Drum Carders
Quickly and efficiently card or blend fiber without creating neps or noils. Save time, save money – save your fiber. Our Standard Series Drum Carders are no-frills economy models, while the Elite Series are the top of the line drum carders made anywhere in the world, complete with all of the features and tools needed to process any fiber.
Used for decades, drum carders make processing large quantities of fiber a much less onerous task than hand carders. Quickly and efficiently card or blend fiber without creating neps or noils. Save time, save money – save your fiber!
Our Drum Carder Story
In the early 1970’s – before we made our own drum carder – we sold a few models of carders made by a variety of companies. Unfortunately, these models lacked quality, craftsmanship, or both. Frustrated, Henry Clemes lamented to his father how he could not find a drum carder that his customers did not have a list of complaints about. His father’s response was simple: “So, go make one!”
Henry knew exactly what his customers were looking for after years of listening – a machine that was easy to use, easy to maintain, and one that carded most fibers in one pass.
Learning from Carding History
Henry researched and learned as much about carding as he could – from early hand carding to hand powered machines to large-scale industrial operations. He was even lucky enough to find a well-used, well-read shop manual on the construction and maintenance of an early 19th century carding mill.
He discovered that many of today’s gimmicks – extra ‘worker’ drums, special licker-in cloth, or permanently mounted brushes – added no functionality at all, if the carder is designed properly in the first place.
Combining his engineering background with his newfound knowledge of the carding process, Henry took his father’s advice and created a versatile line of drum carders that was soon recognized worldwide as being the standard of the industry. Thousands upon thousands of these carders have been produced over the past 40+ years.
Elite Series
Clemes & Clemes Elite Series Drum Carders feature a proprietary mill style 72 teeth per inch carding cloth. This cloth allowed us to increase batt capacity without having to increase the size or weight of the drum carder. Our carding cloth does not create neps or noils and can handle any fiber without changing drums or having multiple carders for different fibers. The Elite Drum Carder can be adjusted to change the spacing between drums, if desired.
Standard Series
The name says it all. Since this model went into production over 40 years ago, it has been the standard that all other carders are measured against. The mill style carding cloth allows the user to card any fiber – from cotton to churro and in between – without making any adjustments or creating neps or noils.
