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Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

Emily and I will be attending the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival on May 3 & 4.  Be sure to stop by my booth if you are attending!  I’ll be in the main building.

Tariff Update

I’ve had a lot of folks ask how the recent tariffs might affect my business. The honest answer is… I’m not entirely sure yet.

My upcoming products rely on manufacturing partners in China. If elevated tariffs remain in place for an extended period, it would impact pricing down the road. But I’m hopeful that the US and China, as two of the world’s largest economies, will find a constructive way to resolve their differences.  Both sides have indicated they want tariffs to come down, but expect something from the other side. I really believe both sides ultimately want a strong and fair global economy where everyone wins.  The first product this will affect is the EEW Nano 2.1 which should arrive around August.

In the meantime, I’m staying focused on what I can control.  Namely making the best fiber tools I can. Shifting production would be a huge undertaking and probably push back product development by a year or more so that is not something I will look into in an unpredication market like we have. I’ve also built long standing relationships with small businesses in China over the past decade, and I value those partnerships deeply.

While there’s plenty of uncertainty right now, one thing is clear. I’m committed to this community and to continuing the work I love. I’ll keep building great tools and helping grow the fiber craft movement.  When more people take up fiber crafts, the world doesn’t just get cozier… it gets kinder. 🙂

200+ Videos

If you’ve been around the fiber world for a while, you probably know I’ve been making videos about fiber crafts for just as long as I’ve been building fiber tools. Yes, I’m a little biased toward my own creations, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feature plenty of other cool stuff too!

Whether you’re new to the EEW community or just curious about the videos I’ve shared over the years, check out my Spin Channel on YouTube. You’ll find everything from videos of our llamas and massive knitting needles, to a nostalgic look at older tools like my wooden EEW Mini.  Have fun and look through all those old videos.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Nano 2.1 – August 2025
• EEW Yarn Counter 2 – December 2025
• EEW Fold – March 2026

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

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This past month has been a whirlwind of activity, and stress! I found myself juggling more projects than I’d like, and each one brought its own set of challenges. Although it was hectic, I do enjoy tackling tough problems and pushing things forward. Here’s a quick rundown of where everything stands.

EEW Nano 2.1

• The samples arrived and looked great, so I sent them to a few beta testers.
• One tester used the wrong USB power supply and thought the Nano was too slow, which was nerve-racking because I’ve already invested in parts for thousands of units. Thankfully, it was just user error.
• Manufacturing is on track, and I’m excited to get these wheels out into the world.

EEW Yarn Counter

• The circuit board assembler used the wrong screen plug, but since it was only on five sample boards, I was able to fix them myself. Everything on the hardware checked out after that.
• After fixing out a few of my software bugs, I’m happy with the progress. I’m waiting on some improved mechanical parts, and once I confirm they work as intended, I’ll proceed with mold changes.
• The new magnetic sensors perform much better than the original optical ones. I’ll do a video once the final samples arrive. If you already love your original EEW Yarn Counter, it might not be worth upgrading.  But this version addresses most of the little issues people have reported over the years.

EEW Cone Winder

• I tried migrating from an Atmel processor to an STM8 and quickly realized the support and tools weren’t ideal for my needs.
• I’m now switching to an STM32C0 microcontroller which is a low-power ARM processor. It’s more modern, more powerful, and should even use less power at the speeds I need. I’m also taking this opportunity to revamp the power system for greater efficiency.
• Although this is taking longer than I’d hoped since I’m testing out multiple families of microcontrollers, I believe laying this groundwork now will make future development easier and set me up with a better platform for new fiber tools so it’s worth doing a few versions of this circuit board.

EEW Fold

There are more detailed updates on my Kickstarter updates for this one, but I’ve done lots of software improvements and have been improving several of the custom plastic parts.

The Threshing Barn Closing Announcement

I’m sad to share the news that The Threshing Barn, one of my valued UK retailers, will be closing at the end of April. Sara, the owner, has supported Dreaming Robots since the release of the EEW Nano 1.1 and has remained a steadfast advocate ever since. Her go-to wheel is the EEW 6.0!

