(d) After sizing comes the subsidiary process of "drawing in" or "twisting in," by which all the threads are passed in a suitable manner through "healds" and "reeds," so as to allow of their proper manipulation by the mechanism of the loom, to which they are immediately afterwards transferred.
In the production of cloths of a more or less "fancy" description, it is often required that the spun yarns shall be bleached and dyed before using, and to perform one or both of these operations efficiently, it is usual to reduce the yarn into proper condition by the processes of "reeling" and "bundling," although in comparatively few instances yarn is dyed in the cop form, while in a few other cases the raw cotton is dyed before being subjected to the processes of cotton spinning.
"Reeling" and "Bundling" are operations which are frequently necessary for other purposes besides those above alluded to, and may therefore be more fully described, as they often form part of the equipment of a spinning mill, and yarn is frequently sent away from the spinning mill in bundle form.
Reeling.—This is a simple but very extensively adopted process, in which yarn is wound from cops, bobbins or spools into hanks. It may be explained here that a cotton hank consists of 840 yards, and is made up of 7 leas of 120 yards each, while on a reel each lea is made up of 80 threads, a thread being 54 inches and equalling the circumference of the reel. Perhaps the most common size of reel contains at one time 40 spindles, and is capable therefore of winding 40 hanks of yarn simultaneously. The photograph in [Fig. 34] shows a number of reels fitted for winding hanks from cops formed upon the mule.
The cops being put on the skewers, the end of yarn from each is attached to the reel or "swift" ready for starting. These reels may be arranged so as to be operated from shafting by mechanical power, or by the hand of the attendants.
Fig. 34.—Reeling machine.
Reeling is performed by women, and in our photo the attendant is seen in the actual operation of reeling.
A hank of yarn having been taken from each cop, the reel is stopped and closed up so as to allow of the ready withdrawal of the hanks.
Bundling Machine.—The Bundling press is solely intended to assist in the making up of the hanks of yarn into a form suitable for ready and convenient transit. In order to exercise a sufficient pressure upon the yarn to make a compact bundle, it is necessary for the framing to be of a very strong character, as will be especially noticed in [Fig. 35].