SPINNING WHORLOne of the earliest devices used for spinning
Spinning.Spinning and weaving are two of the earliest arts practised by man. Yarn for the making of cloth was spun in the earliest times by the use of the distaff and spindle. The spindle was a round stick of wood a foot or less in length, tapering at each end. A ring of stone or clay was placed on the spindle to give it steadiness and momentum when it revolved. At the top of the spindle was a slit or notch in which the yarn was caught. The distaff was a larger, stouter stick, around one end of which the material to be spun was wound in a loose ball. The spinner fixed the end of the distaff under her left arm so that the coil of material was in a convenient position for drawing out to form the yarn. The end of the yarn, after being prepared, was inserted in the notch, and the spindle was set in motion by rolling it with the right hand against the leg. Then the spinner drew from the distaff an additional amountof fiber, which was formed by the right hand into uniform strands. After the yarn was twisted, it was released from the notch and wound around the lower part of the spindle.
In order to spin yarn by the primitive spinner, it was necessary for the fiber to have sufficient length to enable it to be manipulated, drawn over, and twisted by the fingers. It is noted that the yarns for the gossamer-like Dacca muslins of India were so fine that one pound of cotton was spun into a thread 253 miles long. This was accomplished with the aid of a bamboo spindle not much bigger than a darning needle, which was lightly weighted with a pellet of clay. Since such a slender thread could not support even the weight of so slight a spindle, the apparatus was rotated upon a piece of hollow shell. It thus appears that the primitive spinners with distaff and spindle had nothing to learn in point of fineness from even the most advanced methods of spinning by machinery.
HAND SPINNINGFrom a Fourteenth Century MS. in the British Museum
Certain rude forms of the spinning wheel seem to have been known from time immemorial. The use of the wheel in Europe cannot, however, be dated back earlier than the fifteenth century. In the primitive wheel the spindle, having a groove worked in its whorl, was mounted horizontally in a framework fixed to theend of a bench. A band passed around the whorl and was carried around a large wheel fixed farther back on the bench, and this wheel, being turned by the hand of the spinner, gave a rapid rotation to the spindle.
AN ANCIENT LOOMFrom an Egyptian Monument
The fibers to be spun were first combed out by means of carding boards—an implement of unknown antiquity, consisting of two boards with wire teeth set in them at a uniform angle. The fiber to be carded was thinly spread upon one of the boards, and then the other was pushed backward and forward across it, the teeth of the two overlapping at opposite angles, until the fibers were combed out and laid straight in parallel lines. The fibers were then scraped off the boards in rollers or “cardings” about twelve inches long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter. An end of the carding was then attached to the spindle and the wheel set in motion. The carding itself was held in the hand of the spinner and gradually drawn out and twisted by the rotation of the spindle. As soon as a sufficient length had been attenuated and twisted to the required fineness, the thread so produced was held at right angles to the spindle and allowed to wind up on it. But for fine spinning two operations of the wheel were generally necessary. By the first spinning the fibers were drawnout and slightly attenuated into what was called a roving, and by the second spinning the roving itself passed through a similar cycle of operations to bring it to the required degree of attenuation and twist.
Many improvements in the primitive wheel were introduced from time to time. In its later developments two spindles were employed, the spinner being thus enabled to manipulate two threads at once, one in each hand. This was the latest form of the spinning-wheel, and it survived until it was superseded in the eighteenth century by the great series of inventions which inaugurated the industrial revolution and led in the nineteenth century to the introduction of the factory system.
EARLIER SPINNING AND WEAVINGFrom a Fifteenth Century MS. in the British Museum
Weaving.When or where man first began to weave cloth is not known, nor is it known whether this art sprang from one common center or was invented by many who dwelt in different parts of the world. There is such a sameness in the early devices for spinning and weaving that among some men of science it is thought that the art must have come from a common center.
Fabrics were made on the farms two or three hundred years ago in the following manner: the men of the household raised the flocks, while the women spun the yarn and wove the fabrics. In this way the industry prospered, giving occupation and income to thousands of the agricultural class. You might say that in England fabrics were a by-product of agriculture. As time went on, farmers of certain sections of England became more expert in the art, and the weaving became separated from the spinning. The weavers became clustered in certain towns on account of the higher skill required for the finer fabrics. The rough work of farming made the hands of the weaver less skilful. This, coupled with the fact that the looms became more complicated with improvements, called for a more experienced man. Great inventions brought about a more rapid development of the factory.
Richard Arkwright, who has been called the “father of the factory system,” built the first cotton mill in the world in Nottingham in 1769. The wheels were turned by horses. In 1771 Arkwright erected at Crawford a new mill which was turned by water power and supplied with machinery to accomplish the whole operation of cotton spinning in one mill, the first machine receiving the cotton as it came from the bale and the last winding the cotton yarn upon the bobbins. Children were employed in this mill, as they were found to be more dexterous in tying the broken ends. As the result of this great invention, factories sprang up everywhere in England, changing the country scene into a collectionof factories, with tall chimneys, brick buildings, and streets.