Sara will be hosting a closing-down sale. The sale will run in-store (Reeth, North Yorkshire) from  April 7th and online (UK only) from April 9th, but please note: when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Sara would like to extend her thanks to everyone who has purchased Dreaming Robots products from The Threshing Barn over the years and wishes you all a happy spinning future.  And I would like to thank Sara for her running a fiber store for all these years since these brick and mortar stores are very important to many in the fiber craft.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Nano 2.1 – August 2025
• EEW Fold – March 2026

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

View web version of this email

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

March 01, 2025

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Thanks to CraftMeHappy for providing this beautiful photo of the latest EEW Fold prototype in action!

Product Updates

Periodically, I like to provide a roadmap of the things I’m putting effort into.  Most of these don’t have timeframes yet, but these are all the things that are high on my priority list and expect to ship eventually.

EEW Nano 2.1

I’m working on an updated EEW Nano with a much-improved flyer, tension system, and more. What started as a quick update has turned into a longer process due to ongoing mold issues.  I still haven’t approved the final molds. I’m hopeful that will happen very soon, with shipping targeted for August (sorry for another date slip on this one).

The 3D-printed prototypes worked great right away, but transitioning from prototype to full production has been more challenging than ever before. Despite the delays, I’ve learned a lot, and I appreciate everyone’s patience. I know many of you have been eagerly waiting for this release, and I’m doing everything I can to get it right.

EEW Fold

I’m addressing the last few details and testing some new software features before moving this into production. I gave myself plenty of time to refine everything, and things are looking great for the planned March 2026 release.

EEW Yarn Counter Update

I’m making improvements to the yarn guides and circuit board. Parts for prototypes have been ordered, and I’ll begin testing soon. I don’t have a firm timeline yet.  Once I’ve done some tests with the new circuit board, I should have a clearer timeframe.

That said, the current stock is running low, and it will be out of stock for a while as I work through these updates. I want to ensure these improvements are in place before ordering a new batch.

EEW Cone Winder Update

I’m making small improvements to the cone holder, and I’m also introducing a bigger change.  I will be switching from the ATTiny microcontroller to an STM8.

This new microcontroller is more powerful, easier to source in large quantities, and half the price. While the end user might not notice an immediate difference, this upgrade will lay the foundation for future enhancements in more advanced projects.

Switching microcontrollers is a big undertaking—I need to rewrite all my code since STM8 operates differently. But once I complete this transition for the Cone Winder, I’ll likely migrate other products to the new microcontroller over time. It’s a lot of work upfront, but it’ll improve my products in the long run.  This is one of those investing for the future changes.

EEW Drum Carder

The electric drum carder is moving forward, albeit slowly. There’s a lot of excitement around this project, and I’ve received great feedback from a beta tester. That feedback led me to a major redesign, which I believe will make the product much better. We’ve hacked the current prototype to test the new configuration, and the results have been great.  This is why I have the confidence to do a large redesign now instead of waiting for more testing.

I’m waiting to see how the STM8 microcontroller transition goes for the cone winder.  If that is successful, I’ll likely use it for the drum carder as well.

This is my “when time allows” project, so I don’t have a firm timeline yet. However, my goal is to launch a Kickstarter in 2026, and I hope to have the drum carder in a more polished state than the EEW Fold was at its campaign launch so it can ship sooner after the Kickstarter completes.

EEW 6.1 Motor Testing (Maybe You Can Help!)

I’ve significantly reduced motor failures on the EEW 6.1 by updating the circuit board, and I’ve extended the motor warranty to one year. However, a small number of motors are still failing more often than I’d like. To investigate, I’d appreciate getting back failed motors and the circuit boards that were used with them.

• If you have a failed EEW 6.1 motor and still have both parts, please contact me if you would be willing to send these back to me.
• If you didn’t receive a replacement board, I can mail you one first, and then you can send back the failed motor and board.
• I’m hoping volunteers can cover the shipping cost to simplify the process, but if that’s a hardship, let me know and I’ll help.

