Oops, I did it again. I was browsing for something else and accidentally saw something that caught my eye. Even worse, it was on sale for New Year’s!!!! Oddly, the same item had four different listings priced from $117.00 (Canadian) with only Chinese instruction in photos to $137.00 (Canadian) the only 1 of 4 that had some English instructions in the associated photos.  Since all listings were from the same seller, I started a long….. series of questions both technical and why the variation in prices. Was there a difference in motor strength? I was assured that all were the same and that it was just that there was a sale for New Year’s.

After looking carefully at all the pictures, with lovely but unreadable text, I had figured out some of my questions, then being pointed to the 4^th listing with the English diagrams I was able to figure out most of the rest.

I showed Glenn what I had found and decided to order one. I suppose I should not hold you in suspense and show you this interesting addition to my collection.

1) Mysterious Cardboard box arrived in the mail

I am sure this helps a lot and you know exactly what I got! No?

Ok, how about a peek at the end of the box that has some letter shapes that look more familiar?

2) the end of the same box says Hey Truool which is not too illuminating as to what is inside

Yes, it’s a “Hey Truool”!!! (something to do with a sheep with eyes closed tight?) no? ok, let’s cut the tape very carefully, not to frighten the concentrating ram and look inside the box….

3) the box inside the outer box,

Well, that looks intriguing, don’t you think? (Nice technical illustration line drawing but maybe you would like a bit more information?)

4) the inner box has iridescent ink for the diagram. It has a very cool graphic design and technical illustration.

OOOH love the interesting colour shift in the printing! Very nice graphics. Ok, I like the outside of the inside box but maybe I should stop admiring it and look further inside.

5) inside the inside box showing instructions and the end of the machine

ah yes, I see the problem…. I am likely just as dyslexic in Chinese as I am in English because this is as understandable as grade 1 English was when I was in grade 1. Maybe I will be lucky and there will be subtitles further in?

6) a close-up of the open instructions, there is a lot of fine print so I’m sure it would have been helpful if I could read it.

No,….. this Chinese is all Greek to me. Well, let’s not get held back by a lack of reading skills, and continue on to looking at the implement!

7) the tool held gently in a protective surround of black foam.

Oh My, the excellent graphics and very nice packaging continue (sorry I really, really like technical illustration and when I bump into good graphic design and packaging I am very happy)

ok, what I am impressed with is the slightly translucent paper-like cover protecting the tool. It has helpful graphics and labels. Unfortunately not in English, but still what a nice placement and it would have worked fabulously if I could have read it. Maybe the most expensive version has English graphics?

8) the back of the tool showing the other side of the protective paper sleeve

There is a handy tear strip on the back, which I have refrained from tearing. (Instead, I have been slipping it off and on between uses.)

Now what is the little box to the side of the foam packing?

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9.1-9.2) the little box at the side of the black foam packing holds the Accessories

Ahhh, Accessories!!! 2 large enough to fit my finger’s leather finger cotts! (some of the ones from China have some very odd notions as to the size of my fingers…. They think I am some delicate thing with tiny elegant skinny fingers….. Nope, that is not me.) The USB charging cord (a bit short but it works!) and the vile of needles.  ok, the last isn’t as important for me since I still have the remains of 7 different boxes originally holding 500 needles each.

At this point, I admitted I needed a bit more info. So, I messaged Ann about translation Apps for phones. I remember her saying something about, “Just take a picture of it, and the phone will translate it into English”.  She thought my phone probably came with one installed. After much rummaging into corners of my phone I had not visited, I decided it was still not as smart as it said it was… I told it to go online and find an app which it eventually did, then after more rude words I convinced it that yes, I did want to download it and use it. Unfortunately, my phone proved it was not as smart as the average camera and refused to copy or save the text. So I used my real camera and took bad pictures of the sections of translated text!! I may be a Luddite but I am a sneaky Luddite that knows how to use a camera.

10) translated text photographed from my not so smart phone.

I painfully read the text, which mostly made reasonable sense. The first part being generic, power tool safety instructions, and then we got to the part I wanted to know about.

11) more text from my not-too-bright phone, translated from Chinese to English

First-time use: Do not charge more than 4 hours. It is charged when all the lights are on. If the lights by the power switch dwindle it’s time to recharge.  Recharge every 2-3 months if not in use. I also translated the other long instruction card which was quite helpful and checked back to the online info and compared it to the translations. (From previous experience with Microsoft’s spellchecking inability to handle something as simple as my spelling, I may be unfairly leery of Google’s ability with others’ spelling)

I read about the on / off button, and extended hold to power it off and on, while a light tap will pause and start it once it is powered on.  It has 5 speeds of operation, (one of the online info photos had the motor speeds for each).

I checked the stats for the machine and found more interesting info

12) last phone shot I promise!

