Say Hello to the Blending Board

As much as I enjoy blending colors on a drum carder, I am excited to try another method. I happened to run across a new toy I have to have...a blending board. A blending board is sort of like a flat drum carder. It is used just for blending and not carding. It is best used with roving, locks, sliver, things that are already carded or ready to spin. You don't want to put your fiber on a blending board and then blend it into mud! The idea is to gently blend the fibers together. You decided when they are blended enough.

With a blending board, you have more control over the finished product than you do with a drum. It is much easier to make stripes, repeats, and patterned yarns. You can still add threads, locks, tinsel, and anything else you want to spin into the yarn.

There are several blending boards available. Clemes and Clemes has a really nice one. Moonsong Fiberworks and Paradise Fibers are a couple others. If you look, you will find them. The thing is, they are pretty expensive. They range in price from about $165 to $230 dollars. I decided that I couldn't spend that on another spinning toy right now, so I built one myself.

These are the supplies I bought.  I had purchased a piece of carding cloth from Naturafiberyarns on Etsy. The size of the cloth was 11 7//8" wide by 12" long with 72 tpi. It only took about a week to get the cloth. I went looking for a cutting board or shelf board that it would fit on, but couldn't find the right size. I finally found a piece of Aspen that was 15" by 36" and 3/4" thick. It was edge glued for extra strength, and was much lighter than some of the cutting boards I looked at.This seemed like it would work well for my purpose.

 The hardware, board and glue were all purchased at a local hardware store. I also picked up a thumb screw, two washers, a T-nut, and a can of 3M 77spray adhesive. (Please, see the comments at the end of this post regarding attaching the carding cloth. I have been made aware tht the cloth should be edge stapled, but never glued).

I measured the board out to be just slightly wider than the cloth and about 4 inches longer. I wanted to have a handle at the top. My husband cut the board for me and also drilled out the handle. I sanded it all down well so there were no sharp edges or lose wood. Then I put a couple coats of clear polyurethane on it to help protect it. I decided where the keel would sit on the bottom, drilled a hole and pounded in the t-nut. Then I had my husband cut the board for the keel.

A blending board has a piece called a keel on the bottom of the board. When you are going to use the board, you use the thumb screw to attach the keel to the bottom. Attach it tightly, but no so tight that it won't turn. When you are blending, put the keel between your knees and swivel the board to an angle that is comfortable for you. This is a really nice feature. You don't have to work at weird angles and it makes things much more enjoyable.

When loading the board, simple pull the fiber through the teeth to apply it where you want it. You can make measured, repeating stripes or just add fiber randomly. If you want a certain color or kind of fiber in a particular spot, place it there. You can make batts that are all the same or not, depending on what you want.