Although the commonest method, so far as weaving requirements go, is to twist two single yarns together to make a compound yarn, it is not uncommon to combine a much higher number, indeed, sixteen or more single yarns are often united for special purposes, but, when this number is exceeded, the operation comes under the heading of twines, ropes and the like. The twist or twine thus formed will have the number of yarns regulated by the levelness and strength required for the finished product. The same operation is conducted in the making of strands for cordage, but when a number of these twines are laid-up or twisted together, the name cord or rope is used to distinguish them.[1]
[Footnote 1: See Cordage and Cordage Hemp and Fibres, by T. Woodhouse and P. Kilgour.]
When two or three threads are united by twisting, the operation can be conducted in a twisting frame which differs little from a ordinary spinning frame, and hence need not be described. There may be, however, appliances embodying some system of automatic stop motion to bring the individual spindles to rest if one thread out of any group which are being combined happens to break. When several threads have to be twisted together, special types of twisting frames are employed; these special machines are termed "tube twisters," and the individual threads pass through holes suitably placed in a plate or disc before they reach the tube.
More or less elaborate methods of combining yarns are occasionally adopted, but the reader is advised to consult the above-mentioned work on Cordage and similar literature for detailed information.
When the yarn leaves the spinning frame, or the twisting frame, it is made up according to requirements, and the general operations which follow spinning and twisting are,--reeling, cop-winding, roll or spool winding, mill warping or link warping. The type or class of yarn, the purpose for which the yarn is to be used, or the equipment of the manufacturer, determines which of these methods should be used previous to despatching the yarn.
Reeling. Reeling is a comparatively simple operation, consisting solely of winding the yarns from the spinning or twisting bobbins on to a wide swift or reel of a suitable width and of a fixed diameter, or rather circumference. Indeed, the circumference of the reel was fixed by an Act of Convention of Estates, dating as far back as 1665 and as under:
"That no linen yarn be exported under the pain of confiscation, half to the King and half to the attacher."
"That linen yarn be sold by weight and that no reel be shorter than ten quarters."
The same size of reel has been adopted for all jute yarns. All such yarns which are to be dyed, bleached, or otherwise treated must be reeled in order that the liquor may easily penetrate the threads which are obviously in a loose state. There are systems of dyeing and bleaching yarns in cop, roll or beam form, but these are not employed much in the jute industry. Large quantities of jute yarns intended for export are reeled, partly because bundles form suitable bales for transport, and partly because of the varied operations and sizes of apparatus which obtain in foreign countries.
YARN TABLE FOR JUTE YARNS
90 inches, or 2-1/2 yards = 1 thread, or
the circumference
of the reel
120 threads or 300 yards = 1 cut (or lea)
2 cuts or 600 yards = 1 heer
12 cuts or 3,600 yards = 1 standard hank
48 cuts or 14,400 yards = 1 spyndle