Ashford Blending Board

Details

The Ashford Blending Board lets you paint with fiber. You lay colors and fibers in thin, controlled layers over a flat 12 x 12 in bed of fine 108 point carding cloth, then lift them off as repeatable rolags for spinning or as batts for felting.

Layers go on from the handle end, and the blending brush packs each one down into the teeth until the board is full. Two dowels then draft the fiber off and roll it into a rolag that's ready to spin, and you'll get 4 or more rolags from each full board. It works on a table or on your lap, it has a carry handle, and it comes apart quickly to pack up for a trip.

What's in the box

• The board, lacquered, and its keel, which bolts on in the table or lap position
• Blending brush, to pack the fiber down into the teeth
• Two wooden dowel rods for drafting and removing the rolags, and sandpaper to smooth them if needed

The spare brush, the Diz Stick and Ashford's carders

Ashford sells the blending brush on its own as the Blending Board Brush, the same brush the box holds.

For sliver rather than rolags, the Ashford Diz Stick draws consistent, even, ready-to-spin sliver straight off the board. It has a yarn gauge built in.

The Classic Hand Carders come in standard 72 point or the same fine 108 point cloth, and they work in pairs, the traditional way, carding small rolags for spinning. The Small Hand Carders are a smaller, lightweight pair that also comes in fine 108 point.

• The Ashford Drum Carder cards 2 oz batts for spinning or felting, in Fine 72 or Superfine 120 point.
• The Wild Drum Carder has long teeth that card fabric, ribbon, feathers and paper in with the fiber, for art yarn.
• The Wide Drum Carder cards 4 oz batts, to prepare large quantities of fiber.
• The e-Carder 30 is an electric carder with two motors and a foot switch for hands-free feeding, and it makes batts up to 5 1/2 oz.

Helpful videos

We keep that spare brush, and the star knobs and rubber feet Ashford lists for the board, here in Spokane, and Ashford's 12 month guarantee on manufacturing faults runs through us as your dealer. If you'd like to compare, every blending board we carry is on one page. For anything else, call or chat with us.