From 1730 to the middle of the nineteenth century the development of inventions was rapid:
1730—First cotton yarn spun in England by machinery by Wyatt.1733—English patent granted John Kay for the invention of the fly shuttle.1738—Patent granted Lewis Paul for the spinning machinery supposed to have been invented by Wyatt.1742—First mill for spinning cotton built at Birmingham; moved by asses; but not successful.1748—Patent on a cylinder card as first used by hand, granted Lewis Paul.1750—Fly shuttle in general use in England.1756—Cotton velvets and quiltings first made in England.1760—Stock cards first used for cotton by J. Hargreave. Drop box invented by Kay.1762-67—Spinning-jenny invented by Hargreave.1769—Arkwright obtains his first patent on spinning.1774—Bill passed in England to prevent the export of cotton machinery.1775—Second patent of Arkwright on carding, drawing, and spinning.1779—Mule spinning invented by Crompton. Peele’s patent on carding, roving, and spinning.1782—Date of Watt’s patent for the steam-engine.1783—Bounty granted in England for the export of certain cotton goods.1785—Power loom invented by Cartwright. Cylinder printing invented by Bell. A warp stop-motion described in Cartwright’s patent.1788—First cotton factory built in the United States, at Beverly.1789—Sea Island cotton first planted in the United States. Samuel Slater starts cotton machinery in New York.1790—First cotton factory built in Rhode Island by Slater.1792—First American loom patent granted to Kirk and Leslie.1794—Cotton-gin patented by Eli Whitney.1801—Date given for invention of the Jacquard machine in France.1803—Dressing machine and warper invented in England by Radcliffe, Ross, and Johnson.1804—First cotton mill built in New Hampshire, at New Ipswich.1805—Power loom successfully introduced in England after many failures.1806—First cotton mill built in Connecticut, at Pomfret.1809—First cotton mill built in Maine, at Brunswick.1812—First cotton mill built at Fall River.1814—Cotton opener with lap attachment invented in England by Creighton.1815—Power loom introduced into the United States at Waltham.1816—First loom temple of Ira Draper patented in the United States.1818—Machinery for preparing sewing cotton invented in England by Holt.1822—First cotton factory erected at Lowell.1823—Differential motion for roving frames patented by Arnold. First export of raw cotton from Egypt to England.1824—Tube frame or speeder patented by Danforth.1825—Self-acting mule patented in England by Roberts.1828—Ring spinning patented by John Thorpe. Cap spinning patented by Danforth.1829—Revolving loom temple improvements patented by Ira Draper.1832—Stop-motion for drawing frames invented by Bachelder.1833—Ring spinning frames first built by William Mason.1834—Weft fork patented in England by Ramsbottom and Hope. Shuttle-changing loom by Reid and Johnson.1840—Automatic loom led off. Important temple improvement.1849—First cotton mill erected in Lawrence.
1730—First cotton yarn spun in England by machinery by Wyatt.
1733—English patent granted John Kay for the invention of the fly shuttle.
1738—Patent granted Lewis Paul for the spinning machinery supposed to have been invented by Wyatt.
1742—First mill for spinning cotton built at Birmingham; moved by asses; but not successful.
1748—Patent on a cylinder card as first used by hand, granted Lewis Paul.
1750—Fly shuttle in general use in England.
1756—Cotton velvets and quiltings first made in England.
1760—Stock cards first used for cotton by J. Hargreave. Drop box invented by Kay.
1762-67—Spinning-jenny invented by Hargreave.
1769—Arkwright obtains his first patent on spinning.
1774—Bill passed in England to prevent the export of cotton machinery.
1775—Second patent of Arkwright on carding, drawing, and spinning.
1779—Mule spinning invented by Crompton. Peele’s patent on carding, roving, and spinning.
1782—Date of Watt’s patent for the steam-engine.
1783—Bounty granted in England for the export of certain cotton goods.
1785—Power loom invented by Cartwright. Cylinder printing invented by Bell. A warp stop-motion described in Cartwright’s patent.
1788—First cotton factory built in the United States, at Beverly.
1789—Sea Island cotton first planted in the United States. Samuel Slater starts cotton machinery in New York.
1790—First cotton factory built in Rhode Island by Slater.
1792—First American loom patent granted to Kirk and Leslie.
1794—Cotton-gin patented by Eli Whitney.
1801—Date given for invention of the Jacquard machine in France.
1803—Dressing machine and warper invented in England by Radcliffe, Ross, and Johnson.
1804—First cotton mill built in New Hampshire, at New Ipswich.
1805—Power loom successfully introduced in England after many failures.
1806—First cotton mill built in Connecticut, at Pomfret.
1809—First cotton mill built in Maine, at Brunswick.
1812—First cotton mill built at Fall River.
1814—Cotton opener with lap attachment invented in England by Creighton.
1815—Power loom introduced into the United States at Waltham.
1816—First loom temple of Ira Draper patented in the United States.
1818—Machinery for preparing sewing cotton invented in England by Holt.
1822—First cotton factory erected at Lowell.
1823—Differential motion for roving frames patented by Arnold. First export of raw cotton from Egypt to England.
1824—Tube frame or speeder patented by Danforth.
1825—Self-acting mule patented in England by Roberts.
1828—Ring spinning patented by John Thorpe. Cap spinning patented by Danforth.
1829—Revolving loom temple improvements patented by Ira Draper.
1832—Stop-motion for drawing frames invented by Bachelder.
1833—Ring spinning frames first built by William Mason.
1834—Weft fork patented in England by Ramsbottom and Hope. Shuttle-changing loom by Reid and Johnson.
1840—Automatic loom led off. Important temple improvement.
1849—First cotton mill erected in Lawrence.
Through this great change from hand to power work, thousands were thrown out of employment in the great textile centers, and much suffering occurred, which led to the smashing of machinery.
