THE WOOL-CARDEES YADE MECTJM. BY WILLIAM CALVERT BRAMWELL, HYDE PARK, MASS., U.S.A. JAKUARY, 1881. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. BOSTON: Thayer & Wadham, Printers, 30 Franklin Street. 18 8 1. c Entered according to Act of Congress in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, December 24, 1880, by WILLIAM CALVERT BRAMWELL. VA D E M E C U M. [Lat. — "Go with me."] A book or other thing that a person carries with him as a constant companion ; a manual. — Webster. "People should recollect that handicraft itself is capable of being raised to a very high description of Art, and of yielding a very high standard of remuneration. I cannot tell you how anxious I am to impress that upon the minds of young people, and how certain I feel that the lesson is one of great importance to the people of this country. Let them perform their work in the spirit of an artist ; let them try to give it excellence, and make a thing that not only will sell, but as good as they can make it; as useful, as well put together, as well proportioned, as pleasing to the eye,. as full of beauty, as they can make it; and the more they try to do it, the better they will be able to do it." — Hon. W. E. Gladstone's Adth'ess to the Villagers of Ilawarden. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. This work made its first appearance, in a modest way, from a town in Western Indiana, in the year 1874. A second edition, somewhat enlarsfed and improved, was launched in 1876. There has often been an expressed desire for a more comprehensive work, and in the present issue I have undertaken to satisfy that desire. This edition has been enlarged to more than double the size of the preceding ones ; and the added information, being of a practical charac- ter, must enhance the value of the book. All of Part First, consisting of three chapters' relating to such textile fibres as are likely to 6 PREFACE. fall into the hands of a so-called woollen carder, is entirely new. For many of the facts and statistics relating to textile substances I am indebted to the pages of the Textile Manufacturer, a monthly peri- odical published in Manchester, England, and which ought to be read by all parties interested in the development of textile manufacturing. I am also under obligations to the Manufac- turers' Review and Industrial Record of New York, a monthly paper now well known ill most American mills. The ordinary routine of the card-room is not entered into, our object being to explain what are considered the principles of the art of card- ing, a mastery of which enables one to' under- stand and successfully practise that art. Without such a knowledge one can at best but follow in the "rut" worn by others like himself. From a sense of his own weakness, such a one becomes afraid to venture or deviate from the well-worn groove he has adventitiously been placed in. Such an individual is never master of his profession, but rather a slave to it. PREFACE. 7 This book aspires to point out the way. That is all a book can do in any case ; and I hope it may prove what I have tried to make it, — a thoroughly practical and reliable Vade Mecum. W. C. B. Hyde Park, Mass., January 1, 1881. Carding in the Fourteenth Century, from MSS. in British IVIuseunn. # CONTENTS. PART I. TEXTILE FIBRES. FAOE Chapter I. — Animal Fibres 21 << n. — Vegetable Fibres 49 " III. — Re-manufactured Fibres . . .69 PART II.' preparation of the raw materials. Chapter I. — Wool Washing 83 u II. _ Wool Blending 99 " III. — Wool Oiling 109 PART III. theoretical and practical garbing. Chapter I. — The Carding Engine .... 129 " II. —The Carding Process . . . .151 " III. — Practical Operations . . . .158 PART IV. APPENDIX. Chapter I. — Useful Information, Tables, etc. . . 317 " II. — Historical Review 366 INTEODUCTOEY REMARKS. Carding at the present day appears to be pretty generally recognized as the chief agent in the successful manufacture of textile fabrics, and especially of such as are made in whole or in part of wool. No remedy has been dis- covered for defective carding, and all the after- processes are not only delayed, involving loss of valuable time and costl}^ material, but the result in the manufactured product is unsatis- factory, and its intrinsic value materially low- ered, if irregularities have happened during the primary stages of preparation and of carding. Every carder ought to feel the responsibilities of his position, and be ever on the alert to discover and remedy every fault. In order to do so, and become proficient, he must study his 12 INTEODUCTORT REMAEKS. profession thoroughly ; he must not imagine for a moment that he "knows it all," for such a feeling of egotism stops further investigation, and is only a manifestation of ignorance to all those who know that the subject is an inex- haustible one, and at best one in which we can only approach perfection — never attain it. The more one knows, and the more the illim- itable possibilities are opened out before him, the more does he perceive his own ignorance, and the more does he learn. Such a one, what- ever his calling, gains new and valuable ideas every day. He also, in the same proportion, becomes of greater value to his employer, and thus is enabled to command a greater recom- pense for his labor and intelligence. The carder of to-day possesses immense ad- vantages over those of a few years ago ; won- derful improvements have been made in his machines ; but we regret to admit that there is no evidence that his skill has improved in equal INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 13 ratio. The old-fashioned carders, who were proficient on the old style of carding machines, do not possess the peculiar knowledge de- manded nowadays, and a new class have to be produced and educated to the new requirements. Almost within a decade the carding engine, in all its details, has been reorganized; but a far greater revolution has taken place in the materials (conveniently designated as wool) which have now to be carded, and in the work- ing of which the old style of machine cannot be made to answer. The modern carder must, therefore , adapt him- self to the present times, and consider that it is no longer a matter of straightening out the fibre of sheep's wool, but a serious question of the thorough mixing together and perfect carding of materials which but a few years ago were considered as worthless wastage, fit only for manure. Both animal and vegetable fibres, absolutely contrary to each other, difiering in 14 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. their nature, length, elasticity, strength, and diameter, are now drawn upon to furnish the raw material for woollen cloth. From such mixtures the modern carder must produce a yarn of maximum strength with minimum loss, of great uniformity in respect to both texture and diameter throughout. To'accompHsh these results with the latest construction of cardino- o implement is no easy task ; and to attempt it with the old-fashioned card is folly. The object of every carder should be to get the utmost out of the " stock " or material in hand it is capable of yielding, whether it be wool or some of its substitutes. In too many cases the only or chief object appears to be one of quantity ; and there is no doubt, that, upon the whole, we do " get through" more per square inch of carding surface in this country than is done elsewhere ; that is to say, more weight. But length is an important factor, which will have to be more and more considered in pro- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 15 portion as we may in future have to compete with other nations in the economies of woollen manufacturing ; and this brings us to the preem- inent question of liow to obtain the greatest attainable length of thread from the material in hand, for it is this knowledge which constitutes a competent carder; and this book is written solely, in the interest of that accomplishment, as an assistant, ready of reference to all who desire to know the latest and best means of carrying out the objects we have referred to. . Before passing to a consideration of the various substances now used in the manufacture of yarns for so-called woollen goods, it may be well to impress upon the reader the vital importance of an intimate knowledge of the nature, construction, and properties of such fibres as he may be called upon to use. Once in possession of such information, he has an idea, at the outset, what will best answer as an admixture with another kind, and how to pro- 16 INTKODUCTOEY REMARKS. ceed in their manipulation. Without such information he cannot expect to accomplish satisfactory results, for he goes to work blind- fold. Things which otherwise prove of the most perplexing character are at once explained by an examination of the peculiarities connected with his materials, for these form the basis of the art of carding. • It is painful to notice what indifference carders generally manifest on all matters relating to this subject. Probably no class of artisans know so little of the nature, composition, or properties of the materials they work as carders do ; and, con- sidering the extremely delicate nature of these materials, it is surprising that such is the fact. PART I. TEXTILE FIBRES » TEXTILE EIBEES. ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE. Textile fibres may be arranged into two great classes or divisions ; namely, animal and vege- table. Among the former there are the wool of sheep, the hair of goats, camels, etc., and silk. Among the latter there are cotton, flax, jute, etc. Animal fibres, unlike those of vegetable ori- gin, do not burn in a continuous manner, but undergo a kind of fusion, giving ofl' an odor similar to burnt horn ; at the same time a car- bonized ball is formed on the end of the burned fibres. The composition of animal fibres is' quite uniform, and somewhat resembles gelatine and other albuminous substances. Chevreul has estimated that wool cont^uns 1.78 per cent, of sulphur. Animal fibres are very susceptible to the ac- tion of fixed alkalies, especially when they are 20 TEXTILE riBKES. WOOL. caustic ; but the degree of concentration of these agents and their temperature have a great influence upon results. Animal fibres cannot be brought into contact with chlorine without being afiected, but they resist weak acids best of all. When animal fibres are plunged into the colorless solution obtained by boiling fuchsine with an alkali, and are then washed, they will be dyed red ; well- cleaned vegetable fibres have not this property. It is by taking advantage of these properties that animal and vegetable fibres are separated for purposes of re-manufacture from cloth otherwise worthless, the process being com- monly known as " extracting." Sometimes it is the vegetable that is sought for utilization, but oftener the more valuable animal substance ; but in either case the other compound is destroyed, the vegetable by acids or acid gases, and the animal with chlorine, etc. ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL. 21 CHAPTER I. ANIMAL FIBRES. SHEEP'S WOOL. Several animals besides the common sheep produce what is known as wool ; for instance, there is the Cashmere goat, known also as the 'Thibet goat, which has an exceedingly fine wool growing amongst its hair, and which has been used for ages by the weavers of Cashmere in the manufacture of their exquisite shawls. There is also the wool of the Alpaca, which it is said the Peruvian Indians have used for generations as a raw material for their pon- chas, blankets, etc. ; but it is to Sir Titus Salt that the world is indebted for its utilization, and the application of machinery in its manu- facture, which has resulted in the creation of an entirely new industry, that now requires over 2,000,000 lbs. per annum of a fibre which fifty years ago was unknown to commerce. These various textiles will receive attention under 22 ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL. their proper designation farther on ; and what concerns us now is, to consider the nature of sheep's wool. It will not be necessary to enter into detail concerning all the different sorts of such wool, but to review that class generally comprehended in the term " clothing wool," " fine " or " short " wool. The basis of all that is valuable in such wools is the merino sheep, a fact that is attested by the entire history of the clothing wool manu- facture. Long before the peculiar structure of this wool was revealed by the microscope, ex- perience had led manufacturers to give it pref- erence ; and so long as it was supposed that it could not be grown anywhere but in Spain, the manufacturers of other nations cheerfully paid tribute to that country. These fine sheep flour- ished in Spain before the Christian era ; and yet no other country competed before 1765, when the Elector of Saxony introduced them into his dominions, where they 'actually improved upon their Spanish progenitors, and Saxony succeeded in producing finer wool than Spain, until beaten more recently by Australia ; whereupon Spain ANIMAL riBEES. WOOL. 23 tsank to a third rank, and the sheep became ac- jacclimated in France, the United States, and .other countries, until it is now universally ;sought after as being the best adapted- for cloth- ing purposes of any other wool. In no portion of the world have so much sci- ence and intelligence been directed to the meriuo- isheep industry as in the German States. What is known here as Silesian or Saxony wool is in Germany called Electoral, after the Elec- tor of Saxony, or Escurial, both names being used indifferently, and does not appear to have been the inheritance from any special Spanish cabanas, but a production of art. The fibres of these wools, according to M-all, measures from 1.4 to 1.8 of a centime of a millimeter in diam- eter ; a centime of a millimeter being equal to of an inch. Dr. George May, in a table of measurements of .55 different kinds of wool, gives the finest, that of a Silesian super-elector, the very highest electoral wool, as averaging 0.13 millimeters, equal to 1,954 hairs to an inch. The length of these wools rarely surpasses 24 ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL. 4 centimeters, and the weight of the average fleece is scarcely over 11 lbs. They are used at present only for the fabrication of the most precious of woollen goods, imitation Cashmere shawls, extra fine broadcloths, etc. The thick felts now made for the harnmers of piano keys are made solely of this wool, imported from Silesia. Examined under a microscope this wool pre- sents the appearance of being serrated and im- bricated ; in other words, its fibres are notched like a saw, the teeth^ being bent over one an- other like tiles, overlapping at the edges. In a single fibre of merino wool one inch in lenirth there arc said to be 2,400 of these serrations ; in one of Saxony, 2,700 ; in South Down, 2,080 ; in Leicester, only 1,860. In the production of woollen cloth, that wool is the most valuable which possesses the great- est number of these serrations, because it is by means of these that the felting process, which is the essence of such cloth, is accomplished. It is on account of the vast number of these serrations, and also the fact that each fibre of ANIMAL riBEES. WOOL. 25 wool is a hollow tube or stem, so covered with this downy coat, overlapping and encircling its every part, that wool is the best absorbent of color of any textile fibre, and therefore the easi- est to dye. It is to preserve these delicate hooks that wool is oiled before undergoing the carding process, and the firmness of the cloth depends in a great measure on how perfectly this lubrication is accomplished. In practice we learn to judge wool by its softness, whiteness, curl, elasticity, density, uniformity, etc. ; but the tact or ability to judge of minute differences is acquired only by the repeated trials, one is called upon to make in the daily pursuit of his calling. It seems super- fluous to add that a material of such delicate structure should be handled with consummate care. Having pointed out the peculiarities connect- ed with short or clothing wools, we will now hastily examine so-called long or combing wools. Speaking generally, we may say that long wool is coarser than short wool ; but all long wool is not necessarily coarse, nor all short 26 ANIMAL riBEES. — WOOL. wool fine. The process of combing is adopted either alone or in connection with carding for long wools, and the product arising from the first named process is called worsted, as dis- tinguished from woollen, which is the result of carding short wool ; and while for the latter it is important that the fibre should possess the greatest number of serrations to fulfil the mill- ing or fulling operation, this is altogether un- necessary when the wool is to be used in the manufacture of worsteds, for in them this full- ing process is either avoided or else carried out to a very limited extent. Instead of seeking to attain the utmost matting and interlacing of the fibres, the object is just the opposite, that is to say, the fibres are required to be drawn and spread out longitudinally and separately along the body of the thread. This object is most perfectly attained by the combing machine, which, in all its forms, seeks to disjoint and detach each one of the separate locks or ringlets of fibre, and arrange them in perfect parallelism. Short fibres are always found intermingled with long wool, and do not, as before explained, ANIMAL FIBEES. WOOL. 27 answer for worsted ; therefore they are removed by the action of the combing machine, and in that state we call them " noils ; " they are then used along with short wools in the manufacture of such goods as do not require a great deal of felting, such as flannels, etc. A considerable quantity of the longest clothing wool is now carded, and then combed ; the first operation being merely a preliminary one, in order that the combing machine may produce a larger pro- portion of long fibre than would otherwise be possible ; and it is this long fibre, however de- rived, which is called "top" in the worsted manufacture. For strictly combing purposes the best avooIs are such as present a wavy out- line and lustrous appearance. In selecting short or clothing wools the first point to consider is, whether the cloth to be made therefrom requires much felting ; in that case, as for broadcloths, a wool of soft, sound, fine texture, showing signs of good felting qualities, and containing grease uniformly dis- tributed throughout the fleece, is the kind most desirable. For cassimeres, or any goods not 28 ANIMAL FIBEE8. WOOL STATISTICS. requiring much " cover," felting qualities are secondary to good, sound, fine, elastic fibre. As a general rule the felting properties decrease as the wool increases in length, for the more ends there are the more interlocking or felting will take place, and the greatest attainable number of ends is found in the finest and -shortest wool. WOOL STATISTICS. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth England was estimated to produce 30,000,000 lbs. of wool annually. There was but little imported, and the woollen manufacture employed 700,000 persons. In the middle of the 18th century the production had risen to 80,000,000 lbs., em- ploying in its manufacture 1,500,000 persons. In 1800 the total wool production of the United Kingdom was 96,000,000 lbs., and 9,000,000 lbs. additional were imported. The period be- tween 1830 and the present shows an enormous advance in wool production throughout the world, which has multiplied itself five times during that period. The following table exhib- its the comparative growth of the industry : — ANIMAL FIBKES. WOOL STATISTICS. 29 1830. 1880. Europe . . 280,000,000 lbs. 740,000,000 lbs. Australia. . .6,000,000 " 370,000,000 La Plata . . 22,000,000" 240,000,000 " United States, 10,000,000 ". 230,000,000 " South Africa, 2,000,000 " 48,000,000 " 320,000,000 1,628,000,000 The rapid increase of production in Australia is evidenced when we examine the returns for 1878 and 1879, for we find over 5,000,000 lbs. increase in the short space of one year. About two-thirds of the Australian production is classed as combing wool. Of the United States production about 90 per cent, is classed as clothing and 10 per cent, combing wool. Of the latter kind there are imported about 20,000,000 lbs., and of imported wools of all kinds there are consumed about 50,000,000 lbs. The imports and exports of wool in Great Britain may be summarized as follows- for the years given : — 30 ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL STATISTICS. Imports. 1800 . . . . . 9,000,000 lbs. I860 147,000,000 " 1880 509,054,346 " 360,000,000 of which were from the colonies of Great Britain. Exports. I860 . . . . . 54,400,000 lbs. 1880 ..... 280,000,000 " There were exported of yarn 27,000,000 lbs. in 1880, and imported 15,000,000 lbs. There are annually consumed of mungo and shoddy in England about 100,000,000 lbs. 90 per cent, -of English clip is classed as combing wool. Of the wool production of Europe, — Eussia furnishes .... 296,000,000 lbs. Great Britain 153,233,300 France 75,000,000 Germany ....... 60,000,000 Austria 50,000,000 Spain 57,000,000 ANIMAL, FIBRES. WOOL STATISTICS. 31 Italy . . . Other countries 18,000,000 lbs. 31,000,000 " 740,000,000 The wool production of France, Germany, and Austria has fallen off one-half in twenty years. To each 100 of the population, — The common sheep of Russia yield a coarse order of wool, largely used in the manufacture of carpets. The sheep are very prolific, having sometimes four lambs per year. Shearing takes place three times per year, and the fleeces average 3^ lbs. of wool. These sheep are found in the whole of the central and the most of the northern districts of Russia. The Rus- sian clip is said to be worth about $82,449,000. England has . France German States Russia Austria Italy United States 133 head of sheep. 97 93 81 47 38 89 32 ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL STATISTICS. There is a flock of 230,000 head, pure blood Spanish, owned by Mr. Falz Feru, of the Gov- ernment of Tauride, in the Crimea. The flock occupy a track of 340,000 acres 6f land. One of the largest as well as finest flocks in Europe is owned by Count Alois Karolyr, of Stamphen, Hungary, and numbers 80,000 head ; the average weight of washed fleece being 2| per head of beautiful superfine clothing wool, the staple averaging 1^ inches in length. It is mostly sold to French manufacturers at 74 to 85 cents per lb. The quantity consumed in the various countries, with the number of spindles and hands employed, has been carefully computed as follows, the consumption including both washed and unwashed wool : — No. of workpeople. Great Britain . , 280,000 France .... 170,000 United States . . 120,000 Germany . . . 120,000 All other_conntries, 223,000 No. of spindles. Lbs. consumed. 5,449,495 435,131,389 2,500,000 350,000,000 2,300,000 280,000,000 2,365,114 200,000,000 1,682,886 365,000,000 Totals . 913,000 14,297,495 1,630,131,389 ANIMAL FIBKES. WOOL STATISTICS. 33 About 24,000,000 lbs. of combing wool are yearly manufactured in the United States. The worsted business is, however, in process of rapid development, and considerable attention is being given to the growth of suitable wool for combing purposes. English and Australian wool for that purpose is almost wholly used at present, all of. which, according to the act of Congress, of March 2d, 1867, must pay a duty of 10 to 12 cents per lb., and 10 to 11 per cent, ad valorem. This wool when ready for manufacture costs the American over 80 per cent, more than the British manufacturer. About 22,000,000 pounds of shoddy are annually manufactured in the United States. The number of sheep in the world stands about as follows : — Australia .... 60,767,500 Russia 57,387,000 Argentine Republic (La Plata), 56,500,000 United States . . . . 40,000,000 Great Britain . . . . 32,174,969 France . . . . . 25,000,000 34 ANIMAL FIBRES. WOOL STATISTICS. Germany .... 20,000,000 South Africa .... 11,500,000 Other countries . . . 22,700,000 Total . . . . . 326,028,469 Among large flocks of sheep may be men- tioned those in Australia belonging to Price and Browne, of Wilpend Station, 300 miles north of Adelaide, who shear 62,600 head. William Krozier, 280 miles N.E. of Adelaide, shears 60,000 head each season. The flock of John Howard Angas is, however, perhaps, the largest in Australia. It is at CoUingrove Station, 50 miles from Adelaide, and numbers over 100,000 head. A flock of sheep on the Eio Grande, New Mexico, numbers 100,000 head, and there are other single flocks of 80,000. The numbers in such herds are computed by the black sheep, which are nearly always found in a ratio of one to every one hundred of the flock. ANIMAL FIBEES. CASHMERE WOOL. 35 CASHMERE WOOL. The Cashmere or Thibet goat is not a sepa- rate species, but merely a variety of the ordinary goat. It is generally black or dark brown, and covered with long, coarse, felted tufts of hair. Under this hair is found fine brownish or gray down, which is easily pulled out, and after being sorted and combed is sold for the production of the renowned Cashmere shawls. White goats are seldom found. The best breeds are kept on the Himalaya mountains, but the largest quantity comes from Thibet, Cashgar, and many are found in Persia. The quality of the wool difi'ers according to locality, and as a general rule the down is found to be the finest, the higher the ground on which the animals feed. A chief condition for the formation of this valued product is the circum- ' stance that the animals are always kept in the open air ; they may occasionally be brought under some kind of shelter, but never under a roof. Every attempt to acclimate the animal in Europe has resulted in failure. The first 36 ANIMAL FIBRES. MOHAIE. importation into the United States, consisting of eight animals from Asia Minor, was made in 1849, by Dr. T. P. Davies. Several thousand are kept on an island in California, and several thousand scattered through Oregon. The accli- mation, so difficult in Europe, owing mostly to damp atmosphere, has not been found difficult in the dry climate of this country. There are many Cashmere goats in Nevada, the climate being very acceptable to them. The land abounds everywhere with a wild grass or sage brush, so bitter in summer that it is unpalatable ; but once touched by frost becomes sweet, and seems to be excellent food for the goats. It is known as the wild artemisia. There is one flock of goats near Carson, num- bering 3,000 head, which are said to have ex- ceptionally fine and silky fleeces. 310 HAIR. The Angora goat exists in greatest perfection in Asia Minor and Central Asia. Its fleece is mostly white, and of the same length and qual- ity throughout ; they are clipped in May, and ANIMAL FIBEES. MOHAIR. 37 yield 11^ to 2| pounds of hair, that of the female bein^ the heavier. The finest hair comes from the first clip in the second year of the kid; the second quality from the she-goat, the third from the wether, and the coarsest from the entire male. Van. Mohair is coarser than the Angora sorts, and contains an average of 70 per cent, white, and 30 per cent, red and black. Pelotons contain 80 per cent, black and red, and 20 per cent, white, all of inferior quality. This fibre is mostly used in the manufacture of plush, and in imitation of furs and skins of animals, being more suitable for such purposes than other textile fibres, from the fact that the pile or nap can be made to stand erect up to I of an inch deep. It is colored (a difficult operation) to imitate the seal, beaver, otter, etc., and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the imitation from the real. The fibre is more lustrous and brilliant than other wools. It has the aspect, feel, and lustre of silk with- out its suppleness. It differs materially from wool, in the want of the felting quality ; so that stuffs made of it have the fibres distinctly sep- 38 ANIMAL FIBEES. CAMELS' HAIR. arated, and are. always brilliant. On account of the stiffness of the fibre it is rarely woven alone ; that is, when it is used for the filling the warp is usually of cotton, silk, or wool, or the reverse. It has great, durability and bril- liancy, which peculiarly fit it for its chief use, — the manufacture of Utrecht velvet or plush ; largely used also for forming the pile of imita- tion seal-skins, many beautiful specimens of this fabric being made by manufacturers in Huddersfield, England. Mohair only began to figure in the exports from the Cape of Good Hope in 1862, the quantity then reported being 1,036- lbs. It now amounts to about 1,500,000 lbs., worth $250,000. CAMELS' HAIR. So far as the writer is aware it is only re- cently that camels' hair has become utilized as a textile material; nor does it appear to be used as yet to any particular extent in this country, except as a mixture with various low stock for backing in beavers, and other similar fabrics. ANIMAL FIBRES. SILK. 39 The fibre is mostly of a light-brown color, and consists of several grades, from a long, rather coarse hair, to a downy undercoat, quite fine and silky, which lies close to the hide. This downy substance is quite short, and ex- ceedingly light and "fluffy," being more like wool or fur than hair. When the shearing takes place the hair and the downy wool being cut at the same time, and baled for shipment in that condition, the two get pretty thoroughly blended together. It seems to be impracti- cable to sort the fine from the coarse and long except by the combing process. The lowest grades are used in the manufacture of carpets, etc. It formerly came mostly from Western Asia, Persia, and Arabia, through Russia and the Baltic ports, to Liverpool and London. It now comes to this country from China direct, and there is quite a large amount of it used for one purpose or another. SILK. The silk fibre shows no more structure under the microscope than can be seen in a length of 40 ANIMAL, FIBRES. SILK. gold or silver thread. All that is discernible is a longitudinal depression, or canal, the whole length of the fibre, which may be 300 to 400 yards long. Sometimes this depression becomes an actual opening or separation, dividing the fibre in two. This arises from the fact that the fluid silk, although ejected by the worm from a single orifice, is supplied from two organs, which meet, but sometimes do not unite per- fectly together. It is composed of a series of molecules of animal jelly, rendered in a meas- ure porous, by shrinkage during dessication. The pores being on the surface merely, render silk one of the hardest fibres to dye, absorbing but little color. The fibre varies in size throughout its length, from ^ to 1 of its dimensions, from the outside to the inside of the cocoon, the reason being that the cocoon is commenced from the outside, and as the reservoir of the animal becomes less, the size diminishes as the animal becomes enclosed, and obtains no further nourishment. The section of the fibre is triangular, and no roughness is perceptible on the surface. It is ANIMAL FIBRES. SILK. 41 the longest and strongest fibre known, and the most elastic, as it can be elongated from 20 to 22 per cent. Persoz estimates the tenacity of silk at about ^ of that of iron. Like most textile fibres, it gains in elasticity from damp- ness, but decreases in tenacity. It is the worst known conductor of electricity and heat,' but is itself easily electrified, and once so, remains in that state for a long time. It is easily charged with static electricity induced by friction, and this gives great trouble in carding and spinning silk waste. Silk is a very hydroscopic substance ; in its normal state it contains a certain degree of moisture, which is more or less considerably augmented according to the state of the at- mosphere ; it therefore offers great latitude to the seller to take advantage of the buyer, especially when it costs $2.50 to $10.00 per lb. The buyer's resource, however, is to have a sample " conditioned," and use the shrinkage as a basis for his calculations. Each cocoon yields on an average 300 yards of silk ; 250 average-sized cocoons weigh about 42 ANIMAL FIBRES. WASTE SILK; a poimd, and 11 or 12 pounds of cocoons give 1 pound of reeled silk, and the original filament spun by silkworms needed to make this quantity would be nearly 500 miles in length. About 2,304 silkworms die to every pound of silk. According to Prof. Eiley, of St. Louis, the length of the cocoon of a mulberry silkworm is generally 1,000 yards, and a mile of it weighs 151 grains. WASTU SILK. The best silk, wound direct from the cocoon, is called " thrown " silk ; but for every pound of this there is left from 12 to 14 pounds, and this is called "waste" silk. It probably got the name of " waste " silk before Samuel Lister, of Bradford, Eng., took holcL of it, some 22 years ago. A merchant of London, at that time, called his attention to it as a nuisance, and Lister bought all he had for two cents per pound. After that, for many years Mr. Lister persevered in the attempt to construct machin- ery for its manufacture, and in 1864 he had ANIMAL FIBRES. WASTE SILK. 43 already sunk over £240,000, or about $1,200,- 000, in the enterprise, without the slightest return for the investment. But his indomitable perseverance finally triumphed, and the manu- facture began of a substance considered worth- less for over 4,000 years. The machinery soon turned out not only spun silk of fine texture, but also velvets woven on the power-loom, and the money spent, in what others deemed fruit- less imaginings, began to pour in as a reward for his untiring efibrts. Colossal works were established at Manningham, costing $2,500,000, and thus began a new industry. We need not here, however, consider waste silk further than to give the intelligent carder a brief account of its nature and source, from which he may judge of its adaptability as an admixture with other fibres. There are many dififerent varieties of waste silk, but they may to a certain extent be classed as follows : — First. Defective cocoons. These arise in dif- ferent ways, as follows : Where the moth has pierced the cocoon and destroyed the con- 44 ANIMAL FIBEES. WASTE SILK. tinuity of the fibre ; cocoons in which there are two or more worms, and which cannot therefore be unwound. Second. Waste from perfect cocoons, con- sisting of silk unravelled from the cocoons be- fore the end is found ; the ends of cocoons which cannot be unwound in the usual way, and the waste in winding. As it is evident that neither of these classes can be utilized except by carding and spinning, as for wool, etc. , it beconaes necessary to treat the substance much on. the same principle. The waste cocoons, etc., are first steeped for several days at a certain tem- perature until the gum is softened, then they are stamped and washed with hot water and soap, then dried and passed through a sort of picker. After this the process is quite similar to that used in the worsted manufacture. Silk noils, often used in carding wool for Knicker- bocker goods, comes from the combing machine as a residue of the process, the same as in wool- combing. What stands for " top " in the latter manufacture is called " first drafts " in silk combing. The shortest fibres are of use for ANIMAL riBEES. — SILK' STATISTICS. 45 carding purposes, and will be further mentioned under the head of Blending. SILK STATISTICS. The silk production of the world in 1875 was estimated at 58,614,000 pounds, worth $300,- 000,000. The countries from which the product is drawn may be given as follows, with the pro- duction : — Value. China andJapan 28,200,000 lbs. at $ 4 per lb. |112,780,000 Italy .... 10,000,000 " . " |^ 5 " " 80,000,000 France . . . 5,207,800 " " $^ 5 " " 41,600,000 India .... 8,800,000 " «' $^ \ " " 26,400,000 Cochin China, Per- sia, Turkey, etc. 5,340,000 " " $( 3 " " 30,490,000 Switzerland, Spain, etc. . 1,000,000 " $i 5 " " 8,000,000 58,547,800 $299,270,000 The annual import of raw silk into . . 20,800,000 . . 11,000,000 46 ANIMAL, FIBRES. SILK STATISTICS, 8ilh Manufacture in the United States. ' The imports of manufactured silk goods into the United States amounted, in 1880, to the sum of $32,188,690. The seat of the silk manufacture in America is at Paterson, New Jersey. About 11,250 people are employed in 39 establishments for the manufacture or dyeing of silk. The first silk mill in Paterson was started by John Kyle, a Macclesfield weaver, who sailed to America in 1839. He managed the mill for three years, then became a partner, and three years afterwards became sole owner by pur- chase. For twelve years he had no competitor, and for some time after that there was but one other besides himself in the trade. Philadelphia employs some 6,500 persons in some 50 concerns, who turn out a product valued at $6,500,000, consuming annually 200- 000 pounds of raw silk, worth an average of $4.50 to $5.00 per lb. The cost of manufiic- ture, enhances the value fully five times more than the cost of the raw silk. ANIMAL, riBEES. SILK STATISTICS. 47 The Silk Manufacture of Great Britain. No. of factories . . . . " spinning spindles . . 1,115,000 " power-looms . . ; . 10,002 " people employed . . . 60,000 The importation into England of raw and thrown silk and silk waste amounts to 7,976,547 pounds, valued at $22,807,705. Add to this the import of manufactured silk, vahied at $60,091,660, and the total value of $82,899,365 remains. The export of manufactured goods is valued at $21,087,980, consisting chiefly of broad piece goods and ribbons. In Italy there are 3,829 concerns engaged in the silk manufacture, running 665 powej-looms, 7,394 hand-looms, steam-engines of 10,902 horse-power, and 185,722 work-people. The 8ilh Manufacture in -France furnishes employment to 69,768 people. There are alto- gether 500 reeling estabhshments, and 15 where the manufacture of waste silk is prosecuted, besides 7 engaged in other processes. 48 ANIMAL FIBRES. SILK STATISTICS. The value of French silk manufactures is said to be $112,500,000. There are reeled of French cocoons, 2,400,000 kilograms. Foreign " 1,800,000 " VEGETABLE FIBRES. COTTON. 49 CHAPTER II. VEGETABLE FIBRES. COTTON. The staple of cotton is much finer than that of wool, and consists of hollow-like sacs, tubes, or small vesicles, the openings of which, al- though not visible under the microscope, are filled with a vegetal marrow, and furnished with innumerable lateral apertures, which only admit of dyes in a greatly attenuated form. Cotton is, therefore, more difficult to dye than either wool or silk. There are three kinds of cotton mostly used in this country : 1st. Nankin, of a dirty yellow color, and consequently low- priced. 