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Why do Felting needles break? Do you blame your tools or is it operator error? In 3 parts

Why do Felting needles break? Do you blame your tools or is it operator error? In 3 parts

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Part 2

Last post, we reviewed some of the properties of felting needles. https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/03/27/why-do-felting-needles-break-do-you-blame-your-tools-or-is-it-operator-error/

The Machines

So, what does industry do with these fascinating needles?

The Felting needles are used in part of a line of machines used to create various types of non-woven/felt material. Here are a few examples of what come out the other end of the machines: automotive textiles, filtration fabrics, to sheets of felt. The needle chosen for each type of felting machine, pre-felting, felting and structuring if needed, will give you various finished products. Which needle for which job is very hush hush with only generalizations (automotive, filters, landscape fabrics, acoustics…)are given.

Let’s take a look at a sample line of machines to make felt.

2 adjacent needle boards in a prefelting macheine8) Pre-needling machine set up in parallel boards.

There are a number of different machines in a line, and the configuration will depend on the nonwoven that is being produced. As in spinning, there are machines at the front of the line that bake the bale of fiber (possibly wool), which fluffs and separates it from its compacted state in the bale. As the fiber goes through the line, the fiber will be carded, drafted, and the crosslapper will lay the web into a uniform thickness in the number of layers as required for the final product. The web drafter will make sure the web is an even thickness.  Eventually, the web will meet the pre-felting, then felting machines with their board or boards of felting needles. There may also be another machine holding structuring needles depending, again, on what is wanted as the end product.  After that, it exits and is sent to the winder to create rolls of whatever was being made.

9.1 – 9.3) Some of the machines in a production line

Depending on the machine used (Pre-needling or Main needling), the needles boards may have a different orientation with 2 adjacent needle boards (2x 4,500 needles/m) or in the main felting machine that I was reading about, 2 sets of boards working towards each other.  There are other configurations, this was just one of the sample combination lines I was looking at. For the main boards, “single or parallel uppers” were listed as having “2,000 needles/m while the Single- and multi-board operation upstroke and downstroke, tandem operation had 3,000 needles/m, 5,000 needles/m or 8,000 needles/m”. Basically that means there are a lot of needles in a board of needles. I do remember I found the speed the machines were running somewhere, but I can’t find the info at the moment. I remember it seemed very fast!

In the needle boards/beds (I have heard both, but G-B uses boards) the needles are set in using the crank (that odd little bend at the top of the needle. It is always nice to know it has a purpous not just poking my finger if I turn the needle the wrong way.) The angle of the crank will position the needle as it meets the web.  There is a tool to help get the needle in the correct orientation. If you do not get the alignment correct to the moving web the implication was less efficiency and greater numbers of broken or bending needles.

crank check tool for setting needles in a needle board10) Crank positioning tool

It is also important to get the working depth of the needle set correctly in the machine.  Since wear analyses of the needles, have shown that the first barb performs around half of the total work carried out by the needle, and that in most cases only three to five barbs are actually interacting with the web.  As hand needle felters, we may also be primarily using the first barbs as we work, but we may have to borrow the industry’s equipment to find out.

In Industry, during a job, needles are not changed all at once, but usually 1/3 at a time. During the run of a job, the needles to be regularly cleaned of fiber dust, checked for any bent or broken needles, and sprayed with an anti-corrosive oil. (Regularly checking our needles would be good practice for hand felters, too.) How long needles remain in the needle board can be measured in machine operating hours, stroke rates or production quantity.

In the boards, the needles can catch and bend or break, they will also dull (tip or barb) over time. Dulling is not usually a problem hand felters need to worry about, unless you are working into a vary needle-dulling surface (which sounds like a silly idea) or are using a fiber with extreme abrasive qualities (I wonder what that would be? Has anyone tried to felt fiberglass? I have no idea why you might want to, but that might be strong enough to destroy barbs quicker than wool.  I would also not try asbestos fiber, it would destroy your lungs and probably give you cancer. I am getting distracted (it may be getting close to time for meds again, back on topic). Stick to wool and other fluffy fibers.  We will not stab our needles nearly as many times as a needle will impale fiber in the commercial machines.  Unfortunately, even if our needle tips are unlikely to dull significantly, we still will have needles bend or break.