Knitting Machinery.Like many other industries, the hosiery trade owes its first and most important impetus to the genius of one who was not connected with the business in a practical way. This event took place when the Rev. William Lee invented the hand frame. He was married early in life, and his wife was obliged, on account of the slender family finances, to knit continuously at home. Struck with the monotony and toil involved in knitting with the hand pins, Mr. Lee evolved a means of knitting by machinery and brought out the hand stocking-frame, which to-day preserves its chief features very much as Lee invented them. When knitting by hand, one must form each loop separately, and loop follows loop laboriously until the width of fabric has been worked. Lee contrived to make the whole row of loops across the width simultaneously by arranging a needle for each loop and placing in connection with each needle a sinker and other apparatus for completing the formation of the loop. First of all, the yarn is laid over the needles, which are arrangedhorizontally, and the sinkers come down on the yarn and cause it to form partial loops between the needles. The old loops of the previous course are now brought forward and the new yarn is drawn through them in the same way as is done on the hand pins. Thus the new yarn of one course is drawn through the loops of the preceding one, and so the whole fabric is built up. This frame of Lee’s held its own in the great centers until some thirty years ago.
Lee’s hand frame gave way to what is termed the jack and sinker rotary frame, which was like the hand frame in its chief features, but with the advantage that all the motions were brought about by power. The various operations were put under the control of a set of cams[20]and made to perform their movements in exactly the same way as in the case of the hand frame. In the first power machine for knitting, the machine builder used the cam mechanism, and in examining the latest machines we find that he has persisted in this course throughout. The cam movement is characterized by great smoothness of working and absence of vibration, which is very necessary in a machine of the delicate adjustment of the knitting frame. It is usual to connect some of the parts with two of these cams, one of which controls the up-and-down motion and the other the out-and-in movement. When these two cams work in conjunction, we obtain all the possible degrees of harmonic motion.
From the jack and sinker frame the next really important step was taken when William Cotton brought out his famous Cotton’s patent frame. In his machine the frame was in a sense turned on its back, for the parts, such as the needles, which had been horizontal, were made vertical andvice versa. He also reduced the number of the moving parts and perfected the cam arrangement. Another very important development of the machine was when it was built in a number of divisions so as to work a number of articles side by side at one time. At present there are knitting frames which can make twelve full-sized garments at one and the same time.
Another important improvement was effected when the fashioning apparatus was supplied to the machine, by means of which the garments could be shaped according to the human form by increasing or decreasing the width as desired.
Lace, like porcelain, stained glass, and other artistic things, has always been an object of interest to all classes. Special patterns of laces date from the sixteenth century. The church and court have always encouraged its production. While the early lace work was similar to weaving, in that the patterns were stiff and geometrical, sometimes the patterns were cut out of linen, but with the development of the renaissance of art, free flowing patterns and figures were introduced and worked in.
The lace industry first took root in Flanders and Venice, where it became an important branch of industry. Active intercourse was maintained between the two countries, so that intense rivalry existed. France and England were not behind Venice and Flanders in making lace. The king of France, Henry III, encouraged lace work by appointing a Venetian to be pattern maker for varieties of linen needlework and lace for his court. Later, official aid and patronage were given to this art by Louis V. Through the influence of these two men the demand for lace was increased to such an extent that it became very popular.
Under the impulse of fashion and luxury, lace has received the stamp of the special style of each country. Italy furnishes its Point of Venice; Belgium its Brussels and Mechlin; France its Valenciennes, etc.
Very little is known of the early lace manufacturers of Holland. The laces of Holland were overshadowed by the richer products of their Flemish neighbors. The Dutch, however, had one advantage over other nations in their Haarlem thread, once considered the best thread in the world for lace.
In Switzerland, the center of the lace trade, the work was carried on to such a degree of perfection as to rival the laces of Flanders, not alone in beauty, but also in quality.
Attempts have been made at various times, both during this century and the last, to assist the peasantry of Ireland by instruction in lace-making. The finest patterns of old lace were procured, and the Irish girlsshowed great skill in copying them. Later a better style of work, needlepoint, was modeled after old Venetian lace—the exquisite productions for which Americans pay fabulous prices at the present day.
The lace manufacturers of Europe experienced a serious set-back in 1818 when bobbinet was first made in France. Fashion, always fleeting, adopted the new material. Manufacturers were forced to lower prices, but happily a new channel for export was opened in the United States.
The machine-made productions of the Nottingham looms, as triumphs of mechanical ingenuity, deserve great praise.
The first idea of the lace-making machine is attributed to a common factory hand, Hammond Lindy, who, when examining the lace on his wife’s cap, conceived a plan by which he could copy it on his loom. Improvements followed, and in 1810 a fairly good net was produced.
Perhaps the most delicate textile machine known, in its sensitiveness to heat and cold, is a lace machine. A machine can be made to run in any climate, provided it is so installed as to be protected from either extreme of temperature.
The various substitutes for hand-made lace are legion; for what the inventor cannot achieve in one way he can in another. There remains however the fact that the productions of machinery can never possess the charm of the real hand-made work. Machine-made lace is stiffer than hand-made lace.
FOOTNOTES:[19]The testing apparatus may be obtained from any textile manufacturing company, such as Alfred Suter, 487 Broadway, New York.[20]A cam is a device consisting of a special shaped wheel attached to a machine to give a special kind of motion or movement.
[19]The testing apparatus may be obtained from any textile manufacturing company, such as Alfred Suter, 487 Broadway, New York.
[19]The testing apparatus may be obtained from any textile manufacturing company, such as Alfred Suter, 487 Broadway, New York.
[20]A cam is a device consisting of a special shaped wheel attached to a machine to give a special kind of motion or movement.
[20]A cam is a device consisting of a special shaped wheel attached to a machine to give a special kind of motion or movement.
