Prettying Her Up and Cleaning the Shed

Today Dad arrived promptly at 9 a.m. with spray paint in hand. We started out by cleaning the pulleys with solvent then applying painting tape and newspaper--the carder was getting a bit of a paint job.

She looks like an 1950s housewife getting a home perm

Carefully spraying the paint

The "after" picture

The rest of the morning we threw stuff out of the shed and made room for maneuvering both the picker and the feeder. The picker will be at the far south end of the shed. The feeder will be placed against the middle of the west wall--this is actually as far out of the way as we could think of putting it. In the afternoon, I cleaned out the little garage to store the lawnmowers in since I was told they could no longer be in the carding shed.

Here's the picker which needs to be moved then renovated into working condition

Check out the teeth on this picker!

The Apron Turns! We Feed it Wool! We Eat Pizza! We Drink Beer!

Picked up the new shaft for the apron yesterday. I went to a different machinist from the first one and it was about half the price this time.

We picked the apron apart, took out the previous shaft, put in the new shaft, and put it all back together again. Then we turned the machine on and watched the apron move---oh so slowly you could barely discern movement. But, that's how fast it is supposed to feed. So its working!

Here I am waiting for the wool to feed

Fed a chunk of wool through the carder. Not much came out the other end. And, without the doffer comb running, its not possible to get it off the doffer. Well, actually, the shop vac helped remove what little there was from the doffer.

Afterwards, we had pizza and beer and planned out trip to Wisconsin, tentatively scheduled for next week, to visit the Wagners at Hidden Valley Woolen Mill.

Pizza and Great Beer on the Apron

Watching the Carder Run

Today we worked on putting the finishing touches on the feeder. We put the apron on, added a chain and then fired the carder up only to find out that the apron would not turn! DRAT!

Turns out we need to drive the apron from the front shaft, not the hind shaft (which apparently worked fine for the previous owner, but NOT FOR ME). So, I'll be off to a machinist tomorrow to have yet another shaft machined with a longer end so that we can hang a sprocket on it to turn it.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the video below of the rest of the carder running! We did.

Things we need to do:

• Get a new shaft machined for the feeder
• Set up the doffer comb
• Set up the drafter
• Set up the can coiler
• Set up the picker (monster project from Hades!)
• Tour Fairibault Woolen Mill
• Tour Hidden Valley Woolen Mill and pick Carol's and Paul's brains
• Have another beer or two or three
• Wash up another 300 lbs of that 500 lbs of wool I bought last fall
• there must be more but I just can't think of it

Contemplation

It seems we spend more time contemplating the machine now. Looking at it; measuring; sitting; staring; contemplating. Wondering what to do next.

Next on the agenda is to put the feeder on the front and somehow attach it. That was the source of much contemplation today. Of course, never quite so easy as just plug and play. When we brought the feeder up from the barn we noticed a 12 inch crack in one side. So, off to a welder it went last week. Made of cast iron, not just any welder would do. Fortunately, there is one in Ogilvie who can handle the job.

I picked up the welded part today and happily handed over $15 for the job!

While Dad puttered about putting the feeder back together--kind of--I skirted some more of the 500 pounds of fleece I bought last winter. I need to get more and more of that washed since its looking like soon the machine will be ready for practicing.

After some skirting on my part and puttering on Dad's part the contemplation began with much measuring, remeasuring, sighing, and then a couple beers were drunk. What to do next? How to attach the feeder to the breast? In actuality, the feeder is meant to be attached to a feedbox, not the breast, but the previous owner had it rigged up to the breast and so shall we, somehow. We have ideas! It will get done!

I'm hoping the carder will be up, running and in the mood for practice runs by the end of June. That's my new goal. Hopefully, teaching summer school will not get in the way!

Burning the Wild Hay

While the farm fields are rented out for crops, Dad and I still hay the wild grass. Each spring we burn off the old grass to make for a better hay crop. Last night we burned.

She Turned!

Wow! Today the carder turned under its own power! Very exciting!

We did some rewiring and then turned on the converter; turned on the carder and watched her slowly start to turn; faster and faster she turned until she got up to full speed. And then the clanking of a bad bearing and we shut her down. She slowly came to a stop. Not a machine that you want to get caught in. She will not shut down immediately. And, yes, she is a she. The bearing is nothing to worry about. Its not on an important part so nothing is broken. Just a little noisy for now.

Still a lot of work to do. The workers were not yet "chained" up so we did not get to see them turn but the strippers moved very nicely along with the breast (the front portion), the main drum and the fancy.

We worked on putting the chain on the workers and the doffers later adding the three idler pulleys. It took about 25 feet of chain for this portion of the machine. We then tried to find a leather drive belt to fit but could not find one the right length. We will have to make one.

Before the end of the day, we ran the machine one last time. Still without the workers and doffer running since we didn't have a belt for that portion yet.

A very fulfilling day seeing the machine run under her own power!

Finally! Lambs!

Came home from work to find one yearling ewe outside with a newborn lamb; one yearling ewe inside fighting with a haggy old ewe over a newborn lamb.

Got everyone situated in jugs (small pens for ewes with newborn lambs). Threw the haggy old ewe out (the lamb belonged to the yearling) and took a couple photos. All are doing well. Except the old hag who still wants the lamb (she was due to lamb three days ago).

Karakul/Romanov/Romeldale ewe lamb

Karakul ewe lamb

I have a baby monitor set up in the house so I can hear what is going on in the barn. One day it was the geese honking for an half hour. Another day, all I heard was the male llama fornicating. Today, all I hear is that old ewe baaaaaaaaaaaing at her would-be lamb. She's very vocal!