Remember I mentioned cycling out needle, a third at a time, in a needle board during production?  I recently saw a complaint on YouTube about the purchase of a set of needles sold in three lengths. I am sure you have seen some resellers list their needles as “Small, Medium and large” with no specified gauge. Avoid these, you may get perfectly good needles, but in three lengths of the same gauge. Or worse, as this buyer described her cheap 3 length needles as “having blunt points and the barbs were worn and shallow”. This suggests she may have received needles pulled from a needle board. If a seller doesn’t know what gauge they are selling, be suspicious. They may be cheap, but they still may not be worth the price. If you receive worn-looking barbs on your needle, they are not moving fiber as efficiently as expected, then yes, you can blame your tools and the re-seller. Used industrial needles (pulled from a needle board) will also be weaker due to the hours of wear already on the needle and will be more likely to break, especially if we forget rule #2 (Never change vector, the direction the needle goes in is the direction the needle goes out).  So far, this seems to be a limited problem, but it’s good to be aware and cautious. Although the cheap price may be very tempting, stick to reputable resellers or manufacturers.

older 3 length needles by reseller no guage listed11) Sold by three lengths but no gauges.

In this older add, above, with needles sold by 3 lengths, it looks like the two on the right might be the same gauge and the short one may be finer, but the seller only lists lengths of overall needle. We can tell from the picture that the needles should have three 3 barbs per side. If you need to be extremely frugal, and sometimes these no-gauge needles are no cheaper than ones with information, ask the seller questions. If you don’t like the answer, don’t buy them. You could wind up with something you don’t want. (Sometimes, the deal is too good to be true.)

needles sold by lenth not by gauge. another exmple of needles sold by lenth not by gauge. 12.1 – 12.2) Here is an image of needles in three sizes being sold. Lots of measurements of lengths, but no mention of gauge.

Some sellers, who are not hand needle felters, just don’t realize what we need or want to know. If they get asked often enough they may start adding more information that is helpful to us. The Doer needles (non-industry site) now has much more helpful information on it. the improvement in information is likely due to a lot of pestering by hand needle felters, and more than just me.

I have bought lots of needles from Etsy resellers, Amazon, Aliexpress and at fiber festivals.  So far, I have not run into any that seem to have warn barbs or dulled tips. I tend to buy from sellers who know what they are reselling or directly from one of the manufacturers. Being curious, I have bought a few of the various needle felting kits, which include assorted needles (some un-gauged), a working surface and other tools. So far, all the needles have looked new and unused. Some of the needles do feel a bit less flexible (likely higher carbon content?), but they still work. You just have to be more enthusiastic about adhering to rule #2.

Next, we will look at how we use felting needles.

off topic update: Second trip out after surgery, this time to the renew my drivers license and health card(Glenn was driving). i seem to have forgotten my birthday this year. dose that mean i can stay the same age as last year?

Have fun and keep felting!

Why do Felting needles break? Do you blame your tools or is it operator error? In 3 parts

Why do Felting needles break? Do you blame your tools or is it operator error? In 3 parts

Comments 15 comments

Part 1

Why do felting needles break?

Do you blame your tools, or is it operator error?

I have bumped into this question a couple of times so far this year but had not been up to considering the answer. The question has two factors which we should consider. The needle itself and how it is used.

Let’s start with a review, what industrial felting needles were originally designed to do: make nonwoven fabric in industrial machines.  We can divide the needle itself into two parts: first, the needle and its intrinsic qualities and second the machines the needles go in.  Then, we will consider our use of the needles.

DIagram of a felting needle with parts listed1) Parts of a felting needle

(The diagram above should be looking quite familiar if you have read the other blogs about needles.)

Quick overview of the properties of needles:

Length:

Needles vary in length, depending on the machine they will be used with and what they are making. Needle lengths range from 2.5”,(3”, 3.5”, 4”, 4.5”) to 5”. The most common Length for us is 3”, which fits in the clover and fake-clover tool holders. So sellers who sell needles by length, small, medium and large, may be selling you the same gauge just in different lengths. We will chat again about that silliness later.

2.1-2.2) range of Gauges used by hand needle felters

Gauge:

Needles also come in different gauges. That’s the thinness or thickness of the working part of the needle. We usually work in the range of 32g to 42g, with most needle felters preferring the 38-40 range. But within the industry, the range is much larger; standard Triangle needles range from 12–46 gauge.  The higher the number the finer the needle and the more vulnerable it will be to mishandling.