2d. Upland, green seed, or bowed, — the latter term being derived from the mode of pre^paration. It is called also short staple ; it is grown inland or upland from the ocean, hence its name. 3d. Sea Island, or long staple, having black seeds and long, white, glossy fihre. It is so called because it is grown on the 50 VEGETABLE FIBEES. COTTON. low sandy islands off the coast of Savannah and Charleston, where it is constantly sprinkled with salt spray. When removed from this salutary influence it deteriorates in quality. It is the kind mostly used as an admixture with wool. The fibre of New Orleans cotton varies in length from ^^-^ to j-^qq of an inch in diameter. About 40 of these fibres compose a thread of ''No. 38" cotton yarn. Ordinary printing cloth has, in the bleached state, 493 lineal feet of fibre, or 10.6 square inches of external surface of fibre, in a square inch, or of 1 grain in weight. Cotton has a specific gravity of 0.8. It requires nearly 3| lbs. of seed cotton to produce 1 lb. of staple. There is no regularity in the length of the fibres, as every seed has attached to it fibres which vary in length one-half or more. Al- though tubular in its normal state, the fibre presents a flattened appearance after being packed, and when examined under a microscope it is of a ribbon-like shape in some portions, while in other parts the tubular form is quite visible. Some sorts of cotton fibre run as high VEGETABLE FIBRES. COTTON. 51 as 3 of an inch in diameter, so that there is a. wide difference in qiiahty, and abundant scope for study in regard to its varying degrees of utility and economy as an admixture with wool. Cotton gives a harsher feel than fine wool, but, as with the latter, so with the former, this can be lessened by thorough carding. Long before it became so common as it is now to mix cotton with wool its spinning properties had tempted a few shrewd manufacturers of fine woollen yarns to avail themselves of it, and for some years the secret of its use with merino wool was well kept, much to the enrichment of the saga- cious ones. A single pound of Egyptian cotton has been spun ti) a length of 238 miles, 1,120 yards of yarn. Much prejudice has existed against the use of cotton with wool, and at the present time it is generally considered as great a sin as to use shoddy. When judiciously performed there is no doubt that for some classes of ■ goods an admixture of cotton is of great utility, and actually adds to the real value of the goods. There is then no just reason for the existing 52 VEGETABLE FIBEES. STATISTICS. prejudice against the use of cotton in woollen goods, and its economy is its full justification. At any rate every wool-carder who hopes to succeed with such admixtures must add to his knowledge of wool and wool-carding some ade- quate knowledge of cotton and its treatment. The animalizing of vegetable fibres, which at this moment is occupying some of the best minds in Europe and America, is only a question of time, and when it is accomplished great things will doubtless follow. CO TTON S TA TIS TICS. The following table shows the amount of cot- ton consumed in the world in 5 years, ending in 1830, and in same length of time ending in lb75 :— 1830. 1875. Great Britain . . 212,300,000 lbs. 1,228,600,000 lbs. Continent of Europe 92,600,000 " 856,600,000 " United States . . 88,500,000 " 524,700,000 " Total for the world 333,400,000 " 2,609,900,000 " Showing that it had multiplied itself nearly 8 times in 45 years. VEGETABLE FIBRES. STATISTICS. 53 The number of cotton spindles in the world has increased from 47,800,000, in 1860, to about 70,000,000 in 1880, as shown in the fol- lowing table : — I860. 1880. England 29,000,000 39,530,000 North & South America, 13,000,000 19,000,000 Continent of Europe . 5,500,000 10,000,000 India 338,000 1,250,100 The power-looms of the world produce an- nually of cotton cloth 10,000,000,000 yards. The average consumption to each inhabitant of cloth amounts in America to 40 yards ; in England 30 yards, and in China 20 yards. Taking the Chinese average it would require far more than double the number of power- looms at present in existence to supply the world with machine-made cloth. 54 VEGETABLE FIBRES. STATISTICS. The GoUon Manufacture of Great Britain. fCompiled from the Census and Factory Inspectors' Returns, 1880.] Number of factories . . . 2,674 " " proprietors . . . 2,500 " " spinning spindles . .39,527,920 " " doubling spindles . 4,678,770 Total spindles . . . 44,206,690 Number of power-looms . . 514,911 " " females employed . 297,431 " " males employed . . 185,472 Total persons employed . . 482,903 This gigantic industry is concentrated in the four counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. In 600 of the above estab- lishments spinning and weaving are both carried on; in 1,159 spinning only, and in 765 weaving only is done. There are 153 doing neither spinning nor weaving. The number of spindles in Lancashire are about four times more than the rest of the United Kingdom. VEGETABLE FIBRES. STATISTICS. 55 England exports about 78 per cent, of her cotton manufactures. Cotton Manufacture in the United States. 10,500,000 Number of spindles Gross pounds of cotton con sumed Product in pounds of cloth yarns, etc. . Equal in yards to . Yards per pound . Export of manufactured goods in pounds . Export of manufactured goods in value Export per cent, of the pro duction Amount of capital invested about. Averaije count or number of yarn produced, about Value of imports of cotton goods, about 698,000,000 586,000,000 2,637,000,000 38,684,000 $11,435,000 $208,000,000 29 $30,000,000 56 VEGETABLE FIBRES. — STATISTICS. Between 1838 and 1876, an interval of 38 years, the cost of labor per lb. of product was reduced 40 per cent., and the production per operative was increased 330 per cent. In Massachusetts, in 1865, 24,351 hands pro- duced 175,875,000 yards of goods, being a ratio of 7,355 yards to each employe. In 1875, 60,176 hands produced 874,780,000 yards, or 11,213 yards to each person. Or, as a result of the application of machinery, the quantity of cloth was increased nearly 392 per cent., while the number of hands were increased only 149 per cent, in the 10 years. The two principal seats of the cotton manu- facture in America are at Fall River and Lowell, in Massachusetts, a few interestino- particulars of which may not be amiss. Fall River contains 33 Incorporated Com- panies, with a combined capital of $14,690,000, owning 45 mills, containing 1,364,191 spindles and 32,621 power-looms. Number of persons employed, 15,055: cotton worked up, 162,500 bales into 391,75.0,000 yards of cloth annually ; VEGETABLE FIBRES. — STATISTICS. 57 38 of these establishments manufacture print cloths, and produce 155,000 pieces weekly. Lowell now contains of cotton, woollen, and carpet manufactories and machine-shops about 100. The first mill was established in 1823. The capital invested amounts to $17,000,000. Whole number of spindles 800,000, and of power-looms 18,261; hands employed 20,000, who work up 1,000,000 pounds weekly into 3,500,000 yards of cotton cloth. There are 72 steam engines of 9,800 combined horse-power. 92,076,000 yards of cloth are dyed and printed per annum. 58 VEGETABLE FIBRES. — STATISTICS. ^■3 C 3 o o o o_ o o o o o o o_ o o o o o o o oo^ o o o o o_ o o o o CM CO CO CD o« CD~ cT o o \ o lO CO o »o o icT 1^ C3 o o CD o" o C5 C3 >o CO cT >o cT C5 05 CO lO ^ g go 00 CO 00 CO (M o CO t-^ O 00 OO CO CO t~ >o o OO CO )0 (M ■* CD o CD CD CD 00 00 00 a t— CO CO t— Acreage, CD o CO 00 C0_ C5 ^here the second process is used the main feature is the introduction of muriatic-acid gas amongst the wool. The wool is placed on racks, in an air-tight chamber, where it is exposed to the action of the gas for three or four hours. The gas being now stopped, steam is let into the pipes, and the temperature raised to 212° or higher. All the apertures are opened after a short time and air introduced to remove RE-MANUFACTURED FIBRES. EXTRACT. 75 the fumes of the gas ; then the wool is washed, as before indicated. The first process is mostly used in one form or another for extracting rags, and the action seems to be that as the temperature is quickly raised the water evaporates from the rags, and the acid, becoming more and more concen- trated, attacks the vegetable substances with increasing vigor, depriving them of their hy- drogen, without which they are almost entirely carbon or charcoal. ^ It has been found that when wool is thus chemically treated, - and afterwards made into cloth, it has lost much of its felting prop- erties ; and to overcome this it is now subjected to the carbonization, after being manufactured into cloth/ that is, after the cloth has been milled; and this is very largely practised in England and on the Continent, as it is found much cheaper and quicker than the old plan of picking out by hand, known as " burling." In the case of rags, after they have been dried they are taken to a machine, called a duster or willow, and subjected to the iaction 76 RE-MANUFACTUEED FIBRES. EXTRACT. of a cylinder having coarse teeth, which beats the rags against a grating, knocking them to pieces, and forcing the vegetable matter through the bars, in the form of black dust, resembling powdered charcoal. The remaining threads (woollen) are now carded through a rather coarse carding-m;i chine, kept for the purpose, from which they escape in an opened-out con- dition, ready tq be mixed with wool ; and they furnish an excellent' material for some classes of goods. For many years, however, manufacturers fought shy of extract, on account of its* admitted lack of felting properties. The reason for this was, that the fibre so recovered was rriostly that made from combing wools ; and in the early stages of this new industry the microscop- ical hooks or barbs surrounding the fibres, and the preservation of which are so essential, had become partly or wholly injured or destroyed by the action of the acids used, or the mode of their application. Of late years this has been overcome, and there are dealers in extract who EE-MANUFACTURED FIBRES. EXTRACT. 77 can guarantee the felting properties of their material. Another trouble was the color of extract, a sort of lightish brown, and the difficulty of ob- taining light-colored fibre that might be dyed ; but all these objections have been more or less overcome, by discharging the original color, and by bleaching, etc., so that extract can now be obtained of many shades of color suitable for almost any sort of goods. The perfection of extracting vegetable fibres from mixed goods soon led to the extension of the process to the raw wool , for the purpose of getting rid of the "burr's" chatf, straw, etc., which all raw wool contains, and which is not only very difficult to get rid of, but leads to the destruction of much of the fibre in so doing. Burring machines, heretofore exclusively used, are now fast giving way to simpler, more effect- ual, and less injurious, chemical processes, which can be conducted on a large scale, entirely ridding the wool of every vestige of vegetal substance, and saving all that large quantity of fibre adhering to the burrs when they are re- 78 EE-MANUFACTURED FIBEES. EXTRACT. moved in the ordinary burring picker. By the improved processes the wool retains' its felting properties, the staple is left practically uninjured, the color not alfected, and the properties of receiving colors unimpaired. There can be no doubt that, eventually, the chemical will entirely supplant the mechanical separation of vegetable substances from the raw wool. There is now manufactured in England, of low materials, substitutes for wool, about 125,000,000 lbs., and in the United States about 25,000,000 lbs. Besides the fibres hitherto mentioned, there is the South American llama, an animal closely allied to the camel, and bearing a sort of wool or hair, similar to camelg' hair, and used for the same purposes. Among the fiir-bearing ani- mals furnishing fibre for textile purposes there is the neutria fur, forming the coat of quoiga, a small animal mostly found in South America. This fur has been used for hat-making since the beginning of the present century. There is the fur of the beaver, and the rab- RE-MANUFACTURED FIBRES. EXTRACT. 79 bit, hare, coney, otter, seal, muskrat, and many others. Among re-manufactured fibres there is that resulting from the grinding up of hard ends, which is neither more nor less than a good qual- ity of shoddy, and its value is vastly enhanced by being operated upon by the Garnet machine, instead, as formerly, by the common rag-picker, which has a disastrous effect on the length of the fibre. PART II. PREPARATION OF THE RAW MATERIALS. WOOL-WASHING. 83 CHAPTER I. WOOL- WASHING. Every carder desiring to do the best of work should be able to know when wool is clean, — thoroughly clean, — and then insist on its being made so. My experience teaches that the num- ber who can distinguish between wool tolerably clean and*that which is perfectly so are very limited. Nor is it such an easy matter to dis- tino-uish the nice differences which exist as might at first be supposed. It is indeed a matter requiring careful practice and observa- tion before that peculiar skill can be attained which enables one to judge when complete cleanliness has been accomplished. If it were the simple removal of dirt, then any washer- woman could tell you if the wool was clean ; but the dirt might be got rid of, the wool ap- pearing white, and yet not be half clean enough to undergo the process of carding. The real 84 WOOL-WASHING. difficulty is to eradicate the natural excretion arising from the body of the living animal, in the first instance, and with which the wool is charged in a degree proportionate to the fineness of the fleece. In combination with this sub- Stance there is found dirt of many kinds, but chiefly sand and other earthy matters, which render the task of getting rid of the combined impurities anything but an easy one, without at the same time doing serious injury to the delicate structure of the fibres. Wool may be. injured by being left partially clean, or by contact with powerful alkalies, or by immersion in a too highly heated scouring solution, and in many other ways through neglect or ignorance of those entrusted Avith the washing and scouring process. It is no wonder such things happen when we look at the sort of " help " generally intrusted with the work, and the means they employ. The only rule (as a rule) is rule-o'-thumb, and, with equal truth, ^the only test of temperature is finger test. Who can estimate the amount of fine and costl/ wool actually dissolved out of sight by bunglers, who WOOL-WASHING. 85 increase both alkali and temperature in propor- tion as the wool increases in fineness and delicacy ? The impurities it is sought to remove by the operation of scouring chiefly arise from the foct that the sheep draw from the land on which they graze a large quantity of potash, which is finally excreted from the skin along with the sweat. This peculiar potash compound is known as "suint," and forms at least one- third of the weight of raw merino wool. M. Chevreul, who has examined this wool, gives the following as its composition : — Earthy matters Suint ..... Greasy matter . . . • Earthy matter fixed by the grease Clean wool 100.00 It is easy to extract the suint, by steeping in • water ; and on the continent of Europe this plan is largely practised with good efi'ects, — 32.74 8.57 1.40 31.23 86 WOOL-WASHING . the principal gain being, first, the saving of 30 per cent, of soap or other agent employed; second, improved quality of the product. It is further explained, that in clipped wools which have been long stored, or packed, the grease undergoes fermentation, which results in the promotion of acid products. When the wool is steeped these products are removed with the water,, but if scoured without steeping the acid would react on the soap, giving rise to slimy matters which adhere to the fibres. It is the same with pulled wools, where lime has been used in the operation, which, if not first steeped, entails a considerable expenditure of soap, and the production of an insoluble scum that adheres to the wool. In France the pasty residue obtained by steeping is evaporated to dryness, the residuum placed in retorts and distilled, whereby the organic acids are decomposed, and there results crude carbonate of potash, equal to at, least 5 per cent, of the wool. Much gas is evolved during the operation, which is used in lighting the factory ; also much ammonia, used in various WOOL-WASHING. 87 ways, and a product consisting of carbonate, sulphate, and chloride of potassium. These salts after separation pass into commerce. Grease is found in tlxe scouring-tub to the amount of from 5 to 15 per cent. , varying with the quality of the wool, and mixed with the soda solution, partly saponified and partly as an emulsion, together with undecomposed carbon- ate of soda, and soda combined with acids in the perspiration. The difficulties of separating this grease are so various, and the results so unsatisfactory, that but little of it is reutilized, although many claims have been made for processes said to economically restore the o-rease. A German inventor recently claimed to have invented a process by which he suc- ceeded in separating the scouring-liquor, when no longer fit for use, into three layers, by de- composition ; the top one containing the fat, the middle o.ne the impurities, and the lower one the soda. The refuse from 10,000 cwt. of unwashed wool is said to contain the following ingredi- ents, having about the annexed values : — 88 WOOL-WASHING. SOO cwt. crude potash, at $4.26 $2,130 00 160 " saponifiable fat, at $5.68 . . . . 908 80 .340 " unsa])onifiable fat, at $4.26 . . . . 1,448 40 225 " soda (being 45 per cent, of 500) . . 798 75 $5,2S5 95 The agents used for scouring wool are many and various, some not only worthless but highly injurious ; others, while possessing some advantages, might be profitably dispensed with. PuTEiFiED U.EINE has been extensively used, and many manufacturers prefer it, as it contains a considerable quantity of carbonate of ammo- nia, which is a very mild alkali. The organic matter in the urine appears also to assist in cleansing, and protects the woollen fibre from injurious action by alkahes. The difliculty of obtaining stale urine in sufficient quantity, and its ofi'ensive odor, has diminished its use. Ammonia is also a mild alkali much used, and the best for treating wool is that distilled from urine. The crude ammonia distilled di- rectly from gas liquor frequently contains hy- drocarbons and sulphide of ammonium. The former act strongly on the hands or skin of the WOOL-WASHING. 89 workman, and the latter act injuriously on the wool. Carbonate of 'Soda is the most extensively used scouring' agent, and it enters largely into many detergents bearing fancy names. The following are the principal forms in which it is employed in woollen manufactories : soda ash, containing from 30 to 52 per cent, availa- ble alkali (oxide of sodium), soda crystals, containing 21.7 per cent, available alkali. The value of these substances as detergents is in proportion to the available alkali which they contain. Soap is also extensively used. It is com- posed of a fatty acid in combination with soda, or potash, water, and impurities of no use as detergents, if not injurious to the wool. The value of a soap consists in the correct proportions, and the amount of fatty acid and alkali. A good soap ought not to contain more than from 10 to 12 per cent, of water. To de- termine the amount of water in a sample of soap it is only necessary to dry a given weight of it at a moderate heat, and then reweigh it, 90 WOOL-WASHING. when the difference in weight will show the amount of water added. It is important to demonstrate this point, for soap can be made to take np from 50 to 100 per cent, of water with- out losing any of its solidity or hardness, and in that case the purchaser is paying w^hat may appear to be a cheap price, but receiving there- for only half the weight in soap, and the balance water. Silicate of Soda — Soluble Glass — Water, Glass, etc., is a valuable detergent for wool, which it cleanses very satisfactorily, leaving the fibres in good order for receiving colors, particularly the anilines. The wool scoured with silicate of soda must always be thoroughly squeezed between rollers, to which considerable pressure is api3lied before going into cold water, and this is a very important point ; for if the silicate is not removed as di- rected it coats the fibres with a thin film, which resists the fixation of colors if the wool is to be dyed, and of sulphur, or other bleaching agent, if it is to be bleached. Silicate of soda may be used either alone or in combination WOOL-WASHING. 91 with common soda. The quality varies in pro- portion to the amount of silica it contains, — the larger the amount, the better it acts as a scouring agent. The old-fashioned way, and the best prob- ably for the wool, is to scour it in a round tub, provided with a false perforated bottom, resting on strips, and from 6 inches to a foot from the bottom of the tub. A steam pipe passes down one side of the interior of tub, and ends about 3 inches below the false bottom, the perforations in which will have to be governed by the judg- ment of the parties themselves as to size and distance apart. But they should be ari-anged so that while preventing the wool from passing through they shall allow the sediment and filth to freely pass, so that fresh wool cannot come again into contact with it. A false bottom made of wood 1^ inches thick with l-inch or |-inch holes bored smoothly through, about 1 inch apart, will do, or it may be made of ^-inch mesh, heavy galvanized wire netting fixed to a round hoop, and strengthened by cross-bars or rods crossing each other at right angles be- 92 WOOL-WASHING . neath the netting, so that the latter shall be smooth on the top. A post fixed to the centre of the tub will support the netting as well as the strips before referred to. In any case this false bottom must be an easy fit, so as to be re- moved, when necessary, to cleanse the filth out beneath. A couple of stout wires, on opposite sides, in the form of handles, which will lie flat except when needed, may be employed to lift out the perforated or netting bottom con- veniently. On the top of this tub, which may be 5 feet deep and 4 or 5 feet in diameter, is fixed a slanting platform to the right of the operator, and projecting from the tub, provided with sides 6 inches deep, across which strips of wood may be nailed, the whole forming a rack, or "scray," on to which the wool is thrown to drain before entering the clear water to be rinsed. After the wool has steeped or drained upon the scray, it can be passed through pres- sure rolls to further squeeze out the scouring liquor, or, in the absence of these almost indis- pensable necessaries, it may be thrown into the "rinse-box." This is a long, rather narrow, WOOL-WASHING. 93 and deep box having a perforated bottom of copper, with holes ^ig-inch diameter, and as close as may not interfere with the strength of the copper sheet. Here the wool is agitated with a stick or wooden fork, in clean water, liberally supplied, until the scouring liquor is washed out along with the impurities it has lib- erated. In large establishments wool-washing machines are employed, which, while not calling for any remarks here, may be recommended on general principles, for getting through large quantities of work with but little labor, iind giving satisfactory results where reasonable in- telligence is bestowed in their care, and in the preparation and care of the liquors employed, and if unlimited quantities of water can be had, Washing and scouring by hand as described will enable one man to cleanse from 500 to 1,000 lbs. per day. The idea should always be not to crowd a large amount of wool into the tub at one time, but allow abundant room for working the wool continually, employing a straight hickory stick, operated so as not to twist or entangle the fibres, but to open and 94 WOOL-WASHING. expose them equally to the action of the scour- ing solution. The temperature to be employed is equally important with the detergent, and no rigid rule can be given; but for coarse, free wools, from 90 to 130° F, and for fine wools from 130 to 140° F, may answer. Always use a thermometer ; then you will know what the heat is, and will soon become familiar with the best heat for certain wools and hquors without forever guessing, and never knowing. Where water is scarce, a plan has been adopted, as follows: a perforated sheet-iron shell is swung from a trunnion and hung from a crane. The unwashed wool is placed in the shell and lowered into the scouring liquor, where it is agitated for a sutficient period and then drawn out by the crane. The shell or basket is allowed to remain a short time sus- pended over the scouring vessel for the surplus liquor to drain, when the crane is swung around over the wash-off or rinse-box, the shell tilted up, and the wool discharged into the fresh water. Two men are required ; and while one is rinsino- the other is scouring a fresh supply. WOOL-WASHING. 95 Tepid water is generally the best for rinsing purposes, but especially when silicate of soda is the scouring agent. The wool will then look whiter, handle softer, be more open and free, and, therefore, more susceptible to the action of dyes or bleaching agents than if washed off in cold water. Wool not well cleansed will neither card nor spin with satisfaction, nor will the cloth made from it mill " or " full " evenly ; it will pre- vent the thorough penetration of the dye, taking, instead, a daub, that will wash streaky in the cloth, which will handle sticky, and can- not be made to assume a satisfactory look, with a clear and distinct color, and clean, showy ap- . pearance. The less greasy the wool, and the larger per- centage of soda required, is another point worthy of note. The clear liquor from an old scouring bath is a good thing to use in starting a fresh solution, as the grease it contains acts as a sol- vent of the grease in the wool. If the water is "hard," more soda, etc., will be required than would be necessary with soft 96 WOOL- WASHING. water. To judge when the h'qiior possesses the right degree of alkalinity, it is best to first dis- solve the detergent in a pail of boiling water, with constant stirring until dissolved, then keep adding it to the fresh scouring liquor previously heated to 100° F, until it feels soft and smooth to the fingers when rubbed together in contact with it. A sample of wool can now be dipped, shook about, withdrawn, and squeezed in the hand several times. If it springs ehistic on being released, and has seemed to part, with great readiness, with its dirt and gum, and it feels silky, and looks loose and free, then the liquor is in good condition for that kind of wool. The operator must use his judgment iu case the wool does not appear satisfactory, as to whether it is the temperature which requires increasing or diminishing, or the scouring agent he employs. By the constant use of a ther- mometer, the question of temperature is an easy one, and will become indispensable to maintain a constant heat in the continually cooling solu- tion caused by the addition of fresh wool. By adding fresh water as the liquor runs down, a WOOL-WASHING. 97 small addition of the solution in the pail (which should always be kept on hand) may at times be necessary ; then the heat brought up to the standard found best for the quality of wool in hand, by the use of the thermometer, and you may use the same liquor until it becomes foul beneath the false bottom and requires entire renewal. Washing Waste. — For removing mill grease from waste, caustic soda is employed, and if soap is used it should be made with caustic in preference to carbonate of soda, which does not combine well with grease, and merely forms an emulsion. The waste should first be picked or dusted, and the temperature of the bath about 130° F. to 150° F. Spirit of ammonia, of 18° B., is added to the caustic soda, and the waste steeped therein, then stirred about, and finally rinsed in clean water. Soda-ash is often em- ployed as above, sometimes with and sometimes without caustic soda and ammonia. Woollen fibres should never be suddenly changed from hot to cold ; always allow time to cool after leaving the scouring liquor, or use 98 WOOL-WASHING. tepid water to rinse with. When wool is thrown too qiiicldy from hot into cold water it contracts, and then the grease, loosened in the hot liquor, becomes fixed to the fibre by the sudden chill and consequent contraction. For the purpose of ascertaining the difference in cost of wool after it has been washed, as com- pared to its first cost, a simple rule is, to mul- tiply the greasy pounds by the price, and divide by the clean pounds. Example: If 16 ounces of wool cost in the grease 42 cents, and after washing weighed 12 ounces, the clean cost is : 16 ozs. greasy wool, 42 cents per lb. Clean wool 12 ozs. 1 6^2 56 cents per lb. BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES. 99 at CHAPTER II. BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES. BLEND. [Anglo Saxon.] To mix togetlier; hence to confound so that the sep- arate things mixed cannot he distinguished. — Webster. In these degenerate times a carder has many vexations his brother in years gone by knew nothing of, and the blending of different tex- tiles is assuredly one of them. The modern carder can, however, console himself with the reflection that there have been no innovations in the method of blending, for it has always remained in the same good old way, discovered by the fellow who first mixed a lot of wool and dirt together. If there has been any improvement made in this direction we have not heard of it. To the novice nothing would seem more sim- ple than to throw different fibrous materials to- gether, and shake them with a stick ; but what a mistaken idea it is every practical man ought 100 BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES-. * to know, but apparently does not, for, in the majority of cases, it is only novices who are ever entrusted to do it. It is disagreeable to be obliged to acknowledge the fiict, that not in one mill in a score, in this country, is the great importance of thorough blending properly ap- preciated, or, at any rate, executed. There are men who will bestow every care in setting their cards and grinding them, who will make great efforts to get the best possible re- sults from a lot composed of several materials widely differing in every respect from each other ; and thesie same men will leave in the picker-room (to carry out a process not in any sense secondary to grinding or setting a card) a fellow who the less he knows the more he is thought to be worth in a place of that kind. The cards have been brought into gilt-edged condition, we will assume, and the carder has devoted himself to get them into prime shape, which done, the mixture — having meanwhile, been fed on the picker alternately, wool, cotton, shoddy, etc. , by guess — is brought into the card- room, and the result is, that all the time and BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES. 101 care bestowed on the cards prove only to have been misdirected effort ; for it has accomplished nothing towards getting a perfectly homogene- ous thread, that end having been utterly de- feated in the picker-room, and past all remedy. If a thread resulting from such bungling could be examined for a considerable length, under sufficient magnifying power to clearly show the nature and construction of the several fibres composing it, there would be revealed, instead of a, perfect amalgamation of each indi- vidual fibre, a mass of cotton fibres in one part, wool in another, etc., producing effects that render it utterly impossible to draw such a .thread " even" under any circumstances. These remarks apply with redoubled force when the blend consists of part animal and part vegetal substances. To get reasonably fair results from such admixtures there must be perfect amalga- mation ; else how can it be expected otherwise than that each of the substances will assert itself in passing through the carding and spin- ning, to the destruction of any regularity what- ever in the thread or yarn ? 102 BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES. All kinds of textiles do not require the same amount of carding ; therefore if two clas'ses of material are mixed together this should not be lost sight of, for the closer the character of the mixed fibres the more perfect will be the yarn. The length to which the yarn is to be spun must also be considered, for there is a limit, and one portion of the batch might be quite able to be drawn to the requisite degree of itself, but could be entirely spoiled by an unsuitable mixture of some other fibre. It is very easy to make deaj- yarn from cheap stock, and many have found that out. It is not the low price or larger quan- tity of poor stock one can crowd in, but rather the percentage of yarn resulting from the batch, and the cost in labor of its manipulation, that is the vital question. So much is charged, for in- stance, to carding and spinning ; but if it takes as long to spin 100 lbs. of inferior yarn as it does 150 lbs. of good yarn, then the economy is questionable. An English writer has truly said, "It is not wisdom to take material, al- though low-priced, and try to make it go to a greater length than it is really fitted ; neither is BLENDING OF TEXTILE FIBRES. it always on the side of economy to take the cheapest material that will go comfortably to the length required." A story is told of a "manufacturer, who was using a consideri;ble quantity of 24 skeins (4^ run) black weft, and he wanted to make it as cheap as possible to have a good yarn. He put in wool dyed black, costing 2s. 9d. per pound, along with a 7d. mungo. The cloth proved to be tender and poor, and not at all up to the mark. He then put on another lot, in which the black wool cost 3s. and the mungo 9d., and the high-priced material prodj^ced yarn l|d. per lb. less money than the l*^-priced material, and the cloth was all that could be desired." Another point of the greatest utility in the thorough blending and preparation is to feed the picker — ^Am. What is the use of crowding it through, aud thereby converting your cards into auxiliary pickers and preparers ? It is certainly economy to spend a little extra time, and have the wool as well prepared as it is possible to have it, and thus save waste of both stock and card clothing, besides making better work. The difference 104 HOW TO MIX WOOL AND COTTON. between a successful and unsuccessful carder is often traceable to his care in the picker-room. We will now give the latest practice in mix- ing various fibres, and then such items as may seem of value in reference to oiling ^er se. now TO MTZ WOOL AND COTTON. Perhaps there is no better way than that which is followed in Belgium in the manufac- ture of "Vigogne " yarn, meaning half wool and half cotton, the latter being generally the better half. Both the wool and the cotton ought to be of good, sound staple. The wool should be fine merino, and the cot- ton clean Sea Island. It is of the greatest im- portance that the wool should be thoroughly clean, scoured, carefully dried, willowed, picked, and oiled. Then it should be carded through the ordinary breaker card and wound into a lap on a drum placed in front of the doff'er, which, as well as the workers, should have a slow movement imparted to them, be us smooth as possible, and to a good working point, so as to obtain the most thorough carding ; or, in other HOW TO MIX WOOL AND COTTON. 105 words, to get the wool as straight as possible and free from every sign of "nub" or "cockle." The laps can be laid one on the other until wanted. The cotton should be well cleaned by passing through the common opener-lapper, and the lap fed to an ordinary cotton card. A woollen card will answer, but the cotton card is best. The shvers from a number of the latter may be run together and afterwards " picked," to facilitate the mixing, or the cotton may wind on a drum as for the wool. The object in carding it is to set it straight and clean. The cotton may, however, be taken from the lapper direct and mixed with the wool if the goods do not require to be so perfect. In any case, after both the cotton and wool have been prepared, the de- sired proportion is weighed out, picked separate- ly, and then blended together and picked once or twice again, when it is ready for the final carding through the ordinary woollen cards and condenser. There is a very successful hosiery mill in this country, where the above has been followed for 106 HOW TO MIX WOOL AND COTTON. years, and they make excellent yarns, free from specks, and very uniform in texture. Anothee and easier plan is to first weigh out the proportions wanted ; then pick the wool, oil it, and pick again; then pick the cotton, and carefully blend them together, when pick once or twice again. The cotton will absorb a little oil from the wool, and get as much as is good for it. It is a very good plan when mix- ing these two fibres together to run them through a burr-picker, l)oth before the wool is oiled and at the final operation ; but the com- mon picker answers well enough to simply mix the two after blending, always provided that when the stock is brought from behind the picker, either to be again picked, or to go to the cards, care is taken to again blend that which is in the middle of the pile and that which is on the edges. Whatever the kind of stock in hand the principle to be observed in blending always is to lay out evenly and thinly^ over a large area as many layers as practicable. That is the whole subject in a nutshell. The batch should be well beaten down with sticks, HOW TO MIX SILK WASTE WITH WOOL. 107 and when any is taken from the pile always take it vertically from the edge, and never from the top. HOW TO MIX SILK WASTE WITH WOOL. The first thing to be observed is that the silk waste must have the color of the ground of the cloth to be manufactured, and never that of the mixture which may be added. If, for instance, a lot is made up to consist of 75 per cent, black and 25 per cent, white, then the silk waste must form an addition to the black. It is important that the wool and silk be free from grease and gum, or the silk will be hkely to mat together and felt. Oleine, if free from acid, is the best material for oiling. Silk being more difficult to card than wool renders it of the first importance to have the card-cylinders very true, so they can be set close, to obtain good results. The dofi'ers require great atten- tion ; they must be true, smooth, and sharp, and should run about 4 turns per minute. The fancy must gain but little (as little as practicable) on the cyhnder, and all draft, as far 108 HOW TO MIX SILK WASTE WITH WOOL. as possible, avoided. The speed of the main cylinder should not exceed 80 turns per minute. The silk is so light and " fluffy " that these pre- cautions are necessary, as well as to avoid all unnecessary friction on the fibre, as it quickly becomes charged with static electricity. A guiding principle in mixing stock of difier- ent kinds together is to never have great vari- ance either in length or fineness. The nearer the fibres approach each other in length, thick- ness, etc., the better for the yarn. A finer thread may be spun from wool of an even length, though coarse, than if fine and short wool should be introduced amongst it. OILING. 109 CHAPTER III. OILING. Having now stated the principal points to be observed in the blending of fibrous material we arrive at an equally important requisite, viz., the thorough incorporation of the oily compound, whatever its nature, with the fibres. Various plans have been tried, among which may be mentioned, oiling at the "picker," or "teaser," by mechanism applied sometimes at the feed lattice, and sometimes at the throat, or exit. Independent machines have also been devised, but the plan most generally followed is to perform the operation .