CHAPTER VI
WEAVING
Preparatory to Weaving. Yarn is wound on bobbins on the ring or mule spinning frame. These bobbins are transferred to a machine called a spooler where the yarn is re-wound on a spool preparatory to making the warp.
A warp is formed by obtaining a definite number of threads (called ends), usually in a precisely designed order of given length, and allowing the ends to wind over a cylinder called a beam. In order to do this it is necessary to have spools placed in a definite position in a frame called a creel.
Before the warp can be placed in the loom so as to weave or interlace it with filling it must be sized. This is necessary for all single twist warp yarns. Its primary object is to increase the strength and smoothness of the thread, thus enabling it to withstand the strain and friction due to the weaving operation. Other objects of sizing are the increase of weight and bulk of the thread and the improvement and feel of the cloth. The warp is usually sized by passing it over a roller and through a bath of a starch mixture. The machine for sizing is called a slasher. The warp is now ready to have the ends drawn in and placed in the loom.
Weaving. Every woven piece of cloth is made up of two distinct systems of threads, known as the warp and filling (weft), which are interlaced with each other to form a fabric. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the filling runs across from side to side. The manner in which the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is known as the weave. When the word “end” is used in connection with weaving it always signifies the warp thread, while each filling thread is called a pick. The fineness of the cloth is always expressed as so many picks and ends to the inch. The fabrics produced by weaving are named by the manufacturers or merchants who introduce them. Old fabrics are constantly appearing under new names, usually with some slight modification to suit the public taste.
Weaving Processes. In order to understand the different kinds of weaves it is necessary to know, or at least to understand, the process of forming cloth, called weaving. This is done in a machine called a loom. The principal parts of a loom are the frame, the warp-beam, the cloth-roll, the heddles, and their mounting, the reed. The warp-beam is a wooden cylinder back of the loom on which the warp is wound. The threads of the warp extend in parallel order from the warp-beam to the front of the loom, and are attached to the cloth-roll. Each thread or group of threads of the warp passes through an opening (eye) of a heddle. The warp threads are separated by the heddles into two or more groups, each controlled and automatically drawn up and down by the motion of the heddles. In the case of small patterns the movement of the heddles is controlled by “cams” which move up the heddles by means of a frame called a harness; in larger patterns the heddles are controlled by harness cords attached to a Jacquard machine. Every time the harness (the heddles) moves up or down, an opening (shed) is made between the threads of warp, through which the shuttle is thrown.
A SIMPLE HAND-LOOM
Showing frame, warp beam, cloth-roll, heddles, and reed