Shape:

You also have various shapes of the working part of the needle. The most common shape is the triangle. There are other options such as the tri star (3 Sides), quod or cross star (4 sides) (both stars are more limited in gauges and lengths available), Twisted or Spiral needles (Higher production speeds possible and good compaction of the non-woven fabric. They are used in the automotive and filtration sectors.), and the Crown, which is a Structuring needle (one barb on each edge of the working part, closest to the point. Used in Automotive interiors and home textiles: Floor coverings)

Some we don’t tend to see;

  • Vario barb (Graduated barb size per edge, 1-3 barbs per side. The closer to the point, the smaller the barb),
  • Conical (tapering angle from the point to the end of the working part, like the Vario, the barb size decreases the closer to the tip and up to 3 barbs per side; barbs come in 3 styles. Available in 18–43 gauge)
  • GEBECON (as the previous 2 needles, tapering working part and varying barb sizes up the working part.

These three previous needles are all used in Pre-Needling machines and are popular for their resistance to bending or breaking. They are used in the manufacturing in the automotive sector, synthetic leathers, geotextiles, filter felts and any type of technical felt.

  • Teardrop working part, 4, 6 or 8 barbs on one side. This needle is described as having a gentle effect on the warp and weft threads of the base material. It is used when base materials are used; examples given were in paper machine and filtration felts or for needling furniture upholstery fabrics. 30–40 gauge, 2 barb types and 2 lengths are the regular availability.
  • EcoStar 3-sided triangular working part, most commonly 2 barbs per side. It is described as having a Lower penetration force required in felting machines.

Barb:

 

verious differnt shapes of barbs on a felting needle 4 exsamples 3) Barbs: Some of the B.G Barb styles

Needles have barbs, little notches in the working part of the needle that grab one or many fibers and moves them into the felt or ground you are working on. For most needles, the gauge of the needle will determine the size of the barb. With Courser Gauges can have bigger Barbs that can grab larger and courser fiber or more of a finer fiber with each insertion. Inversely, smaller barbs/finer gauges will only grab finer fibers since a fiber larger than the barb will not fit in it, so it cannot be moved by the barb. There are different styles of barb shapes.  When perching from a reseller, we don’t usually know which type of barb or the barb spacing we are getting.

Point:

There are also different points on felting needles. Again, they are usually not listed when you buy them from a reseller, and now, many of the manufacturers are not listing them on their packaging. We seem to be getting the standard sharp point, which was stated as the most common, but there are other options available.

feling nedle tips options we usualy have the sharp option.4) Point options from G.B,  some are commonly found, and some are not seen by us

The Point comes in more than one shape. We tend to be sold sharp, pointy tipped needles. Although they are brand new needles, as you can see, they can have a rounded tip. These points are usually associated with needles working on a woven ground, so the point does not break the fabric as it is pushing wool into the fabric. These are not needles we tend to get our hands on. The exception is a fork needle, which is now being sold to us as a felting needle. It is not, it’s a structuring needle and does not have any barbs. It is used mostly by doll makers to add hair to their newborn baby dolls.

A few years ago, there were rumors in the technical papers of new coatings to increase the flexibility of needles and allow an increase in the speed the web could pass through the line (machines).  So far, the rumor has not given us a flexible needle, but a new coating/finishing process for barbs has been introduced. It reduced the speed the barb wares, once worn, it no longer grabs the optimal amount of fiber or grabs no fiber at all. This requires the replacement of the needles in the needle board. This new needle gave much longer run times before needing replacement.  This may not be quite as impressive for hand felters but it is an interesting development in technology. I will keep hoping for the mythical flexible needle to turn up, which will likely be helpful to us, but I am not holding my breath.

Different needle manufacturers.

There are various needle-making companies. Some make the machines and the needles, others seem to only make needles for others’ machines. When I was surfing around the web trying to find technical details on needles, I would occasionally come across a snide comment about “needles made in India” on a site not in India, or “fragile needles from China” on a site selling needles not coming from China. Oddly, I never saw anyone saying anything bad about the German Groz-Breckert company (G-B) (I have some of their needles and they are nice). That said, they were difficult to contact. When both Ann and I tried years ago (there was a branch office in Canada, now gone), they wanted you to buy in boxes of 1000 needles and ignored us. There are a couple of resellers who are getting needles from them. So, if you want to, you can try them out without buying a full box.  I can buy in boxes of 500 needles from Doer, but because of the weight the shipping is sometimes as much or more than the box of needles.

The advantage of going straight to the manufacturer is that you know the needle specifications and can reorder exactly what you find most helpful.  I have shown you photos before of the ends of the needle boxes I have bought with the needle code on the end. The disadvantage is you now have 500 of one type of needle!

A couple of years ago, I was reading one of G-B’s industry newsletters (for fun) and found an article that horrified me! G-B would be dropping the full specification of their needle boxes and instead giving a customer code that would work with the customer’s inventory system. DRAT!!!! Why would you want to do that? I want to know what the needle specks are, gauge, barb type and spacing (especially how far from the tip the first barb is), length of needle, (I will admit I am not as interested in the length to first and second step down), there is even a code for the type of tip!! I know I am a bit of a nerd in wanting to know all this but barb spacing and working depth are variables that interest me.

