Textiles, for Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools. William H. Dooley
9. Main Cylinders.
10. Main Card Drive on 2d Main Cylinder Shaft.
11. 1st Lickerin.
12. 2d Lickerin.
13. 3d Lickerin.
14. 4th Lickerin.
15. Fancy Hood.
CHAPTER IV
WORSTED YARNS
Carding. After the wool is washed it undergoes a number of operations before it is finished into worsted or woolen yarn.[12] The first step in the manufacturing of worsted yarn is to pass the washed wool through a worsted card which consists of a number of cylinders covered with fine wire teeth mounted on a frame. The effect of these cylinders on the wool is to disengage the wool fibers, make them straight, and form a “sliver” or strand. It is now ready for the combing machine.
Combing. The process of combing consists of subjecting the card sliver to the operations of the automatic wool comber, which straightens the fibers and removes all short and tufted pieces of wool. Combing is a guarantee that every fiber of the wool lies perfectly straight, and that all fibers follow one after the other in regular order.
Comb. A comb is a complicated machine. The principal feature is a large metal ring with rows of fine steel pins (pin circles), which is made to revolve horizontally within the machine. By various devices the wool is fed into the teeth of the ring in the form of tufts. The fibers of the tufts by an intricate process are separated into long and short lengths, and a set of rollers draws each out separately and winds it into a continuous strand called “tops.” On leaving the comber, the wool is free from short fibers, specks, and foreign substances, and presents a fine, flowing, and lustrous appearance. The short combed-out wool is called noils, and is used in making carpet yarns, ground up into shoddy stock, or utilized in spinning fancy yarns.
Worsted Tops. American textile manufacturers are finding it advantageous to have their combing done by those who make the work a specialty rather than to do it themselves. In the manufacture of tops all varieties of combing wools are used: Australian, Merino, and Crossbred wools, South American Merino and Crossbred wools, Cape Merino wools, Merino and Crossbred wools grown in the United States, the lustrous wools of pure English blood, Mohair from Asiatic Turkey, and Alpaca from the Andes. Tops are sold to worsted spinneries.[13] Many mills or worsted spinneries send their wools, either sorted or unsorted as they may desire, to a combing mill, where the wool is put into top at a lower price than that at which most spinneries can do their own combing. By means of the naphtha process a larger amount of top from a given amount of wool can be secured than by any other process, and in addition, a top in better condition for drawing and spinning.
1. Driving pulley on horizontal shaft (2).
3. Boxes containing bevel gears.
4. Pillars.
5. Driving pulley for dabbing motion.
6. Boxes containing dabbing-brush mechanism.
7. Dabbing brushes.
8. Star or stroker wheels.
9. Large circle containing rows of pins.
10. Drawing-off apron and rollers for large circle.
11. Brass boxes or conductors.
12. Guides for comb ball ends.
13. Comb balls (4 ends each).
14. Fluted wooden rollers on which comb balls rest.
15. Comb leg (4 in number).
16. Foundation plate.
In a strand of combed wool, called top, no single fiber lies across the strand; all lie in the direction of the length. This order is preserved until the fibers have been converted into yarn, which is accomplished by passing through “gill boxes.” These gill boxes are machines with bars of iron having upon their surface two rows of minute steel pins, by this means kept perfectly straight. The bars on which they are placed are worked on screws between two sets of rollers. The wool enters between the first set of rollers, and, as it passes through, is caught by one of these gills that is raised up for the purpose, being succeeded by others as the rollers revolve. These gills are moved forward on screws in the direction of the other set of rollers, and the pins in the gills always keep the fiber perfectly straight. The second set of rollers is termed the draught rollers, since by them the wool, after passing through the front rollers, is drawn out and reduced in thickness. This is accomplished because the second rollers revolve at a higher rate of speed than the first rollers, the speed being regulated according to the length of the wool, and the thickness of the yarn to be produced. These gills are used in the production of worsted yarn until the size of the rope of wool has been so reduced and twisted that there is no chance of any fiber getting crossed or out of the order of straightness. A worsted yarn is, consequently, a straight yarn, or a yarn produced from perfectly straight fibers.
1. Cans containing Comb Ends or Sliver.
2. Balling Head.
3. Stock from Balling Head No. 2.
4. Screws for applying pressure to Back Rollers.
5. Screws for applying pressure to Front Rollers.
6. Faller Screws situated between No. 4 and No. 5.
7. Guard for covering gears which drive Back Rollers.
8. Guard covering gears which drive Balling Head.
9. Balling Head.
The combing of wool may be dispensed with in some cases, although such a yarn is not in common use. When combing is dispensed with, the gills, in connection with the draught of the rollers, make the fibers straight, and produce a worsted yarn, although such a yarn has a tendency to be uneven and knotty.
Before the wool can be spun it must be made into roving of a suitable thickness. This is done by passing it, after being combed, through a series of operations termed drawing, whose functions are to produce a gradual reduction in thickness at each stage. Although the number of machines varies according to the kind of wool to be treated, still the same principle applies to all.
Spinning. The process of spinning is the last in the formation of yarn or thread, the subsequent operations having for their object the strengthening of the yarn by combining two or more strands and afterward arranging them for weaving or for the purpose for which the yarn is required. It is also the last time that the fibers are mechanically drawn over each other or drafted, and this is invariably done from a single roving. The humidity and temperature of the spinning room must be adjusted to conditions. Each spinner is provided with a wet and dry thermometer so that the best temperature can be ascertained. The most suitable heat and humidity can only be obtained by comparison and observation. A dry and warm atmosphere causes the wool to become charged with electricity and then the fibers repel each other.
1. Bobbins containing Worsted Yarn.
2. Conical