The most common failure is when the motor sometimes won’t start until you push the flyer—and this issue tends to worsen over time. Thank you for helping me pinpoint the cause!

EEW Fold Prototype Video

Check out the latest prototype of the EEW Fold in action! This version features injection-molded parts, a redesigned control system, an improved clamp, and several other exciting upgrades. Watch the video to see the progress and get a closer look at what’s coming next for this new eSpinner.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Nano 2.1 – August 2025
• EEW Fold – March 2026

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

February 02, 2025

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Last Chance to Back the EEW Fold

The EEW Fold Kickstarter is closing in just a few days! If you’ve been considering getting this brand new eSpinner at a discounted price, now is the time to act. A huge thank you to all of you who have already supported this project.  It means the world to me!

One of my favorite things about running a Kickstarter campaign is the opportunity to dive deep into the story behind a new product. Over the past month, I’ve shared many updates about the EEW Fold, but one of my favorites was about the new control software. This exciting upgrade will make the motor work even better, enhancing your spinning experience.

Progress on the injection molds is going great.  I recently received new samples from updated molds and it solved all the major issues with the first set of molds.  I’ve just finished assembling a few test units and will be sending them off to some of my beta testers to get their feedback after I do some testing with them.

Over 1500 people have joined this Kickstarter so don’t be the one to miss out, support the EEW Fold on Kickstarter today!

EEW 6.1 – Staying Ahead of the Game

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve managed to restock my products before running out—a rare achievement for me! While I thought I had plenty of time with my last order of EEW 6.1s, the new batch arrived just two weeks before I would have sold out. Thankfully, this means the EEW 6.1 has stayed consistently available in my store. For someone who isn’t exactly known for perfect stock planning, I’ll count this as a big win. The EEW Nano 2’s current out-of-stock status is a case in point.

On a related note, the EEW Yarn Counter has been selling much faster than expected. Based on current trends, it will likely go out of stock in 3–6 months. I’m working on some exciting improvements for it, but that means there’s a good chance it will be unavailable for a while during the transition. Rest assured, I’m doing everything I can to keep that downtime as short as possible.

Thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm for my products.  It keeps me motivated to do better every day!

This is the container as it arrived to my warehouse with all the EEW 6.1s.

How Tariffs Affect EEW Products

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about tariffs lately, so I want to explain how they affect my pricing without diving into the broader political debates.

How Tariffs Affect My Pricing

My products are priced primarily based on how much they cost to produce. If production costs go up, my store prices eventually go up as well. However, I won’t raise prices until these increased costs actually affect me.  That typically happens when a new batch of products arrives.

For example, the U.S. recently announced a 10% tariff increase on goods imported from China, including mine. You won’t see any immediate price increases unless that 10% tariff remains in place by the time I receive my next shipment (likely in June). And even then, only newly arrived products would reflect the tariff-driven price increase. I’m committed to not using tariffs as an excuse to raise prices prematurely; I’ll only do so if necessary to cover increased costs.

How Tariffs Are Paid

When I import a large container of products into the Boston port, I have paperwork showing the total cost of the goods. Previously, I paid a 7.5% tariff on that amount. With the new 10% increase, my tariff could go up to 17.5% total. My import agent collects that amount and sends it to the U.S. government.

Which Costs Are Affected by Tariffs

Tariffs are paid on the direct cost of goods, which includes:

• Bill of Materials: Motors, circuit boards, pedals, plastic parts, and everything else that goes into the final product.
• Machine Time: Operating mold machines, circuit board assembly robots, and more.
• Human Labor: Wages for assembling and testing products.

These are my biggest expenses, so tariffs on them can have a noticeable impact.

Which Costs Are Not Affected by Tariffs

Many business costs fall outside the “cost of goods” and are not subject to tariffs, including:

• Design & Engineering: I do most design work myself which keeps this low, but occasionally hire consultants for specialized problems.
• Prototyping: Ordering parts for product prototypes and testing.
• Injection Molds: The steel molds used to produce plastic parts.
• Container Shipping: Sending finished products from China to the U.S.
• Warehouse Space: Storing goods locally until they are sold in my store.
• Insurance: Various policies to protect against potential business risks.
• General Overhead: Software, corporate tax filings, tools, and other operational expenses.