I kept reading the article….. and they finally got to the point. The removal of the needle coding is to thwart industrial espionage by snooping at the boxes being loaded into needle board/beds for a specific job.

old and new lables on boxes of felting needles5) GB new labeling.

Oh. Ok, I can see where that is important, but I still want to know the specs for hand needle felting and I am willing to share with other felters what needle info I have! Doer is the company I have been chatting with and buying boxes of needles from. They have not gone quite so extreme as G-B, but I have noticed they have reduced the info on their boxes, too. I ordered a box of “15x18x38x3 GB2222” and got “38G Star” stuck on the label.  I took a pen and added the rest of the code.  Ok, enough ranting about the lack of info on needle boxes.

Let’s look at what the needles are made of: I can’t find a document saying how the needles are exactly made (more sneaky digging in the internet in my future!), so let’s think like a blacksmith for a moment. What is the needle made of, and has it been finished to change the metal’s properties? From numerous times of dropping a needle on the floor (really, that can’t be good for the needle or my feet) I can pick it up with my extendable magnet. So the sites saying carbon or high-carbon steel are likely correct.

The amount of carbon in steel will change the properties of the metal. More carbon makes it stiffer but also increases the fragility. Less carbon will make it more flexible but not as stiff. Carbon content is not the only thing to consider.

extendile magnet and light with needle attached 6) Needle pick-up tool (extendable handle and light by magnetic end; I found mine on sale at Princess Auto)

If you have ever had the opportunity to watch a bunch of blacksmiths work, it’s not only a highly photogenic opportunity, you also occasionally see them changing or adjusting the hardness of what they’re working on. Think of a knife or sword. The blade edge must be hard and be able to be sharpened, but the rest of the blade must be flexible enough not to break when used. So I asked Glenn.

As you work with metal, it hardens.  This can be countered by annealing, quenching and tempering. You are wanting to create a metal that is strong and, in our case, flexible enough to withstand the stresses of repeated stabbing into the web as the machine is running and the web is moving.

Annealing alters the physical and mechanical properties of metals, improving their workability. Annealing involves heating steel to a specified temperature, holding it there for the right time and then cooling it very slowly. The controlled cooling helps refine the metal’s structure and relieves internal stresses.

Tempering increases the toughness of the metal, untempered steel is very hard but is usually too brittle for most purposes. Tempering involves heating the metal to a temperature below its critical point, holding it there for a specific amount of time, and then quenching it again to preserve its condition. Generally, low temperatures will reduce brittleness while maintaining most of the hardness. Higher temperatures reduce hardness, which increases elasticity and plasticity but causes some yield and loses tensile strength.

I also spotted information on optimal needle storage:

How could this lead to breakage? Well, if you have rust developing, especially on finer gauge needles, they become increasingly fragile and are more likely to break. So, poor storage may increase breakage.

Suggested optimal needle storage:

  • Air humidity < 40 %
  • Temperature 15–25 °C (59-77 °F)

When you are buying from the manufacturer directly, they will have tested the needles to ensure quality control. Getting a rejected box of needles is not too likely, but be wary of secondary vendors who don’t know what gauge they are selling, and are a bit iffy on how needle felting works. There are a few on aliexpess and amazon, I am sure elsewhere on the web, that are a bit suspicious, which I avoid. However, the majority of needles are properly made, lightly coated in oil, and wrapped in waxed paper to reduce rusting and are ready for us to use. There are many excellent resellers of needles who are knowledgeable about what they are selling, know who they are dealing with when buying their needles and will sell you good quality needles.   If you are in a higher humidity area, even if the needles are perfect when you buy them, it is important to take added precautions to keep your needles dry and protected from rust. To reduce both the appearance of rust and the weakening of the needles, causing brakeage.  (Do not store your needles in a cellulose sponge; it attracts water and will defiantly rust your needle if you leave them in it)

cellulose spunge attracts water and will rust needles if left there for storage.7) Cellulose sponges attract moisture and will rust needles if they are stored in the sponge.

Next post, we will look at how the industry uses these needles.

Post script health update: still quite tender but starting to sleep through the 2 am meds! I am also finding I am extremely tired again and keep noticing how nice and comfortable the bed looks, which is where I am heading next.

