WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 



roller L ; and the other, 8, turns' the wheel I belonging to the 

 Tower roller J. By means of this wheel-work both rollers 

 are turned round in the proper direftion, to make the upper 

 roller L wind up or draw the cloth, whilft the lower roller 

 unwinds and gives out the cloth. N is a pipe? which con- 

 veys water to the machine ; it is pierced with a number of 

 holes to throw jets of water on the cloth, and wet it. 



As fad as the cloth is taken up by the roller L, it is 

 given out by the other roller J, and is then drawn over the 

 furface of the cylinder, as at G, the teafels of which, as it 

 revolves, aft very effeftually on the cloth to raifc the nap. 

 When the whole piece has pafied, and is gathered up on the 

 roller L, the machine is ftopped, by (hifting the ftrap 2 to 

 the loofe pulley D, then the two rollers L, and J are ex- 

 changed, and the operation is repeated as before, and fo on 

 till the nap is fufficiently raifed. 



The mode of repeating the aftion on the cloth by ex- 

 changing the rollers is troublefome, and a better mode is to 

 provide the means of difengaging either of the wheels K or 

 I from its refpeftive pinion, makuig the machine fo that only 

 one wheel and pinion can be engaged at once ; alfo to make 

 the motions in fuch direftion that the roller which is engaged 

 Ihall always wind up the cloth upon itfelf. Each roller 

 muft have a fmall wheel upon one end of it, as (hewn at lo, 

 I with a lever and weight 1 1, to prefs upon the circumference of 

 the wheel with fuch force as to occafion a friftion, and make 

 ! the cloth draw tight when it is drawn off the roller. In this 

 'i way, the cloth can be made to work either backwards or for- 

 li wards ; becaufe that roller which is engaged with the wheel- 

 ;i work will wind up the cloth, and draw it off from the other 

 ' roller acrofs the drum ; but when all the cloth is wound off, 

 ; that roller which has taken the cloth muft be difengaged, 

 and the other put in aftion, which will make the cloth work 

 back again. 

 ', The moft improved gig-mills ufed in Yorkftiire have a 

 , ftill better method of moving the cloth. This is by means 

 ' of a pair of rollers in the place of the upper roller L : they 

 are turned round by a large fpur-wheel on the end of the 

 roller, which works in a fmaller wheel on the end of the 

 ; drum ; one roller is mounted over the other, like the two 

 rollers of a flatting-mill, and prefled together by fcrews 

 with fufficient force to draw the cloth between them. The 

 I piece of cloth, when brought to the machine, is laid down 

 I on a board on the ground before the machine, and one end 

 I is paffed under the roller J, which is merely to guide it ; 

 ; then it is carried over the drum, as at G, and introduced 

 i between the pair of rollers at L, which draw it llowly for- 

 ' wards ; from thefe the cloth turns upwards, and is extended 

 horizontally over two rollers which are fufpended from the 

 ^ ceiling. After quitting thefe rollers, it defcends perpendi- 

 . cularly, and is gathered on the ground in folds on a board 

 I or bench, clofe to the place where the piece of cloth was 

 1 laid before the drefGng was begun. In order to make the 

 ! piece of cloth pafs a fecond time through the machine, or 

 I a8 many times as is required, the two ends of it are fewed 

 ) together, fo that it circulates continually over the drum 

 I without any interruption or trouble : it is ufually done three 

 I or four times. 



It is an advantage of this method, that the cloth, in 

 \ defcending from the ceiling, hangs perpendicularly, and 

 j with that fide which has been dreffed oppofite to the light, 

 J fo that the workman who gathers it in folds can examine 

 1 the progrefs of the work ; and when he judges that the 

 I cloth is fufficiently dreffed, he cuts the fewing which unites 

 j the two ends together, and then the end of the piece comes 

 I out of the machine, and the cloth is carried away to give 

 I place to another piece. 



i 



The drum or cylinder of the gig-mill is compofed of a 

 number of Ihallow troughs, fixed on the circumference of 

 the wheels of the drum, and parallel to its axis : into thefe 

 troughs, frames filled with teafels, like thofe we have before 

 defcribed, are faftened in a very fimple manner; and the 

 frames are placed fo clofe together, that the trough is wholly 

 filled, and forms a continuous furface of teafels to aft upon 

 the cloth when the cyhnder revolves. When the hooks of 

 the teafels become filled with flocks or fibres of wool, which 

 they have drawn out from the cloth, they are removed from 

 the cylinder, in order to be cleaned by cliildren, who pick 

 out the flocks with a fmall fteel comb. 



The teafels are cultivated very largely in the clothing 

 countries ; but it fometimes happens, in particular feafons, 

 that the crops fail, and they are then very dear. This has 

 produced many trials of metallic teeth as fubftitutes for 

 teafels. Mr. Price of Stroud, in Gloucefterlhire, has two 

 patents, dated 1807 and 1817, for this objeft ; Mr. Laffalle 

 of Briftol took a patent in 18 16, Mr. Williams of Furfley in 

 1817, and Meffrs. Lewis of Brinfcomb in 1817. We are 

 not informed if any of thefe inventions are yet brought into 

 real ufe in the manufafturing diftrift. 



Shearing or Cropping the Cloth By the operation of the 



teafels, the wool is become raifed all over the furface of the 

 cloth in a loofe fur, which muft be removed by {hearing 

 before the cloth will be fit for wearing, becaufe the fur 

 would gather dirt and duft, and would wear very un- 

 equally. 



The fliears ufed for cropping by hand are the fame aa thofe 



ufed in the common ftiearing-machine, and are reprefented at 



E, E, in Plate III. Woollen Manufadure. The clothier's 



ftiears confift of two very large flat blades of fteel, united 



together by a ftem of fteel, which is bent into a circular 



bow, and is fufficiently flexible to allow one of the blades 



to be moved upon the other, in order to make them cut. 



Both blades are ground to fliarp and ftraight edges, which 



apply one to the other, but the blades are not in parallel 



planes like fciffars, for one of the blades is laid quite flat 



upon the cloth, and the plane of the other blade will then be 



inclined to the cloth at about an angle of 45 degrees, as is 



ftiewn in Plate III. The cutting-edge of this inchned 



blade bears upon the furface of the flat blade, and the 



fpring of the bow is fo fet, as to prefs the two edges always 



in contaft. The lines of the edges of the two blades are 



not parallel to each other, but inclined, fo that the edge of 



the upper blade croffes the edge of the lower blade, and 



bears upon the flat furface of that blade, at the end neareft 



to the bow, whilft the other end of the edge of the upper 



blade is removed over the edge of the lower blade, thus 



leaving an interval between the two edges, when the fliears 



are open, as is plainly fhewn in the figure. In this Hate, 



the ftiears being open, if the lower blade is laid flat upon the 



furface of the cloth, the nap or wool, which is to be removed 



by the cropping, will ftand up above the edge of the lower 



blade, in the interval between the two edges ; then if the 



blades be forced together, the edge of the upper blade will 



pafs or crofs over that of the lower, and cut away all the 



wool which projefts above the edge of the lower blade. 



The contaft of the cutting-edges begins at the end neareft 



to the bow, and proceeds regularly to the other, becaufe, as 



before mentioned, the edges are not parallel to each other. 



The blades open or return to their former pofition by the 



elafticity of the bow, but in order to make the cut they are 



clofed by means of a handle or lever 10, which is fitted or 



lodged on a round part of the ftem of the bow, fo as to 



play thereupon as upon a centre of motion. A double cord 



is made faft to the lever or handle near to this centre, and 



the 