Apparatus: Pick glass, dissecting pin,[21]foot-rule.Materials: 4 square inches of burlap.References:Textiles.See page54, Weaving; page1, Fibers.
1. Look at the cloth under the pick glass and describe the appearance and structure of its interlacing threads, called weave.
2. With a pin separate the interlacing threads of the cloth which are calledwarpandfilling.Warpis composed of yarn running in the direction of the length of the cloth.Fillingis composed of yarn running at right angles to the warp.
a.What are the interlacing threads of cloth called?b.Of what is warp composed and in what direction do the warp threads extend? filling?
a.What are the interlacing threads of cloth called?
b.Of what is warp composed and in what direction do the warp threads extend? filling?
3. Notice the appearance of the individual threads (calledyarn) of the warp and filling. Test the strength of the yarn by trying to break it.
4. Untwist one of the warp threads and one of the filling threads. Notice whether the yarn becomes stronger or weaker as it is untwisted. What effect has twist on the yarn?
5. After untwisting one of the threads what remains? Measure the length of several of these ends calledfibers. Describe the appearance of the fiber as to curl, feel, fineness, etc.
1. Of what does yarn consist?
2. What causes the fibers to cling together?
3. What is the process called by which two sets of threads interlace?
4. When two sets of threads interlace or are woven what is produced?
Apparatus: Hand loom,[22]two pencils, scissors.Material: Yarn of two colors.Reference:Textiles, page58.
1. Make a warp on the hand loom with green yarn by having parallel threads running the longest way of the loom to the notches.
2. Aharnessis a framework on a loom used for raising certain warp threads. Use a pencil as a harness and raise the 1st, 3d, and 5th warp threads. Ashedwill in this way be formed through which the shuttle carrying the filling thread will pass. Use the red yarn for filling and attach it at one end before passing it through the shed.
3. With a second pencil to act as a second harness raise the 2d, 4th, and 6th warp threads. Pass the filling through the shed thus formed.
4. Repeat twice Directions 2 and 3.
5. Tie all ends, cut the woven sample away from the loom, and mount in note-book.
1. What part of a loom is the harness?
2. What is meant by a shed?
3. What carries the filling thread through the shed on a loom?
4. What is the principle of plain weaving?
5. Name some fabrics produced by plain weaving? SeeTextiles, page58.
Apparatus: Hand loom, four pencils, scissors.Materials: White cotton warp, colored yarn filling.Reference:Textiles, page58.
1. On the hand loom make a warp by threading four white warp threads to a notch until there are six sets of warp threads.
2. Using a pencil as a harness (See Exp.2) raise the first thread of each set of warp threads and pass the filling thread through the shed thus formed.
3. With another pencil as a second harness raise the second thread of each set of warp threads and pass the filling.
4. With a third pencil raise the third thread of each set of warp threads and pass the filling.
5. With still another pencil to act as a fourth harness raise the fourth thread of each set and again pass the filling.
6. Repeat the above directions (2 to 5) several times. Notice that the moving of the filling thread, one warp thread to the left, each time it is woven is causing a diagonal line or rib to form, calledtwill.
7. Cut the woven sample away from the loom and mount.
1. Why is this weave called a twill weave?
2. How is the diagonal line or twill formed?
3. Why would this kind of weaving be spoken of as 4-harness weave?
4. What popular dress fabric is of twill weave?
Apparatus: Pick glass, dissecting pin, foot-rule.Material: 4 sq. in. of burlap, 4 sq. in. of serge.References:Textiles, pages58,59,60.
1. Examine the burlap under the pick glass, noting the structure and number of threads to the inch in the warp (calledends) and the number of threads to the inch in the filling (calledpicks). Verify with foot-rule.
2. Repeat the above, using serge.
1. What is meant by a number of “ends to the inch”? a number of “picks to the inch”?
2. How many ends to the inch in the burlap? How many picks to the inch?
3. How many ends to the inch in the serge? How many picks?
4. Note several differences between cloth produced by plain weaving and cloth produced by twill weaving.
Apparatus: Hand loom, two pencils, scissors.Materials: White cotton warp, filling yarn of two colors.Reference:Textiles, page62.
1. Thread the loom two warp threads to a notch until there are 20 ends (warp threads).
2. Use a pencil as a harness. Raise the 1st, 3d, 5th, 7th, and 9th sets of warp threads.
3. Fasten securely the green filling yarn at one end and pass it through the shed formed by carrying out Direction 2. Draw the filling thread tight and wind once or twice around the outside warp end.
4. Use a second pencil as a harness and raise the sets of warp threads that are now down, forming a new shed.
5. Fasten the red filling yarn at one end and pass it through the shed. Wind once or twice about the outside warp end.
6. Raise the red filling to form a loop in each place where it (the red filling) has passed over a warp end.
7. Form a shed by raising the first harness and pass through the green filling thread, drawing it tight to hold the red filling above it in place. Wind about the outside warp end.
8. Repeat Directions 2-7 several times, each time raising the red filling to form loops and each time drawing the green filling tight to hold the red in place.
9. Cut with scissors the loops formed by raising the red filling.
10. As well as you can with scissors, shear the pile (the soft, thick covering on the face) to make a fairly even surface.
11. Cut the sample away from the loom and mount.
1. What are some varieties of cloth that are woven with a pile surface?
2. Sometimes the loops of the pile are cut and sometimes left as loops. What fabrics are examples of cut pile? uncut pile?
3. What is meant by thepileof velvet or carpet?
Apparatus: Pick glass, dissecting needle.Materials: Samples of satin, voile, lace curtaining, double cloth, carpeting.Reference:Textiles, pages58-64.