Needles and Their Uses

Needles and Their Uses

Comments 21 comments

“Comment: Hello! I am a beginner who just started 2D needle felting, and I have a few questions that I wanted to ask. When do we use each type of felting needle and what kind of design works best for each type? Also, are there any tips on how to felt yarn (especially for single strands that are used to outline shapes) so that the yarn doesn’t split? I’ve been having some trouble with the yarn splitting into thin fibers and not staying properly on the fabric. Thank you so much!”

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Needles and their uses.

This week a question was passed on to me about felting needles. The question was from someone who has recently discovered the wonders of 2D picture felting in wool. In the first part of her question, She wanted to know what each needle was best used for and when to use them. Needles are a Huge topic and not just a quick email so I thought maybe I better do a blog post since there may be more questions about needles out there.  I am not an expert but as you know I love to research and this is one of the topics I have investigated before and I keep returning to.

So, first, let’s Welcome this new felter to the amazing world of fibre! I am sure you will find it as fun and addictive as I have!  if you have more questions, yes I will likely inspire more questions, please ask. Don’t be afraid to jump in and experiment you may find something absolutely wonderful and will be able to share it with the rest of us. Now back to your questions.

Instead of thinking about what each needle does best individually, we may have more success if we think of needles on a sliding scale of how much fibre each style of needle will move or how aggressive it is in moving it. I will chat about that in a moment. Like wet felting tools, which are often repurposed for our use, our needles were not originally designed to be used by hand.  Let’s look at where our needles come from and what they were meant for originally.

Where our tools came from

 1) Andritz – needle board

 2) Groz-Beckert – needle board

What we are using are actually industrial needles meant to go into industrial felting machines. There are two main ways to make industrial felt; one is with steam and agitation and in the second the fibre stays dry and the industrial felting needles are used.

The industrial machines make (non-woven) fabrics used in car interiors, acoustics (sound dampening), padding, landscaping cloth and other uses. I had read that the first needle felting machine was patented in 1857 but I remember seeing a picture of a needle patent from the end of the 1800’s, that isn’t too important for us just that the needles were originally designed to fit into the beds (boards) holding hundreds of needles which would be raised and lowered into the fibre passing through the machine.

The German Company Groz-Beckert claims to make over 2000 Needle variations for different applications and the machine used. These are changes in the barb placement and/or barb type, length and size or gauge of needle and the shape of the working part. Groz-Beckert is not the only company making needles although they make very nice needles. I have also used needles by a company called Doer sold out of China. I can’t seem to get much info on them but so far the needles I have ordered have been fine. (Be careful if you are ordering needles online and they are described as “short, medium and long”, you may get all the same gauge just in different lengths!)

For us, it’s the needle that is important, not the machines that hold them so I will try not to get off on a tangent.  All needles have common elements with some variations. Let’s start by looking at the common features of Felting needles.

 3) parts of a felting needle

The crank – the 90degree bend at the top of the needle. It seats it in the bed/board of the machine. It’s used in some holders to keep the needle stabilized but at least one holder requires it to be cut off. (Not so easy to cut needles so I did not buy a second of those holders.)

The Shank, the tapers (either one or two) and sometimes an Intermediate section are all parts that are important to the various machines that the needles are designed to fit in. For us, it’s a place to hold onto or stick in a holder.

 

The working part has a number of variations which will change the type of non-woven fabric the needle makes commercially. This is the part that as a hand needle felter we are more concerned with.  It can be divided into the cross-section shape, the placement, number and shape of the notches (barbs).

Shape – Originally, the triangle shaped needle was what was most commonly available.  Over quite a number of years we have many more types available, as re-sellers and felters became aware of the options in the industry.

Triangle – (3 sides) most common needle and use for both pictures and sculpture.  This is a good basic needle and can be used in most applications. They tend to be a bit less expensive than some of the newer needles that have been more recently introduced.

Star(Cross STAR) – 4 sides – will move more fibre faster since it has one more side than a triangle.

Tri-star  – 3 sides with an indented triangle cross-section.

Eco Star.  – 3 sided. With a profile of an indented and rounded triangular side. Both of these 3 sided stars are said to have less resistance upon entering the felt. I have not noticed a difference but I am not working with hundreds of needles at a time.

Twisted (triangle shape). The blade is twisted, it does not twist as you poke the wool. The advantage is that the barbs are dispersed more evenly around the needle, which engages fibres more evenly adjacent to it.

Crown needles are usually found in finer gauges and are used for detail work.  The barbs are only on one level and are placed near the tip of the needle. You don’t have to stab deeply since the barbs engage soon after the point enters the felt.