^wholly by hand. Objection has been found to all of the above means, inasmuch as the material must lay in the oiled state during the carding operation, and therefore subject to evaporation, especially when the various compositions are in use ; and also objectionable on account of the greasy material saturating the floors and increasing the risk of 110 OILING. fire. To overcome these drawbacks various plans to oil the substance at the feed lattice of the carding engine have been tried. What- ever the plan adopted, the object remains the same, namely, to lubricate the fibres so that they may not by abrasion or friction during subse- quent operations injure the natural barbs with which each fibre is armed. We have before drawn attention to the preservation of these delicate barbs for fulled goods in reviewing the construction of the wool fibre. It is of equal importance to evenly oil the wool for goods that do not require much, if any, fulling, for the reason that the fibres will destroy each other, by becoming interlocked, in passing through the cards. This is clearly shown, if a lot be run through the cards without oil, by the amount of flyings and droppings. In using one of the many compositions now so often applied to the wool with the object of saving oil by substituting water in combination with a saponifying agent, it is well known that the cards must keep up with each other, and the spinning be close after the cards, to avoid evapo- OILING. Ill ration of the watery part of such composition, which would occur if the wool was allowed to accumulate. In that case the effect is clearly manifested of want of lubrication during the spinning, although the carding may have gone on satisfactorily because the evaporation had not taken jDlace to that extent as to become manifest. But the spinning would be imperfect and much fly be made, while the yarn w^ould be less elastic, etc. It is clearly evident, then, that a good quality of oil, pure and simple, applied to the wool in the most perfect manner, so that as near as possible all the fibres shall share alike the needful lubrication, is and must be the most economical course to pursue. The cost of the wool so far exceeds the cost of the oil, and as a scant supply, or inefficient application, of the latter must inevitably lead to a loss of the former, it is at once seen how false is the economy of wasting the wool to save the oil. Which oil is the best for facilitating these objects is a question open to discussion. . A German authority says that the substance which 112 OILING. is the cheapest, and, on the whole, gives the best results, is oleine. This lubricant is obtained by pressure from animal fats, and is known in the market as tallow oleine, lard oleine, and neats- foot oil. But the oleine we are concerned about as a substitute for olive or Gallipoli oil is de- rived from the manufacture of stearine candles. As a result of some of their operations there is produced a mixture of stearine and oleic acid ; these are separated by means of sulphuric acid, the stearine being used in the manufacture of candles, while the oleic acid is made to give up its oleine, which is then freed from the sulphuric acid by distillation ; and if the process is hon- estly conducted the resulting oil is free from acid and well adapted to the oiling of wool. If, however, the acid be imperfectly removed, which is often the case in cheap oils, seeing that the acid is heavier than the oil, then the card cloth- ing will suffer, and the yarn be injuriously affected, destroying much of its felting prop- erties. The girls who feed the cards, or other- wise handle the oiled w^ool, with bare arms, suffer from its effects if acid be present, and the OILING. 113 writer has seen in a large mill in Rhode Island, where they are supposed to know better, the * effects of acid on the hands of several girls who had lost their finger-nails through feeding of the wool so contaminated. Commercial oleine always contains traces of the acid varying from I- per cent, upwards. The liED OIL, now largely used for oiling wool, is somewhat analogous to the above, and has the same objections in reference to the acid. There are two kinds of this oil, one known as saponified, and one as distilled or " elaine," which latter is substantially the oil we have described. The saponified oil is not considered as beino- so suitable for wool as the other. It derives its red color from the iron of the presses used in its extraction, which is attacked by the free acid /and, becoming rusty, stains the oil. In the manufacture of this oil by the saponify- ing process, the lard or tallow is placed in an upper boiler, to which a lower one, containing water, is attached by two pipes. On the water being boiled, the steam rises upwards through one pipe, and through the mass in the upper 114 OILING. boiler, where, becoming condensed, it flows down the other pipe into the lower, boiler again. After ten hours of this treatment, the (jrease becomes disintegrated, and separates into its component elements of stearic and oleic acid and glycerine. It is then put into bags and pressed, when the oil separates and runs into the receptacles beneath the press. The elaine oil is obtained by distillation, the oil coming over, leaving the stearic acid in the still, which, after the oil has been extracted, is manufactured into stearine or " adamantine " candles. The readiest way of testing oils for acid prod- ucts is to place a drop on blue litmus paper, which will turn red if there is the fiiintest trace of acid. But this gives no idea of the quantity, nor does there appear any better way than to obtain a sample of oil as free as possible from acid, and have it analyzed, and then, by means of a hydrometer, compare its specific gravity with suspected oils. The oil will be heavier in proportion to the acid it contains. The princi- pal advantages claimed for oleine refer chiefly OILING. 115 to its easy saponification, an addition of soda lye being all that is required to combine water with the oil, making not only a handy compo- sition, but also an easy scouring oil, which is a very important point. A good COMPOSITION may be made with oleine 10 per cent, and water 15 per cent, of the weight of wool to be oiled. The water must be boiling, and a little sal-ammonia added with the oil, sufficient to cause the oil and water to unite. If the wool is colored black, brown, etc., 10 per cent, of its weight of water will be found sufficient. For yarns which have to lie a long time after spinning, and for the finest wools, nothing can equal good olive oil ; but for the great majority of purposes, cost, and everything, it seems as il oleine answered the purposes of a useful oil for wool. Lard oil is still used extensively in this country, but not so much as before the advent and practical application of mineral oils, which, for many purposes, cannot be excelled ; as, for instance, where the goods are sold unwashed, and a quickly evaporating oil is a desideratum. 116 OILING. After considerable experience the writer is ®f opinion that mineral oils will ultimately super- sede the fatty animal and vegetable oils, as, in fact, they, have already done to some extent. There is scarcely any risk of spontaneous com- bustion in their use, while with animal oils the danger is at all times imminent. One of the readiest tests to determine the practicability of a wool oil is to add 40 parts of a solution of carbonate of soda, of 3° Baume, to a portion of the oil, and stir well. If a milky emulsion is formed, without any oily drops on the surface, it is an indication of good greasing qualities. It is not always that satisfaction is obtained in the use of oleine ; but this may be the result of improper mixing of the oil and water, rather than in the oil itself. One manufacturer com- plained that, having taken two parts of one lot of wool, and greased one of them with 15 per cent, of olive oil, and the other with 16 per cent, of oleine free from acid, both being mixed with 20 per cent, of water and a little spirits of ammonia, although carded through the same OILING. 117 machines, the part with olive oil was soft, while the other was hard and dry, and gave an uneven yarn. But it is asserted that if a mixture be made of 40 per cent, of oleine free from acid, 60 per cent, of water, and a cupful of spirits of am- monia, and well stirred, until a milky solution is obtained free from bubbles, and then thoroughly mixed with the wool, the results will be sat- isfactory. The water should always be hot, then the spirits of ammonia added, with constant stirring, and, lastly, the oleine, the agitation being constantly maintained. Another Composition is recommended by Mr. Lebrun, in a German paper, who says that by its use a considerable savings of oil may be effected, besides insuring uniform results on account of the woollen fibres loosening and sep- arating themselves more easily from each other ; that it is not injurious to the color, of which the wool may be dyed, nor injurious to the card clothing, while the latter can be cleaned more easily and economically. To obtain this preparation, pour into a wooden 118 OILING . trough or tub, 20 parts of oil, 10 parts liquid ammonia, and 5 parts -of water. Stir up with a wooden stick or spoon, turn on the steam, and allow the liquid to boil until the strong smell of ammonia has evaporated ; then pro- ceed to oil the wool in the usual manner. Elaine oil, once so much used, has been greatly neglected of late, the reason being that it contained so large a percentage of free acid that it spoiled the card wire, and rendered the goods harsh to the feel, and also weakened the fibre. In Oiling with Lard Oil, a fair proportion to 100 lbs. of wool is 4 to 6 quarts, and a com- position may be recommended composed of No. 1 lard oil 4 gallons, water 5 gallons, borax 4 oz. Dissolve the borax in warm water, then add the solution to the boiling water ; agitate and then pour in the oil, amidst constant stir- ring. Boil a few minutes, and it is ready for use. 16 per cent, of the mixture will be found about right for ordinary purposes, but it is well to remember that the carder should not strictly follow any rule giving the amount of OILING. 119 oily matter to use on the wool, unless he has found the proportion best by his own experi- ence, for the kind of wool he has to use, and the condition in which he finds it. A rule for oiling wool that can be implicitly followed on every kind and condition of stock, and it is the only rule applicable in so broad a sense, is this : to always distribute the .oily r substance so that every fibre may as near as possible obtain an equal degree of lubrication. The relative per cent, of lubrication can only be learned by experience, but an excellent rule to follow is, never stint the oil. Wool is one thing in its natural state, and another thing altogether when colored, as it is also one thiiig when mixed with shoddy, etc., quite different from the simon-pure article, and all of these circumstances have to be taken into account. Each will be found to require a certain amount, less than which should not be given ; more it does not need, and no more should be applied. 120 OILING WOOL AT THE CARD. OILING WOOL AT THE CARD. " Many arrangements have been devised to oil the wool as, or just before, it enters into the carding engine. The objections to oiling large amounts beforehand, and allowing it to lay previous and during the carding process, cannot be allowed if compositions of oil and water, or mineral or other easily evaporating oils, are used; and it is a very doubtful question except, perhaps, for a few specialties, whether it is any advantage to let the wool lie in the oiled state ; and it is undoubtedly a risk greater than if the wool lay unoiled. Then there are the greasy walls and oil-saturated floors, consequent to oiling at the picker, which, of course, always entails prepar- ing considerable quantities ahead of the cards. The advantages sought in oiling at the carding engine, besides overcoming the iibove, are, in addition, calculated to perform the operation more evenly, and in a more easily controllable degree, so that the carder can, as judgment dic- tates, supply just so much, and no more, of the lubricant to his wool. There is no doubt what- OILING WOOL AT THE CARD. 121 ever that the ideas and principles are correct as claimed, all favoring mechanical oiling as the carding progresses, and that great good would result if these principles could be perfectly car- ried out. That they have not been is no rea- son to debar the final success of others. To oil the wool after being spread upon the feed-table, and flattened thereon in a compact mass, is only a half-way attempt. This has been tried long enongh, and, while not a failure in the full sense of the word, it has failed to be anything more than a makeshift. What is wanted, and de- manded, is a means whereby all the fibres shall receive proportionate lubrication, the amount of which shall be under perfect control by the carder, and be applied at the carding machine. The device such as we refer to would have to be arranged so as to automatically shut off the oil whenever the card was stopped, and to com- mence again simultaneously with the starting up of the card. We consider it disgraceful that this critical operation should, amidst all the im- provements of machinery, never have advanced a step. 122 OILING AT THE PICKER. OILING AT THE FIGKER. Next to oiling at the card I prefer this mode, and particularly at the exit, or throat, because a more uniform result can l)e obtained than the average result by hand-oiling. C. L. Goddard devised a revolving brush, placed immediately over the throat of the picker, arranged to distrib- ute a spray of oil amongst the outgoing wool. It is made by Curtis & Marble, of Worcester, Mass., and applied to the Goddard Burring Picker. Several other similar arrangements are in the market, any one of which is to be preferred to a greeny dashing the oil on by hand indiscriminately. When a machine is used, however, the wool should be once more blended after the oiling, taking it alternately from the sides and middle of the pile and beat- ing it down in alternate layers, and again run- ning it through the picker. OILING B Y HAND. To do this in the most perfect manner the component parts of the " batch " should first be picked, then blended, and picked again; then OILING BY HAND. 123 as large a space as possible be cleared in front of the picker, and a thin layer evenly spread over the floor. The oil should be in a limpid condition, so as to flow freely, and distributed by means of a can having a spout provided with a cross-piece pierced with about four rows of small holes, the spout being thus in the form of a T, at one end of which a cap should be placed which can easily be removed for the purpose of cleaning the tube. This tube or spout may be 1|- inches diameter, and the cross-head about 9 inches long. Before the oil is placed in the can it should be filtered through a piece of burlap, or bagging, folded two or three thicknesses, and placed on the can. Through this the oil should be poured, the can being previously cleaned. This will prevent the small holes be- coming clogged, and will allow a steady series of fine streams to issue on to the wool, the can being carried in the hand and swung back and forth in such a manner as to evenly distribute the oil thinly over the material. Another thin layer of wool may now be distributed, and again oiled as before. At every second repeti- 124 OILING BY HAND. tion the material should be beaten with sticks in every part, to thoroughly incorporate the oil and wool. The operation is thus continued until the whole is completed and ready to be again run through the picker. The wool should now be taken from the pile from top to bottom, and fed on the feed lattice thinly. If these in- structions are carefully followed the wool will be as well oiled as is at the present time pos- sible, and it is the carder's first duty to person- ally see, and insist, that it shall be so done ; for if he allows others, no matter whom, to look after this part of his aflfairs, he will have no end of trouble. Textile materials unevenly blended, or unevenly oiled, will, and must, make uneven yarn, and uneven yarn will be laid to the carder, to whom, beyond a doubt, the proper manipulation of his materials in the picker-room is of vital importance. It is not a question of expediency, but of a more serious nature, and he who alone will be held responsible must him- self watch it with eternal vigilance, and trust to no one that which no one can as well as himself know the importance of. OILING SILK WASTE. 125 OILING SILK WASTE. The oil or composition should not come in contact with the silk, and the best way to pro- ceed is to spread the silk evenly on the floor, then cover it with one or more sacks, and on these pour the water so that the silk becomes dampened by the portion which penetrates the bags. This will prevent too much flyings dur- ing the carding, and retard the electrical efi'ects so troublesome in carding silk waste. When wool is mixed with the silk it should be oiled previous to the mixing, as recommended for mixtures of cotton and wool. PART III THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CARDING. THE CARDING ENGINE. 129 CHAPTER I. THE CARDING ENGINE. Taking a set of carding machines, all in all ; considering the work done by them, and the ingenuity displayed in their make-up, as well as in the manufacture of the card clothing, and the mechanism employed therein; the widely different articles entering into their composi- tion ; the industries drawn upon to complete such a set ready for work, and the delicacy of the materials worked; the complex nature of that work, — and I think it only justice to place the carding machine foremost amongst all the great inventions of the last century. The ingenuity of man's intellect cannot con- ceive a mechanism more perfect in its adapta- tion, more precise in its adjustment, or more ac- curate in its performance, nor yet requiring greater skill in its successful management, than this grand result of human perseverance. 130 THE CARDIXG ENGINE. Scanning the progress it has made from the earliest times, the. numberless modifications it has undergone, and taking a comprehensive survey of the efforts which have been made by thousands of earnest men who, for generatjons, have devotedly delved into its intricate mys- teries, it stands a marvel, without a parallel, amongst mechanical appliances. Going back to the beginning we find that carding was performed by hand in the following manner : " A card, such as Avas used in the early stages of the manufacture, was more like a large brush, and this brush was composed of fine wire bristles, which leaned at a given angle instead of being straight. Two such brushes or cards were used together by the operator, hav- ing one in each hand ; tufts of wool were placed on them, and by repeatedly stroking one brush against the other, the tufts of wool were straightened and lay amongst the wire bristles, wdiich then only required to be taken care- fully away from the card without disturbing the smoothness of the wool. These straightened tufts were called "cardings." After being pre- THE CARDING ENGINE. 131 pared in this manner, the carding was taken and spun by hand." Equally primitive was the manufacture of card clothing. I'he mode of procedure was to prepare a sheet of leather 18 to 20 inches long, and 4 inches wide, which was ruled with lines at regular intervals, and pierced with a two- pointed pricker until the sheet was full of small holes. The wire was next cut with a X3air of shears jnto lengths of about one inch, bent by hand into the shape of a staple, and next bent aofain, or hooked into the form of a card-tooth. These teeth were then taken singly, and put into the holes of the leather, and when the sheet was filled with teeth it was nailed on to a board having a handle, and was ready for use. An improved arrangement for carding was brought into use prior to the invention of the cylinder machine, as follows : the head of the family would be engaged at what was then called "stocks," which consisted of a frame on an inclined plane. On the face of this frame were fixed coarse cards, on which was placed the wool. Sitting in front of the frame the 13 THE CARDING ENGINE. workman held in his hand a square board, also covered with cards, and with a see-saw motion over the inclined plane the fibres of wool were carded and prepared for being spun. The first patent taken out for a carding ma- chine was issued to Daciel Bourne, January 20, A.D. 1748, No. 628. " A machine for carding wool or cotton by hand or water," his specifica- tion reads. "The properties by which this machine for carding differs from an;^ other method hitherto invented, are principally these : — "That the cards are placed upon cylinders, or rollers, and that these act against each other, by a circular motion." . . . . "It may be observed that more or fewer may be put in a machine than four cylinders, though that num- ber is found to be most proper. The cards are wrapped around the cylinders, which, by their circular motion, and at the same time their act- ing upon one another, card the wool or cotton sufficiently fine for spinning. The cylinders are mounted in distinct frames, fixed to sliding- plates, by which they may be set at any re- THE CAEDING ENGINE. 133 quired distance from eacli other, and by means of levers or rods the second or fourth cylinders are drawn to and fro in a sidelong motion, in order to disperse the wool or cotton equally over the cards." Now this specification proves conclusively that Bourne had studied the subject pretty thoroughly. Lewis Paul obtained a patent August 30, 1748, No. 636, for a sort of flat surface card, showing a crude arrangement of levers, boards, string, and windlass, his speci- fication being too long to transcribe, besides being of little interest. The first patent for a card-clothing machine was dated Oct. 13, 1750, No. 157, and granted to William Pennington. He shows in his speci- fication devices for holding the leather tight, a pricker to make the holes, and a dividing-wheel for regulating the distance of the holes apart for difi'erent kinds of wire, etc. Robert Peele, February 18, 1779, No. 1212, describes the side drawing, "tube or funnel placed near the doffer for drawing off and slightly twisting the sliver." 134 THE CAKDING ENGINE. Eichard Arkwright invented the "doffer- comb,"liis patent bearing date Dec. 16, 1775. He was then connected with Strutt, and they seem to have invented the doffer at the same time. The father of the first Sir Eobert Peele had attempted cylinder carding in 1760; but the difficulty^ of stripping the cylinder by hand caused its abandonment. To Arkwright also belongs the credit of the invention of the workers and strippers, he having been the first to notice the advantage gained by returning the fibre. It is to Har- graves that we are indebted for the invention of the Fancy ; " and this completed the cardino- machine. On June 26, 1799, patent No. 2322 was issued to Clement Sharp and Amos Whittemore for a card-making machine, as follows : " The leaf or piece of leather is put into the stretch- ing-frame, and by its diff'erent motions every part of it is brought alternately to a given point in the centre of the machine." . . " On the machine being put in motion, a pair of THE CAIJDIXG ENGINE. 135 holes are made iu the leaf ; at the same time the proper length of wire is brought forward, and seized by its middle, when it is cut off and bent into the form of a staple, then conducted throuo-h the holes in the leaf, where it is crooked, let loose, and forced up to its place. The leaf is then shifted the space for the next staple, and the several movements again take place, and are repeated until a row in width is complete, when it is shifted the distance for the next row, which is completed in a similar manner, and so on until the card is finished." This invention completed the card-setting machine in its crude form. The earlier carding machines were mostly made of wood. The "arches" were mortised for the poppet-heads, and wedges employed on each side of the latter. It was only necessary when setting the card to ease up on one wedge, and pound down the opposite one, to get things where you wanted them, until they shook loose again by the ram-shackle movements of the machine. Wrenches were not much used, and o-auo-es never ; the sharp eye of the boss was all 136 THE CARDING ENGINE. the gauge he needed, and when his eye " went back on him" he used' his ear. Instead of graduated wrenches a mallet, but more often a hammer, was the implement of precision employed. These were the times when the patience of a Job would not suffice in main- taining one's temper. Nor Avas it wholly the fault of defective appliances ; for there was a still more exasperating element in the small help of that time, who knew no organization, nor would they submit to any control, and it was fun for them to harass the overlookers, foremen, etc., to whom they were veritable imps of mischief, never happy unless raising the devil with the primitive machinery, in order to get out for a day or two, or in the hope of getting " sacked " altogether. Little do the men of this day know of the great vexations, the soul-stirring trials, of these pioneers, who at one and the same moment were attempting the organization of the factory system, the adaptation of machinery, and the creation of a class of help totally different from anything hitherto known. THE CARDING ENGINE. 137 The great majority of these men were unlet- tered, but in them lay hidden the germ of the manufacturing prosperity of the world ; in their crude way they were laying the foundation of a manufacture which, in course of time, would result in the production of machinery of won- derful accuracy, and fabrics of beautiful text- ure, reaching to the very ends of the earth in its influence, furnishing new industry and new incentives to millions of human beings. Such, then, is a short history of the strides made in the development of the carding engine. We have seen that Bourne invented and pa- tented cylinder cards one hundred and thirty- two years ago ; that the doflfer, doffing comb, fancy, workers and strippers, in other words, the counterpart of the present carding machine, were all perfected as long ago as 1773. One would think that since that time we should have arrived at some well-established truths, from which a correct theory of such ma- chines might be deducted. But, taking a sur- vey of the- manufacturing world, we find, on this point, chaotic confusion. Taking some of 138 THE CARDING ENGINE. the modern patented "improvements," so called, we find such utter ignorance of the foundation principles of the art displayed as to excite our astonishment. One proposes a card without a doffer ! Another wants a card without workers and strippers ! And still another has got his envious eye on the main cylinder, and takes out a patent for its abolition, proposing, instead, "an endless band of card clothing," so arranged as to take the wool from the feed-rolls to the dotfer ! These and similar devices seem to have been constructed or imagined on the hy^- pothesis that carding can be performed more efficiently by reducing the carding surface. Two devices, simply byway of contrast, may here be described, both recently patented. In one the main cylinders are displaced by a suc- cession of 9 to 12 inch rollers, whose speed varies from 7 revolutions to 575. The first roller in the series, which takes the wool from the feed-rolls, revolves at a rate of 275 times per minute ! About equal date with the above, another patent was granted for a carding ma- chine without dofi'ers, workers, or strippers ; it THE CARDING ENdlNE. 139 was all main cylinders, one set close up to an- other, and none less than 30 inches diameter. The fancy, however, was retained, but was reduced in size to 5 inches diameter. We have doffers up to 40 and 50 inches diameter, main cylinders up to 70 inches ; and we have them as small as 30, and the doffers down to 7 inches diameter. We have all sorts of speeds, from 40 turns of main cylinder to 200 or more. Hackle pins, combs, and reeds have all been tried and patented as substitutes for card wire ; but how ridiculous this must be, when we reflect a moment that such things can- not be made practically to contain as many teeth per square inch as we now get easily in ordinary clothing, and therefore cannot have the same resisting effect; for in carding it is the collective resisting effect of the points, gained by their proximity and the nearness ot the cylinders to each other, which enables us to cret the best results. Amidst all these con- tradictory ideas we are almost driven to the conclusion that whatever principles there are in the carding machine must be either undis- 140 the' CARDING ENGINE. covered, or, if they have been discovered, are now lost. But I do not wish to be understood as implying that cards for all purposes should be of one stereotyped pattern ; not at all ; for the great variety of materials we now have to deal with furnishes ample reason for modifica- tions in the carding engines. Yet this does not in any way interfere or affect the principles on which the process of carding is based. The present type of card, with its main cylinder, doffer, fancy, workers and strippers, is, no doubt, correct in principle; but the elements involved are not correctly applied in many cases, as we shall attempt to show. A properly designed carding machine should have feed-rolls capable of holding the locks or tufts of wool well in contact with the first cyl- inder, or " taker-in," till the latter can divide and comb out the tufts, as far as possible, into separate fibres. To carry out this principle feed-rolls of small diameter are evidently best ; then why do people continue to have such rolls made as much as 3 or more inches in diam- eter? Two inches are certainly as large as they THE CARDING ENGINE. 141 ought to be made, to perform their functions in the best manner ; and, were it not for the diffi- culty of springing, they would be more efficient still if made smaller than 2 inches diameter. Again, a small taker-in will, for same reasons as apply to feed-rolls, open the locks of wool far better than a large one. Then for what reason are they often made 14 inches diameter, when it is plain a 5-inch cylinder will have a better eifect? Precisely the same is true of "tumblers," surface sufficient to carry the ma- terial being all that is necessary. When we reflect how valuable a part of the card machine the tumbler is, how are we to account for the fact that many men dispense with them? Is not such an act equivalent to the cutting off a use- ful limb ? That large dolfers are found in prac- tice to be better than small ones, for the reason that they present more surface to the action of the main cylinder, and therefore there is more carding done at the point of contact, and the wool is more evenly distributed on the surface of the doffer, making a more even sliver, seems so plain that any one might see it ; yet we find 142 THE CARDING ENGINE. small doffers still being made and applied. It is gratifying to notice, however, that the idea of larger doffers is fast spreading in this coun- try, and it is quite likely the next generation of carders will wonder how their fathers ever got along with doffers from 9 inches to 16 inches in diameter. We have seen cards lately built where the value of a large doffer was rec- ognized, but rendered partly inoperative by increasing the size of the main cylinder in same ratio. Now, a moment's reflection ought to sat- isfy any one that the nearer two cylinders ap- proach each other in their diameters the nearer you get to utilizing all the surface they are ca- pable of ; and the greater the disparity in their relative diameter the further you depart from all the surface you can get. Therefore, to com- plete my theory of a card machine, so far as respects the relative diameters of the parts, I only need add to what I have already said, that the doffer and the main cylinder ought both to be of one size, and the larger the size the more surface, provided they are both equally in- creased ; and also more room is obtained for THE CARDING ENGINE. 143 workers of liberal diameters by using large main cylinders. Having a main cylinder, say 48 inches diameter, dofFer 40 inches diameter, fancy 10 to 12 inches, or larger, workers 7 inches, and strippers 2^ inches, would secure a distribution of carding surface well adapted to turn off good work. The doffer would be set low, and this machine would be run at such velocity as to suit the work, that is to say, very slow speed for short stock, and an increased velocity for longer and stronger materials. In this country a set of cards consists of a first breaker, a second breaker, and a finisher, havingf a condenser attached. Each of these cards has but one main cylinder, generally 42 to 48 inches diameter, the dofiers in the first and second card being mostly 16 to 20 inches diam- eter, with a few, recently constructed, of 25 inches. The fancies are mostly 9 inches, work- ers 7, and strippers 2| to 4 inches diameter. The finisher always contains 2 ring-dofiers, mostly 9 inches diameter, with a few 12 inches. The wool is transferred from first to second card in one of two ways, either by a "creel," or 144 THE CAKDING ENGINE. by the " Apperley feed." The creel, in its va- rious forms, is, however, ahnost universal for feeding the second card, and it is customary to set up before such card, one "drawing" per inch of width, that is to say, for a 48-inch card there would be set up in front of the second breaker, 48 spools or bobbins, containing the product of several hours' work of the first breaker. These are all drawn into one acfain at the exit of the second card, and similarly fed again to the finisher ; but it is more common now to feed the latter card with the Apperley feed, which is continuous, and has a great ad- vantage over the creel when applied to the fiu- isher, because it distributes the wool across the card, which a creel cannot do. We see, from this hasty sketch, that the sec- ond or intermediate card in this system fills a very important function, viz., that of a doubling machine. That is what it was originally de- signed for, and so it still remains. The carding surfiice could be more economically obtained, if that was the only object, by employing one double and one single card, and thereby saving THE CARDING ENGINE. 145 the cost of the feeding apparatus for the second card. The advantage gained by the use of the second or intermediate card, for doubling up the product of the first card, and thus (to the extent of such doubling) equalizing the irregu- larities before it enters the finisher, is so obvi- ous as to be at once perceived by the merest tyro. Passing now from the prevailing American plan to a consideration of the English system we are, at the outset, confronted with an entire difference, both in theory and practice. We will take, by way of comparison, a set of cards as now made in Yorkshire, England, where they still manage to get more poor material into yarn than they do in any other part of the world. The subjoined description is from the pen of a personal friend of the present writer, who is well known as a skilfi^l carder in the district mentioned above, and the machines he describes are the common kind in use throughout York- shire, lie says : " In examining the prevailing system here, and the extent of its utility when properly managed, — in other words, the prom- 146 THE CARDING ENGINE. inent features that indicate its efficiency for carding, — we will Take a three-swifted 72-in. wide scribbler'- — With one 38-in. dia. breast, " four 36-in. " dotfers, " three 48-in. " swifts, c tliree 8-in. " workei's i -^iid r • . • (■ over each swift, ( three o-m. " stnppers S With three 7-in. " angle stripi>ers. ' Take also the carder of the following dimensions, viz., 5 ft. wide : — With two swifts 48-in. dia. " two doflfers 36-in. " " one breast 36-in. " Strippers and workers' same as in scribbler. All fancies 14-in. diameter. " For general work in the woollen trade, in the Leeds and Huddersfield districts, includinof also Dewsbury and Batley, the counts of the cards would range from 60 or 80 to 120 and 140, varying in crown from 6 or 8 to 12 and 13. iThe " scribbler " is the first card, and the "carder" is the fin- isher. They have but the two cards in a set. The " swifts" are the main cylinders. THE CARDING ENGINE. 147 "With such a set of machines the swifts, dof- fers, workers, and breasts would have upwards of 25,000,000 of teeth, or over 50,000,000 of points upon their surfaces. All these act as so many clutchers or resisters. The strippers and fancies contain close upon 6,000,000 more points, which act as carriers and springers. The resisting power of the swifts, doffers, and workers may be gathered from the following speeds of each : swifts revolving at the rate of 100 revolutions per minute, doffers revolving at the rate of 4 to 6 ditto, and the workers from 2 to 3. At these speeds the teeth on the swift will have a lineal velocity of about 14,000 in. per minute, the teeth on the dolFers 500 ditto, and the w^orkers about 50. Calculating that the teeth of every worker and doffer act as resisters for a space of half an inch at the point of con- tact with the swift, and taking the width of 72 inches, there would be a continuous resisting power of that of 250,000 points in a three- swifted scribbler which the material must pass, even if no lock, or nap, or fibre, returned over the worker or round the swift a second time. 148 ' THE CARDING ENGINE. This will give some idea of the carding power of a set of machines constructed on the present system." Although at first sight it might appear that the efficient doubling, secured by the use of an intermediate card, is here dispensed with, yet, on further reflection, we perceive that, with their large dofi'ers, and the number of them, together with their slow speed, with their sys- tem of carding, there is a great amount of one kind of doubling done, and that is a kind of doubling and of mixing of fibres which is of vital importance in carding their materials. Their finisher contains but one ring dofi'er in- stead of two, which, by its slow speed and large surface, allows of very " even" and regu- lar distribution of the fibres, which, being all on one dofier, prevents any difierence in the composition or dimensions of one thread from another. To carry the material from the first breaker or " scribbler " to the finisher or " carder " the lap feed is mostly used, because it gives the most regular distribution attainable by any known THE CARDING ENGINE. 