1. Examine the sample of satin under the pick glass. Notice that the warp and filling interlace in such a way that there is no trace of the diagonal on the face of the cloth.
a.Is satin of a close or loose weave?b.What can you say of the surface of satin?c.What effect has this smooth surface on light?d.This is called a satin weave. Why?e.What is the most extensive use of the satin weave? (SeeTextiles, page1.)
a.Is satin of a close or loose weave?
b.What can you say of the surface of satin?
c.What effect has this smooth surface on light?
d.This is called a satin weave. Why?
e.What is the most extensive use of the satin weave? (SeeTextiles, page1.)
Note.—Sometimes fabrics of other weaves will have a satin stripe.
2. Examine the sample of voile under the pick glass. This is a type of what is known as gauze weave.
a.What is the chief characteristic of the gauze weave?b.Name several gauze fabrics.
a.What is the chief characteristic of the gauze weave?
b.Name several gauze fabrics.
3. Examine a piece of lace curtaining under the pick glass.
a.If the fancy figures were not present, of what weave would this sample be?Simple figures are stitched into plainly woven or gauze fabrics by machinery to imitate embroidery. This style of weave is known as lappet weave.b.On fabrics of what two weaves is lappet weaving used?c.What is lappet weaving?
a.If the fancy figures were not present, of what weave would this sample be?
Simple figures are stitched into plainly woven or gauze fabrics by machinery to imitate embroidery. This style of weave is known as lappet weave.
b.On fabrics of what two weaves is lappet weaving used?
c.What is lappet weaving?
4. Examine a piece of carpet. Notice the elaborate designs or patterns and the number of colors used. When the figures are elaborate they cannot be stitched in by simple lappet weaving. A special attachment called theJacquardapparatus is placed on top of the loom. This apparatus controls the warp threads so that a great many sheds may be formed and elaborate figures woven into fabrics. This is called Jacquard weaving.
a.What must be added to a loom for Jacquard weaving?b.What is the use of the Jacquard apparatus?c.When is the Jacquard weave used instead of lappet weave?
a.What must be added to a loom for Jacquard weaving?
b.What is the use of the Jacquard apparatus?
c.When is the Jacquard weave used instead of lappet weave?
5. ReadTextiles, page61.
6. Examine the sample of double cloth. Notice that there are two single cloths. They are combined into one by here and there lacing the warp and filling of one cloth into the warp and filling of the other. In this way they are fastened together securely.
a.What color is the sample on one side? the other?b.Of what is double cloth composed?c.How are the single cloths combined into one?d.ReadTextiles, page62. What are some of the uses of double cloth?
a.What color is the sample on one side? the other?
b.Of what is double cloth composed?
c.How are the single cloths combined into one?
d.ReadTextiles, page62. What are some of the uses of double cloth?
7. How many classes of weave have been studied?
8. Name the classes of weave.
9. Name a fabric to illustrate each weave.
Apparatus: Pick glass, dissecting needle.Materials: Samples of broadcloth, mohair, silk, cotton cloth, linen.References:Textiles, pages1;97, Mohair;203, Silk;105, Cotton;193, Linen;199, Hemp;201, Jute;232, Ramie;233, Pineapple.
1. ReadTextiles, page1, paragraph 1. What are textiles?
2. Cloth is composed of yarn. Yarn in its turn is composed of many small ends called fibers.
3. Look at the sample of broadcloth. If you did not know this to be broadcloth you would speak of it as woolen goods. Detach from the sample a filling thread and separate it into fibers. These are woolen fibers.
4. Examine the sample of mohair and separate a filling thread into fibers. This takes the name mohair from the fibers which compose it. Mohair is obtained from the Angora goat.
5. Examine a sample of silk, also a detached filling thread. The silk fiber consists of a thread spun by the silk worm.
6. Wool, mohair, and silk fibers are obtained from the animals, the sheep, goat, and silk worm, hence they are called animal fibers.
7. Detach from the sample of cotton cloth a filling thread and separate it into fibers. These are cotton fibers and are obtained from the cotton plant.
8. Examine the sample of linen, a filling thread and its fibers. Linen is composed of fibers obtained from the flax plant.
9. Cotton and linen fibers are obtained from plants, and are called vegetable fibers. There are other vegetable fibers such as jute, hemp, ramie, pineapple, etc., but cotton and linen are the most important.
10. Name the most valuable fibers for textile use.
1. Of what is cloth composed?
2. Of what does yarn consist?
3. How are the fibers made to join in one long thread? (See Experiment1.)
4. Of what fibers are woolen and worsted goods composed?
5. Of what animal is wool the covering?
6. Of what fibers is mohair composed?
7. From what animal is mohair obtained?
8. Of what does the silk fiber consist?
9. What are the animal fibers?
10. Why are they called animal fibers?
11. Of what fibers is cotton cloth composed?
12. From what plant are cotton fibers obtained?
13. From what plant is the linen fiber obtained?
14. What are the most important vegetable fibers?
15. Name four other vegetable fibers.
16. Why are these fibers called vegetable fibers?
Apparatus: Pick glass, microscope, 2 pine cones, foot-rule.Materials: Raw wool, woolen yarn.Reference:Textiles, chapteri.
1. Separate a strand of woolen yarn into fibers. Examine both these fibers and fibers pulled from the raw wool. Would you describe these fibers as coarse or fine?