Fork needle – these are in a group called Structuring needles and are used in industry to make ribbing or as part of the process to make velour textures. These are just starting to appear and I have not tried them. I will look forward to seeing one in person and seeing what it can do. (I will let you know if I find one to investigate in person.)

Reverse needle – this needle has the barbs positioned in the opposite direction to the other needles. As you poke the needle into the felt nothing seems to change, as you pull the needle out, some of the underlayer (whatever depth the barbs are at) will be grabbed and pulled to the surface. This will create a surface nap or it can be used to blend the transitions between colour changes. The nap created can be reduced by using a regular barbed needle to smooth it.

Conical needles which have a tapered working part. I have only just received this style of needle and have not yet had a chance to investigate it. I am suspecting this will be a good finishing needle if used with the needle making only shallow contact with the felt. Or as a go-to needle if I am trying to increase the stiffness of the felt in a delicate area of a sculpture.

Ones we do not yet see out of industry are:

Vario barb needle Graduated barb size per edge: The closer to the point, the smaller the barb

Teardrop working part – this one has barbs only on one side and there are usually 4-8 of them. This one might be of use to hand needle felters but I have not seen it available yet.  It may be worth investigating if it appears. This one will depend on how much surface distortion (that pitting effect) the rest of the body shape of the needle makes.

 

“Barb” (ok it’s more notch shaped but if the industry is calling it a barb then it’s a barb). This is where a lot of our needle re-sellers are not giving us all the info. There are 4 different barb styles from the German Needle manufacturer alone. Each has unique features, which will affect how the wool is grabbed and pulled into the felt. Some barb shapes are more aggressive.  Some are designed for longer wear in the machines (not quite as important to us since we don’t poke our work millions of times…. well I don’t think I do.  I never actually stopped and counted…. Maybe I should some time… no, maybe not.) Some barb shapes are designed to be gentle on the ground fibres. I have found that the needles I get from different re-sellers, in the same shape and in the same gauge, can still vary in aggression.  Which suggests the needles have a different barb on them. I would like to know so I could request a 40 or 42 with a slightly more aggressive barb when I get the feeling they just don’t have enough enthusiasm sometimes.

4) parts of the barb or notch.

The number of barbs per side is also an issue. Each side may have 1 (as in a crown needle) or up to 3 barbs per side.  On the end of a box of needles, you will see as part of the code 111, 222, or 333, denotes how many barbs are on each face of the needle. Again 3 barbs per side will move more fibre than 2 or 1 per side. Having more sides will also increase the amount of fibre the needle engages with.

 5) boxes of Doer Needles T32’s, T36’s and Crown40’s.

By now you may suspect I have a bias towards the 333’s but It’s not just all about speed and how fast you move fiber.  Sometimes you want to isolate just a few fibres and get them to sit exactly where you want, so a 222 or a crown (111) may be just the needle for you.

The last barb consideration is their spacing on the working part. Look at your needle and recognize that you are moving fibre only where the barbs are. So barbs close to the tip do not have to be plunged deep within the piece to work you only have to go in a bit to entangle the fibres. This is often helpful for people with muscle strain from over enthusiastic stabbing.

Finally, we have reached the end of the needle and gotten to the point (literally) which commercially also has a number of options depending on the required non-woven fabric being made. There are conical-shaped points, tapering points, rounded points and chisel points. What we usually want is something that will pierce the work entangling but not breaking fibres. So far, all the re-seller’s needles I have come across have been fine.

I did a few quick checks online as I was putting this blog post together.  I spotted that the new Surface coatings for needles that had been hinted at a couple of years ago in the industry are now listed as being manufactured. Most of the coatings are to increase the life of the needles in the machines (make them more hard wearing) but some are now listed for use with other fibres (non-wool) and others to expand the Geotextile line.

Needles come in different overall lengths.  This is very important to the machines they are to fit in and can be important to us if we have certain needle holders like the clover tool with a guard or the fake clover tool copy. If you are using an open ended holder (no guard to be shorter than) or using your fingers this is not too important.  Unless you find one length less comfortable than another one.

 

Our last variable with needles is a very important one to us, their Gauge:

6-7) here are two ways to visualize the gauges of needles

Needles come in a number of gauges.  Like wire, the smaller the number (32 gauge) the larger the needle is. So a 40ga is much finer than a 32ga.  Industrially speaking, there is a much wider range of gauges than we usually find for hand needle felting. Commercially I have seen from 16 to 46ga but we tend to use a smaller range (36-42).