149 feeding device, and also gives a larger amount of doubling than can be otherwise got with two cards. See " Automatic Feeds " for further par- ticulars. Sometimes they take all of the threads from this doffer off through a single set of rubs ; but it is now more convenient to take half off through one set of rubs, and the bal- ance through another set. The writer has recently (October, 1880) seen many sets of such cards running in the district referred to, and his impressions gained on the spot led to the belief that such cards, especially for short materials, give every satis- faction. The work was even and regular, and the production fair, considering the amount of carding they deem necessary for such stock ; about 400 lbs. per 10 hours of roping, spun to say 2 runs, being a fair average. The reader ought to be able to form a toler- able idea (from the descriptions and contrasts given, first, of the principles involved in the process of carding, and, secondly, in the man- ner those principles are applied, both here and abroad) of the capabilities of his machines, and 150 THE CARDING ENGINE. where they may be improved. It is to be hoped these facts may lead carders to form cor- rect ideas of what a carding machine should be, and may help, in some -measure, to establish a theory of carding founded on the fundamen- tal laws which govern it, instead of the chaotic notions, everywhere so common, and which have neither law nor reason to lean upon. THE CARDING PROCESS. CHAPTER II. THE CAKDING PROCESS. This term is .employed to designate that entire process, beginning with the presenta- tion of the locl^s of fibrous material in the feed-rolls of the first carding engine, and end- ing with the dehvery of the finished work at •the condenser, ready to be spun into yarn. Therefore this "process" covers the entire oper- ations of a "set" of cards, however many parts such a set may consist of. One manu- fiicturer employs a set having 2 main cylin- ders ; another must have in • his set 7 or more main cylinders. The last may contain 10 times the amount of carding surface, as compared with the first set ; but the term "card- ing" applies all the same. Not to be deceived, however, by this broad apphcation of the term, it is well to remark that it means a great deal more when applied to the second than to the 152 THE CARDING PROCESS. first case, so much so, in fact, that the first set could by no possibility be made to perform the carding operation in the thorough sense in which the carding is performed with the other. We may tersely defii^ carding as consisting of the following elements : — 1st. A thorough amalgamation of the com- ponent fibres. 2d. Their rearrangement in parallel form. 3d. Cleansing them from refuse matters, and 4th. Uniting and condensing the fibres into threads for spinning. In other words, carding, whether done on few or many machines, or whether on lars'e or small ones, is a separating, opening, straight- ening, cleansing, and mixing process; in its essential nature always the same, but as to • degrees of excellence varying greatly. To accomplish these objects in a speedy man- ner, with a minimum of loss, rotary surfaces, covered with teeth of varying density and thickness, are employed. These surfaces difi'er both in circumferential THE CAEDING PROCESS. 153 extent and velocity ; in each case governed by their respective functions and the nature of the material acted upon. For the same or equiva- lent reasons these surfaces are fixed at varying distances apart, relative to each other ; and it is a knowledge of all these facts and their proper adaptation, which enables one to practise the art of carding. Sometimes these surfaces are flat, or partly circular, and sometimes partly rotative, inter- mittent, or stationary. The points with which they are covered require to be exceedingly sharp, in order to lay hold of the fibres with great readiness on the one hand, and also ex- ceedingly smooth, in order to let them go with equal facility on the other hand. For similar reasons the teeth or points are deflected at suit- able angles, tangential to the surfaces of said cylinders. The carding machine for wool is expected to perform the work which, in cotton manufact- uring, is done by the carding engine, — draw- ing, slubbing, and roving frames ; a combina- tion of machines which serve, by manifold 154 THE CARDING PEOCESS. doublings and crossings, to equalize every inac- curacy ; they also serve, by repeated drawings, to straighten out almost every fibre, and range them in the direction of their length in a most perfect manner. Nor does this cover the con- trast between wool and cotton carding, for the fibre of cotton to begin with is quite straight, and needs but little carding to accomplish all that is desired ; in fact, the carding of cotton is more a means of preparation for other ma- chinery and processes than carding in the sense we understand it in wool. The woollen card has an exceedingly difficult fibre to start with, which varies with every flock of sheep from whence it originated ; there is no such thing as regularity or uniformity connected with it. There are long and short, thick and thin, greasy, burry, fleece-grown, scabby, and numberless other features, all difiering in the degree or nature of the carding required, all needing some modification or another to reduce them into condition for spinning into yarn. Then there is the wonderful and almost endless variety of breeds of sheep, every one of which THE CAEDING PROCESS. 155 has peculiarities involving some modification of the carding process. Add to these dijSiculties, which are wholly connected with the fibre itself, the mechanical problems involved in the efforts to make a set of cards do all the drawing and doubling that is in other trades done siibse- quently by costly and intricate machinery, and we see what is included in the term as applied to wool of "the carding process." Between the carding engine and the loom in the woollen manufacture there is but one ma- chine — the mule — and at most there can be but two processes of doubling: How different in the cotton manufacture, where the machines between the card and the loom are so numerous, and the doublings amount to thousands ! ' The manufacture of cotton is a purely me- chanical one ; the woollen manufacture can never be so. A cotton manufactory will go on day after day, for years, without material change or alteration in the machines or processes. A wool- len manufiictory, on the other hand, is changed in some respects for every batch of wool. In the latter case it is all change and modification, 156 THE CAEDING PROCESS. requiring great forethought and great experi- ence to, first of all, foresee the possibilities with a given lot of wool, to correctly judge its capa- bilities, and to know how to extract the best there is in it. Cotton in the raw state costs but a few cents per lb. ; wool is dearer per lb. than 10 yards of the manufactured cotton cloth, and a yard of cloth made from ordinary wool is worth from 15 to 20 yards of cotton cloth. W e make these comparisons partly in answer to the query, " Why don't some one write a book on cotton-carding?" and also to show how much there is in wool-carding. The spinning of cot- ton is a far more important operation than its carding, and in all books, as well as such patents as have been taken out, connected with this pro- cess in cotton, we always find them styled "cotton spinning," the carding being looked upon as a subsidiary operation, secondary to spinning. Woollen carding, then, is necessarily an intri- cate operation, dealing with a very delicate as Avell as a very costly raw material, and from this we see how important it becomes for those THE CARDING PROCESS. who undertake to practise the art, to study well both the material and the mechanism they have to deal with. We see, also, what a field there is for improvement, for progress, and for emu- lation. • 158 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. CHAPTER III. PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. TURNING OR TRUEING CYLINDERS. It is of the first importance that all card cyl- inders should be absolutely true. The cards should be on a solid floor, per- fectly level, and parallel with the main line of shafting. Before commencing operations it is well to remember the following rule, which ap- plies in all cases, and must be strictly observed, namely, that the point of contact of the turn- ing tool with the cylinder should be on a level with, or slightly above, the centre of such cylinder. In the case of a main cylinder it becomes necessary to elevate the tool consider- ably above the frame of the card, and for this purpose blocks of wood should be provided, of such thickness as will, when added to the depth of the turning-rest, bring the tool on a level with the centre of the cylinder. The TURNING OR TRUEING CY1,INDERS. 159 doffer is removed, and one of these blocks is placed on each side of the frame close to the arches, and the "rest" is placed thereon, the whole being held in position with a carpenter's hand-screw at each end, opened sufficiently wide to admit the "rest," blocks, and flange of the card-frame, or bolts may be used to attach the turning-rest temporarily to the card-frame. Observe that the "rest" is exactly level and parallel with the cylinder, then tighten down the hand-screws, and put on the belt. Push the tool to one side, and hold a thin piece of wood, grain end, to the cylinder, while the same revolves towards you; this will remove any foreign substance from the wood, which otherwise would injure the tool. It is best to take off several successive thin shavings than to attempt too thick a shaving at one operation. Push the tool along by hand steadily and uni- formly, applying sufficient downward pressure to keep the tool close to the " rest," and keep the V or slides well oiled and clean. It is not advisable to use the screw and crank, sometimes provided, for moving the 160 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. tool along, and having a heavy weight sus- pended from the tool-holder ; it is better to guide it with a steady hand, moving as the eye dic- tates, firmly and uniformly. . With a sharp tool, managed and adjusted as described, a bet- ter job will result than by any other plan the writer knows of. If sand-paper is used, proceed with caution, or the truth of the cylinder will be destroyed. The sheet of sand-paper should be bent around a block of wood, and passed from side to side once or twice, to insure regularity. Some carders use the emery-grinder for trueing their cylinders instead of the turning- tool. This is bad practice. It leaves the cyl- inder rough, in no fit condition to receive the clothing, and spoils the emery-grinder. Card clothing cannot be uniformly stretched on a rough wooden surface.' The surface should be smooth and glossy, clear cut with a sharp tool. In turning all the smaller cylinders the same general rules apply. They may be turned in the grinder frame, a couple of iron brackets TURNING OR TRUEING CYLINDERS. beinf attached at each end of one side of said frame, and at such a height as to bring the tool on a level with the centre of the cylinder, when the turning-rest is placed on the brackets, and the tool is in position. , Always see that the shaft of the grinder, the turning-rest, and the article being turned, are exactly level and parallel with each other. To test the truth of the " rest," and parallelism of the same with the article operated upon, two cylinders (as workers) may be turned carefully true, and arranged one exactly over the centre of the other, with strips of thin paper between them at each end and in the middle ; if these strips offer equal resistance on being pulled it proves everything correct. If, however, the middle strip be loose, while the end strips remain tight, or vice versa, it is evidence that one of two things is wrong ; either that the "rest" is untrue, or more probably that the cylinder was not on the same horizontal plane as the turning rest while being turned. It is quite easy with a perfectly true " rest " to turn an untrue cylinder, if this important matter is over- 162- PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. looked, the perfect parallelism of one with the other. Beeswax slightly warmed is the best thing to stop up small knotholes, if such there are, so that none of the teeth shall sink below their proper level after the clothing is put on. It is the duty of every carder, both to himself and to his employer, to insist on having his grinding-frame and all its belongings of the most improved kind, fixed in the most perfect manner, so that there shall be no vibration or lost motion anywhere. Without these precau- tions it will be useless to expect a good, true job to be done ; and it is a very serious matter when we reflect that one grinding-frame and one turning arrangement have to be used on many cylinders, all of which wall be out of true, or otherwise imperfect, if the instruments provided are themselves incorrect. The effi- ciency of several sets of cards may be greatly injured by carelessness at this point. The grinding-frame and turning-rest are instruments of precision, and they must be so perfectly fixed as to be implicitly relied on. Be sure they are right before going ahead. STRETCHING ON THE CLOTHING. 163 STRETCHING ON THE CLOTHING. For the sake of simplicity we will arrange this subject under three general heads : — 1st. Clothing with sheets. • 2d. . Clothing with filleting. 3d. Clothing with rings. 1st. Clothing with Sheets. As the main cylinder was first considered in the remarks on turning, we will clothe it first, allowing the turning-rest to remain in the posi- tion it occupied in turning ofi" the cylinder. Lift the tool from the rest," and with the cylinder still revolving run a pencil mark around | inch from each end ; on one of these lines score off, with a pair of dividers, as many equal divisions as there are sheets of card clothing, making a dot at each intersection. Cut a flat point on a lead pencil, tie it to a thin lath long enough to reach across the bed of the turning-rest ; then turn the cylinder towards you until one of the dots comes opposite the pencil point, holding the lath at right angles across the 164 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. " rest " (which answers the purpose of a straight edge) and the pencil in contact with the wood ; now run across to the other side, leaving a mark which is exactly parallel to the centre of the main cylinder. • Proceed the same with the remainder, then remove the " rest," and the cylinder is ready for the clothing. From the foregoing it will be seen that we save time, and also do the work of scoring oflF the cylinder very accurately, by leaving the turning-rest undisturbed, and thereby using it, first, to turn off the cylinder with, and, second, as a straight edge, by simply removing the tool or pushing it to one side, out of the way. STICKING THE TACKS. It is best to stick the tacks in the sheets be- fore commencing to nail. For this purpose procure a board long enough to extend across the frame of the card and 8 or 10 inches wide ; divide this into equal spaces across the width of the board, say I inch apart, with dividers and try-square. The sheets are laid one at a time on this board, some distance from the lower STICKING THE TACKS. 165 edffe, so that the lines can be seen, and they are previously ruled, as follows : in the centre of the narrow or upper edge of the leather a line is run with the point of dividers or scratch- awl ; for the lower or broad edge get a lath ^ inch thick, the length of the sheet, and place it on edge against the teeth, and on the other side scratch a line, as directed for the top edge. The tacks are set along these lines, as far apart as the lines on the board. A boy, with a lio;ht hammer, can now stick the tacks while you are engaged in nailing them into the cyl- inder ; and he must be cautioned against driving the points through the leather, as all they need is sufficient hold to prevent their dropping out. As fast as each sheet is completed they can be laid one on top of the other until required. The above-described plan is considerably ahead of the old way of using a punch, and put- ting the tacks in as the nailing proceeds, and it saves the valuable time of the carder, or other person employed to do the nailing, by substi- tuting the cheaper labor of a boy. The job will also be better done, and neater, as the tacks 166 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. will be perfectly equidistant all around, giving a mechanical finish to the work not otherwise attainable. For a cylinder made of "lags" use 12-oz. tacks, and for a " block " or segment cylinder 10-oz. will be found large enouo-h. STRETCHING THE SHEETS. The best plan for stretching sheets is as fol- lows : Have two wooden pulleys made*, each 11^ inches across the face, 16 inches and 4 inches respectively in diameter, fastened securely to- gether, with a hole full 1^ inches diameter through the centre of both. A rod of 1\ inches round iron (an old feed-roll will do) is now placed across the frame of the card, and on this the double pulley should slide freely. The hand-screws previously used to hold the rest when turning may be employed to secure each end of tlie roll or rod at a distance from the main cylinder of one inch between it and the larger pulley. Nail the upper edge of a sheet to one of the lines on the cylinder, and to the lower edge place the clamps, turning the cyl- STRETCHING THE SHEETS. 167 inder to a convenient height for hailing. Now put one end of a piece of l^-iiich belting through the loop in the clamps and rivet fast. Measure the length necessary to reach down and once around the small pulley ; fasten the end to the face of small pulley with wood screws. An- other piece of belting is now fixed, one end to the face of large pulley, with screws, and of such leiigth as to form a loop for the foot, so as to not touch the floor when stretching. A stir- rup may be riveted on instead of a loop. It is now ready for use, and, if well made, will prove a source of pleasure whenever you are called upon to use it. To hold the cylinder rigidly in position while stretching, a bar of iron may be used, about 5 feet long, placed inside the frame, one end on the floor and the other against one of the lag-bolts in the cylinder. By raising or depressing, or changing from one bolt to an- *other, any convenient position can be given the cylinder. Iron dogs " projecting from the frame of the card into the ends of the cylinder lags should not be used; they mar the ends, scratch ofi" the paint, and spoil the appear- 168 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. ance of the card. No good workman will do this. The ends of the sheets should be stretched first, following up the intermediate space from the end last nailed. You can, with the appliance described, put on any degree of pressure easily, and a rule can here be laid down applicable to all leather card clothing, namely, that if you take all stretch out of the leather at the first nailing of the sheets, etc!, you will iiot have the annoyance of a second stretching after the lapse of a few weeks or months ; the clothing will keep suffi- ciently tight until worn out. If English calf- skin clothing is used it will not need the amount of stretching desirable with American clothing ; if it is simply strained tight it will answer. Tack-hammers as usually furnished' to mills are of no account. A good one should have a head 10 inches long, bent to an arc of a circle of 12 inches radius, and should weigh about 12 ounces. The handle should be light and about 12 inches long, cohered with leather, and the STRETCHING THE SHEETS. 169 ends of the hammer should be 1 inch wide, i inch thick, or one end may be thinner and nar- rower. A hammer of this Idnd will reach over the clamps without the handle continually strik- ing them ; at first it may seem awkward, but it needs only to be used to become appreciated. After the lower edge of the sheet is nailed, trim off the leather neatly to the pencil mark in the cylinder with a sharp knife, and then you ate ready for the next sheet. Nailing the last sheets is more difficult, there being no bearing for the clamps. A block of wood 3 inches long by 1 inch square can be placed in the space between first and second sheets, serving as a bearing for the clamps, thus protecting the wire. After all the sheets are on, the ends can be drawn out square and a tack put in each ; then trim off any sur- plus leather and get a strip of old filleting, ^ or I inch wide, run it around the ends close up to the wire, for the purpose of supporting the same and giving a more finished appearance to the job. Drive a tack here and there to hold it in position, replace all broken tacks with good 170 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. ones, raise up crooked or crushed teeth, and the cylinder is ready for the grinder. 2d. ClotJiing with Filleting. Make a frame 6 feet long, 31 feet high, and as wide as the distance between journals of workers, etc., to be clothed. The frame is composed of 1-inch boards nailed on to cor- ner posts, say 2 X 4 square, and braced together. On the upper edge of each side, at a proper distance from the end of frame, saw in a notch large enough to receive the journals of the largest article to be clothed. At the other end of the frame saw two more notches on the up- per edges of the same side-boards. These are to receive a dofFer, or other large cylinder, for the purpose of a stretcher. On one end of the latter, outside the frame, a pulley is fixed on the shaft over which a strap is placed, one end se- cured to the floor or side of frame and the other arranged to receive weights, the whole answering the purpose of a brake to the stretch- ing cylinder. On one end of the stretching cylinder itself is tacked a strap long enough to STEETCHING THE SHEETS. 171 reach to the article being clothed. To the loose end of this strap is fixed a small clamp, made as follows : take two pieces of |-inch flat iron, 1^ inches wide, one piece 3 inches, and the other 3| inches long ; the longer piece is bent down- ward I inch from the end, and at right angles, and forms a lip over the end of the shorter piece, when both are placed together similar to card-clamps. Through both these pieces, in the centre, a |-inch hole is drilled to receive a thumb-screw or small bolt. Three or four smaller holes are now drilled in both at the op- posite end to the lip, between which the end of the stretching strap is placed and the whole riveted together. To clothe a worker, place it the right way around in the notches of the frame opposite the stretching cylinder, and open out the clothing on the floor carefully ; select the proper end, attach it with a tack, and wind the clothing on the worker loosely, but close, until you arrive at the other end, which is now trimmed off square, an inch or so of bare leather being left ; this is placed between the clamps, which are tightened down 172 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. upon it. Now turn the stretching cylinder from you so as to transfer the clothing from the worker on to the latter. It now lays in proper position to^be stretched, and will need very lit- tle straining to cause it to assume its proper position on the worker with regularity and even- ness. A pair of dividers is now taken, and the circumference of the worker divided into as many equal parts as there are crowns or rows of teeth in the fillet; the dividers are fixed with an opening equal to one of these divisions. Pull a few teeth from the first row, men sure the second and each succeeding row with the di- viders and pull out to the point indicated ; now trim olf .the surplus leather l inch from the corners of each row of teeth, and nail the end to its place on the worker; turn the stretcher back to take up slack, and put on the brake. To turn the worker against the strain, a wind- lass can be made of two pieces of 1| X 3 inch ash or oak, 2^ feet long, halved together in the middle, and worked down round towards each end to form handles. After securing the pieces together with common wood-screws, or small STRETCHING THE SHEETS. 173 bolts, a 11-inch hole may be bored through the centre. On the end of the worker shaft opposite to where you commence the cloth'ing, a pulley is listened a couple of inches from the end ; on to this and against the pulley the windlass is now placed, and at proper places, in opposite arms, holes are bored to receive |-inch bolts, bent in the form of a hook, long enough to pass through the windlass and hook on to the arms of the pul- ley; nuts are screwed on, thus fixing the windlass to the pulley and worker, An iron windlass may, of course, be used instead of the above ; but there is the difficulty about its not fitting: the difi'erent sizes of shafts of the cyl- inders to be clothed, for all of which the wooden arrangement answers by using a pulley to fit the shaft. Iron clanks are simpler and more commonly used, but they have the disad- vantage that the force has to be applied at one point only, and therefore cannot be turned with as much regularity as the windlass. A boy may now turn slowly and steadily, while you guide on the clothing. I say guide, because I don't beheve it proper, nor would ad- 174 PRACTICAL OPEEATIONS. vise others, to jam or ijiinch the clothing into place by pounding its edge with anything ; it cramps the teeth, upsets the leather, and Is an unworkmanlike way of doing the job. It is far better to give the clothing a quarter twist through your hand, guiding each successive round against its fellow, without leaving gaps or allowing one edge to surmount the other. Make the boy turn steadily, that is the main thing" : jerking will be apt to break the clothing or un- duly stretch it in some places, while others are not stretched. If you want the clothino- to remain in good order, and never give you any future trouble, be sure and put it on under even tension. When it is all on, the end can be divided, etc., as before instructed, tacked fast, cut off, and trimmed. In using English cloth, whether as sheets or filleting, this stretching must be dispensed with ; it simply needs to be put on just tight, no more, and any stretching will spoil it. In taking off the windlass it is only necess;iry to loosen the set screw in the pulley, taking off both together. STRETCHING THE SHEETS. 175 In clothing large doffers with fillet I have adopted the following plan, w^hich obviates moving the dotfer : it is put in its proper place on the card, and a roller 6 or 7 inches in di- ameter is fixed some 3 inches from the floor, so as not to turn, at a distance from the dofi'er such as to leave standing room, and the cloth- ing is passed once around the roller. Owing to the large diameter, it would be impossible to turn a 32-inch doffer were the windlass attached directly to its shaft, unless several persons were employed to do it. To make it perfectly easy put the large gear wheel on dofi'er end, also the stud^and pinion, and pulley which operates the same. On to this pulley the windlass is fixed, accomplishing two important points, viz., a slow and exceedingly steady motion with any amount of pressure. A boy stationed behind the fixed roller will keep enough strain on the clothing, besides feeding it regularly as needed. I have often clothed those big doff"ers (in a new card) before the main cylinder was clothed, by using the latter for a stretcher, putting a strap and weights 176 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. over the large stripper pulley. This saves the trouble of fixing a separate cylinder on the floor; but, of course, is not applicable except when the clothing is off the main cylinder. The doffer is lifted out on trusses when clothed, until the main cylinder is finished, when the latter is used as a stretcher ; but, if clothed with the roller, it is not necessary to move it. 3d. Clothing Ring Doffevs. Procure a box, turn it upside down, and bore a hole the size of the doffer shaft through the bottom, which is for the present on top. The doffer is put on end, upright, with the shaft through the hole. To help the rings on, a cone of wood is used, 6 inches or so thick, the same diameter as the doffer at the bottom and about \ inch less in diameter on top. Through the centre a hole is made, large enough to slip easily on the upper shaft so as to rest on the doffer end. The rings are slipped over the small part of the cone and pushed down about an inch over the doffer. Now procure a square board about 1 inch CLOTHING EING DOFFEES. 177 thick and about 4 inches larger than the diame- ter of the doffer. In the centre a hole is made inch larfjer than the dofl'er ; this is now put over the cone and lowered on to the ring, bearing only on the leather or other foun- dation. Two persons, one on each side, now press the board downwards steadily, carry- ing the ring beneath it to the desired place. After proceeding in this manner with each ring the doffer may be lifted into the grinder, and the other one, if there are two,, proceeded with i^ like manner. The rings will at this stage be at varying distances apart, and before they can be arranged a gauge must be provided, which can be made as follows : get a stick of pine 1^ inches square, planed off true, and long enough to extend across the card-frame. This is placed against the main cylinder and a mark made on it at each end corresponding to the length of the cylinder. Inside of each of these marks others are made, even with the card wire of the shortest sheet, with which the cylinder is clothed. Now remove the gauge and make another 178 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. mark | inch inside of each of the last ones named, and with a try-square rule each of the marks across the face of the stick with a flat- pointed lead-pencil. The inner lines represent the position for the outer edges of the teeth of the end rings on top and bottom doifers. The distance between these inside hues must now be divided carefully into as many equal parts as half the number of rings to be used on both doffers. A pair of sharp-pointed dividers, with an adjustment screw, should be employed. Each division should now be ruled across with the pencil and try-square perfectly distinct. The dividers are now set to the width of the top rings, and put one leg to each mark previously made, making a dot with the other leg ; these dots are now intersected with pencil lines as be- fore. The stick is thus laid ofi" into alternate wide and narrow divisions, representing the width of wire on top and bottom rings, and their relative positions. The outside ring on the top doffer should be on the end opposite the stripper belt, in all cases, and this must now be borne in mind qy the rings wmII be wrong. \ CLOTHING KING DOFFERS. 179 If only one doffer is used, then gauging of this kind is not required. Supposing, however, there are two dofiers, and the cards are 48 inches wide, then the first set of divisions will number 24, and be about 2 inches apart. Then when each of these is set off for the top rings, there will be added 24 spaces more, making 48, which is the whole number of rings for both doffers, and thus laid out the stick will answer for both. The doffer being in the grinder with the teeth poiuting from you, and a belt on ready, arrange your gauge-stick in front al)0ut i inch from the face of the doffer, and secure firmly in this position. Each end of the doffer is now fixed, by means of the movable collars, at an equal distance from the outside marks on the stick, or, in the absence of movable collars, the stick may be moved as desired. All being ready the doff'er can be started up, and should run towards you at good speed ; it will be easy in this manner to get the rings perfectly true. To guide them as they revolve 180 PRACTICAL OPEEATIONS. nothing is better than a piece of pine shaved down rather thin at one end, so as to enter be- tween the leather of the rings, which, by gentle pressure against their edges, can be slid in true circles into exact position as indicated by the lines on the gauge-stick, which answers also as a rest for your thin guiding-piece. The other doffer is treated the same, being particular to notice that you get it right at the start. When both are done lay them side by side across the card-frame, and gently push them close together, when, if correct, the narrow rings will inter- lock perfectly with the others, and they will only do this when the ends of the two dotfers are square with each other. Strips of filleting, as free from grease as pos- sible, are now prepared the right width to enter between the leather part of rings. Those strips are now glued in, the ends butting together, or • (if you want to go to the trouble) overlapping a little. Another lot of strips, wide enough to fill the spaces between the wires of the rings, are now provided, and these should be long enough to overlap an inch, and carefully skived off so as CLOTHING EING DOFFERS. 181 to lay smooth when glued together. In cutting both the narrow and wide strips be careful and not get them too wide, or the rings will be forced out of true. Short, copper tacks are often used instead of glue, on iron doffers ; but the plan is not so good or neat. Another plan, invented by the author so far as he knows, and which answers every purpose of keeping the rings in place, besides the double advantage of cheapness and quickness, may be described as follows : having gauged the rings as described, and with the doffer revolving from you, provide a bobbin of cotton yarn about No. 20. Holding it in the left hand, so as to freely run off nose of bobbin, with the thread passing between thumb and fingers of right hand, let the end touch the outside ring, when it will instantly cling to the teeth. Now guide the thread neatly back and forth in the space be- tween leathers of adjacent rings, winding one layer over another until of same thickness as leather of ring ; then quickly cross over to next space, and so on continuously to the end. The whole operation will not take as long as to cut 182 * PRACTICAL OPEEATIONS. the leather strips in the old way, and costs about one-tenth as much. When done stop the dotfer, and with a small brush and thin glue so- lution saturate the cotton, having first cut the crossings from one space to another, and tied the ends together. The grinding may be at once commencecl, and the packing will dry as the grinding proceeds. This makes a solid,, compact filling, with no danger of displacing the rings. If thought desirable, wide strips of leather may now be put between the wire of rings and tacked with small copper tacks. If the " Apperley " feed is used, or the lap, or "ljlamire" or "Scotch" feed, or any other self-feed, on the finisher card, then it is neces- sary to make an extra thread on each side, called a "waste" thread, and in that case the gauge stick will have to be divided with two divisions more than as directed. (See further on this point under head of "Automatic Feeds.") CARD-GRINDING . 183 CARD-ORINDINO. There cannot be a reasonable doubt but a very large percentage of card clothing is de- stroyed, or rendered practically useless, by a too free or rough usage of the emery-grinder. Especially is this true in American mills, and one has only to ask himself whether the clothing he sees regularl}'- thrown away, or burnt up as useless, has become so by contact with the Tvool in its legitimate working, to be convinced that other causes have been at work to destroy it. Much too often it has met its fate prema- turely from one cause or another, but if we were to name the most prolific cause we should not hesitate to charge it to careless use of the emery grinder. To one who has not studied the matter it will, no doubt, seem surprising how little grinding is really necessary when cards are properly fixed and have reasonable care be- stowed upon them. The plan we shall recom- mend will be found to differ materially from that generally followed, and as this book aims 184 PEACTICAL OPEEATIONS. to be cosmopolitan in all things, — speaking of that which is good, wherever found, and de- scrying that which is bad even if found in this country, — we shall set up as an example for American carders to follow, in. the matter of card-grinding, his contemporary on the other side of the Atlantic, who certainly has the right to be held up as a monitor worthy of emulation, if we take into account his longer experience ; or we can find a yet stronger reason in the fact that he still continues to outdo us in the economies of manufacturing ; and if the reader does not feel disposed to al- low this we can assure him it is because he is not well informed. Beginning with a main cylinder we may say, that, barring accidents, it ought not to require grinding, in the full sense of the term, after it has once been put into shape when new ; neither should the doffer, and it is optional whether the workers shall ever be sfround more than once. As for the strippers they need only to be made quite smooth in the first place, and after that need not again be ground CAED-GRINDING . 185 for years. The fancy, once smooth, is all right so long as it endures. The tumbler, once hav- ing a good point, needs only to be kept smooth afterwards, and the " licker," or taker-in, ought to be wholly of metal, not therefore requiring to be ground. Now, the unpractised reader, who has always been taught to grind and grind by rote, so many times a month, or year, each piece so long a time, by established rule or whimsical notion, may be pardoned for doubting that the cylin- ders of a carding engine can be made to keep themselves sharp enough for an indefinite period ; yet it is not only possible, but exten- sively practised. There are two kinds of points which can be had on a card tooth. There is a point which can be got on to a tooth with emery ; but there is another kind infinitely more valuable as a carding point, and that is such a one as can be worn on. Such a point is round, in the form of a needle, and it can never be got on with emery, however applied. It is sharp enough for the work, and , better than all, it is absolutely smooth. 186 PKACTICAL OPERATIONS. I maintain that of the two a smooth point is of greater value than one merely sharp. An emery roller, no matter how made, the best in the world, cannot produce a point which is not more or less rough, and therefore so much and so far undesirable. Still I must not be under- stood as implying that I can get along without such a point as a grinding roller or disc can give, — not so ; but I do say that such a point is valuable only as a foundation, a beginning. Given as good a point as can be obtained on the newly covered main cylinder, we will, bar- ring accidents, and having the wool or other material free from refuse and properly prepared, using only reasonable care and diligence, run that cylinder until worn out without putting a grinding roller again to it. We will make the fancy keep that cylinder sharp and smooth, so that its condition shall improve from day to day, and it shall have the same effect on the fancy as has been exercised by the latter on the cylinder. We will keep the doffer sharp by employing a " dicky " or " tickler," a thing no doffer should CARD-GEINDING. 