Textiles, for Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools. William H. Dooley
fluffy rope or roll called a sliver. This sliver is wound on a bobbin, and taken from the card to the mule spinning frame.
The sliver on the bobbins from the card is taken to the mule spinning frame where it is passed through rolls, and the sliver attenuated by means of a traveling carriage.
Count. In the case of woolen yarn there are numerous systems for denoting the count, varying with the locality in which it is spun and the character of the product. In the United States there are two systems employed, but the one in most general use is known as “American run counts.” This is based on the number of “runs,” each containing 1,600 yards to the pound. Thus, a yarn running 8,000 yards to the pound is called a 5 “run” yarn, a yarn with 5,200 yards to the pound is equal to a 3¼ “run.”
In the vicinity of Philadelphia woolen yarn is based on the “cut,” each cut consisting of 300 yards, and the count is the number of cuts in a pound. Thus, No. 30 cut yarn consists of 9,000 yards to the pound. No. 15 contains 4,500 yards to the pound.
Woolen yarn is suitable for cloths in which the colorings are blended and the fibers napped, as exemplified in tweed, cheviot, doeskin, broadcloth, beaver, frieze, chinchilla, blanket, and flannel.
CHAPTER VI
WEAVING
Preparatory to Weaving. Yarn is wound on bobbins on the ring or mule spinning frame. These bobbins are transferred to a machine called a spooler where the yarn is re-wound on a spool preparatory to making the warp.
A warp is formed by obtaining a definite number of threads (called ends), usually in a precisely designed order of given length, and allowing the ends to wind over a cylinder called a beam. In order to do this it is necessary to have spools placed in a definite position in a frame called a creel.
Before the warp can be placed in the loom so as to weave or interlace it with filling it must be sized. This is necessary for all single twist warp yarns. Its primary object is to increase the strength and smoothness of the thread, thus enabling it to withstand the strain and friction due to the weaving operation. Other objects of sizing are the increase of weight and bulk of the thread and the improvement and feel of the cloth. The warp is usually sized by passing it over a roller and through a bath of a starch mixture. The machine for sizing is called a slasher. The warp is now ready to have the ends drawn in and placed in the loom.
Weaving. Every woven piece of cloth is made up of two distinct systems of threads, known as the warp and filling (weft), which are interlaced with each other to form a fabric. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the filling runs across from side to side. The manner in which the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is known as the weave. When the word “end” is used in connection with weaving it always signifies the warp thread, while each filling thread is called a pick. The fineness of the cloth is always expressed as so many picks and ends to the inch. The fabrics produced by weaving are named by the manufacturers or merchants who introduce them. Old fabrics are constantly appearing under new names, usually with some slight modification to suit the public taste.
Weaving Processes. In order to understand the different kinds of weaves it is necessary to know, or at least to understand, the process of forming cloth, called weaving. This is done in a machine called a loom. The principal parts of a loom are the frame, the warp-beam, the cloth-roll, the heddles, and their mounting, the reed. The warp-beam is a wooden cylinder back of the loom on which the warp is wound. The threads of the warp extend in parallel order from the warp-beam to the front of the loom, and are attached to the cloth-roll. Each thread or group of threads of the warp passes through an opening (eye) of a heddle. The warp threads are separated by the heddles into two or more groups, each controlled and automatically drawn up and down by the motion of the heddles. In the case of small patterns the movement of the heddles is controlled by “cams” which move up the heddles by means of a frame called a harness; in larger patterns the heddles are controlled by harness cords attached to a Jacquard machine. Every time the harness (the heddles) moves up or down, an opening (shed) is made between the threads of warp, through which the shuttle is thrown.
The filling thread is wound on a bobbin which is fastened in the shuttle and which permits the yarn to unwind as it passes to and fro. As fast as each filling thread is interlaced with warp it is pressed close to the previous one by means of a reed which advances toward and recedes from the cloth after each passage of the shuttle. This is done to make the cloth firm. There are various movements on the loom for controlling the tension of the warp, for drawing forward or taking up the cloth as it is produced, and for stopping the loom in the case of breakage of the warp thread or the running out of the filling thread.
Weaving may be performed by hand in hand-looms or by steam-power in power-looms, but the arrangements for both are to a certain extent the same. A great number of different kinds of power-looms are manufactured for producing the various classes of textiles in use at the present time. These looms are distinguished by the name of the material which they are designed to weave, as the ribbon-loom, blanket-loom, burlaps- and sacking-loom, plush-loom, double-cloth loom, rug-loom, fancy cotton-loom, silk-loom, worsted-loom, etc.
Weaving is distinct from knitting, netting, looping, and braiding, which are operations depending on the interlacing of a single thread, or single set of threads, while weaving is done with two distinct and separate sets of threads.
1. Warp beam containing warp.
2. Lease Rods.
3. Harnesses.
4. Dobby Head motion to lift harnesses.
5. Jacquard Head motion.
6. Cards containing design—working in connection with Jacquard Head motion.
7. Whip Roll.
Classes of Weave. The character of the weave offers the best basis for classification of woven goods. Nearly all the varieties of cloth may be classified from the following weaves:
(1) Plain-weaving,
(2) Twill-weaving,
(3) Satin-weaving,
(4) Figure-weaving,
(5) Double-cloth-weaving,
(6) Pile-weaving,
(7) Gauze-weaving,
(8) Lappet-weaving.
Plain or Homespun Weave. Plain cloth is the simplest cloth that can be woven. In this weave one series of threads (filling) crosses another series (warp) at right angles, passing over one and under one in regular order, thus forming a simple interlacement of the threads. This combination makes a strong and firm cloth, but does not give a close or a heavy fabric, as the threads do not lie as close and compact as they do in other weaves. In plain cloth, if not fulled or shrunk in the finish, the result is a fabric perforated with large or small openings according to the size or twist of yarn used. If heavy or coarse threads are used the perforations will be large; if finer threads, the perforations will be smaller.
This weave is used in the production of sheeting, muslin, lawn, gingham, broadcloth, taffeta, etc. In plain weaving it is possible to produce stripes by the use of bands of colored warp, and checks where both warp and weft are parti-colored. This weave is commonly used when the cloth is intended to be ornamented with printed patterns. In weaving cloth of only