025 



CARPET MANUFACTURE. 



CARPET MANUFACTURE. 



020 



other machinery, as the quantity so to be raised varies with every 

 shoot. After throwing in the blue shoot he has to prepare for the 

 white one, and it is now necessary for him not only to raise, by the 

 treadles, &c., one half of the white warp, but also by the machinery, 

 the whole of the blue warp, where blue is to form the upper surface. 

 He next proceeds to throw the second blue shoot, and has to raise the 

 other half of the blue warp (that which was raised before being now 

 depressed), and also that part of the white warp which this next portion 

 of the pattern requires for the upper surface. The second blue shoot 

 having been thrown, he proceeds to the second white, and raises the 

 reverse half of the white warp and the whole of the blue warp, where 

 blue is to form the surface ; and so on as before. The reader will 

 readily perceive that the back of the carpet will necessarily be of 

 exactly the same pattern as the front, but the colours will be reversed; 

 what is blue on the upper surface will be white on the under, and that 

 which is white above will be blue below. Till about forty years ago, 

 the machinery used to manufacture these carpets was of the most 

 clumsy and complicated nature. A great improvement took place 

 afterwards by the introduction of barrel looms, which were con- 

 structed on principles similar to those of the barrel organ or musical 

 box. Each pattern, however, required a change in the barrel, and this 

 process was somewhat tedious and expensive. These looms were there- 

 fore shortly superseded by the Jacquard machine, which has brought 

 about a vast improvement in many respects, and enabled the largest 

 and most complicated patterns to be accomplished with the greatest 

 facility, accuracy, and beauty. 



Britih or dammk Venetian partake both of the character of Vene- 

 tian and Kidderminster, though more of the former .than the latter. 

 The warp, as in Venetian, is the only part seen, whereas in Kidder- 

 minsters the shoot forms by far the greatest portion of what is visible. 

 The consumption of British is however small, and perhaps hardly of 

 sufficient importance to render a particular description necessary. 

 The manufacture require machinery similar to that employed in 

 weaving Kidderminsters. 



Jirnmeljt carpet* form by far the most important and increasing 

 portion of the carpet trade. Brussels are composed of linen and 

 worsted, the cloth or reticulated part of the structure being entirely 

 of linen, which is formed into a kind of very coarse sampled cloth, with 

 two threads of linen for the shoot (one above, and the other below the 

 worsted). This will be best explained by a simple diagram of a section 

 of the linen only, the worsted not being shown in this sketch. The 



xooooooc; 



dots represent a transverse section of the shoot ; the lines crossing one 

 another are two threads of the warp. Now the worsted is firmly 

 bound in between the upper and under shoot, or, as in this sketch, 

 between the two rows of dots, thus ; the dotted lines represent three 



end* of the worsted, of which there are usually five, each end differing 

 from the others in colour. These ends, as they are technically termed, 

 are composed of one, two, or three threads of worsted, according to 

 the quality of the carpet : the average number is two. Taking it 

 therefore at two, there will always be ten threads, two each of five 

 colours, bound in between every reticulation of the linen. This gives 

 substance, firmness, and solidity to the mass. A pattern or device is 

 thus produced. We have seen that we have five ends of yarn, each of 

 a different colour, at our disposal in every part of the carpet. All we 

 have to do is to bring to the surface that one of the five colours which 

 is required to form that portion of the pattern, and to form it into a 

 loop projecting above the surface. The section then assumes the 

 appearance of the annexed sketch. 



This sketch is in fatt a section of a bit of Brussels carpet when 

 complete. The business of drawing the required colours to the sur- 

 face is performed by a child from ten to fifteen years of age, who is 

 called the drawer, and is placed by the side of the loom for this pur- 

 pose. Each worsted end U made to pass through a small brass eye, 

 called a mail, to which is attached a very fine cord. This cord passes 

 over a pulley fixed at some height above the loom, and is brought 

 down again by the side of the loom, and fixed to a thick stick or roll 

 near to the ground. Now there are generally 260 ends of each colour 

 in 27 inches, the usual width of the carpet ; and with five colours in 

 each place we have 1300 ends : there must therefore be 1300 brass 

 eyes or mails, 1300 cords, and 1300 pulleys to each loom. Such is 

 the usual arrangement ; but in some instances two cords attached to 

 different mails are united before they reach the pulley, so that there 

 are 650 pulleys and 650 cords passing over them. The pulleys are 

 arranged with great accuracy and neatness in a frame, technically 

 termed the box, which is placed at a considerable height above the 

 mails. The cords being so numerous present a confused appearance 

 to the spectator ; but every one has it proper place, and can, when 

 required, be readily traced by the weaver. Now by pulling the cords 



ARTS \3D SCI. DJV. VOL. II. 



as they hang by the side of the loom, it is evident we shall raise the 

 brass eyes connected with them, and also the worsted ends passing 

 through those eyes ; and all that is to be done is to pull such 260 of 

 those cords as will raise the colours reqiu'red, one end in each place. 

