THE CALICO PRINTER.

CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINE.

The trade of the Calico Printer may be said to be one of the most important in this country, since we export such immense quantities of cotton prints to our various colonies,as well as to other countries in the world, that this business forms a very considerable part of British commerce.

Calicoes, muslins, &c. intended for printing must first have the fibres removed from their surface by the operation of the singeing machine; which consists of a half-cylinder of iron or copper laid horizontally, and kept at a bright heat by a range of gas-flames or a furnace; over this half-cylinder the length of cloth is drawn with a steady motion till the down or fibre is singed off.

Bowking Kiers.

The next process is that of bleaching, because the whiter the cotton cloth becomes, the more light it will reflect from the surface, and the more brilliant the colour of the dyes will appear.

The principal chemical substance used for bleaching cotton is chloride of lime, which is known as bleaching powder; but there are several processes employed in its application, as well as various methods which are adopted by different manufacturers to increase its effects by mechanical contrivances, the application of heat, or otherwise.

Dash Wheel.

The first operation of bleaching, however, and that which immediately follows singeing, is boiling the cloth in an alkaline bath consisting of a solution of soda. For this purpose abowking apparatusis used. This machine (see cut) is, in fact, a large cauldron, with a flat false bottom to protect the cloth from being scorched by the fire beneath. Through the centre of this false bottom a vertical pipe rises fromnear the real bottom to a height above the top of the cauldron, and carries a conical cap like an umbrella above its open end at top. When the liquid in the cauldron begins to boil thoroughly the steam forces a constant stream of liquid up the pipe, which stream is scattered by forcing against the umbrella-shaped cap, and so falls with some force back on to the cotton in the cauldron. When this process has continued long enough, the liquor is allowed to cool, and the cotton is taken to be rinsed at thedash wheel, where it is subjected to the free action of water, or to a rinsing machine, so constructed that the web travels on rollers, and is thoroughly washed during its course.

Wringing Machine.

The simplest and earliest method of imprinting figures upon calico is by means of a wooden block, upon the face of which the design is cut in relief, as in an ordinary wood-cut.The block is of sycamore, holly, or pear-tree wood, or more commonly of deal, faced with one of these woods. The block varies in size from nine to twelve inches long, and from four to seven inches broad, and it is furnished on the back with a strong handle. When the design is complicated, and a very distinct impression is required, the figure is sometimes formed by the insertion of narrow slips of flattened copper wire, the space between being filled with felt.

Face of Block for Calico Printing. Back of Calico Block.

The printing block, which is worked by hand, is charged with colour by pressing it gently upon a piece of superfine woollen cloth called thesieve, stretched tightly over a wooden drum, which floats in a tub full of size or thick varnish to give it elasticity, so that every part of the raised device may acquire a sufficient coating of colour. The sieve is kept uniformly covered with the colouring matter by a boy or girl called the tearer, who takes up with a brush a small quantity of the colour contained in a small pot, and distributes it uniformly over the surface; for if this were not done, the block would take up the colour unequally.

The printing shop is a long well-lighted apartment, the air of which is kept warm for the purpose of drying the cloth as it is printed; to insure which it is passed over hanging rollers, so as to expose a large surface to the air.The printing table, which is about six feet long, is made of some well seasoned hard wood, such as mahogany, or of marble, or flag-stone, the object being to present a perfectly flat hard surface. This table is covered with a blanket, upon which the calico is extended, and the block, being charged with colour, is applied to its surface, a blow being given with a wooden mallet to transfer the impression fully to the cloth. It is necessary, of course, to join the different parts of the design with precision, and in doing so the printer is guided by small pins at the corners of the block. Thus, by repeated applications of the block to the woollen cloth and to the calico alternately, the whole length of calico is printed.

Drying Room.

By this method, a single block prints only one colour, sothat, if the design contain three or more colours, three or more blocks will be required, all of equal size, the raised parts in each corresponding with the depressed parts in all the others; in order, therefore, to print a piece of cloth twenty-eight yards long, and thirty inches broad, with three blocks, each measuring nine inches by five, no less than 672 applications of each, or 2,016 applications of the three blocks, are necessary. Thus it will be seen that printing by hand is a tedious operation, requiring more diligence than skill.

Brush.

When the design, however, consists of straight parallel stripes of different colours, they may be applied by one block at a single impression. For this purpose the colours are contained in as many small tin troughs as there are colours to be printed. These troughs are arranged in a line, and a small portion of each colour is transferred from them to the woollen cloth by a kind of wire-brush. The colour is distributed evenly in stripes over the surface of the sieve by a wooden roller covered with woollen cloth. For the rainbow style, as a peculiar pattern is called, the colours are blended into one another at their edges by a brush or rubber.

An important improvement has been made in the construction of hand-blocks, by the application of a stereotypeplate as the printing surface. A small mould is produced from a model of the pattern, and the stereotype copies are then made by pouring mixed metal into it. A number of the stereotype plates are then formed into a printing block, by being arranged in a stout piece of wood.

One of the Cylinders of the Machine, showing the way by which it is coloured.

The greatest mechanical improvement in the art of calico printing was the invention of thecylinderorrollerprinting at the end of the last century. This style of printing has been generally adopted in Lancashire, and is the cause of the success of the English over the continental printers. One cylinder machine, attended by one man to regulate the rollers, is capable of printing as many pieces as one hundred men and one hundred girls could print with hand blocks in the same time. A mile length of calico can be printed off with four different colours in a single hour.

This cylinder machine consists of a hollow cylinder or roller of copper, about three feet long and three or four inches in diameter, the pattern on which has been produced by the pressure of a mill, on which the design has beenoriginally stamped by the pressure of a hard steel roller which has been engraved.

The copper cylinders are mounted on a strong iron shaft with a toothed wheel at its end, in order to put it in train with the rotatory printing machine for one, two, or more colours. On a roller at the upper part of this apparatus are wound the calico webs stitched together, the end of which is brought between the engraved copper cylinder and a large centre roller covered with blankets, against which it is made to bear with a regular pressure.

The engraved cylinder turns on the top of another cylinder covered with woollen cloth, which revolves at the same time as the former, while its under part dips in an oblong trough containing the dyeing matter, which is of a pasty consistence. The engraved cylinder is in this way supplied with plenty of printing colour, and is cleared from the superfluity by the thin edge of a blade made of bronze, called thedoctor, which is applied to it as it turns, and gently scrapes the surface. After this the cylinder acts upon the calico, which receives the impression of the pattern in colour, and rolls onward at a great rate of speed.

There are various kinds of colours or dye stuffs used in calico printing, some of which impart fast colours by themselves, and others which require the web to be first prepared in order that they may become fixed.

In almost all the modes of calico printing the processes are very numerous to ensure the beauty and permanence of the colours. In what is called thesteam colourprinting, the agency of steam is applied to aid in fixing the colours to the cloth. The cloth is first steeped in a mordant or fixing liquor, then printed by the cylinder in various colours,called steam colours. It is then hung up to dry, and is afterwards exposed to the action of steam by means of various apparatus, which are adapted to the particular effect intended, to be produced in fixing the dye.

The designs for calico printing are very expensive, and such a constant succession of new patterns are demanded, that some of the Lancashire printers expend several thousands a year on designing and engraving alone.

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