Part 20

The warp threads--the threads which run lengthwise of the cloth--are sized and wound upon large reels, and from these transferred to a large wooden roll called the warp beam, which holds all the warp threads, usually several thousands.

The filling threads are put on shuttle bobbins and placed in the shuttles to be refilled by the operatives as required, and as the weaving progresses.

The warp beam is then taken to the drawing-in room, where these several thousand threads are drawn through wire heddles in a frame called the harness, then drawn through a wire reed. The completed warp beam is now ready for the loom.

The harnesses are placed in the loom, and by means of what is called the “head-motion,” part of the threads are raised and part are lowered. This allows the filling shuttles to pass above some threads and below others, filling out the pattern required.

The cloth, having been made in such length as is desired, is taken from the loom, and, by what is known as burling and mending, any knots or threads woven in wrongly are removed, and any imperfections which have been discovered through a careful examination are corrected.

The web or cloth is scoured or washed and the oil and any foreign matter removed.

Undressed fabrics would now be fulled. This consists of running cloth through a fulling machine, where, moistened with a specially prepared soap, it is subjected to a great pressure and pounding, which aids in giving the required finish.

There are different kinds of finishes which require different treatments, and it would be impracticable for us to dwell in detail upon this matter here.

If dyed in the piece, the web or cloth is taken to the dyehouse and dyed. It is thoroughly rinsed, all moisture is extracted from it, and it is dried.

After drying the cloth is run through a machine by which it is brushed and sheared, the brushing lifting the long fibres, and the shearing cutting them off at even length. The cloth is put through the press, which irons it out, giving it the lustre or the finish that is desired. It is examined again for further imperfections, and if such have occurred they are corrected.

Measuring, weighing, rolling and tagging follow, and the cloth is packed and ready for the market.

Woolens are made from short staple wools, known as clothing wools, and in the finished woolens the fibres of the yarns cross or are mingled together. In the case of woolens, after the scouring, it is frequently necessary to remove burrs or other vegetable matter from the wool. To accomplish this the wool is dipped in a bath of chloride of aluminum or sulphuric acid solution, then the moisture is extracted and the wool is put through a drier, where the temperature must be at least 212 degrees. This heat carbonizes the foreign substance, but has little effect on the animal fibres of the wool.

ENGLISH DRAWING

Copyright American Woolen Company

GILLING

ENGLISH DRAWING

Copyright American Woolen Company]

Next, an ingenious machine called the burr picker removes the burr.

Sometimes there is to be a blend of the wool with other stocks, and in that case the several different wools are mixed together.

ENGLISH DRAWING

Copyright American Woolen Company

REDUCER

ENGLISH DRAWING

Copyright American Woolen Company]

~HOW WOOLEN CLOTH IS DYED~

Dyeing of woolens is done in three ways--in the wool, in the thread after it is spun, or in the piece after it is woven. If the wool is to be “dyed in the wool” it is now conveyed to the dyehouse, dyed the shade required, then returned to the mixing room.

During the process of scouring, when the yolk was removed, a large part of the natural oil of the wool was also eliminated, and, in order to restore this lubricant, the wool is sprinkled with an oil emulsion, and the mixing picker thoroughly blends the wools.

From here the wool goes to the cardroom, and by means of the carding machine the fibres are carded and drawn and delivered to the finisher in a broad, flat sheet. By means of the condenser it is divided into narrow bands, and the wool--free as yet from twist--comes out in soft strands. These strands or threads are called roping.