32’s would be used for coarse wool or moving a large amount of fibre quickly. It is good for attaching a limb to the body but it will leave a more noticeable surface dent than a needle that is finer. (Think dents in a grapefruit or orange skin!) This is not a needle commonly use in picture felting since it creates surface distortion. You might use it in quickly tacking together a base for your picture but you would likely move to something finer very quickly.

36’s are also good for moving fibre quickly and leave less of a dent than a 32. I use a 36 frequently in the under layers for sculptures and laying in larger base layers of colour in a picture. (I will switch to a finer needle to add more superficial layers of colour over this layer)

38’s are a little less aggressive but also is less distortion of the surface. I use these for both sculpture and pictures. These are good for working on a bit more detailed sections as well as laying in layers of colour. I have used these to work finished details but most picture felters I have chatted with tend to go to finer gauges for finishing details.

40’s are finer still and move less fibre than the larger needles (remember gauges are backwards, with little numbers being bigger sizes) these are good for pictures and for fine details. They are not as fast as working with the larger gauges.

42’s are now getting quite common, they are finer than the 40’s and have even less distortion of the surface. They again will take longer to move fibre than the larger needles. Using them in a multi-needle holder may improve your speed if you are just firming up an area and is an option if you are working 2D.  I did a review of some of the different holders I have collected earlier this year (it’s all been a bit of a blur) I would suggest looking at the clover or fake clover tool with the guard and the metal bar needle holder from the Woolery for picture felting and painting with wool. Both are very helpful.

8) The Woolley’s 10 needle mettle bar tool

9) the fake clover tool (the really clover tool is green)

Usually, you buy needles by their gauge, depending on what you are going to work on and then fine-tune that by the shape. You may also consider the number of barbs to make the needle more aggressive or less, again depending on what you want it to do.  You will also likely find you tend to favour and use a couple of your needle options predominantly but its still helpful to have a good selection for the occasional time that a different needle would just be perfect!

Some needles are colour coded by the re-seller. This makes it easy to see what you’re working with. Or you can mark the edge of your working surface and store different gauges in different spots. Most of my needles are not marked.  I can tell if it is a finer or larger needle by looking at it or carefully running my finger over the working part and feeling it. If I am not sure, I tend to poke my project somewhere discreet and out of the way. The feel of the needle entering the felt will tell you if you have the correct one.

(Needle palpation– how to feel through your needle)

-did it feel like it grabbed a lot of fibre? Was there a lot of resistance to enter the felt?  Are there large surface dents and you want to do finishing details? Then you may want to try a finer needle.

– did you poke the felt but nothing seemed to happen? Have you been poking the same spot but you don’t seem to be getting anything to stick? Time to move to a heavier gauge

– did the needle break? (and it wasn’t because you changed direction from entering to exiting) Try a finer needle. As you felt the density of the felt increases and shifting to a finer gauge will help let you keep felting if you need to make the felt denser. Some felters do not felt that firmly and this is not a problem they would likely encounter.   Although it is VERY important to make felt that is appropriate to the use it will be put. This means both using a fibre that is appropriate to the use, and felting to a density that will withstand the intended purpose. As an example, Merino, while lovely and soft, will not wear as well if made into slippers.  Finn fibre would be stronger and the slipper made with it would be longer lasting. If you only lightly felt the slippers, they will also not last as long as more densely felted ones. For pictures, if you are framing them behind glass (I want to talk about that at some point) you don’t need the density that a 3D sculptural figure would. If you do not want to have glass your felt must be able to withstand dusting or even the horrors of a possible vacuuming (don’t trust someone won’t try that after you sell your work!).

If you are working on finishing details and you are pretty sure the 40-42 gauge is correct but it’s still not quite feeling right, try a different working part shape.  The stars are more aggressive than the triangles, the twisted will affect fibre more evenly around the needle. If you want to focus on the surface then a crown might be right.  The other advantage to the crown needles is not having to push them too deeply to entangle the fibres. (Less deep poking can equal fewer muscle complaints – maybe I should have another chat about ergonomics? Or maybe Ruth can give us some tips!) If you have switched from a triangle to a different working part shape but still want to increase the amount of fibre you are engaging with the needle, you may want to then consider looking at more barbs per side or fewer if you require a more delicate touch.

So it wasn’t quite as simple a question as it looked. My suggestion is to get a sample pack of needles from one of the re-sellers. Check your local fibre sources and felting supply stores first, then look farther afield like Etsy or Amazon. Look for a pack that has a couple of each of the main needle gauges in a few different shapes. You will likely have a few of the 222’s and 333’s in the collection so you can get an idea of how that affects the needles.  Most of the re-sellers now are colour coding their needles so you can see what is working best for you and order more.  If you have un-coloured needles you can make your own colour code using Nail polish, tool coating dip, permanent coloured markers or spray paint for mettle (just don’t get any of that on the working parts!!)