One of my original questions was about run time and rest time. The Orange Fly from Ukraine and the Silver Mettle felting machine from China both had run and rest times suggested so you didn’t offend your motor and have it die on you out of spite.

The person I was typing with suggested;

“20 minutes use, 10 minutes rest is suggested” Alibaba Translation

“the machine can run 1 hour after fully charged” Alibaba Translation

“it can be used during charging as well” Alibaba Translation”

The technical details say full battery time is 30 to 50 minutes, with a bit more reading I found it was due to which speed you are running it at. I suspect also, how many needles you are running since more needles will give more resistance to the motor.

Now, let’s move on to the part of the machine that had originally intrigued me. I am sure you remember the mechanics of the clover tool (Green) and the fake clover tool (Blue) with its protective sleeve, which retracts when used. The new felting machine also has a sleeve guard. This one retracts and can be set at different levels, which sets the depth of the needle penetrations. (This gives you the ability to set a constant working depth.) if you are wanting to work at a shallow depth make sure you are engaging at least the barb closest to the tip of the needle, without barb engagement you are not going to get very far with your felting.

This diagram is from the English sale posting;

13) Manufacturers diagram showing  adjusting depth gauge of machine

That is not the only interesting feature of this machine. Let’s look at how each machine deals with needle exchanges. With the other two, the orange fly is a bit tricky to change needles (it gets better with practice but it is not “Easy”) and the other mettle one from China requires the needles to have the top crank removed (cut or sawed off). This new one (also from China) has an easy needle-changing setup, no cutting or fighting with needles required). You can choose to run it with 1 to 5 needles, depending on what you are doing. I have tried it with three T-38 333 needles.

14.1-14.2)

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14.1-14.2) Manufacturers diagram

The one warning I would suggest is carefully looking at image 2 above. I opened the needle holder while the machine was in a horizontal position. Oops, I almost lost the little mettle square you can see in image 3 above. Not to worry I found it and got everything back together.

Once I had it charged, (USB cord charging off my computer) I tried on the butt of Moose #3. It did felt a bit but Moose’s gluteals are extremely firm already so it was unfair to ask it to compact an already well-compacted surface.

I brought it with me to the social on Monday and got a few minutes after guild stuff, library and photography to try it out with a felt picture on my soft 1.5-inch thick wool mat. As we found with the other electric felting machines, the faster speeds were more effective. The tool is lighter and has less kick-back, than the mettle one from China, I was showing you last year. (Oh! Time is doing that spontaneous jump forward again…was that a year ago?) I had hoped to bring the 3 machines to the social and have Ann help me show you the features and go over how they compare. Unfortunately, she had been feeling ill on the weekend and although better was not feeling up to drive into the guild.

15) Hey Truool felting machine sitting on just started the chickadee picture

I will add this one to the chart I had with the others and will give you more info when Ann and I  can get together and compare them.  In case you were making a chart for yourself, I can give you this data to add to it. The “Hey Truool” is winning on ease of needle change and the ability to set the working depth is very appreciated. The Orang Fly with only one needle seems to run faster and is of a similar weight.  The Mettle one from China has the most kick back but I will admit it is working a bit better on a brush work surface.

So far, I am very pleased with this addition to my collection of felting tools. I am looking forward to showing Ann and getting her opinion too. It can be used with both 2D and 3D projects. For 3-D, I am still likely to work with single or double, hand-held needles, but it is always good to have options. I can see using this to build up and sculpt the underlayers (I may have to hand felt the layers closest to the armature but if it can speed up the understructure it will allow me to tackle more projects since I keep coming up with more things I want to felt!)

16)  Hey Truool felting machine sitting on the counter as it attends the local Guild Social

If you would like to read the info from the manufacturer, the more expensive English instructions are with this machine’s listing. Scroll down to see them;

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006303168768.html?spm=a2g0s.imconversation.0.0.25b43e5fsgJIEw&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

The cheaper but less textually illuminating version is here, again click on “View More” to see all the pictures:

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006117756592.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.11.793f1802E6SDAR&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

For both listings, you can ask questions in the “Message” button. (I am sure your questions will not be as difficult as mine were!! Their representative was very helpful and did try their best to help with my inability to read Chinese.)

I am not suggesting rushing over and buying one instantly, but if you are investigating an electric needle felting tool then this one should definitely be added to your list of considerations.  (I would give it bonus points for ease of needle changing and work depth adjustability. oh, and you can run it without the safety covers if you really want to. Good hunting for felting tools and Keep Felting!!

PS, there is a new version from the manufacturers of other felting machines from China. for the new version they are selling a replacement motor and an adapter that allows you to use regular needles. Unfortunately, from chatting with there contact person, the old version that i have will not work with the new adapter (DRAT!).

PSS, I have now seen a Moose project bag with a woven scarf and red yarn in his antlers! Once there are a few more augmented Moose project bags, I will do a post to show you them.