2. How do the fibers feel to touch?
3. Test the strength of the wool fibers by trying to break them.
4. Measure the length of several fibers.
5. Why was it difficult to straighten the fibers to measure them?
6. Extend the fiber to its full length, then release. How does this prove the fiber to be elastic?
7. Examine the fibers under the microscope. Describe. Notice that the wool fiber is cylindrical in shape. Notice that it is covered with scales which overlap much as do the tiles of a roof or the spines of a pine cone.
8. Hold one pine cone with the spines pointing upward. With the spines of the other pointing downward press the second conedown on the first. What happens? Just so the scales or points of the wool fibers hook into one another and interlock. These scales or serrations give to the wool fiber its chief characteristic which is the power of interlocking known asfeltingorshrinking.
9. SeeTextiles, page2, the drawing of a magnified wool fiber. Make a drawing of a wool fiber.
10. Examine under the microscope a hair from your head. Wool is only a variety of hair. Notice that the scales on the hair lie close to the stem and do not project as in the woolen fiber, hence hair fibers cannot interlock as wool fibers do. The scales lying close to the hair give a smooth surface to the fiber and make luster a characteristic.
11. Compare the wool fiber with hair, noting two differences.
1. With what is the wool fiber covered?
2. Of what advantage are these scales or points?
3. What is the chief characteristic of wool?
4. What is meant by the shrinking or felting power?
5. Name five characteristics of the wool fiber.
Apparatus: Microscope, foot-rule.Materials: Wool fibers, mohair fibers, sample of mohair brilliantine.References:Textiles, pages1,37,97.
1. Pull a mohair fiber from the fleece. Hold it up to the light. Describe the fiber as you see it.
2. Hold a mohair fiber and a wool fiber side by side to the light. Note the differences.
3. Measure several mohair fibers.
4. Examine the mohair fiber under the microscope. The fiber is covered with scales, but they lie close to the fiber and do not project in points as do the scales on the wool fiber, hence mohair will not felt to any degree.
5. The Angora goat of Asia Minor furnishes the mohair. This goat is being raised in the western states of the United States now.
6. Detach from the sample of mohair brilliantine a warp thread; a filling thread. Which is mohair? Which is cotton?
7. What word would describe the feel of mohair brilliantine? the appearance?
8. What are the characteristics of the mohair fiber?
9. What are the uses of mohair? Mohair is used in the manufacture of plushes, dress fabrics, and imitation furs.
1. Why will mohair not felt as wool does?
2. The scales lying close to the stem will have what effect on the surface of the fiber?
3. What effect will a smooth surface have on light?
4. What characteristic is given to mohair from the fact that the smooth surface reflects light?
5. From what animal is mohair obtained in greatest quantity?
6. Where is mohair being grown in the United States?
Apparatus: Microscope, foot-rule.Materials: Tuft of cotton fibers, cotton ball, seeds.Reference:Textiles, chapterix, page105.
1. Hold a tuft of cotton fibers tightly between the fingers and thumb of each hand and pull apart with a jerk. What is your judgment of the strength of thestaple(fiber)?
2. Loosen gently the fibers of one of the tufts you have pulled apart. What is the feel of cotton? the appearance as you hold it to the light?
3. Detach several fibers one by one. How does the length compare with that of the wool and mohair? Measure and record the length of three fibers.
4. How do cotton fibers compare in fineness with wool fibers?
5. Compare the elasticity of cotton with that of wool.
6. Examine the cotton fibers under the microscope. Observe that the enlarged fiber looks like a twisted ribbon. When the fiber was growing it was cylindrical in shape. When ripe the plant drew back its life-giving fluid from the fiber and it collapsed and twisted like a corkscrew. The twist is peculiar to the cotton, being present in no other fiber. The twist makes the cotton fiber suitable for spinning, helping to hold the short fibers together.
7. Read of the cotton plant fromTextiles, chapterix.
8. The four chief cotton producing countries are the United States, Egypt, India, Brazil.
9. There are several classifications of cotton. The most common are Sea Island (in the lead); Egyptian (a close second); Uplands (that of the United States, southern part); and Peruvian.
10. Uplands is the most common cotton of our South.
1. What characteristic causes the cotton fiber to be easily recognized under the microscope?
2. Why does the twist render the cotton fiber suitable for spinning?
3. What are the characteristics of the cotton fiber?
4. Why is cotton known as a vegetable fiber?
5. Name the chief cotton producing countries.
6. What are the most common classifications of cotton?
7. What is the finest growth of cotton? (Sea Island commands at the present time $1.00 a lb., while Middling Uplands brings 15 cents.)
8. Where is cotton known as Upland Cotton grown?
Apparatus: Tripod, alcohol lamp, small pan of water, lead pencil.Material: Silk cocoon.Reference:Textiles, chapterxvii, page203.
1. Place the cocoon in a small pan of water. Apply heat to the pan until the water boils. The cocoon is placed in hot water to soften the glue which holds the fibers together.
2. Remove the outside loose fibers which cannot be reeled. This tangled silk on the outside of the cocoon is calledfloss.
3. Brush the finger over the cocoon to find the loose ends. Unwind carefully until you find a continuous end. Wind orreelthe silk fiber over a lead pencil.
4. The silk fiber is the most beautiful and perfect of all fibers.
5. Hold the cocoon to the light as you reel. How does the silk fiber compare in fineness with the wool and cotton fibers?
6. The silk fiber is from 1000 to 4000 feet long. Unlike the other fibers the silk fiber is already a thread.
7. How does light effect the silk fiber? When the gum is thoroughly washed off the silk takes on its luster which is its chief characteristic.
