SLABSTOCKS AND LEVELLING FRAMES
‘Slabstock’ is a name given to the board used for fastening the mails on before they are levelled. It is about 6 in. deep and 1 in. thick, and should be as long, or longer, than the loom is broad, according to the way it is to be fixed in the loom, which is usually by being bolted to brackets fastened on the sides of it.
Fig. 51
There is a groove or rebate in the top edge of it for holding the mails, as shown in [Fig. 51] at A and B. Sometimes the grooves are at both sides, as shown at A1. All the mails required for the harness are put on the one slabstock, which is set directly under the cumber board when the harness is being levelled.
Fig. 52
A levelling frame is better than a slabstock; it is for the same purpose—that of keeping the mails firm and level when being tied to the neck twines. It consists of two flat bars of iron, C, C ([Fig. 52]), which can be bolted together in the form of a frame by the use of two stays, one at each end, and by the same screws be bolted to slotted brackets, A A, B B, fastened to the frame of the loom. Sometimes two hanging brackets, as D, are used, fastened from the top or heddle-bearer of the loom. The levelling bars, C, C, rest in these brackets, and can be fixed firm in them with a pin or cotter. If there is any yield or spring in the brackets, they can be stayed from the front of the loom as well, as the frame should be made very firm. The distance between the two bars should be 4 in. or 4-1/2 in., which will suit any harness; if only narrow harnesses, as 8-row, are required, it may be an inch narrower. The length of the frame must suit the breadth of the loom. It should be perfectly straight and level on the upper edges, and should have two rows of holes bored in it, about 2 in. apart, for pins and skewers to pass through above and below the wires on which the mails are strung, so as to keep them firm.