Anticipated Price Changes

While tariffs may go up by 10%, I don’t expect my final prices to rise by that exact amount because not all costs are tariffed. That said, the largest portion of my costs does face tariffs, so a moderate price adjustment could occur. If China imposes retaliatory tariffs on U.S. components (oddly, some chips in my products come from the U.S. and are then assembled in China), those parts could be taxed twice.  Once going into China and once coming back.

Assuming no further tariff increases, I anticipate my overall costs might rise by 5–9%, and I would likely increase prices by a similar range.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Nano 2.1 – June 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

View web version of this email

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

January 02, 2025

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I’m thrilled to introduce my latest invention – the EEW Fold! As a valued member of the Dreaming Robots family, you’ve been an essential part of our journey, and I couldn’t wait to share this exciting news with you.  It is on Kickstarter now!

What is the EEW Fold?

The EEW Fold is a quiet, fast, and ultra-portable electric spinning wheel designed to meet the needs of modern fiber artists like you. Whether you’re spinning at home, taking it to a retreat, or using it on the go, this compact eSpinner is built to fit seamlessly into your crafting lifestyle.

Key Features:

• 4-ounce bobbins: Perfect for versatile spinning.
• Foldable design: Compact and travel-friendly for easy storage, fast bobbin changes, and portability.
• Max 3,000 RPM: Spins beautifully at slower speeds for smooth worsted yarns, while excelling at higher speeds for woolen or short-staple fibers like cotton and cashmere.
• Digital RPM Display: Keep your twist consistent and document settings for precise, repeatable results.
• Smooth, quiet performance: Powered by a brushless motor and precision bearings for quiet operation.
• Affordable: Available now for just $199 (limited-time pricing on Kickstarter).

See it in action and learn more on our Kickstarter page: EEW Fold on Kickstarter

Please look at this right away and consider backing now since it will help my project to do this early!

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Nano 2.1 – June 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

View web version of this email

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

December 01, 2024

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Drum Carder Update

I made a new video for an updated EEW Drum Carder prototype.  It’s a huge improvement since the previous prototype.  A big thanks to my wife and daughter for helping me test the new one in this video!

Some of the big changes since the last prototype are:

• New easy to detach optional handle
• Tray to catch fiber
• Better way to attach carding cloth to drums
• New motor and pulley system
• Overall, just about everything has been changed since that prototype, and I’m much happier with this version.  Still lots of things to improve though

I have lots of quality of life improvements already implemented that weren’t in this version.  I still need to do a big update on the circuit board.  I also have a solution using a timing belt that eliminates the motor slipping I mentioned in the video.  I’m very impressed with the motor power when that belt isn’t slipping.

Check out the video linked above for more details.

eSpinner Bag

I posted an update to my Instagram page about this eSpinner bag.  This updated version has lots of improvements suggested by the community like an increased size and a shoulder strap.  There are more details in that link to my Instagram page.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Fold Kickstarter – February 2025
• EEW Nano 2.1 – June 2025 (sorry for the delays, manufacturing is slower than expected)

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

November 01, 2024

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Product Roadmap

I released a roadmap of my future products in a video where I talk about my future projects while walking around a fiber festival.  I go over an updated EEW Nano, EEW Fold, EEW Drum Carder, and then other farther out projects.  If you’re interested in what I’m doing, this is a good one to watch.

Purr Protector

The Purr Protector is a 3D printed case that goes around your EEW to protect it from cats and other things that like to touch the spinning flyer.  I made fun videos for the EEW Nano and EEW 6.x versions.  I’ve also made the 3D printable files freely available on printables.

