SILK MANUFACTURE 



795 



D, D, are the spindles, -whoso top bearings a, a, are made fust to the beams B, and their 

 bottoms turn in hard brass steps, fixed to the bar c. These two bars together are 

 called by the workmen the spindle-box. The standards A, A, are bound with cross- 

 bars N, K. 



c, c, are the wharves or whorls, turned by a band from the horizontal tin cylinder 

 in the lines ot~E,fy. 1781, lying in the middle lines between the two parallel rows 

 of spindles D, D, , F, are the bobbins containing the untwisted double silk, which are 

 simply pressed down upon the taper end of the spindles, d, d, are little flyers, or 

 forked wings of wire, attached to washers of wood, which revolve loose upon the tops 

 of the said bobbins F, and round the spindles. One of the wings is sometimes bent 

 upwards, to serve as a guide to the silk, as shown by dotted lines in Jig. 1 782. e, e, are 

 pieces of wood pressed upon the tops of the spindles, to prevent the flyers from starting 

 off by the centrifugal force. G are horizontal shafts bearing a number of little spiir- 

 wheels/,/. H are slot-bearings, similar to those of the doubling-machine, which are 

 fixed to the end and middle frames. In these slots, the light square cast-iron shafts 

 or spindles g, Jig. 1784, are laid, on whose end the spur-wheel k is cast; and when the 

 shaft g lies in the front slot of its bearing, it is in gear with the wheel /, upon the 

 shaft G ; but when it is laid in the back slot, it is out of gear, and at rest, See F, F, 

 fig. 1780. 



3 1781 A 



Upon these little cast-iron shafts or spindles g,fy. 1784, the bobbins or blocks i, are 

 thrust, for receiving by winding-on the twisted or spun silk. These blocks are made 

 of a large diameter, in order that the silk fibres may not be too much bent ; and they 

 are but slightly filled at each successive charge, lest, by increasing their diameter 

 too much, they should produce too rapid an increase in the rate of winding, with 

 proportional diminution in the twist, and risk of stretching or tearing the silk. They 

 are therefore the more frequently changed. K, K, are the guide-bars, with the guides 

 i, i, through which the silk passes, being drawn by the revolving bobbins i, and 

 delivered or laid on by the flyers d, d, from the rotatory twisting-bobbins F. The 

 operation of the machine is therefore simple, and the motions are given to the parts in 

 a manner equally so. 



Upon the shaft of the tin cylinder or drum, exterior to the frame, the usual fast 

 and loose pulleys or riggers, L, i/, are mounted, for driving the whole machine. 

 These riggers are often called steam-pulleys by the workmen, from their being con- 

 nected by bands with the steam-driven shaft of the factory. In order to allow the 