 To accomplish this, a strong thread is made to twine around the cords, 

 and separate those which are required to bring the proper colours to 

 the surface. This thread is called the lash, and one lash is necessary 

 for every set or row of colours that has to be drawn to the surface. 

 These lashes are taken in regular succession till the pattern is complete. 

 The number of lashes must therefore vary with the length of the 

 pattern; in a pattern a yard long there are usually 320 lashes. 

 Such being the arrangement of the mechanism, let us suppose the 

 loom at work, and every thing ready for proceeding. The drawer 

 takes hold of the first lash with his right hand, and gently draws 

 towards him the 260 cords confined by it : this separates them from 

 the others, and he then firmly grasps them with his left hand, and 

 having loosed the lash, he with both hands and the weight of his body 

 draws the cords down. The 260 ends required for the first portion o'f 

 the pattern being thus raised above the surface, he with his left hand 

 inserts (under the raised ends through the whole width of the carpet) 

 a light wooden board called the sword. The sword is about five inches 

 in width, and being made to stand on its edge, it retains the raised 

 ends about five inches above the surface. The drawer then looses the 

 cords, and prepares for the next lash. When the sword is in, and the 

 required colours thus raised, the weaver using both hands carefully 

 raises any of the ends which stick down by reason of the roughness of 

 the material or otherwise ; and having thus formed a clear opening, 

 he inserts the wire under the raised ends throughout the whole width 

 of the carpet. The wire is round, and in diameter about the twelfth 

 part of an inch. After the wire is inserted the sword is withdrawn, 

 and the weaver by means of his treadles and gearing brings above the 

 surface one-half of the linen chain, the other half and the whole of the 

 worsted being depressed. The shuttle with linen shoot is then thrown 

 in. The weaver next raises the reverse half of the linen chain, ,iml 

 the whole of the worsted, the half of the chain before raised being 

 now depressed, and then throws in the second or under shoot. Between 

 throwing the first and second shoot, as well as after the second is 

 thrown, the weaver gives two or three smart blows with the lay or 

 batten, which is very heavy ; he thus forces the materials closely 

 together, and gives firmness and solidity to the mass. The weaving of 

 this wire is now complete. The drawer then draws the next lash in 

 rotation, and he and the weaver proceed as before. When a number 

 of the wires have been thus woven in, they may be drawn out, and the 

 carpet is complete. Care must however be taken not to draw out the 

 five or six wires that have been woven last, or the fresh made loops 

 are in danger' of being drawn down, and the carpet blemished. It 

 is necessary that each end of worsted should work independently of 

 the others ; to accomplish this every end is wound on a separate 

 bobbin, and the bobbins are arranged in frames at the back of the 

 loom, with a small leaden weight or bullet to each bobbin to keep the 

 worsted in a proper degree of tension. This adds greatly to .the 

 cumbrous nature of a Brussels loom. The linen chains for Brussels 

 and Wilton, as well as the chains for all other descriptions of carpets, 

 are wound on beams as in other kinds of weaving. The Jacquard 

 machine, before referred to, has been constructed so as to take the 

 place of the drawer, pulleys, cords, and lashes ; and this machine is 

 found so convenient that it has been brought into general use for that 

 purpose. 



Wilton or pile carpet differs from Brussels only in this ; that the 

 wire, instead of being round, is flattened, and has a groove in the upper 



surface thus 



and, instead of its being drawn out, a sharp knife is 



drawn along the groove, and the wire is thus liberated. By this means 

 the loops of worsted are all cut through, and the carpet assumes a 

 velvety appearance. The shape of the wire renders it possible to make 

 Wilton or pile carpet of almost any thickness and quality ; but this is 

 not the case with Brussels. The manufacture of Brussels carpets was 

 introduced into Wilton soon after its introduction into Kidderminster ; 

 the Wilton carpets, being originally a better description of goods were 

 distinguished by the name of cut or Wilton carpets. 



In the carpet manufacture, as in most others, novelties of various 

 merit are patented almost every year ; but it is unnecessary to notice 

 them in detail. One is for a mode of making Brussels and cut-pile 

 carpets with thick backs, by employing one or more additional sets of 

 weft- threads, tied in by an equal number of warps. Another is for a 

 mode of producing printed warps showing defined figures, by the 

 employment of flat or oval wires. A third is for a kind of carpet made 

 of parti-coloured warps, by applying thick weft to produce two similar 

 corded surfaces, showing the same pattern on both sides of the carpet. 

 Another is for using jute or jute-hemp, instead of common hemp ; by 

 a series of boiling, washing, preparing, and spinning processes. At 

 Glasgow, a beautiful kind of carpet is made, as soft as velvet, by 

 throwing in coloured chenille as a shoot, and cutting it into a velvety 

 pile at the surface. One patented kind of carpet, of the velvet texture, 

 is produced thus : In the ordinary mode of making velvet [VELVET], 

 wires are inserted at intervals to assist in forming the loops, and these 

 wires have to be inserted and removed by hand ; but in the carpets 

 now under notice, wires are thrown in among the warp-threads, and 



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