Weighting Your Yarn

In this video I show several progressively more optimal ways to weigh your yarn.  The most optimal lets you quickly get your yarn weight by putting your whole eSpinner on a scale, but there is a trick to make this easier involving adding a custom weight.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Fold Kickstarter – January 2025
• EEW Nano 2.1 – Febuary 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

October 01, 2024

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EEW Nano 2.1

Spinning raw llama fleece on the EEW Nano 2.1

The EEW Nano 2.1 injection molds are complete and I’ve approved them!  These “injection molds” are steel blocks with the shape of the plastic part removed so all the custom plastic pieces can be made quickly and affordable.  For example if I used 3D printing making one EEW Nano would take around 20 hours and with injection molding that’s around 30 seconds.  The downside is these steel molds are expensive, but as long as you are making a lot of something (usually thousands) then injection molding is better.  In the photo above you can see many different colors of plastic are used for different parts.  That is because when verifying the molds my factory just uses whatever color of plastic is in the machine.  I’m really happy with how this version has turned out.  I won’t be running a Kickstarter for it, but when it’s available I will send out an email to this community and give a discount for the first 7 days it’s on my store.  There will also be an affordable upgrade kit that will convert the EEW Nano 2.0 to an EEW Nano 2.1.  I’m still working out the exact pricing of everything, but my hope is to keep the EEW Nano 2.1 the same price as the EEW Nano 2.0.  My current estimate on timeframe for the EEW Nano 2.1 is February 2025.

There are major improvements to the uptake system, and the noise noise is reduced due to the new flyer and bobbin system.  Here is a more detailed list of the improvements of the EEW Nano 2.1 over the EEW 2.0.

• Bobbins now use a bearing system that makes them rotate smoother and more quiet
• Completely new flyer out of glass reinforced nylon to make it last longer and it uses a different bearing at the back to prevent extra tension on the bobbins if there is flex in the maidens
• New sliding hook system that works better and reduces snags on fiber
• Tension system changed to use a spring and string to improve the tension system
• Base colors are black and purple (bobbins are gray, purple, and ivory)

Custom Bag Plan

I made this video to show the first prototype of a custom bag I’m making to carry my eSpinners.  I plan to eventually sell them in my store and would like your feedback.  This video also gives you a good size comparison between the EEW 6, EEW Nano, and EEW Fold.  The EEW Fold pre-orders will start with a Kickstarter later this year or early 2025.  At the end of the video I mention I’ll be giving this prototype bag to a random person who leaves a comment in the youtube comments.

Upcoming Fiber Festivals

We’re going to be attending the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival (Oct 5-6) and the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Oct 19-20).  Jessica will be  in charge of the booth at both of these.  Stop by and say hi if you’re at either of these.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Fold Kickstarter – December 2024
• EEW Nano 2.1 – Febuary 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

September 01, 2024

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EEW Fold Update

I spent most of my time this month working on the EEW Fold.  Basically it went like this.  Change some 3D files on my computer.  Print it with my 3D printer.  Test it to see what else I can improve.  Change it, print it, test it again, and repeat many more times.  I don’t keep track of the exact number of prototypes, but I’m sure I’ve done more iterations on this product than any other.  The folding mechanism makes a lot of the parts depend on other parts in non-obvious ways.  For example when I adjusted the flyer design it caused problems with magnet placement on the bottom cover, which didn’t seem like they should be related.  Also the folding mechanism gives more opportunity to figure out little improvements with more iterations.  I’m pretty sure in the end it will just seem like this is a simple obvious design.  If that’s the case and none of the details I’ve been working on these past several months are noticed, that is a mission accomplished for me.  Overall, I’m very excited about the EEW Fold.  I think there are a lot of advantages over the EEW 6.1.  I’ve mentioned many of them before like quicker bobbin changes, faster speeds, less vibrations, and an RPM display.  I’ll be going into more details in the future when I am testing molded versions.

I’m going to keep the Kickstarter target in December, but we might miss that.  I’m pretty confident the design will be done well before December, but I plan to get the molds made which will take a few months and then I need the video and documentation for Kickstarter made using the molded version.  I prefer using the molded version for Kickstarter over 3D printed versions because having molded parts in hand, even if they aren’t completely final.  This makes it easier for me to predict when I’ll be able to ship it, and I like having a fairly accurate ship date estimate for my Kickstarter campaigns.