187 be without, and which is more fully explained under the head of " Doffer." The workers may be kept in excellent con- dition indefinitely, by setting the strippers against them, not too hard, but sufficient to maintain the point against the wear of the fibres. The reader will no doubt say, "But how about the strippers? " and our reply is, they will lose their sharp, keen edge, so much admired by novices, and in lieu thereof they will become very smooth, and obtain a sort of point quite as effective (set as close as we describe) in stripping the worker, and more efiective in allowing the stripper to deliver its load. « In the article on turning I have said that the first requisite is to have all card-grinders per- fectly true, which, of course, they must be to carry out the above plan. The practicability of the plan is attested to by some thousands of sets of cards in the Yorkshire district in Eng- land, which are never run any other way, and are rarely ground more than once in 5 years. Nor does this apply to one particular kind of 188 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. stock ; the fact is, it is universal and need not be longer dilated upon. One of the best devices ever got up for treating card clothing is the so-called " fiddle," consisting of a piece of emery-covered cloth, stretched between two end pieces and held together by a curved handle. This tool is extensively used in the district referred to, as it answers every purpose of smoothing the points and also shaking out much fine dirt from amongst the teeth. Every week or two this ought to be run over the cylinders for a few minutes, and that is all they require. In the whole practice of carding there is no single thing of more importance than the grinding of the points. The carder should al- ways give this his personal attention, and never leave it in the care of a subordinate. It is only by long experience and careful study that any one is competent to practise this peculiar process, which requires on the part of the workman a full development of at least three out of the five senses to become an adept at it : he must have a sensitive touch, in order to feel the gradations through CARD-GRINDING . 189 which the points pass from the commencement to the finish of the operation ; the sharpest eye, to discover irregi^arities in the minute teetli and in the various adjustments ; the quickest ear, instantly receiving the smallest variations of sound in the grinding cylinder, in order to so adjust it that the whole of the points shall be ground alike ; and in addition he must have excellent judgment, to know when to grind and when to stop. The most common error is too much grind- ing ; it is better to stop short of the mark than overstep it in the least. Fine emery should never be used, as it makes a surface too flat, grinding the top of the tooth only, producing a point more like a chisel than a needle. A needl6-point is what must be aimed at, and anything that will assist in producing such a point should be eagerly .taken advantage of. The traverse grinder is the only tool that at all enables us to approach this point. There are two forms of this tool in use, one attached to a stationary frame, operated by a screw underneath, receiving a forward and reverse 190 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. motion from an open and cross belt at the end, alternately giving motion to the screw. This motion causes the emery-wheel to slide to and fro on a heavy slotted shaft, the hub carrying a feather, which gives the circular motion to the pulley. The other form is known as the "Hardy," or "Biddeford" grinder, consisting of a hollow shell, on which the grinder pulley slides, being moved back and forth by means of a set screw, passing through the hub of pulley, through a slot in the hollow shell, and, by the intervention of a " dog " of suitable shape, entering into the threads of an endless screw inside the shell before mentioned. Both shell and screw revolve in the same direction, but at varying velocities, causing, the grinder to revolve, and also travel from side to side. This machine is used mostly to grind main cylinders, and sometimes put in a suitable frame for smaller articles. The maker builds one form especially for smaller cylinders, which is so arranged as to grind several articles at the same time. But the grinder first mentioned is most useful for small cylinders, where cards of CARD-GEINDENG. 191 various widths are in use, as the length of traverse can be regulated at will ; but with the shell-grinder this is impossible. The former, however, is altogether too clumsy to be used on main cjlinders. A recently invented grinder is now being in- troduced and known as "Eoy's grinder." In principle it is the same as Hardy's, as the latter is of Horsefall's, who was, we believe the originator of the traverse grinder, or at any rate the orig- inal manufacturer. But Roy's differs in this, that instead of an endless screw, enclosed with- in a tube, he employs an endless chain. The only practical advantage is that the wheel can be made on this plan to traverse from side to side faster without getting out of order than with the endless screw. This is an advantasre within certain limits. The grinder, of whatever type, should be truly covered with a coarse grade of emery, the grains of which will enter to some extent be- tween the teeth, thus grinding off the sides as well as the top by the back-and-forth motion of the emery-wheel. It must be perfectly level, 192 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. and steady running ; this is doubly important in this connection, for on it depend tlie truth and exactitude of all your cylinders. Each separate article must also be levelled before commencing operations, for it is a fact, that if both grinder and article being ground are not exactly parallel with each other (and there is no way of knowing this only by levelling them both) , the article will be ground out of true, and all previous care in turning will have been useless. When any cylinder is levelled it is important that it should rest on its bearings only, and the same w^hen undergoing the grinding operation. There has been a great deal said both for and against "facing" cards, or, in other words, grinding against the teeth, or the wa^ong w^ay, before commencing the final grinding. I un- hesitatingly take sides with those in favor of facing ; first, because with a new card the teeth are irregular, and it is among the impossibilities to produce equal points on each tooth, when they are irregular at the commencement ; second, it is equally important with a card that has been in use and which may be very slightly out of CARD-GRINDING. 193 true, but not sufficient to justify taking otf the clothing; and, thirdly, when the clothing is worn unequally. Under these -conditions it is evident that all irregularities must first be re- moved before it can be hoped to give each tooth the same amount of point. Suppose the final grinding to be at once begun without pre- vious back grinding or facing ; those parts that are highest reach the desired point first, and if • operations cease at this stage those parts that are low have no point ; and if you continue until the latter are in shape, the former will have become hooked ; for it is well known that card wire, if overground in the smallest degree, results in fine hooks being formed by the points turning under, rendering the card in worse shape to fulfil its office than if put to work without grinding. Considerable care is necessary in facing, or the delicate wire will be strained backwards. Set the article at first very lightly, the object being not to grind the entire surface, but to re- duce high places to a common level. After the burr or rough edge has worn ofl* it may be set a 194 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. little closer, and so left until the whole surflice presents a uniform smooth appearance. The arti- cle can now be reversed ; in other words, turned end for end, with the teeth pointing in the proper direction for final grinding. The facing will have produced a sort of edge on the back of the teeth, therefore commence cautiously until this roughness has disappeared, or the teeth will be forced forward by the grinder; once smooth, the danger is passed, providing, however, the grinding is not forced. Go slowly, setting a little closer occasionally, keeping both ends of the cylinder alike by care- ful listening at each end alternately, until the point appears perfect. I would impress on the carder the caution not to set on too hard, for this does not accelerate the grinding, as com- monly supposed. It is one of the easiest things, in the world to injure, if not ruin, your cards through incaution in this particular, and, I may add, one of the hardest things not to do it. I believe it to be a fact that more card clothina- has been ruined by injudicious grinding than . by all other causes combined. CARD-GRINDING . 195 When the cylinder has become very smooth, having a velvety feeling and a fair point, — stop. If undecided about its being as sharp as you can make it — stop. I have seen so many who have gone a step or two too far in this matter, and thereby had infinite trouble, which they could not account for, that I should say always stop soon enough, bearing in mind that per- fect truth and smoothness are most of all impor- tant. I consider the grinder as chiefly a " trac- ing " device ; a means of bringing each tooth to an equal working-point, by first getting them all to the same length and into the same condi- tion. It is the best plan to grind main cylinder and doffer at the same time, without removing the latter from its bearings on the card frame. Hardy's or Koy's shell-grinder is the best tool in use for this purpose. It can be placed on the fancy arms (the boxes of the latter being removed) and bolted down firmly. Be sure to level it first of all, setting it low enough to reach the dofi'er as well as main cylinder. The third stripper from the feed-rolls, with a pulley on 196 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. each outside end, will run the grinder, one pul- ley for the screw, the other for the shell, with a belt from the stripper inside to large stripper pulley on main cylinder shaft. The doffer can be operated at the same speed and in the same direction as the main cylinder, by means of a belt from either end of the latter to the former, whichever is most convenient. Before com- mencing set the dofler some distance from main cylinder, so as to give room for adjustment as the grinding proceeds. Be sure that each of the several parts are level ; bestow great care on the. doffer, for it requires the finest point and smoothest surface attainable. In this rela- tion the main cylinder is secondary in impor- tance. Strippers are difficult to grind on account of their small circumference, and unless plenty of time is taken, proceeding very lightly, the teeth will become badly bent out of shape. This is especially the case when the clothing is new and the teeth stiff in the leather. Workers need both point and smoothness, and come next to doffers in regard to the care- CAKD-GRINDING . 197 fill treatment demanded during the operation of grinding. Their functions are identical with those of doffers, and should, like the latter, have a finer point than main cylinder, so as to readily seize the wool, and smoothness sufiicient to readily part with it. Ring doffers require gentle treatment, as only half their surfaces are covered with teeth. A little well worn and fine sand-paper is good to finally smoothen them off with when grinding is completed. They must be smooth, or uneven slubbing will inevitably be the result. Before grinding any article, either new or old, it is best to examine the cylinder, .and all teeth that are crooked or below the surface should be raised. Have every point up to its work ; each one is there for a purpose, and that purpose will be the better fulfilled by bringing • them all up to duty. Since the foregoing was written for the first edition of this book the writer, by many experi- ments, has become more than ever convinced that smoothness rather tlian sharpness is most essential. It may be accepted as a safe rule 198 PEACTICAL OPEEATIONS. that, practically, smoothness is of first impor- tance, just coming to a point — no more ; that it is folly attempting to grind to an exceedingly sharp point, as it is beyond our present facul- ties to accomplish the desideratum of a perfect needle-point, without either producing a hook or burr on said points, or leaving them in such shape that they very soon become rough or hooked, through the nature of the work they have to perform. There is no means of telling except by the feel when the point is right, and the sense of touch can make no allowance for any excess of grinding after a jpoint has been once attained. The writer has used a large magnifying-glass in some of his experiments, and has found that the moment a sufficient amount of metal has been removed from the back and sides of the tooth, or teeth, to just bring the front to a point, a process at once sets in that rapidly spoils the point so attained, namely, the emery begins to form a burr or hook on account of the slight resistance offered at the extreme top and point of the teeth. Always be on the safe side and CARD-GRmDINa. 199 stop, as before said, short of the mark rather than risk overdoing it. It is altogether different from the foregoing when the ultimate point is worn on by friction of the wire teeth against and amongst each other, as, for instance, such a point as the fancy can be made to produce on the main cylinder, or such as can be produced on a doffer by a " tick- ler." A point so produced is only spoiled by coming in contact with an emery-roller, because it is as smooth and highly polished as the point of the finest needle, and the emery only makes it rough and furrowed. Every grinding frame should have a strong revolving brush, to which the cylinder can be applied after it is ground, thereby cleaning out the wire dust, which should be drawn off by a fan underneath. All the English grinders are now so made, and notably those of Dronslield, of Oldham, who has for many years been en- gaged in perfecting the tools used in the grind- ing and clothing of cards. In Europe there are but few traverse -grinders in use, the emery-roller, covered as it is by 200 PEACTICAL OPEEATIONS. them in excellent form by specialists, who make a business of it, being well-nigh universally used. Such a roller is often as large as 16 inches diameter, being no longer a roller but a cylinder, and it is made to traverse 2 or 3 inches. The execution of one of these grinders is very rapid, and when the surface is evenly covered it does a satisfactory job in about one- third the time that a traverse-grinder would require to produce the same point. For ordi- nary work in this country I fail to see any great advantage in having the grinding-cylinder larger than 12 inches diameter. The small ones usually met with, of from 4 to 6 or 8 inches diameter, I consider injurious to the card clothino-. o SETTING OR ADJUSTING CARDS. This, although of importance in connection with other branches of the art, does not begin to be so momentous as is often supposed. There is no i)ortion of a carding machine more difficult to properly adjust than feed-rolls in connection with leader-in and tumbler ; yet how often this vital point is slighted, and by many SETTING OR ADJUSTING CAEDS. 201 carders whio, with elaborate gauges, waste time in setting other parts to the smallest imaginable fraction .of an inch ! Before attempting to " set " the card, put on all the belts, including the driving-belt; other- wise you may find that the strain occasioned by the belts will disarrange your adjustments, and injure the points of the card clothing. No rule can be laid down in regard to the proper dis- tances apart of the various cylinders, for those distances vary according to the stock in hand. As a general thing the finer or shorter the stock the more reduced these spaces should be, longer and coarser grades requiring larger spaces, etc. Where one set of cards has to be changed from one grade to another it is not necessary (un- less there is very considerable difference) to alter the whole card, but merely the workers and doffers. The latter should, in any case, be nearest to main cylinder. Cards should be set progressively, commenc- ino- at the first worker on the first breaker, and CD gradually bringing the cylinders closer together, finishing at the ring doffers. The second PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. breaker doffer should, for instance, divide the difference between first breaker and finisher doffers. It is not of importance to set the strippers progressively, but only such parts as literally accomplish the carding, as workers, doffers, etc. Strippers in their relation to the workers may be set all alike, as close as possible, to thor- oughly clear the last mentioned. On first breaker they may be set a shade farther off, and on finisher closer to the main cylinders than on second breakers. It is best to use gauges for adjusting cards ; the unaided eye is not to be wholly trusted, be- cause circumstances vary under which you have to adjust your cylinders, such, for instance, as shadows and reflections of light, clear and cloudy days, etc. The best plan is to utilize a sense of touch as well as sight by using gauges to assist the eye ; one will be a check on the other. The fancy is set by the ear alone, and if both it and the main cylinder are in good order it may be set pretty deep without SETTING OE ADJUSTING CARDS. giving trouble. The fancy has been called the "scavenger" of the carding engine, and the name is very appropriate, especially when dirty, low stock is used. In that case the fancy can be made to keep the main cylinder fairly clean for a considerable period. Always set your fancy as close as you deem practicable. A common error is made in adjusting one end of a cylinder to its proper place, and then completing the other end. It is clear that, when one end is set in position and the other brought down to the same distance, the end first treated will have become too close, provided the article was too high in the beginning. Bring the cylinder nearly to its ultimate position at each end, and then by alternate tests at one end and the other complete the operation, notic- ing that no wool or other substance is between the journal and its bearing. In tightening the nuts during adjustment care should be used not to twist the poppets, or the cylinder will be slightly elevated, until, after working for some time, it will gradually settle down, and thereby cause the point to be de- 204 PEACTICAL OPEEATIONS. stroyed by the cylinders rubbing together. A wooden mallet or small lead hammer may be used to give a smart blow to the journals in order to discover if any of them have been raised by screwing the- poppets tight. ■ A great deal has been said about the setting of ring doffers; but we shall give the only proper way here, which has been arrived at by long practice and by study. In their relation to the main cylinder, ring doffers should be ad- justed both ahke ; that is, both the same dis- tance from the main cylinder, and that distance may be described as being just as close as you can get them and prevent their touching. This statement is made, notwithstanding the opinion I have often heard maintained by some carders, that the upper one should be fiirther off than the lower one. The writer has often been amused to hear this wrinkle explained somewhat as follows : That as the fancy will throw out some fibres, and these must fall on the top doffer only, it becomes necessary to set the lower one closer to make up for its defi- ciency ; in other words, to give a surplus to the SETTING OR ADJUSTING CARDS. 205 lower doffer in some mysterious manner of more than its share of the wool from main cylinder to balance the flyings from fancy given to up- per dotfer. A moment's reflection ought to convince any one at all conversant with the subject of the fallacy of such reasoning, for, owing to the manner in which the rings are ar- ranged, it is evident that the lower ones only take off such wool as is left between the upper ones. These views, published in the first edition of this book, in 1874, soon afterwards gave rise to a great deal of discussion and controversy, mostly carried on in the " Industrial Record " of New York ; and after many . indiscreet things had been said, it was declared very unani- mously, that the top and bottom rovings were never alike, and in all the best mills were al- ways kept apart, and spun on different mules, — that is, tops on one and bottoms on another; that the accidental mixing of these top and bottom spools would ruin the work, etc., etc. In the attack made on my theory it was just as confidently and unanimously asserted that 206 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. setting the dotfers at varying distances from the main cyhnder made all the difference in the WQj-ld. It was maintained that, by setting the top dotfer off, the slubbing could be made lighter, and by setting the bottom doffer closer to the main cylinder its product could be made heavier. Now, if this was true, the dullest per- son could see that the product of both doffers could be made uniform in size, and therefore it would be folly to keep the spools from each doffer apart. The fact remains, however, that this pet notion is the outcome of ignorance, for in the best mills in America they still con- tinue to keep the spools apart, and in all mills where they spin particular work, which proves conclusively that the doffers do not turn off an equal-sized product, in spite of the leger- demain. The idea is wholly opposed to good carding, and by thus interfering with the best relative position of the doffers to the main cylinder, in a bungling attempt to get the stubbings alike, a great deal of work has been spoiled. The proper position for a doffer is as close SETTING OR ADJUSTING CARDS. 207 as possible ; put it there and leave it there, resting assured, that the more you deviate from that position the more you sacrifice your advan- tages, and the more your rovings will suffer. Under the head of Doffers will be found a practical way by which the product from both doffers can be made very nearly alike, and it is the only feasible way there is of attaining that end. The doffing-comb needs very careful adjust- ment, or much vexation will ensue. The toothed plate should be in a perfectly straight and level line. The centre of the comb is best a little above the centre of the doffer, and the stroke should be so arranged as to fall an equal amount above and below its centre. On short stock it is sometimes necessary to give the comb a higher up-stroke, and for long common wool, with a high doffer speed, a lower down-stroke. With tender stock it is also advantageous to shorteu the throw of the crank so as to make short strokes, and to speed up the comb. The opposite treatment is necessary on longer stock. 208 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. The proper motion of the comb has much to do with keeping the doffer clean and making even work. It should not strike the doffer, but should be set as close as possible. The best way to set it is, when the card is running, by the ear, letting it just touch, and then setting off the least amount. It must also be carefully cleaned whenever it requires it,, and not neg- lected ; the teeth should all be in good order, as well as all joints kept tight, to avoid rat- tling. The speed should be kept as low as the work will permit, with a short stroke, to avoid unnecessary wear. A comb in perfect order should run noiseless, or very nearly so. It is pretty sure evidence of a careless workman to hear all the combs rattling when one goes into a mill, for there is no excuse for it. The modern so-called " noiseless " combs are only noiseless when properly attended to ; but they possess great advantages over the old-fash- ioned combs in the mechanism employed for the conversion of rotary into oscillatory motions, which, by many ingenious devices, can be easily made to run almost noiseless, while attaining a SETTING OR ADJUSTING CARDS. 209 much higher rate of spee.d than could ever be got out of the old comb motion, and the short, quick stroke so obtained is a grand thing for short materials, as shoddy, etc., because it helps support the lap or sliver on leaving the doffer, and still keeps the latter clean by its quick move- ment. For long wools, however, the old slow, long-stroke combs are the best. All the combs we have referred to, whether new or old style, are those which swing with an oscillating movement, and whose blades operate in a curve in front of the doffer. This class of comb are of more modern use than the old combs, which were provided with flexible arms, attached at one end to the arches of the card, and at the other to the uprights, to which, lower down, the comb bar and plate were fixed, at right angles to the arms. The uprights, passing downward, were at their lower ends journalled to a face-plate and wrist-pin , at each end of a shaft, driven at a considerable speed. This style of comb for some classes of work cannot be ex- celled, and is far superior to the modern comb for very short materials, shoddy, mungo, etc. 210 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. The reason is, that as it moves downward it approaches the dolfer ; but the moment its up- ward movement commences it recedes from the doffer, and is farthest from the hxtter at tlie point in its upward movement where it is clos- est in its downward movement. The result is, it can be set so as to touch the doffer in ffoing- down, without injury to it, and this ig a very- useful feature, as it not only removes the short- est fibres, but has a good efiect otherwise on the doffer. If this movement could be combined with the noiseless motions, we should have, then, a satisfactory comb. THE FEEDING OF CARDING ENGINES. From the first invention of rotary carding, all raw materials have been fed on by hand, until recent years. In the beginning, before the invention of the feed-rolls and endless apron, or lattice, the tufts of wool were lashed on to the first roller of the card, by taking the wool in the hand and holding it in different parts against the revolving surface, allowing the teeth to seize and draw out the fibres from the THE NEW WAY. FEEDING OF CARDING ENGINES. 211 hand. Then the "feed-sheet" of cotton cloth was invented, and the feed-roll, revolving slowly in a concave dish, held the wool by means of pressure applied to the roll, which, first, was plain, afterwards fluted, and, finally, covered with coarse clothing. The feed-sheet was used for many years, until the lattice apron super- seded it. In all these devices the wool was taken from the feed roll or rolls directly by the main cylinder; then came the tumbler inter- posed between the feed-rolls and the main cylinder, and, lastly, the wooden licker-in was added, until it was superseded, many years afterwards, by the metalhc burr-roller, which was the invention of Francis Alton Calvert. The feeding of raw wool mechanically has occupied the minds of many inventors through- out the manufacturing world for a great num- ber of years past, but more particularly since about 1860. Hundreds of patents have been obtained for devices seeking to accomplish this operation. Every imaginable arrangement has been tried, but most of them discarded the old plan of weighing the material, as 212 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. when the operation is performed by hand, expecting that by the aid of mechanism a means could be devised for measuring the wool, or otherwise gauging its thickness. It would be useless for me to attempt any description of this mass of projects here, so we will consider only two of the most prominent inventions, each being a representative of a distinct class of mechanism, around one or the other of which all the remainder range themselves. These classes consist of measuring devices and of weighing devices. Beginning with the former, we shall single out, as the most prom- inent representative, the invention of Jean Sebastian Bolette, of Goffontaine, Cornesse, Belgium, who obtained a patent, August 23, 1864. Iij this device the wool was thrown into a case having a lattice apron in the bottom and a toothed apron in the rear. The lattice travelled towards the toothed apron, carrying the wool along with it, which was then raised by the toothed apron, until near the top it came under the action of a cylinder armed with teeth, whose object was to equalize the material on the FEEDING OF CARDING ENGINES. 213 toothed apron. Passing the latter the wool was projected by a rotary beater into a throat composed of a lattice in the bottom and an adjustable hinged metal plate on the top, which, by means of a screw, could be raised or lowered, in order to make the throat narrower or wider. The operation of the machine was such that the throat was kept constantly filled, and the surplus returned back into the case by the beaters. By raising and lowering the movable plate, the feed was to be made thicker or thinner, as desired. This apparatus found its way to America, and the manufacture was commenced by Messrs. Chapin & Downs, of Providence, R.I., who built a number of them. It was further altered, and a patent issued to G. S. Harwood, of Boston, February 16, 1875, for a throat having movable surfaces, both top and bottom, in lieu of the metal plate, which had been objected to, on account of retarding the progress of the mate- rial. In order to make the feed lighter or heavier with this new arrangement, the two aprons forming the throat, or chamber, were 214 PE ACTIO AL OPERATIONS. fixed so that their speed could be changed to run faster or slower. • The above invention of Bolette serves as a type for many others of its class, both preced- ing and following it, that is to say, it measured the wool as it was continuously supplied to the carding machine. Depending, therefore, altogether on the bulk of the material for regu- larity, it necessarily followed, that as the bulk varied, or other conditions of the material became changed, so did the amount delivered to the card vary. Or if the material was com- posed partly of open, light, or fleecy wool, and partly of heavier, shorter, and consequently less bulky substances, the tendency was to separate them, which- was a very serious mat- ter. If, also, a portion of partly carded mate- rial was at any time added to the raw wool in the case, the same unequal result followed ; for the carded material would quickly fill up the space in the chamber, which would otherwise contain double the quantity of raw wool. Coming now to the weighing devices, and selecting the most successful from the great FEEDING OF CARDING ENGINES. 215 number of unsuccessful ones, and we have the apparatus invented by the writer, and patented in 187G. In this machine the wool is put into a large box, or case, having a grating in the bottom for the exit of refuse, and an elevating toothed apron in the rear, covered with teeth of a peculiar construction, the result of much study and experiment. These raise the material out of the case until near the top it is brought under the action of an oscillating comb, having a slow but long sweep in front of the apron. This comb is armed with teeth, and operates in such manner that the surplus wool is combed off the apron and the rest left evenly distributed amono;st the teeth of the latter. On the other side of the toothed apron there is another and shorter one, having a more rapid movement. This is provided with flexible strips of leather, which sweep off the wool from the teeth, and convey it, in connection with a hollow or concave shell, or dish, into a weighing-scale. The scale is formed of two curved wings, held together by suitable weights, and the whole suspended 216 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. on steel knife edges, and balanced with movable weights, which can be fixed to weigh any amount desired. When the scale has received its proper amount it liberates a small trigger, which causes a projection to catch on one of the teeth of a revolving disc, which is con- nected with a novel automatic clutch, which disengages the driving belt operating the toothed apron, thus instantly stopping further delivery of material to the scale, which now remains at rest. When the proper time arrives, the wings are opened apart and the wool is deposited on to the feed-lattice, in a per- fectly opened-out state, and in excellent con- dition for the cards. The scale is now closed and returned for more wool; at the same mo- ment the toothed apron is set going, and the delivery is carried on as before. While the scale is, however, receiving a fresh supply of wool, that which was previously discharged is moved along positively on the feed-lattice, to a fixed distance, at every discharge, thus leaving a cleaii open place for the next weighing to fall into. FEEDING or CARDING ENGINES. 217 This machine takes up about the same room as the ordinary feed-table, and requires but little power to drive it. It is complete within itself and perfectly automatic. It will give more perfect feeding than any other means that can be adopted. It will mix the wool, and render it, if of different kinds, mom lipmoge- nous, thereby making a better yarn. It will take out a large amount of whatever refuse matters the wool contains, and therefore it preserves the card clothing considerably. The cards will clean easier by its use, and they will turn off 20 to 30 per cent, more work than with hand-feedino;. One " hand " can run from 10 to 25 of these feeders, the number depending on the arrangement of the cards ; or one hand can run three complete sets of three cards per set. The machine is ornamentally designed, light, handy, and will not get out of order. All the bearings are self-adjusting, and every part is built so as to be interchangeable. In proof of the above assertions a few figures may be given regarding the success already achieved ; for it has been said that " the value 218 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. of an invention can only be measured by its success." The first machine was sold in March, 1878, and up to the present writing, January, 1881, there have been put to work over 1,800 of these machines. All the largest mills in America have adopted them, and tliere can be no doubt that a permanent revolution has taken place in the feeding of raw wool to the first card. In England some of the largest manufacturers, after ejc^ended trials, have adopted it, among whom we may mention the firm of Isaac Holden & Sons, who operate over 500 double carding engines, and 300 combs, being by far the most extensive wool-combers in the world. Mr. Holden has devoted many years of his life to improvements connected with the carding ma- chine. We may name also the firm of John Crossley Sons & Co., the noted carpet manu- facturers of Halifax, who employ nearly 7,000 people, and who adopted the machine after numerous trials. In France it also gave satisfactory results in one of the largest manu- factories. In the fine woollen trade in Hudders- FEEDING OF CAKDING ENGINES. 219 field it met with unqualified success, although tried on a set of cards havino; direct feeding all through. ■ For such a record there must be something of unexceptionable excellence, and it can be summed up in a simple statement of the principles on which the machine is designed and constructed. These are, firstly, to get the material into as uniform condition as pos- sible before being weighed. Secondly, to so arrange the weighing apparatus that while perfectly controlling the supply of material it shall be free from attached mechanism, and consequent friction, thereby maintaining its sensitiveness unimpaired. Thirdly, to so operate the mechanism that at each discharge of the weighed material it shall be forced to cover an equal amount of space on the feed- lattice. Fourthly, that this operation shall take place at uniform intervals of time. We have, then, briefly, a given quantity made to occupy a given sjpace^ at uniform intervals of time. All three of these elements can be changed 220 FEEDING THE PRODUCT independently of each other, thus furnishing ample opportunity for making any changes in the size of the carded product, or in its weight, and allowing, for any desired modifications in the thickness of the feed, etc. FEEDING THE PRODUCT OF ONE CARD TO ANOTHER. After the raw wool has passed through one card it must be transferred to another, and there are three conditions in which this may be done : — First, in the form of a film, or gauzy sheet of fibres, in successive layers, called the la;p system. Second, in the form of a flat ribbon or band, of several thicknesses of fibres, called by various names ; but we will name it the ribbon system. Third, in the form of rope, wherein the fibres are twisted around each other, by rolling contact against the face of the dofier. This is called the side-drawing system. The oldest metliod of feeding is by the first OF ONE CARD TO ANOTHER. 221 system, in which a drum was placed in front of the doffer, around which the film was allowed to wind until a given thickness was attained, when, by means of a small roll resting on top of the fibres, which (by their combined accumulation) became elevated, until a bell was rung, the attendant removed the lap so formed, and transferred it to the next card. This method has been abandoned, on account of its not giving regular work. There are sev- eral reasons why such is the case, which it is needless to enter into here, seeing that the plan is obsolete. Another method of carrying out this system is by the lap machine, which folds the film, one layer upon another, until of the desired thick- ness, when it is continuously wound upon a spool the full width of the card, and then transferred on to a feed-lattice, where it un- winds, and enters the feed-rolls. It is custom- ary to have two or more spools unwinding at the same moment, one lap on top of the other, in order that they may neutralize any difier- ences in their respective thicknesses, and also 222 FEEDING THE PEODUCT to break the joints, the end of one lap coming in the middle, or thereabouts, of the other, so as not to affect their continuity. The thickness of each lap is in proportion to the speed at which it is caused to wind around the spool ; for if the lap travels towards the spool slowly, then it will receive more layers of the film, and vice versa. Two forms of lap machine have been success- fully used, the original one being known as the " Ferrabee Feed," from James Ferrabee, the inventor; the other, known as the "Blamire Feed," but which, in its modified form, should be known as Marsden and Blamire's, being the joint invention of these two Huddersfield manu- facturers. The difierence in the two feeds last mentioned is merely in the mechanical arrangement for carrying out the idea. In Ferrabee's machine the film is carried up from the doffer-comb on a lattice apron, mounted on a framework jointed at the top, similar to a pair of dividers, one leg of which may be imagined as carrying up the wool from the dofier, and the other leg being caused to OF ONE CAED TO ANOTHER. 