WEAVING. 



which they are generally in contrail when rifing and finking. 

 A fudden prefTure of the foot on the treadle mud caiife a 

 proportional increafe of the ftrefs upon the warp, and alfo 

 of the friftion. As it is inipoffible to make every thread 

 equally ttroiig and equally tight, thofe which are the weakefl, 

 or the tighteil, mull bear much more than their equal pro- 

 portion of the ftrefs, and are broken very frequently. Even 

 with the grcateft attention, more time is loft in tying and 

 replacing them, than would have been fufficient for weaving 

 a very confiderable quantity into cloth. 



If the weaver, from inattention, continues the operation 

 after one or more warp-tiireads are broken, the confequence 

 is ftill vvorfe. The broken thread cannot retain its parallel 

 fituation to the reft, but crofling over or between thofe 

 neareft to it, either breaks them alfo, or interrupts the paf- 

 fage of the Ihuttle : it frequently does both. 



In every kind of weaving, and efpecially in thin wiry 

 fabrics, much of the beauty of the cloths depends upon the 

 weft being well ftretched. If the motion given to the 

 Ihuttle be too rapid, it is very apt to recoil, and thus to 

 flacken the thread. It has alfo a greater tendency, either to 

 break the woof altogether, or to unwind it from the pirn or 

 bobbin of the Ihuttle in doubles, which, if not picked out, 

 would deftroy the regularity of the fabric. The weft of 

 muflins and thin cotton goods is generally woven into the 

 cloth in a wet ftate. 



This tends to lay the ends of the fibres of cotton fmooth 

 and parallel, and its effeft is fimilar to that of dreffing of 

 the warp. 



The perfon who winds the weft upon the pirn ought to 

 be very careful that it be well formed, fo as to unwind 

 freely. The beft Ihape for thofe ufed in the fly-lhuttle is 

 that of a cone ; and the thread ought to traverfe freely 

 round the cone, in the form of a fpiral, or fcrew, during 

 th? operation of winding. 



Tlie fame wheel which is ufed for winding the warp upon 

 the bobbins preparatory to warping, is alfo fit for winding the 

 weft on the pirn. It only requires a fpindle of a different 

 ftiape, with a fcrew at one end, upon which the pirn, or 

 bobbin of the Ihuttle, can be fixed. The wheel is fo con- 

 ftrufted, that the fpindles may be eafily Ihifted, to adapt it 

 for either purpofe. 



■ The reeds are formed of a number of fhort pieces of reed 

 6r cane, or of brafs wire, fattened parallel to each other 

 between two fticks, and cemented with pitch. This frame is 

 enclofed between two pieces of the frame of the lay, one of 

 which is made wide, to form the fhuttle-race ; the other 

 piece, which is the lay-cap, extends acrofs the frame, but is 

 fitted fo that it can be eafily removed to take away the reeds, 

 and fubftitute a finer or coarfer fort, as the nature of the 

 goods to be woven require. Tlie mannfafture of reeds, 

 both of cane and of ileel, is a feparate trade. Thefe are 

 fully defcribed in Les Arts et Metiers, vols. 9 and 15. 



To render the fabric of the cloth uniform in thicknefs, 

 the lay or batten mull be brought forward with the fame 

 force every time. 



■ In weaving feme kinds of foft or light goods, the reed is 

 ' not fixed fall to the lay-cap, but is held in its place by a 

 long thin piece of wood, which is tlaftic, and yields or 

 fprings when the weft is beaten up. In fome cafes the reed 

 is fnllained by a double woollen cord, llrutched acrofs the 

 lay, jull beneath the lay-cap, and twilled ; this bears the 

 reed, and is very elaftic, but can be rendered more ftifF by 

 twilling the two cords tighter. 



