When last we chatted, we looked at a few of the holders I have in my collection of felting needles while we weighted for the post to arrive from China.
After a wait for shipping, the 3 needle holders arrived, one after another. All arrived with needles intact but the packaging was dented and squished. A bit of bubble wrap may have been a good idea.
Remember I suspected that some of what is being sold are seconds and some are overruns of other people’s orders? Well, I think this line is seconds. The holders are not helped by the poor protection during shipping.
21-23 the arrivals, packaging gave its life for the contents to be safe.
Out of the three I purchased only one was able to separate, which is important since it allows access to change needles.
The other two seem to be jammed against the edge of the inside of the handle. Even the one that opened does not have even spacing around the needle holding section. I think I can fix that!! I have a large file and a nail file that should help. I have some very fine sandpaper ….somewhere in the basement……well let’s start with the files.
Here is the one that opened but is sticky.
in the last picture, you can see the uneven spacing between the two parts of the holder. This could be from the wood swelling, the varnish is sticking or the screw joining the parts together may be bent.
With one of the two problematic holders, I was able to push the interior away from the sticking spot and get the parts apart.
31-32 I used the rasp file on the interior of the handle which did remove a lot of roughness.
I then turned to filing the sticking spots on the interior of the needle holding part. I put the two parts back together just till they started to rub and marked the spot with a sharp fingernail. (Glenn says they are very sharp) if your nails are not quite as sharp I guess you could have used the awl or a mettle nail file.
That is two working and one to go! I couldn’t nudge the third one so I tried to get the nail file in and possibly file in place on either side of the sticking.
I continued with more sanding and checking until it finally seems to be working.
I will eventually find the really fine sandpaper (still somewhere “safe” in the basement) to give it a final touch-up. Overall If these go on sale again I would get a couple more. they are comfortable to my hand and the needle spacing is reasonable.
Their helpful instructions are technically written in English but have some similarities to my spelling, while each might be considered an attempt at English, both will require a bit of interpretation for the meaning to be obtained.
Even with the need for a bit of work and adjustment, I think these will be a good addition to the options I have for holding needles. Just so you don’t think I only use needle holders I do also use the cheaper option of an elastic to hold two needles. I adjust the needle spacing if I need to by using my fingernail. (It’s a bit like using chopsticks but you’re are stabbing not picking something tasty up.)
Since I started writing this I have spotted an aluminum 6 needle holder that looks intriguing, yes it’s on order and should be here within a month or so.
Happy Felting and good luck on your needle holding quests!