223 open and shut. The film arriving at the top of the framework came down on the other part, and there was folded back and forth, on a creeper or lattice, slowly moving at right angles to the jointed lattice frame. The latter could be made to deposit as many thicknesses as desired on to the transverse apron beneath by running the latter faster or slower, and the lap so formed was wound on a large spool, ready for the following card. Blamire's Feed consists in a lattice apron projecting outwards from the doffer, so that as the film leaves the dofiing-comb its whole width falls, as in the Ferrabee machine, on to the creeper or lattice ; but instead of going up- wards, like the latter, it runs nearly level, leav- ing ample room beneath for the transverse apron, which moves back and forth on a track, and so forms a lap, from the film being laid one layer on another, until of sufficient thickness, which can be varied by altering the relative speed of the delivery apron and the travelling apron beneath. The latter is caused, at every back and forth movement, to advance the apron forward a 224 FEEDING THE PRODUCT certain distance, carrying the lap along until at the end a pair of rolls receive the bobbin for the lap, which is passed once around, and then left until full, when it can be changed without stopping the machine. It will be understood that in both of these machines the apron, or lattice, which receives the folded lap is caused to travel in a direction at right angles to the outcoming film of wool from the dotfer, and that, as a consequence, the fibres pass into the next card in a direction at right angles to what they left the previous card, or sidewise instead of endwise. For yarns intended for warp this is not an advan- tagej but for filling it does no harm, and it is for many classes of goods of value, as it gives more points, and will, therefore, "mill" firmer in the cloth. A new feed has recently been brought out in Philadelphia, wdiich relaps the lap by the addition of another story, so to speak, to the machine, as we have described it; in other words, the lapping device is redupli- cated, and it follows that the fibres become againr eversed, that is, brought back into the OF ONE CAED TO ANOTHER. 225 same position as when they left the last card, and therefore they now enter endwise. This is claimed to be a considerable advantage ; but it has the serious drawback of a much added com- plication of parts, and of course extra cost, both in the first place and for subsequent repairs. Coming now to the second method, and we have what is known as the " Scotch Feed " as a means of carrying the wool forward. This feed can be best described as a dividing line between the lap and side-drawing. The flat ribbon of fibres, which is some 3 inches wide, is conveyed overhead to the receiving card, where it is passed backwards and forwards (parallel with the feed-rolls) on the feed-apron, flat side down. By the slow movement of the apron the ribbon is laid in such manner that each crossing overlaps the preceding one about one-half its width, thus making a succession of narrow laps, each half its width in advance of the other, and so on continuously. Having reference now to the third or side- drawing system, we find two distinct methods 226 FEEDING THE PEODUCT of feeding it, viz., by means of intermittent "spools," "balls," or "cheeses," as the case may be ; and the continuous method, invented by James Apperley and Wilham Chissold, both manufacturers, near Stroud, England, their invention being the well-known "Apperley Feed." With the intermittent method there are two ways of transferring the drawing, viz., by the common side-drawing spools, and creel, and by the "balling head." The hitter is a modification of the other, consisting in devices for winding the spools or balls under consider- able pressure, and of a shape similar to a cheese, which gives the name to the apparatus of the " cheesing machine," by which name it is known in some parts. This machine was patented August 20, 1863, by William Richardson, and subsequently im- proved by Piatt, of Oldham. It has since been manufactured, under the ^'oint inventions, by Messrs. Piatt Bros., the extensive machine- builders ; and it is a matter for surprise that only recently has it found its way to this country. Improvements have been made by OF ONE CARD TO ANOTHER. 227 Tatham, of Rochdale, and by Leach, of same place, both builders of this and other woollen machinery. In Piatt's machine the full spool is changed automatically for an empty one, and then must be removed, thus requiring a little attention for every spool. The improved ma- chines have from 12 to 20 empty balls or spools, held by clips around the periphery of a wheel, or in a suitable receptacle, and these are auto- matically fed one at a time ; the full ones being dumped out at the same moment. Piatt's machine, however, makes generally the most solid ball, and therefore, as will be seen farther on, allows for perhaps a trifle more doubling than the others. The advantages derived from the use of the Ballino' head are, that the balls can all be made of equal size ; that double the quantity of wool can be condensed into the same area, and that considerable labor is saved. The objections are, that they take up space in the alley- way between the cards ; that they are costly, and they are not continuous. Besides the Scotch feed there is only one 2p8 FEEDING THE PRODUCT other which is contmuous, viz., the Apperley or Diagonal Feed. When Apperley first con- ceived this invention he had holes at each end, about 2 inches apart. Into these holes pegs could be placed; and a girl was employed to take the "drawing" as it was delivered from the first card, and pass it around these pegs, from side to side, at the same time withdrawing th^ forward ones, nearest the card, and replacing them as the feeding progressed, in order to release the drawing so it might pass into the feed-rollers. Chissold suggested, or applied, the traversing guide and rolls, and finally the drop levers at the ends, and the spike straps, which completed the machine ; and it is wonder- ful that although thousands have been sold in both Europe and America, it has remained ever since in the identical shape that it was when first put upon the market by the inventors, m or about 1849 or 1850. The writer has in his possession a lithograph, published by the in- ventors in 1851, which is a correct representa- tion of the machines of the present day. It has not been because it was faultless that im- OF ONE CARD TO ANOTHER. 229 pro vements have not been made in the machine, for it is well known by all who have had expe- rience with it that there is ample room in that direction. Coming now to the question as to which of these systems and methods is best calculated to give regular work, we find many conflicting claims urged by their votaries, which we, as instructors in the art of carding, shall proceed to straighten »ut to the best of our ability. In doing so we shall give to each just what be- longs to it of practical value, so that the reader may have as clear an idea as possible of their respective merits, and be thereby enabled to judge correctly as to which will best answer his wants, and how far he may already be in possession of the best system of transferring his material from one card to another. The fundamental idea underlying all ma- chines of this class is, how best to obtain the utmost amount of doubling, in order to more thoroughly equalize whatever irregularities there may exist in the product of the preceding card, and thereby turn ofi" a more equal pro- 230 PRACTICAL OPERATIOIS^S. ductioii from the succeeding card. The ma- chine, or system, therefore, which will enable us to double up the most, will undoubtedly best answer the purpose. Taking the two systems of lap and side- drawing in their entirety, we must first of all decide which best fulfils the objects pointed out ; and that will not detain us, for at once we say the lap. Our reasons for this decision may be briefly stated, as follows it has always seemed that to twist the wool into a rope, and then immediately pull it apart again, was a wasteful oj^eration ; first, because it injures the fibres ; second, it also injures the card clothing ; and, thirdly, it is in the wrong shape, being round like a rope, for the reason that in carding we want perfect distribution of the wool, and therefore ought to have the material flat and loose. So far as general principles go, then, we prefer the lap ; but there is the very important question as to which enables us to get the greatest amount of doubling, and we are obliged to consider this matter in its relations to an intermediate card separately from a finisher. INTERMEDIATE CAED. 231 for its application to one or other of these engines alters the whole subject, as we shall show. ON THE APPLICATION TO AN INTERMEDIATE CARD. . With the side-drawing laid on by the Apper- ley Feed', we can obtain from 30 to 60 rows all entering the feed-rolls at the same moment, which, being drawn into one at the other end of the card, give just so many doublings. More than this can be crowded in ; but that involves making the drawing thinner, which is a loss of doubhng, from the fact of not containing so many films twisted around the rope ; and it is further objectionable, because, if too much crowded, it results in inequalities caused in various ways, but principally by forcing the feed-rolls to spring in the middle. Setting up a common creel instead of the Ap- perley Feed, and we can get one drawing per inch in width of card, or 60 drawings (spools) to a 60-inch card ; and not convenienfly more than this number, on account of the size of the 232 ON THE APPLICATION TO spools, which, if more are added, involves a creel of too large a size. Taking now, instead of the last, a balling machine, and we can increase the number to 90 balls, still keeping the creel of convenient dimensions. This is occasioned, as already explained, from the cheese-like shape of the balls, and their compressed form. This brings us now to the lap and its appli- cations, and we have two devices, the Scotch and Blamire. With the first named we can obtain but little doubling, and the only advan- tage it possesses over the Apperley is in its placing the wool on the feed-apron in a loose state, instead of a rope, and perhaps a practi- cal advantage in not laying the material on diagonally. With the Blamire we get, say 90 or 100 doublings on each lap, and by placing two of these together on the feed-apron we obtain 180 to 200 doublings. More than two laps may be added ; but it involves making them thinner, or otherwise risking inequalities, by springing of the feed-rolls, and thereby being imperfectly A FINISHER CARD. 233 held, or of injury to the fibres by an excessively slow motion of the feed-rolls, which must be sped slower in proportion to the thicknesses ofi:*ered. From the foregoing it is plainly evident that the matter lies between a side-drawing fed with the balling head and a lap fed with the Blamire Feed. The victory seems to belong to the latter ; but there is the question of the side-drawing's helicoidal form. Supposing that to a 60-inch card 90 balls are set up, and each drawing to have made 10 turns in travelling across the ftice of the doffer ; during its formation, then, 900 doublings is the result, which is near enough the mark for our purpose, and this settles the claim of the balling head as the best known means of feeding an intermediate carding engine. ON THE APPLICATION TO A FINISHER CARD. If side-drawings are fed to a finisher from spools, or balls, they must necessarily pass straight through the card, and therefore there if, only so much doubling performed as is attribu- table to the helicoidal wrapping of the film 234 ON THE APPLICATION TO around the body of the rope ; and, as we have seen, this only amounts to some ten or a dozen doublings, therefore we at once abandon such means of feeding the finisher, however ap]jHed. There is, then, only one way left applicable to the side-drawing, and this is with the Appeuley. Feed. As we have already seen, this appliance admits of from 30 to 60 strands or rows, being laid diagonally across the feed-board, the ends of which are all in the bite of the feed-rolls at the same moment. With 30 as the number, each of 10 turns, or wrappings, and we obtain the total of doublings at 300. But these are all made from the previous card during an interval of a few minutes, and therefore they represent the irregularities that may, just at the moment, have passed through the previous card, and such irregularities are duplicated continuously as fast as they occur. Suppose, for instance, the previous card has just been cleaned, and the teeth are replacing the mate- rial cleaned out, by appropriating the fibres passing through the card, then of course the drawing for a considerable length must be finer A FINISHER CAED. 235 than before, and less of it ; in which case it is out of the questio^i to suppose that the 60 strands can be otherwise than wholly or considerably less, and cannot by the doubling effected equalize themselves. With the Scotch Feed it is practically the same in that respect ; there- fore these machines by their directness are not all that could be desired ; but yet there cannot be a doubt that the Apperley Feed is the best means of feeding a side-drawing , or rope, to the finisher. In the application of a lap we have the means par excellence for feeding a finisher, and, as already said, the Scotch Feed being too direct, we have only the Blamire left for consideration. With this we get the wool in a loose, flat condi- tion, well suited for equal distribution over the whole surface of the card wire, and we get on the finisher nearly as much doubling as can be had in an intermediate card, — a desideratum not possible of accomplishment in any other way. Taking two laps, we will suppose that each have required a half hour in formation, and that an extra one is always kept ahead, to be interposed 236 ON THE APPLICATION TO between each one and the next following; ; then if the previous card has been cleaned, as before supposed, and a consequent thin portion of one lap produced, we have a means of equalization furnished by the interposition of the other one, which has not that defect. This, then, is the best known means for feeding a finisher carding engine. Hitherto, in these remarks, we have supposed a set of three cards, but reverting now to the employment of two only in a set, and we are confronted with the fact, that the lap feed is an indispensable means for obtaining an equal or regular product of the finisher under these con- ditions. The best-known means, then, for feeding a set of three cards, will require the Bkamwell Feed for the first card\ the Balling Head and Creel for second : and the Blamire Feed for Finisher. The best-known way to feed a set of two cards would require the Bramwell Feed for the first card, and the Blamire Feed for the Finisher. A FINISHER CARD. 237 We like to give good reasons for all we say, and one object in writing this book is, to plainly state the practical value of such appli- ances as are for sale, and to do so Avithoiit fear or favor ; to straighten out conflicting claims for this and that, which tend to perplex both carder and manufacturer until they know not which is best suited to them. Hoping we have given only good and suffi- cient reasons for all statements made, we will leave the subject of automatic feeding with the remark, that the field is wide, and reward cer- tain, to the inventor who can produce a feed for the finisher card that Avill be emphatically a self-feed, to take up no more room than the ordinary kind, and to be continuous. None of the feeds for finishers are entirely satisfactory, — far from it, — and there cannot be a doubt but we shall, before long, have a feed produced to meet modern requirements. 238 PKOPEE CARE AND MANAGEMENT PROPER CARE AND 3IANAGEBIENT OF FEED- ROLLS, LEADERS-IN, AND TUMBLERS. The subject of these remarks is of more con- sequence in successful carding than some card- ers appear to think, for we find very few mills where these parts are kept in good order. In fact there is no portion of a carding machine so badly neglected as the feed-rolls and accessory cylinders. This state of things is to be de- plored, and leads us to devote our attention now to a consideration of how best to keep the parts in good order. It is safe to start out with the assertion, that if wool enters a card irregularly its exit will be irregular, and no subsequent arrangement will completely remedy such defects. If each card is faulty in this particular, those defects are but multiplied. Steel ring feed-rolls and leaders-in are the latest novelties, and they are undoubt- edly the best ; but, owing to their great expense, and the fact that the difference in first cost does not justify the outlay, when compared to judi- ciously arranged diamond-point cylinders, it is or FEED-ROLLS AND TUMBLERS. 239 to be supposed they will be slow of adoption for intermediate and finisher cards. For the first card of a set the metaUic feed-rolls and the steel ring burr-cylinder are indispen- sable ; there can be no doubt on that question, so we will, ibr the present, confine our remarks more particularly to the best form and arrangement of these parts for the second and third cards. A wooden "licker" or leader-in should never be used, but instead thereof we recommend the iron cylinder for this purpose, as it always keeps true, besides forming a solid basis for the cloth- ing. Whether it is iron, or wood, the clothing should be stretched on extra tight, so as to maintain a stiff", upright position to the teeth against the strain they have to bear. No. 22 diamond point for ordinary to fine work will answer very well. The bottom feed-roll should be covered with the same clothing, and the top roll with " Belgian " pattern diamond point, which will be easier to keep clear. The wiper or small stripper may be covered with ordinary No. 30 to 32 round wire, ground smooth, being very careful not to injure the 240 PROPER CARE AND MANAGEMENT teeth by pressing them forward with the grinder. There is nothing so hard to grind in a card as this roll, on account of its small circum- ference, and if done carelessly neither it nor the feed-rolls will work satisfactorily. Don't try to make a fine point on it ; smoothness is more essential. For some sorts of wool the Belgian pattern card covering might not be so suitable as round wire or diamond point, having longer teeth than the Belgian. But for fine wool or thin feeds the latter clothing has some advantages. Many carders are troubled with the diamond point leader-in filling up with wool and gum- ming in a short time, as they are then difficult to clean without injury to the teeth. They soon lose their "point" also, and are never good for much afterwards, as it is next to impossible to grind a good point on them when worn. These difficulties are at once remedied, and with a sav- ing in waste, besides improvement to the work, by adopting the following plan, namely, to place a small fancy in the hollow over the leader-in and tumbler. It should be 5 inches or FEED-EOLLS AND TUMBLERS. 241 in diameter when covered with ordinary fancy wire, and driven with a straight helt from the end of a stripper. Its surface speed should be faster than the leader-in, and it is set so as to raise the wool on the latter effectually, precisely as the fancy does on the main cylinder. This enables the tumbler to clear the leader-in thor- oughly at each revolution, and the latter may be run constantly for months without cleaning, thus saving several pounds of waste each week. The "point" will always remain in first-rate order on the leader-in, by the use of this fancy, thus enabling it to comb out the fibres from the feed-rolls in the best possible manner. The " tumbler " needs particularly to be smooth, as well as to be ground and kept to a good working point, so as not only to clear the leader-in regularly, but also to part with its wool to the maiu cylinder with great facility. The size of wire on a tumbler is not of much consequence, but No. 30 to 32 will do, and it must always be kept perfectly true. We have already spoken in our review of the carding engine concerning the best diameter 242 PROPER CARE AND MANAGEMENT of these rolls and cylinders, and there only remains to be said how to best adjust them : first of all see that they are level, then begin by first setting the tumbler as close as possible (without touching) to the main cylinder, then the leader-in and lower feed-roll to each other, and the tumbler as close as can be. The upper feed-roll may be set -^^ inch from the leader-in and lower feed-roll. The wiper or small strip- per is adjusted close to the upper feed-roll and leader-in, so as just to clear ; the fancy quite hard (at first) on leader-in, but just to clear tumbler. It will be seen that to adjust these cylinders as described they must be made true, and so maintained, or it cannot be done ; thus resulting in much loss of efficiency in regard to thorough opening and carding of the wool, be- sides an increase of waste and loss of time in cleaning the same from the various cylinders. On the other hand, if the cylinders are true and arranged as described, the feed-rolls will keep clear, the point of leader-in will be pre- served for years, the work will be much im- proved, and a considerable amount of worry or FEED-ROLLS AND TUMBLERS. 243 saved the carder. To some carders these sug- gestions may seem commonplace ; but from my own observation I know they will be of deep interest to the majority, who, under less favor- able circumstances, have not had chances to become posted, but are anxious to learn ; it is for such I am trying to make plain what I con- sider essential parts of successful carding. In describing this arrangement it must be understood to refer to the modern card machine, with the leader-in revolving in the same direc- tion as the main cylinder, the latter clearing the tumbler, which runs in the opposite direc- tion. The suggestions apply also to the Ap- perley Feeder, which contains its own feed-rolls, as well as to feed-rolls, etc., for the ordinary spool rack or creel, and which are usually attached, to the card-frame. Arranged as de- scribed a combing operation takes place at the very beginning of the process, which is of the greatest possible value. The w^ool is entered into the card with great regularity, free from lumps, or other irregularities, and possibly one half the carding may be done at that point 244 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. before going further. There must be no accu- mulation of fibres, or dirt, allowed on any of these rolls or cylinders ; and I would particu- larly impress upon the carder to study this matter for himself, and I think he will need but little urging to afterwards spend great care on this generally despised part of a carding machine. THE MAIN CYLINDER. If a main cylinder be covered with " sheets " of card clothing they must be tightly stretched upon its surface, otherwise the centrifugal force to which so large a cylinder, with so much sur- face speed, is subjected to, will cause the sheets to belly out when running, and so destroy their own points as well as the other cylinders against which they strike. In cleaning a main cylinder, the hand comb, if used, should always be drawn straight, and not raked crosswise, thereby spoiling the regularity of the teeth, as so many are spoiled. The hand card is the best thing, if it can be made to suffi- ciently cleanse the dirt from the cylinder. THE MAIN CYLINDER. 245 A main cylinder, once ground sharp, should not again require anything further except smoothing over once in a while with a "fiddle," as the fancy ought to keep it in good point and smooth. It is a common practice, if a main cylinder becomes out of true, to put on the grinder and face it true, afterwards reversing and grinding the point. This is not very cred- itable to any carder, and would pay him and his employer much better in the end to take off the clothing and "turn" the cylinder true. It would take more time and trouble to do this ; but a good workman will consider neither of these, but only that which is the best thing to do. As a carding power we do not place great value -in the main cylinder, looking upon it rather as a conveyer of the wool from point to point, and as a base for other essential carding features. We think it is w^rong, also, to spend much time in the efforts to produce a very fine point on the main cylinder, for you thus only defeat, in some measure, your doffer and workers. 246 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS . which must always have the ascendency in regard to point. But what you do want in a main cylinder, above all other things, is perfect truth and smoothness. THE FANCY. This cylinder has been truly styled the " scav- enger of the carding engine ; " but the remark contains the greatest force when used in con- nection with the carding of shoddy, mungo, etc., where you can dig into the wire of the main cylinder. With clean, open fibre of decent length, the fancy loses much of its importance, for it is not necessary then to set it in so deep, such material being easier to raise upon the sur- face of the main cylinder, and being more liable to " fly " if much force is exerted. The fancy, though different in its functions from all other parts of a carding machine, must in any case be considered as a most important auxiliary, and it needs much experience to un- derstand its peculiarities, as well as judgment to successfully manage it. THE FANCY. 247 The long and delicate teeth, offering but little resistance to shocks, etc., often get jammed during transportation, and it is of the first importance to raise all such teeth to the com- mon and original level immediately after the clothing is on. This can be done with a knife- blade or awl, being very careful not to strain the teeth too far back, and to touch only those that are out of position. Such teeth as point sideways should also be straightened,^ for they often cause a fancy to work badly. Having carefully gone over the whole surface, it may now be set very lightly to the grinder, so as to touch only such places as are higher than the common level. Gradually set a little closer as the roughness wears ofi" the point, and run until the entire surface appears to have been slightly touched and to present a more uniform appearance. Now remove it to its place on the card, and put on a straight belt to the large stripper pulley on the main cylinder ; set it tolerably hard to the latter, and start up, running the main cylinder backwards ; but be sure your fancy is perfectly level. This pro- 248 PRACTICAL OPEEATIONS. ceeding will cause the wire points to raiDidly pass through each other, smoothening them from any roughness, and putting the fancy in prime condition. Oil should be freely sprinkled on a cleaning card, and the latter held gently on the fancy while in motion, Avhich will lubricate the points and assist the smoothening. It is well to ease the fancy towards the end of the opera- tion, so as to touch lightly, and run it thus for some time. Allow yourself plenty of time, and don't attempt any carding until you feel certain the fancy is in as good condition as you can make it. It is advantageous at the last moment to take a wad of oily wool and, holding it on lightly, cleanse from the teeth all emery or wire-dust and dirty grease. The best clothing for a fancy is that which is finer than the main cylinder, open set, and elastic. A stiff fancy is not of much use, nor is one too full of teeth, nor too coarse, nor too straight in the angle of the teeth. In the latter case they can be improved by setting the fancy in the grinder-frame, with the teeth pointing THE FANCY. 249 from you, and causing it to revolve towards you. Now place the turning-rest on the brackets in front, and fasten in the tool-post a thin piece of steel, — part of a saw-blade will do, — 11^ or 2 inches wide, and square at the end, but with the corners rounded off a little. Set this so it will project about | inch beyond the points of the teeth, and, with the fancy revolving as described, move the tool slowly and steadily across once or twice, or until it seems to have sufficiently changed the angle of the teeth. Another plan is to set the fancy in the grinder, with the teeth pointing towards you (the grinding-pulley or cylinder being on the other side), and then set it close to the grinder, which in this case is revolving from you, so fixed that the friction of the grinding surface against the teeth will cause the fancy to rapidly revolve ; and it must be retarded by gripping the shaft in the hand, no belt being used. This will press the teeth to a sharper angle and grind them at the same time ; but it must not be set too deep at first, or it might disarrange the teeth. 250 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. The office of the fancy ends just at that point where it raises the wool fibres from the main cylinder without entirely loosening and throw- ing them out; in other words, the operation is performed to perfection when the wool lies on the surfoce of the main cylinder like the nap on cloth after gigging. If the speed is in ex- cess the fibres will be thrown forcibly off, the current carrying them along, and propelling them into the atmosphere, making much unnec- essary flyings. If the speed is too low the wool will not be effectually raised, causing the whole machine to carry an excess of wool. When, however, the mean between these two extremes is reached, then there will be no trouble ; the card will work all throug^h clear of accumulation, without making any visible flyings, although the fancy may be set quite hard against the main cylinder, and it always ought to be as close as is practicable, for reasons already explained. I think fancies as a rule are run at a much higher relative speed as compared with the main cylinder than there is any need for, and a THE FANCY. 251 great loss is incurred thereby. To run a fancy as slow as possible to keep the main cylinder clear would seem the best plan to adopt, and then set it in hard, so as to wear the cylinder smooth, which, once accomplished, makes it easier, of course, for the fancy. If the stock is very fine or short the speed may need increasing a little. The fancy pulley is generally so small as to cause too much speed, so that it is only necessary to lag the pulley with leather of varying thickness to reduce the velocity to any desired point. A plan of great benefit on difficult stock, which will keep the main cylinder in good order and prevent it from gumming, is to raise a tooth here and there, in the fancy, one-sixteenth or so higher than the rest. These so-called " strag- glers " are of much benefit on short stock dis- posed to stick in the wire of sheets, and are of advantage on any kind of work. As to what is the proper relative speed of the fancy and main cylinder depends, first, on the kind of clothing on both of them ; and, second, on the condition of the material carded, besides 252 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. many other things ; so we shall make no at- tempt to give any rules in the matter, merely saying that no fixed rules can be devised. A rule that might answer perfectly on one lot of wool might be useless on the very next lot ; not, perhaps, from any difference of qual- ity, but because of ditference in condition. If there were no fortuitous circumstances to con- tend with, a set of rules might be given adapted to the various grades of wool ; but there are so many circumstances governing this matter that the best set of rules devisable must be almost nullified by the all but endless nec- essary exceptions. For ascertaining aTid estimating the speeds of j)ulleys, cylinders, etc., tables are given at the end of this book ; and further particulars as to the speed of diflerent portions of a carding machine will be found in the remarks on " The speed of cards." I would remark that the carder need not feel discouraged if he fails to succeed at first with a new fancy, especially if it be on a finisher, for the man is not born who can invariably make THE DOFFER. 253 one work perfectly at the first trial. Keep before your mind the principle that must gov- ern your actions, namely, perfect truth and smoothness. THE DOFFER. A doflfer must be sharp, it must be smooth, and every tooth should be up to its work. The nearer a doflfer approaches in diameter to the diameter of the main cylinder the better, because more resisting or carding sur- face is gained that way than is possible other- wise, and surface is what is wanted. The shorter the material worked the larger the doffer should be, because that kind of stuff is more difficult to card, and therefore requires more carding ; and more carding means more surface at every carding point. Celestin Martin, of Verviers, Belgium, to whom we are indebted for many improvements in carding and spinning, tried to convince the English that their theory of large doffers was wrong; and he even went to the extreme of exhibiting a set of his cards at the London 254 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. Exhibition of 1871, with no doffers over 8.87 inches diameter. In order, however, to get through a fair amount of work he had recourse to a very novel and ingenious device by which the doffer should not move in one direction continually, but should move forward, say one inch ; then back a half inch ; and forward again one inch more, etc. ; thus impaling one layer of fibre upon another. But the practical English carders laughed at it, for it was a fair admission that, in order to get sufficient carding power on his small doffer, he was obliged to cause its surface to be doubled, by alternate forward and reverse motions, the effect of which was to lay three successive layers, one superimposed upon the other; or, in other words, the doffer ad- vanced one inch, — that was one deposit; it returned a half inch, that was a second; it advanced again one inch, and that made a third deposit. Martin himself said of this afterwards, "The wool of which the cloth or nap was formed, in combing three times under the action of the drum (main cylinder) before being lifted by the comb, was too much THE DOFFEK. 255 combed by it. Its filaments were so arranged together in the direction of the working of the comber (dotfer) and in the length of thread (slabbing) that this last was not only a carded thread, but a combed thread, which rendered it stitFer and harder to mill." After this he said, " I now construct this assortment with combers (dofters) 21.3 inches diameter." I quote Martin, because when he was alive there was no better authority in Europe on card- ing and spinning than he, and also because he opposed the large doflfer for years by all sorts of ingenious arguments, but finally came to making them of the largest size. The cards built by Martin at his works in Verviers were always well constructed, and in proper hands always performed well, because he was a thorough carder himself ; but he was always changing them, and hardly any two cards which he made were alike. Martin was the first to use self-adjusting poppets, exactly as they are just beginning to be made in this country, and supposed to be a new invention. He also in- vented the composition cylinders, but they did 256 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. not prove successful. The strap divider was also his invention, and all others since produced are merely modifications of his ideas. His burring machine has never been excelled, if equalled, and his disc-grinder is worthy of being, better known. Many devices for feeding both first, intermediate, and finisher cards were in- vented by him. His continuous spinner gave evidence of his remarkable ingenuity and origi- nality. Two of the latter were exhibited at the International Exhibition, in Philadelphia, in 1876, as was a model of his " divider," of which we shall speak presently. The "point" on a dofier should always be sharper, or keener, than the opposing point on the main cylinder, for these reasons : firstly, the dofier has to carry away the product from the main cjdinder ; secondly, the latter has an advantage in surface velocity much in excess of the dofier. Then there is the necessity of always keeping the machine throughout clear of accumulation, the burden of which falls on the doffer ; all of which proves our position con- clusively, that a dofier must have a keen, true, THE DOFFER. 257 and smooth point and surface, in order to adequately perform its difficult and various functions properly. Its "point" must needs be the superior of anything else in the card- ing machine. The main cylinder has another advantage, for its point is, or should be, kept continually in good working order through the friction of the teeth of the fancy, and the tendency is for its condition to improve rather than otherwise. With the doffer it is wholly the reverse, for everything is thrown or propelled against its points by the combined action of the main cylinder and fancy. Unless we provide a means to overcome the tendency of the points on the doffer to gradually and con- stantly diminish in their keenness, we may ex- pect, before a great while, that bad work must ensue ; and this brings us to consider a very im- portant feature of a carding engine, but imper- fectly understood among our carders ; or, at any rate, if understood, very little appreciated, judging from its scant employment. We refer to what may appropriately be termed a condi- tioninfir roller, but known by the ludicrous name 258 PEACTICAL OPERATIONS. of "tickler," or, in some parts, as a "dicky." It is a small roll placed over the doffer near the fancy, and driven at a slow speed. This roll, covered with card clothing of ahnost any kind so long as it is finer than the teeth of the doffer, is driven from the hitter in one of two ways ; that is, either in the same or in the opposite direction to the doffer. It should be of iron, or may be of wood, if very true, and about 3 inches diameter. Standards attached to the card- frame may be fi^xed to support it, or brackets attached to the ''arches," or a continuation of the fancy brackets may answer. The clothing requires to point in the same direction as that on the doffer. If it is driven in the same direc- tion as the doffer, its surface may travel slower than the latter, or faster; it makes but little difference so long as it is not too fast. If it is driven in the opposite direction, then its sur- face must necessarily go slower than the doffer. Whichever suits the carder best he can employ, so long as the difference between the surface velocity of the one does not exceed more than one-third that of the other, or thereabouts. THE DOFFER. 