The Seasonality of Selling Fiber Tools

It’s September!  I live in Massachusetts where September usually starts off pretty warm, by the time fall starts (officially September 22nd) the nights are usually cooler.  This causes more people to start thinking about spinning, knitting, and other fiber crafts they set aside for the warmer months.

I’ve been selling fiber tools for about 15 years and have seen some trends in my sales.   I wanted to give some concrete percentages of how my sales have done in different seasons, but after looking over my data it’s just too noisy for that information to be useful.  The biggest issue is I often run out of stock on my top items and that causes sales to slow, but then there is a huge spike in sales when that item is in stock.  Also I’m fortunate that this community has continued to grow and that leads to different demographic mixes year after year.  This makes the data more difficult to compare year after year in an attempt to smooth out the issues from the inventory issues.  After looking at my data in various graphs I’d estimate that during these summer months I see sales drop around 15-30%.  Then in November/December I see sales increase by about 30-50%.  For the rest of the year I’d say sales are pretty regular.

While other fiber businesses are going to be different, I suspect most yarn shops see similar seasonal trends.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Fold Kickstarter – December 2024
• EEW Nano 2.1 – Febuary 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server

August 01, 2024

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Tour de Fleece Wrap Up

Huge thanks to everyone who spun along with Team EEW 2024 for this year’s Tour de Fleece. The three week period saw hundreds of photographs shared from all around the world, showcasing beautiful fibres and many personal challenges set and completed. 328 people played for prizes, 70% on Facebook, 33% on Ravelry, and 16% on Discord (yes, those numbers add up to more than 100%; some people played in more than one place!). The lucky prize-winners are as follows:

• EEW 6.1 (or equivalent value from in stock items at Dreaming Robots) won by: sfeely (ravelry)
• EEW Cone Winder (or equivalent value from in stock items at Dreaming Robots) won by Teen Ward (facebook)
• EEW Yarn Counter won by: Psylocke26 (ravelry)
• EEW Lazy Kate won by: Penguinwyn (discord) and Benjamin Randolph (facebook)
• EEW 6.1 or EEW Nano bobbins set won by: Kendra O’Hern (facebook) and Knittingmommy (discord)

Congratulations to all the winners, and to everyone else too, even without a prize, you’ve still come away of this with some beautiful yarn and lots of inspiration from all the wonderful pictures shared.

If you’ve not well and truly worn yourself out, don’t forget that Team EEW will ride again from 12 to 18 August 2024 for the Tour de Fleece Femmes as we watch the women’s race.

I’d also like to thank Vampy who did a great job running this event for us (and writing the summary above).  She is very active in our community so be sure to give her posts a thumbs up when you see them.

This photo from Ginger Simonson is one of her Tdf projects.  This 1:3 fractal Polwarth is just the sixth skein she’s ever spun.  During this Tdf she spun in several new places – the car dealership (where a service advisor asked her what a sheep is…), outside, on an airplane, in a hotel, and for one of the challenge days, all four Disney parks.

Clamp Update

I’ve made new free 3D printable files a improved clamp.  It replaces a single piece clamp with a two piece articulating head clamp.  If you have a EEW Yarn Counter and want the clamp to work better you can 3D print the part r this page explains how to order it from others.

The two main reasons I put time into this was because I’m considering ordering a new batch of EEW Yarn Counters and this was a weakness a few of you pointed out when I asked for feedback.  By the way, thanks for this and all the other great feedback I received from the request in last month’s newsletter!  The other reason is I am considering adding clamps to more of my products in the future.  Right now it’s just the EEW Cone Winder tensioner and EEW Yarn Counter that come with a clamp.  Both of these are lightweight and the current clamp works pretty well for most people.  However, I’ve been experimenting with including clamps to my future eSpinners, and my beta testers have really liked the clamps.  I was a little surprised by this feedback because I’ve long been trying to convey that I’ve designed the EEW Nano and EEW 6.x so C or bar clamps (search online stores and you’ll see lots of options) could be used with them.  However, it turns out few are doing that.  However, if I actually include a little clamp then way more people try it and love it.  This custom clamp I’m designing is lower cost and smaller than generic solutions so it is something I’m likely to include on future designs like the EEW Fold.

