Hi Els,
Thanks very much for telling me (a while back) about Birkeland Bros. Wool and the big carding (?) machine they have in the back of their store - I went there today for a large (11mm) crochet hook and asked to feel their machine. You were right - words cannot describe that thing! I had thought it was a lot more "open" somehow, it must be a marvel to watch in operation. And it feels like it's in terrific shape, I would have estimated perhaps twenty years - in fact it's more than 100 years old! I was kind of leery feeling it (I had been inside a restaurant dish washing machine in 1983 when I'd accidentally turned it on - I'd been in the hot water rinse section lol!), but the switch for the carding machine was on another wall. whew!
I understand there's a movie of the machine in action on their site,
It was about 29C here in Vancouver with a very nice breeze almost a wind - in Birkeland it was up to 33 in the store as I was leaving at 5:30.
thanks Cara and pearl for showing me the equipment!
Cheers,
David