259 When properly applied it will always keep the doffer in excellent form, with its points clear, never allowing them to become filled to the level of their surfaces with fibres or dirt, and, these two objects gained, will facilitate the carding of the material in a very great degree. A dolfer once sharpened, and then intelligently arranged, as we have described, will never need grinding again ; and we will go further, by say- ing that to put an emery-wheel against a dofier so treated would spoil it in a measure, for its points would then be roughened and blunted. A dofier, after running for some time fixed as above, will feel to the touch, in one direction, like the pile on the finest velvet ; but, in the other direction, as if full of the sharpest needles. Smaller " ticklers " can be applied also to the ring doifers, and will be found of great benefit, especially on short stock, difiicult to strip from the rings. For fillet dofi'ers the " tickler " may be covered with old fancy clothing,*' especially if the wire is fine with which the dofi'ers are clothed, and 260 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. the fancy wire stiff and rathier short in length, so it can be set that its teeth will work amono-st those of the dotfer with sufficient vigor to pro- duce the result wished for. If your "tickler'' "kicks," that is, throws out any of the fibres, then it is not fixed properly, or the relative speeds of the two are not right, and in that case just sit down and study your particular case, and find out where you are wrong, instead of condemning it. Judging from the sales of the previous editions of this book, it is quite likely that the above remarks may be read outside of these States, where the arguments in favor of this appliance may seem the commonest of com- mon-place information, and it may so appear to a few in this country ; but there are so many to whom the information will be new that I have been careful to explain fully, for their ben- efit, what some others may already be familiar with. In setting or adjusting doffers it is important to always remove the fancy, and see also that the worker belt is on ; for if the latter is WOEKERS AND STRIPPEES. 261 neglected it may raise the doffer slightly in its bearing afterwards, and by so doing bring the doffer too close to the main cylinder and destroy the points of both. By taking the fancy out a clear view can be had, and the distance accu- rately gauged all the way across. The main cylinder should be turned into various positions as well as the doffer, and at each movement carefully gauged with a steel gauge, so as to be perfectly sure that when they are running they cannot touch. A doffer of liberal dimensions, fixed as we have explained, and kept in good condition, readily receives the wool from the main cylin- der, and may easily effect a saving in waste and flyings of 50 to 75 per cent, as compared to the usual plan of working. WORKERS AND STRIPPERS. Workers may be likened to doffers in regard to their functions in the carding operation, and all the points we have insisted on in the article on doffers may, with equal reason, be applied to workers. The larger their diameter the 262 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. better they will perform their duty. They must be kept sharp, time, and smooth. Workers should be set in progression, begin- ning with the first one the farthest off, and end- ing with the last one the closest to, the main cylinder. As to the number of workers, we may say that there should always be as many as possible, and the number will depend on the size of the main cylinder, and position of the doffer, which should be set down low in the frame, in order to get all the workers possible. There should never be a cuttino; down of the doffer to admit more workers ; that is contrary to our ideas of carding, for this reason : that by increasing the doffer but slightly we gain more surface contact with main cylinder than could be had by the addition of a worker, and conversely lose more by cutting down the dof- fer to gain a worker. Then we maintain that the position of a dofter and its large diameter as compared with a worker gives it at all times the preference if an increase of surface is to be made. Various arrangements are in use for operating WOEKERS AND STRIPPEES. 263 workers, namely, by belts, chains, and ropes. We prefer the belts rather than the chains, but must have the pulleys covered with leather, else a belt is a source of continual trouble, owing to the very slow speed it must travel. The chains seldom drive the worker at a regular speed; they more often "go by jerks," leaving rows of wool along their surfaces corresponding to the links in the chains. Then it is a clumsy way at best. The ropes are very neat, and of ample power to operate the workers if the grooves in the pulleys are of the right shape. All grooves of this kind should be constructed on the principle that the depth of the groove shall be greater than the width ; then the ropes will find a bear- ing against the sides only of the grooves. Strippers, being simply conveyers of the fibres from one cylinder to another, furnish us but little to discuss. They are usually 2^ to 3 inches diameter before being clothed, and on this account the teeth are spread apart more, by their being bent around so small a circle, and therefore great care should be used in 264 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS . grinding them, or the teeth will be jammed, or bent out of shape. They do not need to be sharp, but should be smooth, and as true as it is possible to make them. For this reason they are generally made of iron, although the rest of the machine may be of wood. Sometimes they are placed on one side, and at other times on the opposite side, of the workers. The best side, however, is the one farthest from the fancy, so as to allow the wool to pass over the top of the worker, the latter revolving in the opposite di- rection to the main cylinder. The great major- ity of cards are so arranged, the exceptions being few and more notional than possessing any value. The direction of rotation of the worker is sometimes reversed, so that they revolve in the same direction as the main cylinder, and in that case no wool is seen to pass over the worker, for the wool is no sooner lifted from the main cylinder than it is returned by the stripper. We fail to see anything gained by this proceed- ing,- and after trying both plans we concluded to stick to the good old one, as first described. KING DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS. 265 , — — «*— in the belief that we attain a better distribution that way. In many parts of Europe, but more particu- larly in England, it is a common practice to run the strippers close to the workers, so they rub tosrether, and it is in this manner that the work- ers are always kept in good shape, and the "point" well maintained. The strippers, of course, lose their "point" by this proceeding; but by careful treatment they become very smooth, and that is the main thing. At any rate, they perform their part of the work in a satisfjictory manner when so arranged, although in this country they are, as a rule, never al- lowed to touch ; nor is it so necessary on good wool as it is on short stuff. RTN-G DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS. We shall give to John Goulding, late of Worcester, Mass., full credit for the first inven- tion of a combination of ring dofiers with a con- denser, and must refer the reader to the Appen- dix for a fuller account of Goulding and his other numerous inventions. 266 PRACTICAL OrERATIONS. — *■ ^ -■ Before the introduction of. rings, and the mod- ern system of condensing, all carding engines consisted of a "scribbler" and a "carder," the latter so called because it made what was known as " cardings." The doffer of the carder, iiistead of having rings, was clothed with " sheets." These sheets were nailed on in such manner that there was left a vacant space between each sheet and the succeedino; one. These spaces broke the continuity of the wool as it was combed off the doffer, and such por- tion of fibrous material as adhered to each sheet was called (after it was doffed and rolled up) a " cardino;." The first rings which were employed to super- sede the cardings were about 3 inches wide, and the originators of those rings never dreamed of doing anything further than still making card- ings, but making them continuous, instead of in short lengths, the width of the carding ma- chine. Rings of this kind were invented before the date of Goulding's patent, which was granted December, 1826. Rings placed in wavy or zig- EIXG DOFFEES AND DIVIDEES. 267 zas; lines around the doffer had also been tried ; but there was nothing at all touching even the borders of our present system until the date of Goulding's patent. The two-do ffer system is peculiarly American, and, although it has been tried in every manu- facturing country, in Europe it has invariably been abandoned, and the single doffer used instead. There are many reasons for this state of things, but chiefly it is the inherent imperfec- tion of the system which has caused its aban- donment. We have already referred to these defects in the chapter on adjusting the cards, and it only remains to briefly examine into the causes for the variations in the product of the top and bottom doffers. The causes are mostly, attributable to the fancy, which, being closer to the top doffer, projects thereon a varying quan- tity of fibres, which can in no case reach the bot- tom doffer. To neutralize this tendency the rings are always made of a narrow^er Avidth for the top doffer than for the bottom one ; but this is, at most, an unsatisfactory arrangement, for 268 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. with, one kind of wool a certain difference in the width may be about right, while all wrong with .another kind. Another plan, very gener- ally adopted and very much opposed to good carding, is to set the top doffer further from the main cylinder than the bottom one ; but this is not a remedy, as we have before explained ; see ''Setting and Adjusting." There seems to be only one feasible way of making the one equivalent to the other, so far as regards the size and weight, and that is to run them at different velocities, the top one the fastest, including its complement of rubs and spool drum. The readiest way to do this is to have two pinions on the hub of the pulley which operates the doffers, instead of one only, as generally employed. One of these pinions is changeable, and operates the top doffer; the other may be fixed permanently to the hub of pulley, and it operates the bottom doffer. By having several changes of one tooth difference, easy of application, the speed of the top doffer can be altered as small an amount as desired at any time. KING DOFFEES AND DIVIDERS. 269 The result with both doffers set to the main cylinder alike will be that the top doffer will give off a greater length than the bottom one for the same weight, instead of greater weight for the same length, and by testing they can be brought nearer together than is possible other- wise, and may be spun together without any great diificulty, although, of course, they never can both be of the same condition, though the same in size ; for we cannot neutralize the effect of the fibres thrown off by the fancy, which are always of a different character from those which are not thrown off. Comparing this system with the one-doffer plan universal iu Europe, and we must admit that in principle the latter is much superior, and we have no doubt that if the most perfect thread, or the greatest attainable length, must be got out of a given raw material, especially if the latter is of poor quality, then we shall have to look beyond the two-doffer arrangement, or be disappointed. But there are different ar- rangements of the single doffer, some of which answer very well for short wool, but not so 270 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. well for long wool as the two dofFers would ; for the reason that if all the rings are on one doffer the separation of the fibrous substance is more difficult, and there is greater liability of fibres crossing the very narrow division between the rings than is the case when every alternate ring is above or below the other, for then the separation is certain, whatever else takes place. The two plans mostly in use for taking ofi" the "ends," or "ropings," or "slubbings," abroad, is, for short wool, to take them all ofi" at one point, and through a single set of rubs, dividing them alternately to top and bottom spool as they come through the rubs. This is known as the " single condenser." The double condenser plan consists in sti-ipping every alternate ring below by means of a wipe roll, having rings fitted with alternate spaces. The latter allow each opposite slubbing to pass upwards, where all that are left may be taken off with a wipe roll made the same as bottom one, or a plain one might be used. Th9se stripped below pass through one set of rubs, and the rest through EING DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS. 271 another set above. This arrangement answers for longer wool, and is mostly used. Whiehever plan is adopted the rings are the same, that is, they are placed within about ^-^ inch from each other, the space being filled with a narrow strip of leather, gutta-percha, papier-mache, or other substance, level with the surface of the teeth. The main cyhnder can- not, of course, deposit any fibres on to these spaces, and whatever fibres the ftincy may deposit on them have to pass the main cylin- der before being stripped; and the latter, by its superior speed, wipes them off", so that they become pretty well separated. In all these arrangements there is a certain amount of fibres left on the main cylinder, op- posite the ring divisions. In order to distrib- ute or change the positions of these fibres, so they will be taken up by the rings, several devices have been used ; but the one at once the simplest, and most commonly used, is to ar- range a worker so it will reciprocate back and forth for a short distance. The stripper may also move with the worker. By this it will be 272 J'RACTICAL OPERATIONS. readily seen that the fibres become transferred on the surface of the main cylinder, from every point opposite the divisions between the rings, to jDoints opposite to the rings themselves. Sometimes two workers are caused to alternate in their reciprocations for the same object, but one answers every purpose. Numberless devices have been tried for sep- arating the wool into threads at the doffer, in order to dispense with rings altogether, or to render the division more perfect. Knives of thin steel have been inserted between the dof- fer and main cylinder, so as to enter into the teeth of both. Sometimes they are fixed to project upwards, sometimes downwards, and sometimes to partly envelop the dotfer, and fixed to a bar in front. Sometimes the rin^s have lead between them, and sometimes thin rings of steel projecting beyond the surface of the teeth. Rings put on in wavy linos, and also put on rings of brass Avhich have been caused to wabble sideways as they revolved, have been tried. Saw-toothed dividers, revolving shears, cutting-rolls, sectional combs, have all been RING DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS. 273 invented and reinvented time and time again. Every month or two we see an account of some new device ; but find it old enough on examina- tion, — a reinvention of an abandoned arrange- ment, perhaps a quarter of a century since. Coming now to consider the most modern arrangement, and the one in our opinion which will eventually exclude all the others, and we find that Celestine Martin was the first to take a new departure, and invent a device which should separate the threads from a continuous film after leaving the doffer. This he called a ''continu'" or divider, and it was arranged to divide the fleece of fibres into as many threads as desired, allowing for double the number from the same w^idth of card that could be obtained with rings. The doffer in Martin's system is entirely covered with filleting, and provided with a d offing-comb of the usual con- struction. In front of the doffer the divider is placed, and the sheet of wool is passed into it between two iron cylinders, with alternate solid rings and grooves, precisely the same in ap- pearance as a pair of ring doffers placed one 274 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. above the other. The' grooves are turned out of the solid metal, and are just of sufficient depth to take a leather band in each, so that the outer surface of the band, when inserted in the groove, shall be exactly level with the surface of the solid iron ring of the cylinder. The width of grooves and corresponding bauds is determined by the number of threads required to be turned off, say 96 in 48 inches, although I have seen them turning off 120 in that width. The result of the band arrangement is, that when they are in their respective grooves in the top and bottom cylinders, and the latter are brought together in their ordinary position, viz., one above the other, then the two surfaces arc level clear across with alternate rings of iron and of leather bands. Between the cylinders so arranged the sheet of wool is passed, and if nothing else took place the sheet of wool would come from the cylinder precisely as it entered. Instead of that, however, the position of the bands is changed on the side opposite to the entering of the wool in such a manner that each band before in a groove of the top cylinder is KING DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS. 275 carried down to the corresponding lower solid rino-, and tlie one in the lower groove trans- ferred to an upper solid ring, alternating thus all the way across. The wool in. a thin film passing between the smooth surface of these two cylinders on one side is thus caught in alternate strips between each band and the iron ring of the cylinder and divided, every alter- nate thread passing upward, and the next downward, until tliey reach a point about op- posite the centre of each cylinder, when the position of the straps is again changed, and the strips of wool, now perfectly divided, are wiped off the bands, and transferred into their respec- tive rubbing devices, and thence to the spools, or bobbins. It was found on some classes of work objec- tionable to have the rubbing motions so close too-ether as this divider necessitated, for we have just said that the strips of wool were re- moved at a point opposite, or thereabouts, the centre of each cylinder, and this, unless the cyl- inders were very large, which is inadmissible, brought the rubs quite close and cramped, and 276 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. required them to be set at an angle, the top set running upwards, and the bottom set down- wards. To obviate this a jpair of straps were provided for each thread, and between them the strips of wool were caught substantially as described, and they conveyed the strips to the rubs, which in this case were of the usual hori- zontal pattern. This is the prevailing style of divider now extensively used in Belgium. The difficulties with both these arrangements were confined to the leather straps, each of which must be of the same exact width through- out ; also of the same thickness and of the same consistency, so as not to stretch unequally, and, moreover, they must all be maintained .at the same tension. If variations occurred in th.e straps they affected the threads, as there were separate straps to each thread. But the difll- culties were never of much moment, not enous-h to prevent the rapid introduction of the machine into the mills of Belgium and France. Two or three were sent to this country, and are now running ; a considerable number were built in England, but it never won the afi'ections of the RING DOFFERS AND DIVIDERS'. 277 English carders, who claimed that the long fibres were either broken, or were pulled out of the mass, and therefore made thin places in the threads. That there must be more preju- dice than practical difficulty on this point we have ample evidence. It is no doubt true that on extra long, coarse wool some hairs will be pulled out ; but wool of this kind generally goes into work where a fibre or two is of no conse- quence, and the fact of their having superseded very largely the ring doffers, of whatever kind, in Belgium, shows conclusively that they have practical advantages. To overcome the objections of the straps a new arrangement has recently been brought out by Bylette, of Pepinster, who uses only one strap to divide the whole of the threads ; and he claims that, if the width or other condition varies, the defect becomes equally distributed amonffst all the threads, and is therefore lost. Whichever plan is used, the principle is the same ; we see a dofi'er of large size, 30 to 40 inches in diameter, having its whole surface covered with fillet (points), which means more 278 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. carding surface than can ever be got with rings, whatever their arrangement may be. The consequence of this is, that more threads can be made, and this means either more lenirth or more weight, during an equal interval of time, than is possible with rings. The wool being deposited on to the dofler equally over its whole surface, and afterwards divided from a homogeneous film or sheet of equal consistence, it follows that a more regular and more perfect thread can be gotten this way than can ever be hoped for with rings. Comparing the work of these dividers with rings, either for length or weight, settles their claim to ultimately become universal. Martin exhibited, at the Vienna Exhibition, a divi(^er de- livering 122 threads, including the side threads, from a sheet of wool 3 feet 91- inches wide; so that there were 1 20 good threads : 60 of these passed between one set of rubs, and 60 between the other. As they came out, every alternate thread from one lot of 60 was passed up and down, and the same with the other lot, to their respective spools, or bobbins, making CONDENSEES. 279 in all 4 spools for the spinning mule, eacli con- taining 30 good threads.- There are any num- ber running on work so low as 1 run, or 1,600 yards per lb., and plenty on fine work running, with satisfaction, at 20,000 yards per lb. To compare this principle of dividing with that produced by double-ring dolFers would be ridiculous, for it is as two to one in favor of sheet dividing, as regards either length or quan- tity of output ; and as regards quality, regu- larity in size, and condition, it is all in favor of the Belgian system. The superiority of that system is so manifest that we again reiterate our opinion of its speedy adoption, and the removal of the little, but greatly magnified, diffi- culties at present supposed to exist. CONDENSERS. These appliances have undergone as many modifications as have the dofiers and other parts of the carding engine, but we need discuss but two or three sorts which have at different periods gone into use. Perhaps the kind first devised was the Tube 280 PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. Co7idenser, once largely used in this country ; in fact exclusively so until the rub motion was invented. There are some tubes still runnin cutting it otr to the required length ; (3) piercing the holes for the reception of the teeth ; (4) the formation of the staple; (5) carrying it forward and inserting it in the holes; and <6) then putting the "knee" bend into each tooth after the latter's insertion through the foundation. The machine performs these operations almost simulta- neously, or at the rate of about 300 teeth per minute, involving some 1,800 movements in that short interval, every one of which demands unerring accuracy. It has been forcibly said, " In viewing its rapid motion, and the mechanical elegance of its movements, one is struck almost to fascination with its performances ; and we consider it the most amazing piece of mechanism that human ingenuity ever invented." Since the perfection of the card-setting macliine, the improvements have consisted wholly in new foundations for the teeth, different shapes of the drawn wire, and the sub- stitution of steel, and partly tempered steel, for the common soft iron wire. For wool carding, cloth or leather foundations are now chiefly used, and in this country we should imagine that fully 90 per cent, is of leather. Rubber foundation is considerably used for worsted carding, as there is but little oil used, and the dampness always left in the wool for worsted carding is less injurious on rubber than on leather. But in cotton card- ing, where no oil is used, rubber is universal. This founda- tion consists of several layers of cloth, the warp of which is of linen and the weft of cotton ; these are cemented together with a preparation of rubber, and on to the face a thin cover- APPENDIX. 323 ing of natural rubber about Jg inch thick. Such a foundation is preferable to leather, for the reasons which follow : with leather the holes for the teeth must be made somewhat larger than the wire ; thus the teeth are measurably loose, and so remain. With rubber, on the contrary, the holes are pierced much smaller, and the wire is thus held in an elastic bed. With leather the strain when working is borne entirely by the wire. With the rubber and cloth foundation the rubber shares the strain, and this constitutes its valuable feature as compared with leather, and renders it far more suitable, and at the same time more durable, than the latter. Another advantage may also be mentioned, namely, that there are no splicings, therefore no liability of breakage. When rubber foundation is specially made for worsted cards, the gum is not cemented in the form of a sheet to the cloth, as for cotton, but put on as a paste and vulcanized. The best clothing for carding wet wool has, in addition to the above, the teeth coated with tin, to prevent rust. This process is the invention of Daniel Bateman & Sons, of Low Moor, near Bradford, who claim to be the oldest house in the trade, having been established over one hundred years. This firm draw all their own wire, both iron and steel ; they dress all the leather they use, and for cloth foundation they prepare the rubber from the crude state, and weave the cloth. A large part of their wire is of cast steel, and the processes for tempering are mostly of their own inven- tion, having been now so far perfected that they can take a piece of steel wire No. 25 wire gauge over 16 miles long and impart a perfectly uniform temperature throughout its whole length. This wire in passing into the card-setting APPENDIX. machine has the tenlper "let down" by a Bunsen burner at the parts which receive the bend, so that the wire as it leaves the burner and enters the machine is alternately hard at the points and soft at the crown, and between these parts there is a gradual diminution of temper, thus making, they claim, a perfect spring of each tooth. This clothing is sent from the works already sharpened, as at first objections were made of the great length of time required to grind it with the ordinary appliances in the mills. The sectional form of the wire used in card-making has undergone a number of changes. Beginning with round Avire, which held its own for many years without an innova- tion, there was, first of all, perhaps, the diamond point or angular wire for feed-rolls, takers-in, etc. Then there was the Belgian, although that kind was a modification rather than change of form in the wire. In June, 1870, the flat wire card was patented by Ashworth Brothers, of Manchester, who simply flattened the round wire by compressing it be- tween a pair of hardened steel rolls. This strengthened the wire on a well-known principle, and seemed to be the great thing until complaints were made of it injuring the foundation by its action during working, and the presence of its thin edge against the holes in the leather, etc. This was remedied by the improvement introduced by James Yates & Sons, of Cleck- heaton, Yorkshire, who made their wire round at the crown, and up to the knee, but angular from there to the point. This was accomplished by a new and neat arrangement applied to the card-setting machine. This makes an open set card of a superior kind, because it is not weak sideways, nor injurious to the foundation, and strong in the direction APPENDIX. 325 where the strength is required. The part above the knee, by its peculiar shape, allows for a fine point being produced and at the same time long maintaining its keenness, requiring, therefore, less grinding than for round wire, and is for that reason more durable. James Walton & Sons have a patent wire also said to be an excellent substitute for round wire. It is called " curvi-angular, " and in section is inform of a triangle, round at the corners. It is usually made of steel, and compressed into shape from the round wire. The writer's father some time about 1850 invented a " fancy " set with steel pins, having heads same as the common pin, and^ points the same as a needle. These were set into a rubber foundation at an angle, but contained no bend whatever. A new foundation, combining the advantages of both cloth and leather, was recently patented by the large continental card-maker, Uhlhorn, and having the two materials cemented together with India-rubber dissolved in naphtha. The benefits claimed are that the joints in the leather cannot part when stretched ; that it furnishes a more elastic founda- tion, and greater protection of the leather against the action of grease. Felt has been used on top of cloth as a founda- tion, to answer the same purpose as flocks formerly were employed, that is, to fill up the wire to the knee ; but it did not seem to answer very well, complaints being made that it pulled out in cleaning the cards. A new departure in card covering, recently patented by Daniel Foxwell & Sons, Manchester, requires no teeth to be set, and for its manufacture they employ a thin sheet of steel of about No. 31 Birmingham gauge. This is cut up into widths for filleting, and then passed to a machine, where the 326 APPENDIX. teeth are stabbed. This operation consists in making two slits through the sheet, meeting together at a sharp angle, and then turning up the triangular-shaped bit of metal vertically- above the surface of the strip, thus forming the tooth which is attached at what may be termed the base of the triangle, the point being the apex. There are usually five teeth across the width of the fillet, and these are all punched simul- taneously, working at the rate of about a yard of fillet per minute. It is intended for lickers-in, clearers, etc., where strong teeth with ample clearance between them are re- quired. These have been run for five years without either cleaning or grinding. The fillet is wound spirally on the cylinders in the usual way, tapered at the ends with shears, and secured with tacks. Having now conveyed to the reader as clear a description as we can command of the methods employed in the fabrica- tion of the clothing for his cards, we will proceed to give rules and tables of use in estimating the square feet, number of points per square foot, etc., and other like useful in- formation ; but, first of all, a word or two may prove in- structive concerning the differences in practice between this country and Europe in reference to card clothing. "While it is the common rule in this country to use clothing having the wire set diagonally (twill set), the common rule with English wool-carders is to use the plain set clothing, which, according to their theory, is better adapted to the proper treatment of wool fibre. The diago- nal style of clothing has, of course, its uses there, being extensively used in cotton mills ; but wool-carders have con- tinued to prefer that which is plain set ; and they also pre- APPENDIX. 327 fer to have their own way as to the number and distribution of the card points. Time was, when the clothing-makers had it their way in many particulars, which, since the great changes effected by the introduction of shoddy, etc., the carders have insisted upon controlling; and now the maker of card clothing, when taking an order, is in- structed by the carder as to the number of crowns per inch, the number of the " set, " the size of wire, etc. ; and these instructions have to be followed, for of all things this is the one that the English carder is bound to have his own way about. He may be told that such and such carders prefer such and such style of clothing; and he may listen to these suggestions, but, unless his own judgment approves, he cannot be induced to deviate from the teachings of his OAvn experience. This is mentioned merely as a passing remark, and is intended only as an incitement to thought, and in the belief that practical men, who may deem it deserving of re- flection, will readily see that when a carder has got a correct theory as to the treatment of the materials he has to card, and as to the " set " of clothing best adapted to his wants, it cannot be otherwise than advantageous to him and to his employer to have the clothing made in every particular precisely as he directs. Of course this freedom, freely exer- cised by the carder, greatly disturbs the old-time theory, or rule, which apportions to each size of wire a fixed number of points per square inch or foot. But the only rule such a carder cares about is based on his own experience, from the teachings of which he will not budge. Rule. — To find the number of running feet to cover any cylinder. — The circumference is to the diameter as 22 to 7 ; 328 APPENDIX. in other words, it answers for all practical purposes to say that the circumference of a 7-inch cylinder is 22 inches. Multiply the number of inches in length of the cylinder by the circumference, and divide by the width of fillet; the quotient gives the length in inches, which, divided by 12, gives the running feet. To find the number of square feet. — Multiply the length of the cylinder by its circumference and divide the product by 144 (the number of inches in a square foot), and the quo- tient will be the answer in square feet. For purposes of ready reference, and to save all calcula- tion, as far as possible, a set of tables is here appended for finding the circumference of circles, and estimates for card clothing for cards of 40, 48, and 60 inches in width, these being the principal widths in use in the United States. APPENDIX. 329 TABIjE, showing the Circumference and Areas of Circles of Diameters from 1 to 100. a ran a a a a Dial Circ Are: 5 Circ Are 5 Circ Are 1 . 3.141 .7854 48.69 188.69 50 157. 1693.5 1\. 3.927 1.227 16 ' 50.26 201.06 51 160.2 2042.8 Ij- 4.712 1.767 51.83 213.82 52 163.3 2123.7 li- 5.497 2.404 17 . 53.40 226.98 53 166.5 22U6.1 2 . 6.283 3.141 171 54.97 240.52 54 169.6 2290.2 2^. 7.068 3.976 18 ' 56.54 254.46 55 172.7 2375.8 2^. 7.854 4.908 1 8^ 58.11 268.80 56 175.9 2463.0 2j. 8.639 5.939 59.69 283.52 57 179. 2551.7 3 . 9.424 7.068 1Q1 ' 61.26 298.64 58. 182.2 2642.0 3i. 10.21 8.295 9n " 62.83 314.16 185,3 2733.9 3.^. 10.99 9.621 9111 ' 64.40 330.06 60 188.4 2827.4 33. 11.78 11.044 21 * 65.97 346.36 61 191.6 2922.4 4 . 12.56 12.566 67.54 363.05 62. 194.7 3019.0 4\. 13.35 14.186 22 69.11 380.13 63. 197.9 3117.2 H- 14.13 15.904 0.71 70.68 397.60 64. 201. 3216.9 43. 14.92 17.720 23 " 72.25 415.47 65 204.2 3318.3 5 . 15.70 19.635 23* 73.82 433.73 66, 207.3 3421.2 5\. 16.49 21.647 24 75..39 452.39 67. 210.4 3525.6 63. 17.27 23.758 911 76.96 471.43 68. 213.6 3631.6 5J. 18.06 25.967 25 78.54 490.87 69. 216.7 3739.2 6 . 18.84 28.274 25- 80.10 510.70 70. 219.9 3848.4 e\. 19.63 30.679 26 81.68 530.93 71. 223. 39.59.2 6^. 20.42 33.183 26* 83.25 551.54 72. 226.1 4071.5 6J. 21.20 35,784 27 84.82 572.55 73. 229.3 4185.3 7 . 21.99 38.484 971 86.39 593.95 74. 232.4 4300.8 7^. 22.77 41.282 28 87.96 615.75 75 235.6 4417.8 7k. 23.56 44.178 28* 89,53 637.94 76 238.7 4536.4 n. 24.34 47.173 29 91.10 660.52 77 241.9 4656.6 8 . 25.13 50.265 29* 92.67 683.49 Jo. 245. 4778.3 8^ 25.91 53.456 30 94.24 706.86 79 . 248.1 4901.6 84. 26.70 56.745 30* 95.81 730.61 251.3 5026.5 8i. 27.48 • 60,131 31 97.38 754.76 81 . 254.4 5153.0 9 . 28.27 63.617 31* 98.97 779.31 82. 257.6 5281.0 9\. 29.05 67.200 32' *. 100.0 804.24 83. 260.7 5410.6 9h. 29.84 70,882 33 . 103.6 855.30 84. 263.8 5541.7 9i. 30.63 74.662 34 . 106.8 907.92 85. 267. 5674.5 10 . 31.41 78.-539 35 . 109.9 962.11 86. 270.1 5808.8 lOJ. 32.20 82.516 36 . 113.0 1017.8 87. 273.3 5944.6 104. 32.98 86,590 37 . 116.2 1075.2 88. 276.4 6082.1 103. 33.77 90.762 38 . 119.3 1134.1 89. 279.6 6221.1 11 . 34.55 95.033 39 . 122.5 1194.5 90. 282.7 6361.7 Hi. 35.34 99.402 40 . 125.6 1256.6 91. 285.8 6503.8 llj. 36.12 103.86 41 . 128.8 1320.2 92. 289. 6647.6 llg. 36.91 108.43 42 . 131.9 1385.4 93. 292.1 6792.9 12 . 37.69 113,09 43 . 135. 1452.2 94. 295.3 69.39.7 124. 39.27 122.71 44 . 138,2 1520.5 95. 298.4 7088.2 13 . 40.84 1.32.73 45 . 141.3 1590.4 96. 301.5 7238.2 13^. 42.41 143.13 46 . 144.5 1661.9 97. 304.7 7389.8 14 . 43.98 153.93 47 . 147.6 1734.9 98. 307.8 7542.9 Ui. 45.55 165.13 48 . 150.7 1809.5 99. 311. 7697.7 15 . 47.12 176.71 49 . 153.9 1885.7 100. 314.1 7853.9 S30 APPENDj^X. EXPLANATION OF TABLES. Filleting. — These tables give not only the number of square feet, but also the number of running feet it will take to cover cylinders of 40, 48, and 60 inches in length, and of any diameter. For instance, take 10 cylinders, 10 inches in diameter and 48 inches in length: Turn to the table headed "Filleting for 48-inch Cards;" follow the column headed "Diameters" down to 10; then follow that row of figures to the right, and find 130^ running feet of 1-inch width; or 104^ running feet of l^-inch width; or 87 running feet of li-inch width ; or 65 running feet of 2-inch width ; which will cover one (1) cylinder 10 X 48. Following this row of figures still further to the right, to the column headed " 10 Cylinders," find 108 square feet and 108 square inches, which is the whole number of square feet and square inches it will take to cover 10 cylinders 10 X 48. For cylin- ders of any other dimensions, follow the same rules. Wherever the dot appears on the right, cut about 3 inches longer than the amount given. Wherever the dot appears on the left, cut about 3 inches shorter than the amount given. Sheets. — To find the number of square feet in any num- ber of sheets of the following lengths : viz., 40, 48, and 60 inches, and 4 and 5 inches in width. For instance, take 30 sheets 5 X 40 ; follow the column headed "No. of Sheets" down to 30; then follow that row of figures to the right, to the column headed "40-inch," and under 5-inch of that column is 41 square feet and .096 square inches. To find the number of square feet in any number of sheets not given in the table, add auj two that will produce the required number. APPENDIX. 331 13 16 18 20 22 28 34 39 45 50 55 60 66 72 76i 82i 94i 99 105 ■ 1091 : 114 ■ 120 r 1241 ■ 1301 r 1365 ■ 142 148 154 158 162 168 174 178 184 188 194 : 200 ■ 206 210 216 2OII22O " ' 1226 232 238 242 248 254 260 21 2n 22 22^ 23 23h 24 t2i — 16 18 23 28 31 36 40 44 48 53 •58 61 66 ■71 75. 79-' 84 871 91- 96 99J 104i 109- 113^ 1181 123- 126- •130 134^ 139^ 142J 147- 150^ 155- 160 •165 168 •173 176 •181 185J 190^ 1931 198," 203' 208 15 19 23 26 30 34 37 41 44 48 .51 55 59 63 66 70 73 76 80 83 87 91 95 98 102 105 108 112 116 119 123 125 129 133i 137i 140 144 •147 150,1 154" 158, 161 165 169 173 1 a 3 4 5 Cylinder. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's Cylind's. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. ft. in. 1 )12 2 024 )36 4 )4S 5 360 1 )48 2 096 ^ 5 )48 6 )96 1 )72 3 4 )72 g 7 )72 1 3 048 5 6 096 8 048 1 3 096 5 072 7 )48 9 )24 2 ri to 4 096 1 9 )48 11 096 2 5 108 090 11 )72 14 054 3 i)oD 6 072 9 108 13 16 036 3 108 7 072 j-^ 036 15 18 108 4 8 072 12 108 17 21 036 4 non 9 036 13 126 18 072 23 018 \ m« 10 036 15 054 20 072 25 090 5 yjlZ 11 16 072 22 27 072 6 12 18 24 30 6 054 12 108 19 018 25 072 31 126 6 126 13 108 20 090 27 072 34 054 7 054 14 108 22 018 29 072 36 126 7 126 15 108 23 090 31 072 39 054 8 036 161072 24 108 33 41 036 8 108 17 i 072 26 036 35 43 108 9 018 is; 036 27 054 36 072 45 090 9 072 19 28 072 38 47 072 10 20 30 40 50 10 054 201108 31 018 41 072 51 126 10 1-26 21! 