KnitMe

Have combs, wool travel

Sorry - couldn't resist the bad joke!

I have a new toy - Alvin Ramer "super mini" woolcombs. These are made by a gentleman in Ontario, Canada. I believe the sole U.S. distributor is The Wheel Thing. Those of you in Canada or elsewhere in the world can find him at Box 194, Colborne, Ontario, Canada K0K 1S0 (phone(905) 355-2546; email to aerbar@phc.igs.net). He has no website, as far as I can tell.

I am new to this woolcombing business, but the article in Spin-Off magazine Summer 2004 got me started. I bought some Forsyth minicombs last spring off the recommendation of Judith MacKenzie McCuin. They are really beautifully made and work great, but I became frustrated at the small amount I could comb at a time.

So again taking others' advice (mostly from various Yahoo groups) I bought the Ramer super-minis for a step up in size, while still being able to be handheld if desired. They come in a carrier that also contains a jig to hold one comb stationary, and this seems to be easy to setup and also hold the comb very well.

On to some pictures:

Here is the stationary comb loaded with some washed Targhee locks. The comb handles have holes drilled in them. When fit back into the clamping jig, there is a wood-handled pin that goes through the jig and into the hole in the handle, thus holding the comb securely. There are two holes to match two different holes in the handle, so the comb can be mounted tines-up, or on its side with tines going sideways.

I mounted the comb with tines upward, then combed from one side to transfer the wool onto the moving comb. The next picture shows me about to start the second pass, where I comb downward and transfer the wool back onto the stationary comb.

Next I am pulling the wool from the stationary comb through a "diz". This pulls the fibers on the comb off into a nice long continuous roving that is ready for spinning.

The fibers really "poof up" if you release the tension on them, even though the hole in the diz seems so small.

Here is a shot of the waste that was left from combing. It is a little hard to photograph! It consisted mostly of short fibers and little fuzz balls, etc. Some of this fleece has lots of little bits of vegetable matters (VM) in it, and most of that seemed to fall away during combing, as well.

Here are the combs stored in the carrying case/combing jig with a basket of some finished rovings in the background! The combs also came with a tine-straightening tool.

These were definitely a splurge, but I have to say I am pretty pleased and think I will get a lot of use out of these combs.

Katie

Posted by at November 26, 2004 08:31 AM