Fig. 134 Fig. 134a
A large quantity of goods are still being made in the hand loom on the gauze principle. These are mostly for curtains known as Cretes or Madras muslins, and for antimacassars or chair backs. They are chiefly woven in and about Glasgow, and in Newtownards in the North of Ireland. These goods are made on the half-harness principle—that is, half the warp is drawn into the harness and the other half passes through the harness and is drawn into a set of heddles in front. This mounting is shown in [Fig. 134]. It will be seen that every alternate thread is drawn into one of the harness mails and all the threads are drawn through a pair of clasped leaves of heddles A B; those that are drawn into the mails are drawn through the under clasp of the leaf A, and those that are not in the mails through the upper clasp of the leaf B. The threads are next drawn through the doups as shown, those in the mails being in the back set, or upper doups. These doups are made different from those generally used, the doup or half-heald being connected with two standards; this is for the purpose of throwing less strain on the yarn. When the harness is drawn the shaft A is also raised, B being sunk, as well as the front set of doups. As the yarn in the harness is also drawn through the back set of doups, it follows that they must be relieved to allow the harness to raise the yarn. This might be done, and sometimes is done, by sinking the ordinary doup shaft and letting the yarn draw the doup through its standard; but in this case the standard C is raised, which allows the thread to rise in the doup, as shown at [Fig. 134a], without having to draw it up, and at the same time all the doups are kept firm in their places by the standard D, thus preventing any entanglement in a fine set of doups. The distance between the harness and back leaves is 4 in., and between the back leaves and gauze mounting 3 in. The cloth is a plain gauze, and the figure is formed by throwing one or more shots of rove weft, either white or coloured, into the shed formed by the harness flushing over the ground and clipped off afterwards. To form the figure shed, draw the harness, raise the leaf A and the standard C, and sink the other leaves, making a rising and falling shed, or centre shedding. To form the gauze, for the open shed raise B C D and F, and to form the cross shed raise E and F, in both cases sinking the others. For these sheds fine or ground weft is thrown in, the flowering shots coming between them. The shafts A and B are for the purpose of keeping a clear shed, but might be done without. These goods are now largely made by power looms, principally with gauze reeds, which see.
GAUZE HARNESS
In a true gauze harness the doups are connected with the mails or leashes of the harness, the harness twines, or leashes, acting as standards for the doups, so that any splitful of warp may be crossed or twisted differently from the others, and any kind of texture can be wrought along with the gauze without having to consider the one in connection with the other, as in the previous harness. Figs. 135 and 136 show how these harnesses are tied up; the letters refer to the same parts in both figures. The harness is shown with four cords in the row, for the back harness and the doup mail in front, and this could be repeated twice for an eight-row harness. It is better to have the rows of the harness regulated in this way to suit the gauze to be made, and have the doup leashes in one or two rows at the front, but it is not necessary for it to be so, as the doups could come on any of the mails through the harness, if desired, in case of a harness being tied up, and it being wanted to add the doup leashes for gauzing; but this is rather confusing. In any case, this method of working is now superseded.
Fig. 135