Posted by Michael on Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 9:31 a.m.:
This is in reply to questions about where to find drum carder and wool picker plans in books by Paula Simmons. We bought two books by Paula Simmons and have seen other copies on abebooks, half.com, amazon.com, ebay, and a few other used books resources. They might also be in libraries or available through inter-library loan.
The first book: "Spinning and Weaving with Wool," has plans for several items including: a drum carder, hand cards, floor standing skeining reel, yarn blocker, "tree" type umbrella swift (upside down cone shape), 48-in.,4 harness counterbalanced loom designed from standard dimension lumber and built using a table saw, drill press and hand tools, a warping reel, and a small spindle type spindle wheel similar to ones used in China around 500 AD. It is a good buy.
Published by Pacific Search Press, ISBN # 0-914718-28-2 ;
ISBN # 0-914718-23-1 pbk.
The second book: "The Handspinner's Guide to Selling" has plans
for a cradle wool picker on pages 20-28. Making it seems like quite an undertaking because you have to sharpen and bend just under 200 20d bright nails. It might be worth the effort for someone, Wool pickers run around $400 new. It was also published by Pacific Search Press in 1979 and 1982 ISBN # 0-914718-45-2
A good source for carding cloth for hand cards or drum carders is the Howard Brush Company www.howardbrush.com