Homemade wool hackle

After a long hiatus, I'm back for another posting. This time I am making my own wool blending hackle and diz so I can blend my own fibers before spinning (and because it's a lot cheaper than buying.)

Without further ado...

Materials:

1) 1 2x4 long enough for your work station (I bought one the was 3' for $1.39 and cut it down to 23")




2) 2 C-clamps wide enough to fit around the board and your work station (mine cost $3.39 a piece and are 3")

 

3) Identical wide tooth combs with long teeth, preferably hair picks; you need enough to reach from end to end minus 2" on each side (I could not find any picks that were sturdy enough so I bought the long wide tooth variety. Actually, I bought 3 packs of 8 different combs from the Dollar Tree, 24 combs for $3! I only needed three of the long purple ones up front because they were 6" long)

 

4) Wood screws (no picture)

5) 3 fender washers in different sizes (mine are 5/16 x 1 1/2, 3/8 x 1 1/2, 3/16 x 1 1/2, you can use whatever size works for you, I chose the washers in 1 1/2" because they fit in my hand most comfortably. The inside diameter will determine the thickness of your finished roving thickness, I bought 3 so I can make different size roving)

Tools:

Screw driver
Drill and drill bits (optional but highly recommended)
Knife (like a Gerber or Leatherman, not a kitchen knife)
Tape measure
Pencil


Instructions:

Step 1) 

You will need to determine if your board fits your work station, if not you will need to cut it. Remember, if you need to cut your board, measure twice, cut once and be careful.

Disregard step 2 if the body of your combs are wider than the edge (the long 1 1/2" to 2" side) of you board.

Step 2: 

When the size of your board works for you, you will need to measure the body of the comb

(mine were 3/4".) When you know what the height of the body of your combs are you will need to take your pencil, measuring tape, and board and mark where the comb will sit on the edge of the board. For example, I laid my board on its widest side and measured 3/4 down from the top, where the teeth meet the body of the combs should be level with the top of the board. When you know where your combs should sit draw a level line using your measuring tape across the length of your board.

Disregard step 3 if your combs are shorter than the edge of your board.

Step 3:

For combs with a longer body like picks, when attaching your combs the point where the body meets the teeth should be level with the edge of the board when the board is lying on its widest point.

Step 4: 

Next you will need to determine where you will place you screws, I recommend at least 2 screws for combs that are 4" or less wide and 3 screws for combs with a wider body, I used 3 screws for my combs because they are roughly 6" each. Since I have 3 combs and need 3 screws for each I need 9 holes drilled, this may be different for you depending on your combs.Using your pencil, mark where you will make your holes, (for shorter body combs this should be in between the edge and the line you drew earlier) I recommend that you use your tape measure so your marks will be in a straight line. Drill your holes where you marked on the board, please see chart to determine which drill bit you should use based on your board and screws and be careful. You can do this without a drill but I do not recommend it. (At my local hardware store the boards are labeled as SPF, which stands for the type of wood they use; either spruce, pine, or fir, these are soft woods and I had size 6 screws so I used a 3/32 straight bit.)

As you can see, I did not follow my own advise and my holes are not straight, oh well. In the end it didn't make much difference.

Step 5:

You will now need to put holes in the bodies of your combs (you might be able to use the drill on your combs as well, it might be easier to line the holes up that way. I did not use the drill because I did this on my own and wanted to limit my drilling since I hadn't actually used the drill before.) To make the holes by hand you need to mark with your knife (or sharpie if you have one available) where the holes will line up on your combs; this was mostly done by guessing. I marked below my holes on the board so I had good idea where to make the holes on the comb. If you measured where is on your board you should probably have a better chance of where to make your holes than just guessing. When you know where you are going to put your hole, carve out a hole on the comb body with your knife. Try lining up the hole with the corresponding hole on your board, if you can see the hole in the board, continue with the others holes and screw the comb onto you board. Do this for all of your combs.

Step 6:

Congratulations! You have finished the board (and possibly have a lot of combs left over...), now all you need to do is place it on your work station and clamp it down using your c-clamps. Since fiber can be messy I put down a paper bag under my board before I clamped it down.

My cat, modeling the finished product.