8. Break the fiber after you have reeled a small quantity. Notice how the fiber springs back. Extend and release again. What characteristic does this illustrate?
9. Examine the silk fiber under the microscope. Notice that it is round and smooth and resembles a glass rod. It shows what appear to be two fibers united by the gum secreted at the same time that the fiber was formed. Describe the silk fiber as it appears under the microscope.
10. Silk is taken from the reel and twisted into a skein of raw silk and thus exported.
11. The manufacture in the United States begins with raw silk. It is handled here first by thethrowsterwho winds it from the skein and makes different varieties of thread.
1. Why is the silk cocoon first placed in hot water?
2. What is known as floss?
3. What is meant by silk reeling?
4. What can you say of the length of the silk fiber?
5. In what way does the silk fiber differ from the other fibers?
6. What is the chief characteristic of the silk fiber?
7. What are other characteristics of the silk fiber?
8. In what form is silk exported?
9. In what countries is most of the raw silk produced? (SeeTextiles, page206.)
10. With what does the silk manufacture in the United States begin?
11. Who is thethrowsterand what is his work?
Apparatus: Microscope.Material: Flax fibers.Reference:Textiles, chapterxv, page193.
1. The linen fiber is obtained from the flax plant. Certain fibers, such as flax, jute, and ramie, are obtained from the stem of the plant, hence are known asbastfibers, and flax is the most important bast fiber.
2. It is difficult to separate the flax or linen fiber from the woody part of the stem. The process is calledretting, which is really rotting by soaking the stem in water.
3. Before the fibers are entirely free from the woody part of the plant they undergo the processes of beating, breaking, scutching, hackling, etc.
4. Read the account of each process. SeeTextiles, pages194,195.
5. Measure and record the length of two linen fibers.
6. Test the strength by trying to break the fiber.
7. Test for elasticity.
8. What is the appearance of the linen fiber when held to the light?
9. What is the color of the fiber? What is the process called by which linen is whitened? (Bleaching.)
10. Examine the flax fibers under the microscope. Observe that the fibers look like long cylindrical tubes. Describe the appearance of linen fibers under the microscope.
11. The best flax is grown in Belgium and Ireland.
1. From what part of the plant are bast fibers obtained?
2. Name some bast fibers.
3. What is the most important bast fiber?
4. What is retting?
5. For what purpose is linen subjected to retting?
6. Through what five processes does the flax fiber pass before it is free?
7. Where is the best flax grown?
Apparatus: A pair of hand cards.Material: Small quantity of scoured wool.References:Textiles, pages39and50.
1. Examine the hand cards. Notice that there is a foundation of several layers of leather. Notice that this foundation is covered with staples of steel wire. Notice that the staples are shaped like the letter U with the points turned one way. The covering of the hand cards is calledcard clothing.
2. Hold one hand card in the left hand, face up, wires pointing to the left. Spread the wool over the pointed wires of this card.
3. Hold the other card in the right hand, face down, with the wires pointing to the right. Bring the pointed wires of this card down on the wool and drag it lightly through the wires of the other card. Repeat several times.
4. You have beencardingwool. The sharp points have been tearing the wool apart or disentangling the fibers. Carding brushes the fibers out smooth and makes them somewhat parallel. It forms them into a thin sheet.
5. The wool must be carded many times before it is sufficiently disentangled for drawing and spinning. In order to card again the hand card must bestrippedof the wool so that it may be dragged again through the staples.
6. Hold the hand card, which is in your right hand, erect. Notice that the wires point downward. Move the other handdownward over the wires. Notice that the surface is smooth. The points do not prick as they will if you try to brush the hand upwards over the wires.
7. Hold the card in the left hand in a similar position. Raise and bring the sharp wires of this card down on the smooth surface of the other card and strip it of its wool.
8. Card again, then strip again. Repeat several times until the fibers are thoroughly disentangled.
9. This carding and stripping, once done by hand, is now done in the mill by a power machine called thecard. (See picture,Textiles, page38.) Notice that instead of cards this machine consists of rollers or cylinders. Some are carding cylinders and some are stripping cylinders. The principle is the same as that of the hand cards. The wool is carded and stripped again and again and is finally delivered in a soft, fluffy rope called asliverready for drawing and spinning.
1. What is the covering of the hand card called?
2. Describe card clothing.
3. What does carding do to the wool?
4. When the sharp wires of one cylinder meet the sharp pointed wires of another cylinder what is the action on the wool?
5. If the sharp points of one cylinder meet the smooth surface of another cylinder what happens to the wool on that cylinder?
6. In what form does the wool finally leave the machine? What name is given to this fluffy rope?
7. How was carding done in the early days? How is it done now?
8. In what way is the principle of the hand cards the same as that of the card of the mill?
Apparatus: Foot-rule, elastic band.Material: Small quantity of scoured wool.References:Textiles, pages4,44,134; Sections: Spinning: Mule Spinning.
1. Observe the mass of wool fibers. The wool was clipped from the sheep,washed, andoiledto make it smooth and pliable.
2. With the fingers gently open up or loosen the mass of wool fibers. In the mill this is done by a machine called thecard. (See picture,Textiles, page38.) And the process itself is calledcarding.
3. Gentlydrawout the mass of fibers until you have drawn it into one long strand.
4. Draw it again and again until to draw it would cause it to break.
5. This process in the mill is known asdrawing. The wool passes through machine after machine, which gradually reduces the thickness of the strand.
6. You have now a strand calledroving, but not a thread with which you could weave. What is called the strand? Why could you not weave with it as it is? If you pulled the roving apart it would separate into a number of small ends. What name is given to these ends?
