The Fold! No questions is a dumb one, we all start at the beginning 

I believe Mtviewpottery said she glued her carding cloth down and was thinking of tacking it down also, not sure if she did or not. The difficulty would be the teeth and damaging them. Perhaps she will come on here and answer you directly. If not send her a PM.


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## Nimily

Thanks so much for the welcome! I ended up finding an incredibly helpful thread on Ravelry talking about this very same subject, and the guy who professionally makes these boards said that he uses 3M super 77 spray glue from Wal-Mart. I will be trying to make my very own blending board soon!


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## lathermaker

Instead of drilling holes for making a diz, I took a nail and heated it on the stove. Used that to burn a hole through the plastic lid. It ended up smooth, not snaggy.


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## mtnviewpottery

Nimily,
I suggest stapling the carding cloth down with 1/2 inch wood staples. I haven't stapled mine yet, and I notice that the cloth is starting to pull loose a little bit just at the top. I removed a row of of the teeth in the carding cloth on the cut sides to be able to staple it. This is very easy to do, and I think I did it without using any tool, I just pulled them loose by hand. I would recommend getting a flicker brush to use. I haven't found a paintbrush nearly stiff enough to really get the fibers on the board.

Good luck,
Jan


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## InHisName

Great information! thanks for sharing...


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## laceyj

My "combs" are made of afro style pics and they are awesome. I used some quick set epoxy to glue two together and offset the tines. Works like a charm on alpaca as well as romney, and my mystery fleece! I love DIYing!. I plan on making a blending board in the next month or so when money allows.


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