I’ve made a video that goes into more depth on this new clamp.

3D Printing Rambling

This is a little insight into how 3D printing and some changes I made recently to improve my workflow.  If that interests you then keep reading, otherwise bye bye 🙂

I often release free 3D printed parts for my projects as a way to help my community.  I love doing that, but by far the more important aspect of  3D printing for me is prototyping new designs.  Without 3D printing it would be much slower, more expensive, and many of my products wouldn’t be nearly as good because I just couldn’t do as many iterations to perfect the design.  After I get the perfected prototype, I use injection molding to make my products more affordable.  Injection molding and 3D printing have different types of constraints and I design my parts with injection molding in mind since that is my ultimate goal.  In general 3D printing has fewer constraints than injection molding, but one limitation with 3D printing is that it needs support when there is no material under the object.  Below is an image that shows organic supports holding up some drum caps for the EEW Drum Carder.  The supports are those round tree-like structures.  Also don’t get confused by the two colors used in this print.  I just ran out of filament half way through the print so I changed colors.

The software that generates those supports is clever and tries to leave a little gap between the support and the object being printed.  However, if that gap gets too big then the print fails.  Often these supports get too stuck to the main object that I spend lots of time removing them.  I used to print objects flat, but then more supports are needed and getting them all detached takes a long time.  This past month I upgraded my printer so it can print with two different plastics.  Many people use this to allow different colors, but I don’t care what color my prototypes are so that doesn’t matter to me.  Instead what I do is I use different types of plastic that don’t stick together well.  This lets me print the main object out of one type of plastic and then the supports out of a different plastic.  These two types of plastic don’t stick together much (types of plastic I’m using are PLA and PETG).  Also I can print the objects with better supports and not rotate them to 45 degrees because removing the supports is very easy.  The image below compares this 45 degree printing (left) with using different types of plastic (right).  You can see there are some rough spots with the 45 degree rotation and those were actually hindering my ability to test my new drum carder prototypes.  The prints on the right are basically perfect so I’m quite happy with this upgrade.

3D printing is a field that is improving quickly.  The improvements in the hardware and software over the past 5 years is pretty incredible.  That’s good too, because the solution I’m using here doesn’t solve all problems.  One big issue that still remains is these supports work well for cases like my drum carder model, but I often do supports where instead of the attaching to the plate on the 3D printer the supports have to attach to the model and in those cases this different type of plastic doesn’t work well because the base of supports won’t stick well to the model and then the supports can fail which cause the model to fail later.  I’m using a type of 3D printing that extrudes the plastic like a very accurate glue gun, but there are other types of 3D printing that suspend your model in liquid plastic or powder plastic and thus don’t have as many issues with these supports.  However those processes are still more expensive or require a lot more cleanup so for my prototypes I think the current type of printing I’m doing is best right now.  But it is an area I have to pay close attention to since improvements here can significantly help my business of making fiber tools for you.

Norway Vacation

Emily’s (my wife’s) grandma was from Norway, and migrated to the US as a child.  When Emily was young she would talk with her grandma about someday going back to Norway.  Unfortunately grandma passed away before that became a reality, but because of those discussions a trip to Norway has always been in Emily’s bucket list.  This past month we made it a reality and took a week long family vacation to explore the fjords of Norway.  My daughter’s favorite part was meeting some new friends and swimming in heated pools.  My wife’s favorite part was meeting some distant relatives for the first time and shopping at Norwegian yarn shops.  My favorite was an adventure where we went kayaking in the fjords, hiked up a 340 meter tall cliff to an old farm, and then got stranded without a taxi so we had to hitch hike back to our ship.  We all agree that the people we met in Norway are welcoming, friendly, and interesting.

Product Updates

Below are estimates and the dates may change.

• EEW Fold Kickstarter – December 2024
• EEW Nano 2.1 – January 2025

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– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel

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