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Why Choose a Blending Board If I Already Have a Drumcarder?
Blending boards offer lots of options. Find out why they’re this spinner’s desert-island prep tool.
Blending boards offer lots of options. Find out why they’re this spinner’s desert-island prep tool.
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Contents
Most spinners interested in fiber preparation and color play consider the drum carder to be the pinnacle of their toolkit acquisition. But the humble blending board shouldn’t be discarded or overlooked on this journey!
Personally, I waited many years to be able to buy my drum carder, and while I’m glad to have it, I can honestly say that I adore my cache of blending boards to meet nearly all of my carding, flicking, and blending needs, and I know I’m not alone in this regard.
A Quick Comparison
Each tool comes down to its basic components: cylindrical drums or a flat wooden board with carding cloth applied. Fiber is teased open and fed into the drum carder via its all-important licker-in drum—the smaller cylinder used to hold the strands of fiber extended, without bounceback, until the strands reach the larger drum(s). If the drums are set too far apart or too close together, if too much fiber is added at once, or if you rotate the drums too quickly, breakage will occur, causing annoying nepps in your batts.
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
Most spinners interested in fiber preparation and color play consider the drum carder to be the pinnacle of their toolkit acquisition. But the humble blending board shouldn’t be discarded or overlooked on this journey!
Personally, I waited many years to be able to buy my drum carder, and while I’m glad to have it, I can honestly say that I adore my cache of blending boards to meet nearly all of my carding, flicking, and blending needs, and I know I’m not alone in this regard.
A Quick Comparison
Each tool comes down to its basic components: cylindrical drums or a flat wooden board with carding cloth applied. Fiber is teased open and fed into the drum carder via its all-important licker-in drum—the smaller cylinder used to hold the strands of fiber extended, without bounceback, until the strands reach the larger drum(s). If the drums are set too far apart or too close together, if too much fiber is added at once, or if you rotate the drums too quickly, breakage will occur, causing annoying nepps in your batts. [PAYWALL]
Both tools are designed to card open strands of fiber so they slide apart easily for spinning, yielding an airy result. Both can be used for preparing batts, roving, and any carded application, in textured or smooth effects. However, one blending board can do more, more easily than a drum carder can, and for a great deal less cost.
Space & Portability
A drum carder has a heavier footprint and requires dedicated storage and workspace, while the equally powerful blending board can be stored on your bookshelf or wall for grab-and-go use anywhere: workshops, your sofa, or your kitchen table.
To save space, I like to hang my blending boards on the wall in my small apartment.
Cost
The average cost of a commercial blending board kit is in the mid-$200s, with budget models in the mid-$100s. (You can even DIY a blending board for less than $100.)
Ergonomics
The blending board is easy on the body. You may use it sitting or standing, tilted or flat, with no cranking needed. It can be angled to 45 degrees for shoulder-friendly carding. Its flat surface also makes for easier, more intentional fiber placement and blending, rolling off and dizzing, and more efficient and effective utilization of its tines for more worsted or more woolen results.
With many ways to position a blending board, Debbie finds it more ergonomic to use for more people.
Optimization
Adding inexpensive aftermarket accessories to your blending board toolkit broadens your bag of tricks endlessly. Differing dizzes, dowels, and brushes can help yield results you likely never knew were possible from such a simple piece of equipment.
Accessories help you get the most from your blending board.
Take Another Pass at the Blending Board!
If your blending board has been stored away or if you’ve been considering getting one, I urge you to take another pass at this highly adaptable, all-in-one blending and carding tool. It’s good for making batts, rolags, rovings, flick-carding, flick combing, and so much more.
Further Reading
- Follow Debbie as she builds a better batt in "Use a Blending Board for Rolags and More."
- For more about how to choose the right blending board for you, see Debbie’s article in the upcoming Fall 2025 issue of Spin Off, which arrives on August 28!
Debbie Held is a freelance writer, a contented real-life spinster, and an international fiber-arts educator. She writes recurring spinning-related content for Spin Off in print and on the web as well as for PLY, SweetGeorgia Yarns, and more. Debbie and her Persian cat, Marty, live on an urban farm in Atlanta, Georgia, where both enjoy watching the Shetland sheep that roam beneath their windows. Debbie’s new book, The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible, is available from Stackpole Books.