10) a few of the needles sets I have collected. Fibre Craft had full sets similar to Olive Sparrow’s sets but I seem to have used them.

Another tip is Instead of stabbing frantically, slow down and feel how the needle interacts with the wool. Having a couple of needle holders that have different needle gauges in them is handy too. I still love the metal bar tool from the Woolery for doing background laying-ins quickly (I think I have T36’s(333) in it at the moment). If you read an earlier blog you may remember the fun I had with the (3 needles) holders I bought from china. They are worth having because of the needle spacing and you can always mark with painters tape what gauge is in them (I do forget and really should remember to mark what I put in when setting them up! With a couple of pokes you can always tell if I filled it with 40’s or was it 36’s)

11) it’s good to have different needles in holders so you don’t have to stop and switch needles. These are all needle holders sold out of China

From my workshop notes, this might help too.

REVIEW REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF:

1 – Working depth; look at the distance the barbs extend up the working part of the needle. Maximize the fibre movement and minimize work, try to work only as deep as you need to and not poke through your work (unless it is very thin).  It will push fibre out the other side. If you push past the piece too much you will get the look of a reverse needle (Fuzz) on the backside.

Even though you don’t need a huge selection of needles it’s nice to have a choice, especially when working on small parts.

2 –  Change needles when you need to. If you are feeling increasing resistance in the piece you’re felting (the density of your felt is increasing) if you need it firmer then shift to a finer gauge needle.

Needles with more barbs (3 vs 2), larger gauges or sides (Star vs Triangle) move more fibre but tend to produce more surface pitting. This isn’t important if you’re adding a fur coat to your piece but maybe if you are working on a face or working on a picture.

3 – Stay Focused (and slow down). It’s much easier to avoid the finger if you are not distracted by a movie or TV show. Audiobooks and Music work better since you can keep your eyes on your needle and your fingers so they don’t cohabitate. (that can require Band-Aids)

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12-23) A few of the pictures I have done or am working on. I seem to have a bit of trouble keeping some of my pictures flat. I hope they will inspire you to jump in and have fun with fibre!

Now the yarn question.

I don’t do a lot of outlining or drawing with yarn but what I have done I found that I started at one end and poked towards the part I had already attached, laying down and attaching a bit at a time. If you are finding your yarn splitting see if you can find a bit of wool of a matching colour and add a bit of that to tack it down. (a bit like a staple.) Make sure your yarn is wool.  It is much easier to work with than acrylic.  For gauges, I tend to use a 38 or 36 gauge with the size of yarn I have played with. You may also try felting the yarn in on more of an angle. So poking closer to parallel to the surface you are attaching it to.  (The direction the needle moves is the direction the fibre will move too).  This also increases the likelihood that you will be engaging with both ply’s. if you are stabbing straight down you may increase your chance of having the needle land in between them, increasing their chance of splitting.

Yarn considerations:

-Size of the yarn (DK to lace weight) try the finer needle with the finer yarns.

-Tightness of the spinning (loose spun may be more prone to splitting than a tighter spun yarn) This could be an interesting investigation! So many thoughts, so little time to felt lately!

-Fiber content (other than superwash) wool is narcissistic and will want to be with itself or other wools, some other fibres are not so enthusiastic about entanglement with others.)

I tend to lay in fibre rather than yarn when I am drawing with wool.  I find I take short thin bits of top or a small amount of a lock then anchor one end with the needle and draft it just a bit more so it’s finer than I think I will need. (Thin lines seem to want to be stronger than I intend them). I start directing my needle at a shallow angle back in the direction I have affixed the fibre. There will be a little take-up but it is from the end with the loose fibre rather than the part I am trying to attach. I have the fear that this may be a clear as mud but I know other blog readers may be able to add more suggestions since they may have investigated yarn more thoroughly than I have.

If you are excited about where our needles come from and the scope of options available you might like to read a PDF put out by the Groz-Beckert company.  https://www.groz-beckert.com/mm/media/en/web/pdf/Felting_and_structuring_needles.pdf (no it’s not homework it’s just in case this topic is as exciting to you as it is to me!!)

I hope this has helped our new felter with the needle question and has been a review for the rest of us. Looking back through past blog posts will give a vast amount of information too! Search under “Needle felting” or “Picture felting” or maybe”Painting with wool”. I promise I will show you how Dragon’s wings are coming along soon! Dragon now has silk highlights!!  How Posh!!!

Have fun and keep felting!!!