Ill the common operation of weaving, a regular force of 

 the ftrokc for beating up the weft mull be acquired by 

 pradlice. It is, however, of confequence to the weaver to 



monnt or prepare his loom in fuch a manner, that the range 

 or fwing of the lay may be in proportion to the thicknefs of 

 his cloth. As the lay fwings backwards and forwards, upon 

 centres placed above, its motion is fimilar to that of a pen- 

 dnluni. Now the greater the arc, or range through which 

 the lay palfes, the greater will be its etfeft in driving home 

 the weft ftrongly, and the thicker the fabric of cloth will 

 be, as far as that depends upon the clofenefs of 'the weft. 

 For this reafon, in weaving coarfe and heavy goods, the 

 heddles ought to be hung at a greater diftance from the 

 place where the weft is ftruck up, and confequently where 

 the cloth begins to be formed, than would be proper in 

 light work. The line of the laft wrought fhot of weft is 

 called by the weavers the fell. The pivots upon which the 

 lay vibrates ought, in general, to be fo placed, that the 

 reed will be exaftly in the middle, between the fell and the 

 heddles, when the lay hangs perpendicularly. As the fell 

 is conftantly varying in its fituation during the operation, it 

 will be proper to take its medium ; that is, the place where 

 the fell will be when half as much is woven as can be done 

 without taking it up on the cloth-roll, and drawing frelh 

 yarn from the yarn-roll. 



The periods for taking up the cloth ought always to be 

 fhort in weaving light goods ; for the lefs that the extremes 

 of the fell vary from the medium, the more regular will be 

 the arc or fwing of the lay. Mr. James Hall had a 

 patent, in 1803, for a method of perpetually winding up the 

 cloth-beam, fo as to take away the cloth as fa ft as it was 

 woven, or Ihoot by fhoot. This was elfedted in a fimple 

 manner by a ratchet-wheel fixed on the end of the cloth- 

 beam, and a proper catch to move it round one tooth at a 

 time : the catch was aftnated by the motion of the lay. A 

 fimilar method is ufed in ribband-weaving. 



The variations in the ftrufture of looms frcm that which 

 we have defcribed, are not material. The framing is vaned 

 in almoft every diiferent kind of loom, and ought always to 

 be fuitable in ftrength to the kind of cloth which is to be 

 woven. The loom ufed for filk is very llight in all its 

 parts ; but for carpet and fail-cloth it muft be very 

 ftrong. 



In looms for heavy goods, the cloth-beam is not placed 

 at the breaft of the weaver, as it is fo large that it would 

 impede his working ; the cloth is therefore palled over a 

 fixed bar in the place of the cloth-beam reprefented, and 

 the beam is placed lower down, and near the weaver's feet, 

 out of the way of his knees. The heddles are connefted 

 by levers, in fome looms, inllead of pulleys ; but the effeft is 

 always the fame ; viz. to make one heddle afcend when the 

 other defcends. For weaving fine goods, the heddles would 

 be inconveniently clofe together, if all the yarns went 

 through two heddles ; hence they ufe four heddles inftead of 

 two ; but their aftion is jull the fame, becaufe they are con- 

 nefted together in pairs, and when one pair rifes the other 

 pair finks. Many looms are ilill made without the fly- 

 lhuttle ; and in that cafe the fliutile is merely tlirown from one 

 hand to the other, and then thrown back again : this 

 obliges the weaver to change his hands continually, and the 

 operation is more complicated. For wide cloths, which are 

 more than a man can reach acrofs, two perfons were always 

 employed before the tly-ftiuttle was introduced, which is only 

 within a few years ; but by its affiftance one perfon can weave 

 the greatert 'breadths. The fly-ftiuttle is tlie bell for all 

 kinds of work, and its conftruftion is fo fimple that no other 

 ought to be ufed. 



Treatment of iliffcmit Kinds of Tarns. — The manner of 



weaving all kinds of plain cloth is much the fame, whether 



it is wool, filk, flax, or cotton ; except that the two latter 



Ee 2 require 