7. It is necessary to hold these fibers together in a thread. Hold the roving in the left hand and with the right hand draw the fibers out several inches. As you draw, twist the roving between the fingers and thumb. Thetwistingis calledspinning.
8. When you have twisted sufficient yarn to attach to the end of a foot-rule, do so. Give a whirl to the ruler, which is taking the place of the old-timespindle, and let it drop. Continue to whirl the ruler and notice that as it revolves the yarn is twisting. When well twisted, wind the yarn on the ruler. There was a hook on the old-time spindle. Instead of the hook, hold the wound yarn in place by an elastic band. Draw out several inches again and repeat.
9. With the spindle adistaffwas used. It held the roving which you now hold in your left hand. (Seepictureof distaff and spindle.)
10. Define spinning; seeTextiles, page4, footnote. The early use of the spindle was the same as its use of to-day. In what two ways is the spindle of use?
11. The improvement on the distaff and spindle was the spinning wheel. Now the spinning frame in the mill has replaced both.
1. After shearing, through what two processes does wool pass?
2. Why is it necessary to oil wool?
3. What is the work of thecard?
4. Explain the process calleddrawing. Why is it necessary to repeat the operation several times?
5. What followed the distaff and spindle in the development of spinning?
6. On what is the spinning done now in the mill? SeeTextiles, picture, pages135,137.
Apparatus: Coarse comb, fine comb.Material: Small quantity of scoured wool.Reference:Textiles, pages39-44.
1. Open up the wool a little with the fingers. Do this in place of carding, as you need but a small quantity.
2. You comb your hair to make the hairs lie parallel, side by side, in place. Combs are used on wool for just the same purpose, but the first process of combing is not known as such. It is calledgilling, and the combs themselves are calledfallers. The machines are known asgill boxes. SeeTextiles, page43.
3. Hold the carded wool in the left hand in the middle of the strand. With the coarse comb in the right hand, comb and thus straighten the fibers first at one end then at the other. This isgilling. The principle of gilling is to comb the fibers more and more nearly parallel and to draw them out into more even strands.
4. The coarse comb causes the hairs to lie parallel. A fine comb will further straighten the hairs, but it will also remove the snarled, tangled, short hairs. Again wool is to be treated like hair. Hold the strand in the middle as before. Comb each end with the fine comb. Notice that the fine comb is removing the short fibers and leaving the long fibers between the fingers. This is the second process of combing, and is calledcombing.
5. The long fibers are calledtopsand the short fibers are knownasnoils.[23]Combing is the process which separates the long fibers known astopsfrom the short fibers known asnoils.
6. The combing machine in the mill is a very complicated one. See picture,Textiles, page41.
7. Gill and comb several strands of wool.
8. Top is too delicate, as it comes from the comb, to be handled. The next process is to combine several strands into one. Combine the several strands you have gilled and combed. Comb this one end with the coarse comb again to be sure that the fibers are perfectly parallel.
9. You gilled, combed, and gilled again. So it is in the mill. After combing, the wool is gilled again by machines known asfinisher gill boxes, and wound into a ball calleda top.
10.A topdiffers fromtop.Topis the strand of long fibers which comes from the comb.A topis the ball of combed wool as it comes from the finisher gill boxes. It weighs from 7 to 12 lbs. and contains 200 to 250 yds.
11. The wool is now ready for the next processes—those of drawing and spinning.
1. Why is the hair combed? Why is wool combed?
2. What is the first process of combing called? What name is given to the combs used in gilling? What are the machines called?
3. What is the principle of gilling?
4. How does a fine comb act on the hair?
5. When you combed the wool with the fine comb what happened?
6. What are the long fibers called? the short? Of which are there more?
7. What is the second process of combing called?
8. Why is it necessary to combine several strands of top into one end?
9. Why is it necessary to gill again after combing?
10. In what form does the wool finally leave the finisher gill boxes?
11. What is a top?
12. What two processes follow carding?
13. For what two processes is wool now ready?
Apparatus: Hand cards, coarse and fine combs, pencil.Material: Scoured wool.Reference: The preceding experiments.
1. This wool has already been subjected to the three operations of shearing, scouring, and oiling.
2. Card the wool. What does carding do to the wool?
3. Strip the cards. Rub the sheet of fibers between the palms of the hands into the form of a strand. It is in this form that it leaves the card of the mill, and it is known as asliverof wool.
4. Pull about three inches of wool from the sliver and perform upon it the operation of gilling by combing it with the coarse comb.
5. Follow the gilling by the operation ofcombing, which you will do by combing again, this time with a fine comb.
6. Pull about three inches again from the sliver. Continue to gill and comb by section until the entire sliver has been gilled and combed.
7. Combine several strands into one and subject the one strand to a second process of gilling to make sure that all fibers are side by side.
8. Gently draw out this strand of combed long fibers known as top. As you draw, spin. As you spin, wind on a lead pencil. The fineness of the yarn depends on the amount of drawing and twisting.
9. What is the source of wool? You began with wool, covering of the sheep’s body, and after subjecting it to a series of operations you have converted it into yarn which is ready for weaving.
10. Name the operations in order, through which raw wool passes before it finally becomes yarn.
1. What are the first three processes through which wool passes? What is shearing? scouring?
2. Why is wool oiled?
3. What is meant by a sliver of wool?
4. What does gilling do to the wool?
5. What does combing do to the wool?
6. Why is there another operation of gilling after combing?
7. What is meant bydrawing?spinning?
8. What name is given to the wool wound on the pencil?
9. On what does the fineness of the yarn depend?