WEAVING. 



WEAVING. 



fnme, tie* the endi of til the threads together, and attaches them to 

 cue of the pin* ; then gathering all the threads in hU hand into one 

 due, and permitting them to slip through the fingen, he walks to the 

 other end of the frame, where he pam the yarns over the fixed pin. 1 1 

 walks from end to end of the frame, attaching the clue of yarns to the pin* 

 each time, until he has unwound from the bobbins enough yarn to form 

 the warp. But this method, although still followed in some places, has 

 yielded to the use of the varfiiny-mill, a much more convenient piece 

 of apparatus. The bobbins are placed in frame R (Jig. 1). The 



warper, sitting at A, rotates the vertical reel or cylinder B, by means 

 'of the wheel c and the rope D. The yarns from all the bobbins, 

 'collected together in a group at r, there pass through a sliding piece, 

 which through the intervention of the cord a and the revolving shaft 

 H, rises and falls. By this arrangement it is easy to Bee that when the 

 handle is turned by the warper, the clue becomes wound spirally on 

 the reel The diameter of the reel is so regulated, that when the 

 spiral equals the intended length of the warp, the clue of yarns is 

 twisted round pins at I r, and then by a reverse motion of the handle 

 is wound spirally down again; and so on up and down alternately 

 until the grouped clues of yarns constitute a sufficient number for the 

 width of the warp. Certain minor adjustments are at the same time 

 made, to facilitate the subsequent operations of the weaver. The 

 more modern warping-machines we shall have to mention when we 

 come to power-weaving. 



When the warp is completed on the warping-mill, the warper takes 

 it off and winds it on a stick into a ball, preparatory to the process of 

 beaming, or winding it on the beam of the loom. The threads, in this 

 latter process, are wound as evenly as possible on the beam ; a sepa- 

 rator, ravel, or comb being used to lay them parallel, and to spread 

 them out to about the intended width of the cloth. Arrangements 

 are then made for drawing, or attaching the warp-threads individually 



Fig. J. 



is at A, capable of revolving on it* axis, and of allowing its threads to 

 be drawn out In a horizontal layer B. At o are two leaves of heddles 

 or bealds, each leaf consisting of a number of strings ranged vertically 

 attached at bottom to two treadles H B, and at top to a cross-bar r. 



: At about the middle of every heddle or string is a loop or eye, through 

 which the warp-yams are drawn, one through each eye; .and the 

 passing of the yarns through these loops constitutes the process of 

 droving. Half of the warp-yarns, that is, every alternate yarn, pans 

 through the loops in one leaf of heddles, and the other half through 

 the other leaf; and as the two leaves are so connected by pulleys 

 that one rise* when the other sinks, the warp becomes divided into 

 two portions, one above the other, near the anterior end of the loom. 

 The weaver sits at o, drives the shuttle by means of the handle i, and 

 drives up every successive weft-thread by the batten, lay, or lathe E, 

 suspended from r. However complicated the loom, the principle of 

 action is nearly as here described. 



There are three movements attending every thread of weft which 

 the weaver throws across the warp. In the first place he presses down 



' one of the two treadles, by which one of the two halves of the -. 

 depressed, thereby forming a kind of opening called the ihttl. Into 



i this shed, at the second movement, he throws the shuttle containing 

 the weft-thread, with sufficient force to drive it across the v. h 

 Then, at the third movement, he grasps the batten, which is a kind of 



i frame carrying at its lower edge a comb-like piece having as many 

 teeth as there are threads in the warp ; and with this he drives up the 

 thread of weft close to those previously thrown. One thread of v. ri't 

 is thus completed, and the weaver proceeds to throw another in a 

 similar way, but in a reverse order, that is, by depressing tl 

 treadle instead of the right, and by throwing the shuttle from left to 

 right, instead of from right to left. In the commonest mode of weav- 



, ing the shuttle is thrown by both hands alternately; but about a 



1 century ago John Kay invented the fty-thuttk, in which a string and 

 handle are so placed that the weaver can work the shuttle both ways 

 with one band The fly-shuttle is illustrated in CHECK; while jiy. 3 



Fig. 3. 





to certain mechanism of the loom. Thin we m.iy illustrate by fig. 2, 

 representing the common loom in its simplest state. The yarn-beam 



will show more clearly the mode in which the weft is wound round 

 the spindle or pirn of the shuttle, and the arrangement for driving the 

 shuttle into the open shed of the web. The spindle of the shuttle con- 

 tains enough weft for several shoots or throws ; the weft unwinding as 

 the shuttle travels along, and forming the selvage of the cloth when 

 the shuttle returns in the opposite direction. 



In cotton and some other fabrics, the warp-yarns must be dretted aa 

 the weaver proceeds, that is, rubbed over with some kind of vegetable 

 mucilage, such as paste or size, for the purpose of giving them ten 

 of diminishing friction by smoothing down the little hairy filaments of 

 the yarn, and Of imparting a smoothness or gloss. In hand-weaving, 

 the weaver suspends his operations from time to time, in order to :i|>|>ly 

 dressing to bis warp. He first applies a kind of comb to the warp, to 

 clear away knots and burrs ; then lays on the paste with a brush ; and 

 lastly dries the paste by a current of air excited by a large fan. The 

 more modern and complete dretting-madune we shall have to notice in 

 connection with power-weaving. 



In weaving plain silks, calicoes, and other webs of moderate width, 

 there are two leaves of heddles and two treadles, for dividing the warp 

 into two parcels. In weaving broader webs, such as floor-cloth canvas, 

 the heddles and treadles are equally simple, but more power and dex- 

 terity are necessary in throwing the shuttle, since the width of the web 

 is sometimes as much as eight yards. In weaving very narrow webs, 

 such as ribbons, galloons, &o., there would be :\ owC ami "f 



time if only one shuttle were thrown across a distance of t 

 inches at each mnvmi'iit ; mid there has con- 

 kind of loom called the < iiyine-loom , in wlii< i. 

 several webs at one time iu each machine : this lias brrn 'X]'l<n 

 RIBBON. Various details eonci-rniiiK i-lain woven goods will In- 

 under COTTON ; LIMN; MI-H\. BILK; WToo 



moat 



