Product Description
Meet the Crankless
“The Elite Series Crankless Drum Carder is our fully-featured flagship model. It is unmatched in versatility, efficiency, and throughput by any other drum carder in the world. It comes with six tools to make carding and blending fleece and fiber easy and enjoyable, and is available in an 8″” or 16″” (Doublewide) width.
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Mill-Style Matters
Our proprietary mill-style carding cloth sets us apart from all other drum carder makers. Our cloth does not tear fiber or create nepps or noils, and has a much higher capacity than other carders on the market. Our Elite Series Drum Carders have handled every fiber we have thrown at them, from dozens of wool breeds to specialty fibers such as alpaca, angora rabbit, cotton, mohair, cashmere, and down fibers. Short, long, fine, coarse – these carders can card and blend them all with ease.
Buy Your Second Carder, First
The versatility of our carding cloth means you only need to buy one drum carder to card any and all fibers. Our competitors use low quality, generic carding cloth that is harmful to most fibers, and they recommend purchasing multiple carders or multiple drums in order to process a range of fibers. We often hear from customers who regretfully purchased a budget carder as their first carder, thinking they would eventually need a whole stable of carders. When they find out they could have just bought one carder to do it all, we hear, “I wish I would have bought your carder first!” In the long run, it is much less expensive to buy the best carder available than several budget carders that do not work very well or last very long. On top of that, one carder takes up less space than owning several, and you will always be using the right carder for the fiber you are working with.
Big Batts and Beyond
Our Elite Series Drum Carders have a generous four ounce capacity – that means more time spent carding and less time spent removing batts! The maximum capacity will vary with every fiber or blend of fibers, and a comfortable working weight is usually around two-thirds of maximum capacity. The batt size is approximately 8″ wide and 27″ long (16″ wide on the Doublewide), but that will also vary with each type of fiber, blend, or preparation. With the included Diz, fiber can be removed as carded sliver, also called roving. With our Rolag Dowel Block (not included) fiber can be removed as rolags.
More Than Just Good Looks
We take pride in our drum carders looking like more than just a couple of drums mounted in a wooden box. Along with its elegant styling, the Elite Crankless features a key switch for safety, a removeable debris tray for easy cleanup, and fiber deflectors. The frame is made of solid Red Oak hardwood. All wooden parts receive a durable lacquer finish prior to assembly, to protect them for a lifetime of use. While we source locally whenever possible, carding cloth is no longer made in the U.S.A., so our mill-style carding cloth is custom made for us at precision factories in Europe.
The Safest Electric Drum Carder in the World
The safety of the Crankless starts with a key switch: without the key in place and in the “on” position, the motor will not start. Large industrial style push buttons turn the motor on and off – a recessed green button for on, an extended red button for off. The buttons are located on the front of the carder so the user does not have to reach over a moving drum to start or stop it. Should the power go out, the carder will not restart until the green start button is pushed again. All electrical components are UL approved and are mounted entirely within a ventilated steel enclosure, making our Elite Series the only carders in the industry to meet all requirements regarding electrical regulations. As an added measure of safety, power is transmitted from the motor to the main drum via a urethane drive belt. If the carder is jammed – by too much fiber or an errant body part – the drive pulley will slip rather than continuing to feed like a chain, gear, or direct drive. The 10-foot-long power cord eliminates the need for an extension cord.
A Box Full of Carding Fun
Tools included with our Elite Series Drum Carders: a Cleaning Brush, Burnishing Brush, Diz, Doffer, Packing Brush, and Batt Lifter! That’s all the tools you need to card and blend any type of fiber. Adjustment tools and a User Manual are also supplied.
Hand Crank or Motorized? The Crankless is Both!
With the Crankless, you never have to Crank again – unless you want to! Some people prefer to card very fine fibers via hand crank, and some techniques for art batt inclusions are less likely to damage the carder (or operator) when done by hand cranking. This is easily achieved on the Crankless, as a hand crank is included and switching from motorized to hand crank (and vise versa) can be performed in under a minute.
Easy to Adjust and Maintain
Our Elite Series Drum Carders are set for carding most wools when they leave our shop. Using the included tools, they can easily be adjusted for carding short and slick fibers like cotton or angora bunny, or for making art batts, or anything else you can think of! There are no oiling points to maintain on these carders; as long as you keep fiber from wrapping around the shafts, there is no maintenance required. If that does happen, these carders are easily disassembled for a deep cleaning.
Loved by All
The Elite Crankless is a favorite of fiber artists, instructors, and fiber producers. We hear from fiber artists that they especially love its versatility and motorizted operation; instructors love how quicly it switches between hand crank and motorized operation; and fiber producers love its throughput and rugged durability. If you are ready for an electric carder, plan on using your carder mainly in your home studio, or have more than a few sheep in your flock, then you will love the Crankless, too! If you are a professional spinner or felter, process fleece and fiber to sell, or have a growing flock, then you will love the Doublewide.
Free (and Hassle Free) Shipping
Our drum carders ship for free to all 50 US states! Elite Series Drum Carders are shipped in a custom box with custom foam packaging, ensuring they arrive undamaged and ready for use, right out of the box. The shipping box and foam kit are a safe way to store the carder out of harm’s way when not in use.
Built For a Lifetime of Use
We have been making drum carders for nearly 50 years, and many of our early carders are still in use! You can expect idler belts to last around ten years, motor belts to last around five years, and carding cloth to last twenty to thirty years. Belts are easily ordered on our website and are always in stock. Once the carding cloth has reached the end of its useful life, we recommend you send the carder back to us for refurbishment. When you purchase an Elite Series Drum Carder, you are buying a drum carder to last a lifetime!
Small Company, Big Promise
Our company consists of a father and son team and our last name is on each carder we produce. That means something special to both of us, and we will not ship any carder that we feel does not represent our family or the quality of work of which we are capable. We guarantee our products to be free of manufacturing defects, and we work with our customers to ensure they are happy with both the form and function of any product we make.
A Perfect Pair
We recommend the Lock Pop as a pre-carding tool when working with fleece. It is the only tool that we recommend but do not include with our Elite Series Drum Carders as it is the first tool many fiber artists purchase, and some artists work exclusively with fiber that has already been processed. The Lock Pop and Elite Convertible make a perfect pair!
Born in the U.S.A.
All of our Drum Carders are handcrafted in our shop in Pinole, California. The Red Oak hardwood we use for our drum carders is grown domestically and milled for us in nearby Oakland, California. We source locally and domestically whenever possible, and we are proud members of the Northern California Fibershed.
FAQ
What kind of warranty or guarantee do you offer?
Our company consists of a father and son team and our last name is on just about every item we make. That means something special to both of us, and we do not put out any item that we felt does not represent our family or the quality of work that we are capable of. We guarantee our products to be free of manufacturing defects, and we work with our customers to ensure they are happy with both the form and function of any product we make.
Can I return an item if I do not like it?
On the rare occasion that you are unhappy with something you have purchased from us, you may return it via pre-paid freight. A credit will be issued minus a 25% restocking fee.