108 32 090 43 072 54 0.54 11 054 22; 108 34 018 45 072 56 1-26 11 120 231096 35 072 47 048 59 024 12 048 241096 37 49 048 61 096 12 1-20 25 .096 38 o'72 51 048 64 024 13 024 26 048 39 072 52 096 65il20 13 072 27 40 072 54 671072 14 28 42 56 70 14 072 29 43 072* 58 721072 14 120 29 096 44 072 59 048 74 024 15048 30 i 096 46 . . 61 048 76 096 I5I096 31 048 47 . . 62 096 78 048 16 024 32 048 48 072 64 096 80 120 16 096 33 048 50 . . 66 i 096 83 048 17 024 34 048 51 072 68 096 85 120 17 072 35 55 072 70 87 072 18 3f . . 54 72 90 18 048 3C 096 5£ 73 048 91 0% IS 120 3' 096 5C 072 75 048 94 024 IE 048 38 096 58 . . 77 048 96 096 IE 120 3f 096 69 072 79 048 99 024 20:024 4C 048 60072 8C 096 100 120 201096 41! 048 621 . . 82 096 lOS 048 21 024 42 048 63 072 84 096 105 120 21 096 43 048 65: . . 86 096 108 048 332 APPENDIX. 60 66 76] 82) 88) 94- 99 105 109! 114 120 124i 130.^ 136L 142 148 154 158 162 168 16'jl74 16ilT8 17 184 17i!l88 18 194 18^(200 19 !206 19i!210 20 i216 20i|220 21 226 21^232 22 22^ 23 23i 24 8 23 28 31 36 40 44 48 53 •58 61- 66 •71 75^ T9- 84 87i 91- 96 994 1044 109- 1131 1181 123- 126- fso 134i 139 1421 147- 150^ 155- 160 •105 168 •173 176 •181 1851 1901 1931 19SJ 203^ 208 15 19 23 26 30 34 37 41 44 48 51 55 59 63 66 TO 73 76 80 83 87 91 95 98 102 105 108 112 116 119 1-23 125 129 1334 137' 140 144 147 150.1 154! 158^ 161^ 165- 169- 173^ •55 67 60 62' 65 68 71 74 77 T9 81 84 87 89 92 94 97 lOO 103 105 108 110 113 116 119 121 124 127 130 Cylind's, Sq. 8q. ft. in. 52 54 57 60 62 65 68 71 74 77 79 81 84 87 89 92 94 97 100 103 105 108 no 113 116| 119 121 124 127 130 7 Cylind's. Sq. I Sq. ft. in. 7 048 9 048 10 072 11 096 12 120 16 048 20 018 22 108 26 036 29 108 32 054 35 126 38 072 42 . . 44 090 48 018 51 090 55 018 57108 61 036 63'l26 66 072 70| . . 72 090 76 018 79 090 82 120 86 048 89 120 92 024 94 072 98| . . 101 '072 103 120 107*048 109 096 113 024 116 096 120 024 122 072 126 . . 128 048 131 120 135 048 138 141 144 148 024 151 Cylind's, Sq. Sq. ft. 10 096 12 . . 18!096 23 26 30 84 37 41 44 48 51 55 59 63 66 70 73 76 80 83 87 91 94 98 102lO96 105 048 108 112 116 118 1-22 125 129 133 048 137 140 144 146 150 096 154 096 1581096 161 048 165|048 169|048 173 048 O 10 Cylind's. Cylind's. Sq. Sq. ft. 9 108 12 072 126 036 108 036 090 018 072 054 126 0.54 126 036 108 018 072 97 102 1061072 111 . 115 072 118 072 121 072 126 . . 130 072 133|072 13S 141 14f 151. 154 157 162 165 169 174 178 181 186 190 195 j 072 Sq. Sq. ft. in. 10 120 13 048 15 APPENDIX. 333 II — 0 "S — 1 3 3 0 c ^ Cylinder, Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. 8q. Sq. Sq. 3 .5 c ^ §.s Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. P5 r-l ft in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. lo 012 0^54" 3 036 fUS~ 5 060 17 060 120 4 036 nor 7 012 20 096 048 5 Aor 8 048 24 19* 2 ■ ■ 6 10 2 1 'is 4 6 108 9 • • 11 0*36* 34 27* •93 2 1*20 nor ifla 8 072 14 024 4O5 32 27 10 018 io A- 1 Oi '2 161126 465 37* 3 12o t 108 11 090 072 19 054 52| 4'2 054 g 108 13 018 1- 21 126 58^ *47 108 14 090 19 072 24 054 66 *53 44 1 1 16 072 22 27 072 72 o7 ^ 48 • • 1*2 • • 18 30 19 126 26 33 o'l8 84 d7' -R i • • 14 21 28 30 91^ 73* fil 7 036 22 126 38 o'l8* 99 79* 00 g 036 ir 07'2 24 108 41 0G6 105 84 70 8 108 1 1 072 26 036 0- OO 43 108 iii *89 74 9 036 18 n7*? Vi ^ 27 108 37 46 036 985 78 9 108 19 072 29 036 39 48 108 99 5 10 054 20 31 018 41 0 i '2 51 126 130^ 104^ 0- ot 6o^ 10 1'26 21 108 32 090 43 07*2 54 054 138 IIO5 92 69 11 072 23 34 072 57 072 144 115* 96 7'2 12 24 36 48 • • 60 151| 1211 101 •76 12 090 25 036 37 126 50 Oi 2 63 o'l8* 157^ 1*26 105 78.| 13 018 26 036 39 054 52 072 65 '090 1 1 1*29.2 11? 81 13 072 27 " * 40 072 54 67 072 loo.^ 133* Ill 83 • 13 126 27 108 41 090 55 Oi2 69 054 174 139" 116 87 14 072 29 43 072 58 72 072 180 144 120 90 15 30 45 60 75 188 J "7 125^ 94 15 096 31 048 47 62 096' 78 0*48* 194 loo.^ 1'29^ 97 16 024 32 048 48,072 64 096 80 120 200 160 133^ 100 16 096 33 048 50 66 096 83 048 ■206 •165 137^ 103 17 024 34 048 51 072 68 096 85 120 214 171* 142.1 107 17 1-20 35 096 53 072 71 048 89 024 220 176 146.^ 110 18 048 36 096 55 73 048 91 096 228 182,1 152 114 19 38 57 76 95 234 187*" 156 117 19 072 39 58 072 78 97 o"72 240 192 160 1*20 20 40 60 80 100 246 •197 164 123 20 072 41 61 072' 82 102 o'72' 252 *202 168 1'26 21 42 63 84 105 258 206i 172 129 21 072 43 64 07'i 86 107 o'72 266 •213 177* 133 22 024 44 048' 66 072 88 o'oe' 110 120 272 •2*20 181^ 136 22 096 45 048 68 90 096 113 048 280 224 180^ 140 23 048 46 096 70 93 048 116 096 286 -229 190^ 143 23 120 47 096 71 072 95 048 119 024 294 *2;55- 196 147 24 072 49 73 072 98 1-22 072 300 2W •200 150 25 50 75 100 125 306 •245 204 153 25 072 51 76,072 102 127 o'72 312 2491 208 156 26 52 78 104 130 334 APPENDIX. 22k 0) *^ 'eet Liei. feet llet. eet let. 6 7 8 9 10 is h E Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. inni 'S S S -S '5 '0 c s bq. bq. Sq. Sq. bq. bq. fin bq. Qn bq. Qn bq. bq. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. 13 6 072 7 048 8 096 9 108 10 120 17 8 072 9 132 11 048 12 108 14 024 20 10 11 096 13 048 15 16 096 24 "19'- 12 14 16 18 20 . . 27 21.1 18 13 072 15 108 18 20 0*36* 22 072 34 27- •23 17 19 120 22 0*96 25 072 28 048 40j 32i 27 20 036 23 '090 27 30 054 33 108 465 37- 31 23 036 27:018 31 34 126 38 108 521 42 35 26 036 30 090 35 39 054 43 108 585 ■47 39 29 036 34 018 39 43 126 48 108 66 •53 44 33 38 072 44 49 072 55 72 574 48 36 42 48 54 60 791 63i 53 39 108 46 054 53 59 0*90* 66 0*36* 84 67^ 56 42 49 56 63 70 91^ 73^ 61 45 108 53 054 61 68 0*90* 76 0*36* 99 79- 66 49 072 57 108 66 74 036 12 072 105 84 70 52 072 61 036 70 78 108 87 072 111 •89 74 55 072 64 108 74 83 036 92 072 117 931 78 58 072 68 036 78 87 108 97 072 124,5 994 83 62 036 72 090 83 93 054 103 108 13O5 104i 87 65 65 036 76 018 87 97 126 108 108 138 110| 92 69 69 80 072 92 103 072 115 144 115- 96 72 72 84 96 108 120 151?, 1-211 101 •76 75 108 88 054 101 113 0*90 1-26 0*36* 157i 1'26 105 781 78 108 91 126 105 118 018 131 036 162 129i 108 81 81 94 072 108 121 072 135 166^ 133-" 111 83^ 83 036 97 018 111 124 126 138 1*08* 174 139- 116 87 87 101 072 110 130 072 145 180 144 120 90 90 105 120 135 188 150| 155| 125^ 94 94 109 0*96 125 0*48* 141 156 0*96 194 129 • 97 97 113 024 129 048 145 0*72* 161 096 200 160 133- 100 100 110 096 133 048 150 160 096 206 •165 137 • 103 103 120 024 137 048 154 072* 171 096 214 171- 1424 107 107 124 120 142 096 160 072 178 048 220 176 146J 110 110 128 048 140 096 165 183 048 228 182?, 1.52 114 114 133 152 171 190 234 187' 156 117 117 136 072 156 175 0*72* 195 240 192 160 120 120 140 160 180 200 246 •197 164 123 123 143 072 164 184 0*72 205 252 •202 108 126 126 147 168 189 210 258 206.1 172 129 129 150 0*72 172 193 072* 215 266 -213' 177^ 133 133 155 024 1771048 190 072 221 0*96 272 •220 181- 136 136 158 096 181 048 204 226 096 280 224 1861 140 140 163 048 186 096 210 233 048 1286 •229 1901 143 143 166 120 190 096 214 0*72' 238 048 294 235^ 196" 147 147 171 072 196 220 072 245 300 240 200 150 150 175 200 225 250 306 •245 204 153 153 178 0*72* 204 229 0*72 255 312 249J 208 156 156 182 208 234 260 APPENDIX. 335 niLiX^ETIlVO 17 oil 60-I1VCH ( AliDH. AMETEBS. 'eet [let. feet llet. feet let. 1 3 3 4. 5 Cylinder. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. §2 c " c .S s ■§ 3 .S Sn Sn Sn oq. Sn oq. Sn oq. fi ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. I 1 I 1 14 15 1 036 2 072 3 108 5 6 036 20 1 096 3 048 5 6 096 8 048 ■ 14 25 2 012 4 024 6 036 8 048 10 060 30 24 2 072 5 7 072 10 12 072 2 35 28 23^ 2 132 5 120 8 108 11 096 14 084 43 344 •29 3 084 7 024 10 108 14 048 17 132 Q o 494 394 33 4 018 8 036 12 054 16 072 20 090 Q 1 05 57 •46 38 4 108 9 072 14 036 19 23 108 4 4:5 644 73^ •52 43 5 054 10 108 16 018 21 072 26 126 •59 49 6 018 12 036 18 054 24 072 30 090 0 81 •65 54 6 108 13 072 20 036 27 33 108 90 72 60 7 072 15 22 072 30 37 072 6 974 78 65 8 018 16 036 24 054 32 0*72* 40 090 Da 106^ 85^ 71 8 1'26 17 108 26 090 35 072 44 064 7 Kl IS 114 91- 76 9 072 19 28 072 38 47 072 1214 37- 81 10 018 20 036 30 054 40 0*72* 50 090 Q O Q 1 05 1304 1044 87 10 126 21 108 32 090 43 072 54 054 138 1104 92 11 072 23 34 072 46 57 072 9 OS 1454 116.^ 97 12 018 24 036 36 054 48 072* 60 090 1544 123^ 103 12 1-26 25 108 38 090 51 072 64 054 1 n 162 •130 108 81 13 072 27 40 072 64 67 072 171 •137 114 854 14 036 28 072 42 108 67 71 036 1784 •143 119 89- 14 126 29 108 44 090 59 072* 74 054 1 1 i- 1874 150 125 •94 15 090 31 036 46 126 62 072 78 018 12 1 Oi 195 156 130 974 16 036 32 072 48 108 65 81 036 204 163- 136 102 17 34 61 68 85 13 134 2114 169 • 141 •106 17 obo' 35 036 52 126* 70 0*72* 88 0*18 2204 1764 147 110- 18 054 36 108 55 018 73 072 91 126 14 228 1824 152 114 19 38 57 76 95 144 236 ■189 157^ 118 19 096 39 0*48 59 78 0*96 98 0*48* 15 154 244 195* •163 122 20 048 40 096 61 81 048 101 096 252 •202 168 126 21 42 63 84 105 16 260 208 173^ 1.30 21 096 43 0*48* 65 86 096* 108 0*48* 164 268 2144 1784 134 22 048 44 096 67 89 048 111 096 17 174 276 221 184 138 23 46 69 92 115 284 227- 189^ 142 23 096* 47 0*48 71 94 0*96 118 048* 18 292 •234 •194 146 24 048 48 096 73 97 048 121 096 184 300 240 200 150 25 50 75 100! . . 125 19 308 2464 205- 154 25 096 51 0*48* 77 102 096 128 0*48 194 316 •253 •211 158 26 048 52 096 79 105 048 131 096 20 204 324 259- 216 162 27 54 81 108! . . 135 332 •266 221^ 166 27 096 65 048 83 110096 138 0*48* 21 340 272 •227 170 28 048 56 096 85 113 048 141 096 214 348 2784 232 174 29 58 87 116; . . 146 22 356 •285 237^ 178 29 096 59 0*48* 89 118 096 148 0*48* 224 364 291^ ■243 182 30 048 60 096 91 121 048 151 096 23 234 372 .298 248 186 31 62 93 124 . . 155 380 304 253^ 190 31 096 63 0*48* 95 128 096 158 048* 24 388 310^ •259 194 32 048 64 096 97 129 M8 161 096 336 APPENDIX. FIJL.IL.ETIIVO FOR GO-UVCH CAM OH. CO — 6 7 8 10 E-i ■§ ie Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. Cylind's. '5 — S S 'B 3 •£ 5 -5 ■"^ So Sq. |Sq. oq. Sn cq. bq. fcq. bq. bq. Q ft. in. ft. 1 in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. 1 1\ 15 7 072 8 108 10 11 036 12 072 20 IC 11 096 13 048 15 16 096 14 25 12 072 14 084 16 096 18 los' 20 120. 13 30 24 15 17 072 20 22 072 25 2 35 28 23^ 17 072 20 060 23 048 26 036 29 o'24 24 43 344 •29 21 072 25 012 28 096 32 036 35 r2o 8 494 394 33 24 108 28 126 33 37 018 41 036 34 57 ■46 38 28 072 33 036 38 42 108 47 072 4 44 641 •52 43 32 036 37 1 090 43 48 054 53 108 73| •59 49 36 108 42 126 49 55 018 61 036 5' 54 81 •65 54 40 072 47i0S6 54 60 108 67 072 90 72 60 45 52 072 60 67 072 75 6 974 78 65 48 108 56:126 65 73 018 81 om 64 106.| 85- 71 53 036 62 018 71 79 120 88 108 - 7 114 91- 76 57 66,072 76 85 072 95 74 1211 97- 8] 60 108 70,126 81 91 018 101 om 8 130^ 1044 87 65 036 76,018 87 97 126 108 108 84 138 llU.i 92 69 80,072 92 103 072 115 9 94 1454 11G,| 97 72 108 84 126 97 109 018 121 036 154| 1234 103 77 036 90'0]8 103 115 126 128 108 10" 104 162 •130 108 'si 81 94 072 108 121 072 135 171 •137 114 854 85 072 99 108 114 128 036 142 o'72' 11 1784 •143 119 89^ 89 036 1041018 119 133 126 148 108 114 1874 150 125 •94 93 108 109 1 054 125 140 090 LiO 036 12 124 195 156 130 974 97 072 113 108 130 146 036 162 072 204 163^ 136 102 102 119| . . 1.36 153 170 13 2113 16y^ 141 106 105 108 123 054 141 158 090 176 036 134 220^ 176| 147 llO^ 110 036 128,090 147 165 054 183 108 14 228 182i 152 114 114 133 152 171 190 144 236 •189 157^ 118 118 1371096 157 o'48 177 196 o'oe 15 1-54 244 195^ •163 1'22 122 142 048 162 096 183 203 048 252 •202 168 126 126 147 168 189 210 16 164 260 208 173^ 130 130 151 096' 173 o'48 195 216 096* 268 2141 1784 134 134 156 048 178 096 201 223 048 17 276 '221 184 138 138 161 184 207 230 174 284 ■227- 189^ 142 142 165 o'oe 189 0*48' 213 236 096 18 184 292 ■234 •194 146 146 170 048 194 096 219 243 048 300 •240 200 150 150 175 200 225 250 19 308 •2-16^ 205^ 154 154 179,096 205 o'48 231 256 o'96' 194 516 •2.)3 ■211 158 158 184 048 210, 096 237 263 048 20 1324 2.i9^ 216 162 162 189 216| 243 270 204 332 ■266 221^ 166 166 193 096 221 048 249 276 o'oe 21 340 272 •227 170 170 198 048 226 096 255 283 048 214:348 •278| 232 174 174 203 232' 261 290 22 -285 '237- 178 178 207 o'oe" 2.37; 048 267 296 o'o6 224 3'U ■I'.n- •243 182 182 212 058 242 i 096 273 303 i 048 23 ■•->9S 248 186 186 217 248! 279 310 234;380 304 253- 190 190 221 o'oe 253i048 285 316 096 24 1 388 SIOJ ■259 194 194 226,048 258j096 291 3-23j048 APPENDIX. 337 S H 3E: 13 T S . 40-incli. 48-incIi. OO-inch. Width. 4-inch. 5-inch. 4-inch. 5-inch. 4-inch. 5-inch. No. of • Sq. Sq. 8q. Sq. 8q. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sq. Sheets. ft. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft in. ft. in. 1 . . . . 1 016 056 048 1 096 1 ~7~" 096 2 012 2 • • • . 032 112 2 096 3 048 3 048 4 024 3 • • . . Ur^ 024 5 • • 5 6 036 4 • • • . ?oK 5 048 6 096 6 096 8 048 6 ■ • • . 6 • . . t nan nQR 048 6 8 096 * * 8 10 048 • • 8 10 048 • • 10-060 12 072 7 • . . . 112 104 9 048 1 1 096 11 096 ■ 14 084 8 • • . . 128 10 096 13 048 13 048 16 096 y . . . . • • 15 0 ( 2 12 15 15 18 108 lU • • . . IS 13 048 16 096 16 096 20 120 11 • • . . 1"' 16 040 096 18 048 18 048 22 132 12 • • . . 1 £ n l« 048 16 096 16 ■ • 20 20 25 13 • • • . 14 064 18 008 17 048 21 096 21 096 27,112 14 .... An2 19 064 18 096 23 048 23 048 29 024 15 ■ • • . Ic 096 20 120 20 25 25 31 036 16 • • • . 17 112 22 032 21 048 26 096 26 096 33 048 17 ... . 18 128 23 088 22 096 28 048 28 048 35' 060 18 • • • • 25 24 30 30 37 072 19 • . . . 21 016 26 056 25 048 31 096 31 096 39 084 20 • • . . 22 032 27 112 26 096 33 048 33 048 41 096 21 ■ • • • 23 048 29 024 28 35 35 43 108 82 • . • . 24 064 30 080 29 048 36 096 36 0*96' 45 120 23 • . . . 25 080 31 136 30 096 38 048 38 048 47 i 132 24 .... 26 096 33 048 32 40 40 50! . . 25 .... 27 112 34 104 33 048 41 096' 41 096' 52:012 26 .... 2S 128 36 016 34 096 43 048 43 048 54 024 27 ... . 30 37 072 36 45 45 56 036 28 ... . 31 016 38 128 37 048 46 098 46 096 58 048 29 ... . 32 032 40 040 38 096 48 048 48 048 60 ( 60 30 ... . 33 048 41 096 40 60 50 62 072 36 ... . 40 50 48 60 60 75 38 ... . 42 o'32 52 l'l2 60 o""6 63 048 63 o'48' 79 024 40 ... . 44 064 55 080 53 048 66 096 66 096 83 048 42 ... . 4« 036 58 1148 56 70 70 87 072 44 ... . 48 128 61 016 58 096' 73 048 73 048 91 0r)6 46 ... . 51 1)16 63 128 61 048 76 096 76 096 95 120 48 ... . 53 048 66 096 64 80 80 100 50 ... . 55 080 69 064 66 0*96' 83 048 83 048 104 024* 60 ... . 66 096 83 048 80 100 100 125 70 ... . 77 112 97 032 93 048 116 0*96 116 o'96' 145 120* 80 ... . 88 128 111 016 l(i6 096 133 048 133 048 166 0.16 90 ... - 100 125 090 120 150 150 187 072 100 .... 1 111 016 ' 1381 128 133 048 166 096 166 096 208 048 338 APPENDIX. ♦ Amount of CarA Clotliins; usually employed on an ordi- nary Set of 4S-incli Cards. FIRST BREAKER. Ko. Cylinders. Dimensions. Length. Width. Sq. ft. 24 Sheets 5 X 48 40 6 Workers .... 7 X 48 each 61 feet. Ij inch. 4o| 6 Strippers . . • . 3 X 48 " 27 " ?^ i" 20| 1 Dofler IS X 48 " 117 " 194 1 Fiiiicy 9 X 48 " 78 " 1^ " 1 Tumbler .... 7 X 48 " 61 " IJ " '1 2 Feed-iiolls . . . ^ X 48 " 24 " 1 Angular. 4 SECOND BREAKER. 24 Sheets 5 X 48 40 6 Workers .... 7 X 48 each 61 feet. I5 inch. 45;? 6 Strippers .... 3 X 48 " 27 " 11 " 2oi 1 Dofter 18 X 4S " 117 " 2 " 1 Kancy 9 X 48 « 78 '< 11 " ?i 1 Tumbler .... 7 X 48 " 61 " H " ' s 1 I.,eiider-in .... X -18 " 61 " I5 Angular. 'i 1 Feed-Stripper . 11 X 48 " 24 " 1 " 2 2 Feed-Rolls . . . X 48 " 24 " 1 " 4 FINISHER. 24 Sheets 5 X48 40 5 Workers .... 7 X 48 each 61 feet. 1^ inch. 3RJ 5 Strippers .... 3 X --S " 27 " 16| 1 Fnncy 9 X 48 " 78 " 93 1 Tumbler .... 7 X 48 " 61 " 1- " 1 jA'ader-in. . . . 7 X 4S " 61 " I5 Angular. 1 Feed-Stripper . l!i X 48 " 24 " 2 2 Feed-Rolls . . . 13 X 4S " 25 " it 4 48 Kings 9 X 48 Aggregate square feet Ro und Wire . snsj " " An gular " 31i Total . . 42t.i APPENDIX. 339 Amount of Card. Clothing required for a 60-incli Set of Cards with Breast. FIRST BREAKER. Cylinders. Breast Cylinder . , Workers Strippers Fancy Angle-Stripper . . Feed- Rolls .... Tumbler ..... Intermediate Doffer Main Cylinder . . ^S'orker8 ..... Strippers Fancy Dofler Doffer Tickler . . Main Cylinder . . "Workers Strippers Fancy Doffer Doffer Tickler . . Tumbler Angle-Stripper . . Feed-Rolls . . . . Feed-Roll Stripper Dimensions. Length. Width. • 8q. Ft. 36 X 60 each 292 feet. 2 in 40 f 7 X 60 " 76 " S^X 60 " 38 " 1 - ** ■'5 12 X 60 " 130 " ]| " 6 X 60 " 65 " H " 2 X 60 '< 23 " I5 ** Angular 5?- 13 X 60 " 141 '< }h " 171 18 X 60 " 146 " 24J 48 X 60 24 Sheets 5'x 60 50 7 X 60 " 76 feet. I3 in. 38 ShX 60 '< 38 " n " 19 12 X 60 " 130 " n " 16i 30 X 60 " 244 " 2 " 40| 3 X 60 " 33 " H " 4| SECOND BREAKER. 48 X 60 24 Sheets 5 X 60 50 7 X 60 each 76 feet. Uin. 38 3iX 60 " S8 " 1| " 19 12 X 60 " 130 " H " 16J 30 X 60 " 244 " 2 " 40| 3 X 60 " 33 " 11 " 16 X 60 " 173 " I5 " Angular Ih " " 21| 7 X 60 " 76 " 2 X 60 " 35 " 1 •< « H 14 X 60 " 25 " 1 " " 2t\ FIlSriSHER. 1 Main Cylinder . . 48 X 60 24 Sheets 5 X 60 4 7 X 60 each 76 feet. I5 in. 4 3J X 60 " 38 " H " 1 12 X 60 " 130 " U " 2 Feed-Rolls .... 2 X 60 " 35 " 1 " Angular 1 Feed-Roll Stripper 1|X 60 " 25 " 1 <. .< 1 16 X 60 " 173 " 1 Angle-Stripper . . 7 X 60 " 76 " n " " 2 10 X 60 " 81 " 2 " Calculated to have 60 Rings. Aggregate square feet Ro und Wire . . " " An gular Wire . Total . . . 612,9j 713| 340 APPENDIX. On the Size of Wire in Card Clothing. — We hate hitherto said little or nothing in reference to the best size of wire for the teeth in cards, for the reason that no rule or set of rules can be arranged. All we can say must necessa- rily embrace only general remarks for the carder's guidance. We may say that it is always best to have the wire fine enough ; coarse card clothing is becoming a thing of the past, as it is found that finer wire, with well-prepared wool, etc., gives more points, and therefore admits of better card- ing. Finer wire is also more elastic, and allows of a more open set of same number of points per square inch than coarser wire ; and if nothing is allowed to come in contact with it but the fibres of the materials worked, it will prove as durable, while it cannot injure the staple of- the wool, and is more easily kept in order. Where only one uniform kind of material is carded, the clothing can be perfectly adapted to it; and where it is necessary to card several qualities, varying considerably, it is best to have the clothing fine enough for the best quality expected to be carded, and the coarser kinds will not suffer by it; neither will the clothing, with proper care. I fail to see that a number more or less in the size of wire can make any serious difference, and would always have it on the fine side, then take great care to maintain it in good order, which is about all that can be recommended, and all that is essential. The following diagram and simple rules will enable any one to estimate the size of wire and the " set" or number of points per square inch. All sheet cards (except plain set, which are seldom APPENDIX. 341 used in this country) are made with 4 crowns per inch in length of sheet, and in the width any number of " noggs " according to the number of "points" required. Tliese terms and their meaning will be better understood by reference to the annexed diagram, supposed to represent a sheet of card clothing 36 inches long, — a length not often met with, but which makes the explanation more simple. 1. 3. e ». 4. 4 crowns per inch lengthwise. 144 crowns in total length. 4 X 36 = 1 square foot. A sheet 4 X 36 equals 1 square foot ; there are 144 crowns with 2 points to the crown. The above sheet has 4 noggs, with 6 teeth to the nogg ; therefore, to get the , number of points per square foot, multiply 144 X 2 = 288 X 24 = 6,912. Rule. — To ascertain the number of points per square foot in twill set sheet cards, of 4 crowns per inch, multiply 6,912 by the number of noggs per inch. To find the number of points per square foot in fillet. — Multiply the number of noggs per inch by 3,456 for cards of 4 crowns per inch, which is the kind almost exclusively made in America. Card-clothing manufacturers have adopted the following number of points per square foot for the different sizes 342 APPEISTDIX. of wire enumerated; and, unless otherwise directed, they fill all orders as subjoined : — SHEETS. No. 28 wire 5 noggs per inch = .'54,560 "30 " 6 " " " =41,472 " 32 " 7 ' = 48,384 " 33 " 8 '• " " = 55,296 " 34 " 9 <■ " " = 62,-208 "35 " 10 " " " =69,120 " 36 " 11 ' = 76,032 FILLETING. No. 28 wire 10 noggs per inch = 34,560 " 30 " 12 " " " =41,472 " 32 " 14 " " " =48,384 " 33 " 16 ' = 55,296 " 34 " 18 " " " = 62,208 "35 " 20 " " " =69,120 " 36 " 22 ' = 76,032 Every nogg added per inch increases the number of points per square foot 6,912 for sheets, and 3,456 for filleting, excepting the fancy, which is made of 4 crown, but set as follows for 1^ inch filleting : — No. 28 wire 10 noggs per inch = 23,040 "30 " 11 " " " =25,344 " 32 " 12 " " " = 27,648 " 33 " 13 " " " =29,952 "34 " 15 " " " = 33,560 "35 " 16 " " " =36,864 " 36 " 17 " '< '< = 39,168 Every nogg added per inch increases the number of points per square foot 2,304. APPENDIX. 343 Repairing Burr-Ctlinders or Garnet Rolls. When these become dull it is no easy matter to restore the points; but we will give directions, which, with care, will enable the carder to greatly improve them. When the teeth have their points worn off, then the metal immediately behind the points stands above them, and it is necessary to reduce the same until the edge or point is reached so that the wool can be laid hold of, the extreme edge of each tooth being brought even with the surface of the metal. Unless this fact is borne in mind, it would be a very difficult matter to do a satisftictory job. Some of the teeth will not be worn as bad as the others, therefore they will first become sharp; and this fact indicates that the teeth must point towards the grinding or other means used for removing the metal, else a portion of the teeth arriving at an edge before the rest would become hooked. If the cyfinder is very dull it should be put in an engine lathe and the surface turned until true and level with the points, having the latter pointing towards the tool, which must be sharp and at a proper cutting elevation. A good machinist ought to do this under the carder's supervision and direction. If it is not very badly worn the surface can be ground off with a finely covered emery cylinder or traverse-grinder; or a file may be fixed in the tool-post of the turning-rest so as to bear on the cylinder, which is made to revolve in either ease towards the file or grinder at about 250 or 300 turns per minute. Whichever of the above plans is employed, the cylinder will be left in a rough state; and the next thing is to « 344 APPENDIX. smoothen it by removing the wire edge or burr on the edges and surface of the teeth. To do this, the cylinder or roll must be made to revolve in the opposite direction ; that is, with the points running from the implement. A pine stick dipped in flour of emery, and oil, and pressed endwise against the teeth, so that the latter will wear notches in the end of the stick, is a good way for getting them smooth. Taking a few rows at a time, and not being in too much of a hurry, the teeth may be made both sharp and smooth, and the cyl- inder given a new lease of usefulness. Care must be used not to overheat a metal cylinder of this sort when grinding or turning its surface, or the vari- able expansion will injuriously aflfect its truth. If the grinder is employed, the burr-cylinder must revolve quite slowly, say ten turns per minute, and be set on very gradually and lightly. In order to test the progress of the work, the hand should be pressed on and moved slightly against the teeth, to feel if the point has been attained, and to prevent the possibility of grinding too much ; but it cannot be expected that a point as keen to the touch as a wire card can be had, and therefore the carder must govern himself accordingly. It is a job requiring time, and should not be . undertaken unless there is from one to two days during which the cyl- inder will not be required. On the Proper Speed of a Burr- Guard. — Yf 'hare low stock is used along with wool, or where the wool is short, I have seen a painful amount of good stuff deposited into the burr-box, not because the burr-cylinder was dull, but on ac- count of the high velocity of the guard. It will be seen, on reflection, that all short "locks," "nubs," etc., must ueces- APPENDIX. 345 sarily lie on the surface of the cylinder, the teeth not being able to lay hold of them, and thus they are propelled into the box the moment they reach the guard, which, nine times out of ten, has a surface speed about ten times as fast as the cylinder beneath. That there is no need whatever for this can easily be demonstrated by experiments which each can try for himself. The object of the burr-guard is to obstruct refuse sub- stances, such as burrs, and by so doing enable the cylin- der to detach the fibres by which they are surrounded until freed of such fibres, and then eject the substance into a receptacle, that they may not, by going into the card, injure the delicate wire of the clothing. Such is the office of the guard, and, if it is properly adjusted, very little, if any, fibre will be ejected. We have seen an experiment tried by which the waste was reduced from 2i lbs. in one day to the same amount in one week, by simply reducing the velocity of the guard so that its surface speed should exceed that of the burr-cylinder just sufficiently to prevent refuse from passing. How slow a speed is advisable depends on many other circumstances ; hence we say to the carder, try a few experiments, and save yourself the trouble of continually mixing this stuff" in the wool, only to be knocked out again, and also save the constant liability of the stuff" going over into the card, and the great injury resulting therefrom. Hints on covering Grinding Surfaces vtith Emery. A great many failures result in covering rolls, cylinders, etc., with emery, from a non-observance of a few simple 346 APPENDIX. items. The glue should be well cooked in a steam-pot, and be of rather thick consistency as compared to its ordinary- condition, and everything about it must be clean and fresh. Use powdered glue of the best and strongest quality ; cheap glue is worthless, and the dearest, by far, in the end. The hrush should be a flat one, say 2.^ or 3 inches wide, always kept in a clean place, and thoroughly Abashed after use. A wire should run across the glue-pot to draw the brush over, and thereby prevent too much being lifted. The emery should first be sifted through a fine sieve, such as moulders use ; then it must be washed in clear warm water to which a little soda has been added, and repeatedly rinsed in clean warm water afterwards, to remove the soda. Place it on a clean cloth in the sun, out of the dust, or in some warm place, and keep it exposed long enough to become thor- oughly dry. The surface to be covered must also be clean, and if it is an iron cylinder it should have a good, true sur- face, free from rust. To apply the emery, the cylinder should be warmed as well as the emery, and the oper- ation conducted in a room having a temperature of 80'^ or OO'^ F., or near a stove, etc. A box may be provided as long as the cylinder, and in the form of a V, to the inner side of which a slide can be arranged to stop the opening in the bottom, which forms a slit, say -^^ inch wide, the whole length of the box. Into this the emery is put, and it is fixed, with two end pieces for supports, immediately over the centre of the roller to be covered, the supports resting on some part of the grinder, or fixed to the framework. A crank is put on the end of the cylinder, and a boy slowly turns it. With the roller warm, as we have instructed, and the APPENDIX. 347 glue hot, cover the whole surface quickly, drawing the brush from end to end. Then remove the glue-pot, and draw the slide, when a sheet of emery will be evenly dis- tributed over the entire surface, the boy turning some- what faster during the operation, but yet quite slow. A receptacle beneath must be arranged to receive the surplus emery, and the bottom of the box containing it must not be more than a few inches above the roller. Another roll of wood, such as a worker, can now be placed near and paral- lel to the cylinder, and gradually allowed to press against its surface while slowly revolving, in order to press all high grains equal ; and it must not be set on too hard. The roll may be fixed above the centre of the cylinder, and its weight will then be sufficient. A few turns will suffice, when it can be removed ; but the cylinder must be contin- ually kept in motion until the glue has set. Next morning a size can be made by thinning down the glue, and using a round brush to stab in the size amongst the grains of emery, not lifting too much in the brush at one time, and not drawing the brush over the surface, but holding it vertically over the roller, dabbing in the bristles amongst the grains. When this is thoroughly dry the roller can be revolved at 300 turns per minute, and a strip of sheet-iron, or saw-blade, fixed in the tool-post of the turning-rest, may be run across slowly, and set so as to knock oif the very high single grains, but no others. The above hints can be applied to the covering of the emery-wheel as found in traverse-grinders, and to flat sur- faces, as "fiddles," " strickles," etc., by slight modifications, which will readily suggest themselves. 348 APPENDIX. To clean an emery-roll which has been in use, and become more or less filled with grease and wire dust, nothing is better than alcohol applied with a soft brush. Emery can be used a second time by immersing the roller in hot water, and by repeated washings of the emery after removal from the cylinder. Oil should always be used in grinding with emery, for if the dry emery is used the teeth will be left quite rough and unfit to be put to work unless smoothened with a fiddle, or emery-board and oil. Never attempt to put more than one coat of emery on a roll, nor try to fill up vacant places by patching, nor putting on a coft of finer grade to fill up the interstices between the coarse grains or imperfect first covering. All such botching must end in failure to obtain an even, true surface. If the first attempt fails begin entirely afresh ; it is the only way. Before iron cylinders or traverse wheels are covered they should be neatly wound with twine, or wrapped with coarse cotton cloth carefully glued on ; but the cloth should only make one turn around the cylinder, the ends or edges being brought to a smooth joint. If cloth is used it is best to first have the cylinder painted, which, when thoroughly dry, will hold the glue better than a smooth iron surface. The twine is best for traverse pulleys, and it does not need to be glued, but merely wound on as tight as possible. It affords a good surface for the glue, and the hollows between the rows of twine serve to excellently retain the emery. In Europe it has now become a distinct business, this covering of grinding surfaces, by experts who have patented improvements facilitating the work; and it is a specialty APPENDIX. 349 wrhich ought to be undertaken in this country, for it is not possible to do the job as well in a mill, with so many other things pressing on one's attention, and amidst the grease and flying fibres, as in a shop devoted to such work, fitted up with the special appliances necessary. To estimate the Contents of Cisterns, etc. — Carders often have occasion to know the capacity of cisterns, tubs, etc., used in the scouring of wool, and we therefore give a table below, showing the contents of circular cisterns FROM 1 FOOT TO 25 FEET IN DIAMETER FOR EACH INCH IN DEPTH. Diameter. 1 foot.. \h feet.. 2 2i 3 3i 4 4i 5 5i 6 6i 7 Gallons. .489 1.101 1.958 3.054 4.406 5.998 7.883 9.911 12.24 14.854 17.625 20.685 23.99 Diameter. Gallons. 7ifeet 27.107 8 " 31.334 8i " 35.373 9 " 39.657 9i " 44.186 10 " 48.96 11 " 59.24 12 " 70.5 13 " 82.745 14 " 95.961 15 " 110.161 20 " 195.842 25 " 305.993 In case the tub or cistern is larger at one end than the other get the mean diameter. We also append a table showing the contents of circular CISTERNS, IN BARRELS, FOR EACH FOOT IN DEPTH : 350 APPENDIX. Diameter. Barrels. 5 feet 4.66 6 " 6.74 7 " 9.13 Diameter. Barrels . 8 feet 11.93 9 " 15.10 10" 18.65 To find the number of gallons in a square or oblong sguare cistern. — Rule. — Multiply the length in inches by the width in. inches, and that by the depth in inches, and divide the product by 231. The quotient will be the number of gallons. Shafts, Belting, etc. Whether a belt will transmit more useful effect with the hair or flesh side to the pulley is an interesting ques- tion for carders ; and perhaps nothing can more conclusively show the effect one way or the other than to briefly glance at the experiments made by S. B. Hoyt & Co., of New York, and their results. These experiments also demonstrated which of several styles of pulley surfaces furnished the greatest friction. Four kinds of pulleys were fixed upon a shaft, — rough iron ones; polished iron; iron covered with leather; and polished mahogany ones. Half of these had the belts applied with the hair side, and the other half with the flesh side, to the faces of the pulleys. The belts were fixed at one end, passed over the pulleys, and then weighted to the extent of 1 pound for every square inch of contact. It was desired to know the weight in pounds applied to the end of a lever on the pulley-shaft required, first, to make the belt APPENDIX. 351 just slip ; second, to make it slip moderately ; third, to make it continually slip. Hair side to pulley. Flesh side to pulley. Relative value of pulley. 1 3 3 1 2 3 Pulley covered with leather . . 6 2^ 10 3^ 2\ 7 31J 1 9 n 4 6i 20 n H 3 i 9J Polished mahogany pulley . . . 4, 3 175 45| 33^ ■ From the above we learn that a pulley covered with leather, with the hair side of the belt turned to it, offers 50 per cent, more resistance to slipping than with a pulley merely polished. When a belt is turned with the hair side to pulley, the contact is greater, from the fact of a more even surface being presented, than when the flesh side is to the pulley ; and, again, as the outside of a belt must neces- sarily stretch more in bending over a pulley, it follows that if the hair side is the outer one it will finally crack ; but by reversing it, so that it must contract in wrapping around the pulley, it lays on with great smoothness, and the flesh side, being more open and irregular, experiences no difficulty or injury by the stretch from being outside. Carders may gather from this, which is only corroborative of our daily experience, that their worker belts and pulleys 352 APPENDIX. should be covered with leather, and the belts run thereon with the hair or grain side next the leather face of pulley. By covering as indicated, much power can be saved in a set of cards, and the belts will last longer, from not requiring to be so tightly stretched, and more work may be turned off by preventing the slipping. It is claimed, however, that, if belts are run Avith the flesh side to pulley, and tanner's dubbing applied thereto, they will become as smooth as the hair side, and will be greatly more durable. It is also well to remember that the pliable- ness of a belt has often more to do with its adhesiveness to the pulley than the question of which side shall be presented to it, and for that reason they should always be maintained as pliable as possible. The strongest part of belt leather extends about one-third the way through from the flesh side. It has been found that belts should not be run faster than 30 feet per second, nor endure a tension of over 300 pounds per square inch of section. Belts, where it is possible, should always run from the top of the driving to the top of the driven pulley. Pulleys should always be as large as possible, and of suflacient width, together with the belt, so as not to require excessive tension to get the required power. Holes punched in the ends of belts should be oval in shape, with the largest diameter parallel with the length of belt, so as to cut out as little of the effective strength as possible. In lacing a belt draw all parts together equally, so that the strain will be distributed among the stitches, and not be concentrated on one stitch and hole, thereby pulling APPENDIX. 353 apart in a short time. The crossings of the lace should always be on the outside of the belt, for if next the pulley they will very soon wear apart where crossed. Always begin the sewing of a belt in the centre, working towards each edge, keeping the edges square, and then returning into the centre again, where the ends of the lace can be fastened. Belts always run to the high part of a pulley when the shafts are parallel ; but when they are not, the belt will always run toward the ends of the shafts which are nearest together, and this tendency is much stronger than to run to the highest part of the pulley. If overseers would only apply this rule intelligently there would be an end of card belts sometimes running to the fast pulley, and again per- sisting in remaining on the loose pulley; and it would banish all the traps employed which rub and destroy the edge of the belts in a puerile attempt to force them against the mechani- cal laws by which they are governed. If you have a belt which gives trouble in the way de- scribed, you can soon ascertain if it is the shafts, or either of them, by stretching a line across the edges of the two pulley faces, and if they are square it is the fault of one or the other of the pulleys., and can be remedied by putting a "leader" or narrow strip of leather in the centre of the faulty pulley. Sometimes the belt is so unreasonably tight as to spring the shaft, and that will also cause trouble. We give the following rule for ascertaining the driving horse- power of a belt, its velocity and square inches being known : — ^wZe.— Divide tlje number of square inches of belt in 354 APPENDIX. contact with the pulley by 2, multiply this quotient by the velocity of the belt in feet per minute, and this amount divided by 32,000 will give the horse-power. Example. — A 20-inch belt moves 2,000 feet per minute; 6 feet of its length is in contact with the circumference of a 4-foot pulley ; 20 multiplied by 72 equals 1,440; divided by 2 equals 720; multiplied by 2,000 equals 1,440,000; divided by 32,000 equals 45 horse-power. This . rule must not be considered as invariable, for the horse-power transmitted by a belt depends on the position of the shafts and pulleys, on the flexibility of the belt, on the amount of wrap on the pulley surface, the degree of pressure, and many other things. A belt wrapped one- quarter around a pulley has only one-fourth the power of a belt wrapped one-half around the same pulley. Estimating the Velocities of Shafts, Pullets, etc. Rule. — To find the speed of a driven shaft. — Multiply the number of revolutions of driving shaft by the diameter of driving pulley in inches, and divide the product by the diameter of the driven pulley in inches. Rule. — To find the speed of last shaft where several shafts and pulleys intervene. — Multiply all the drivers into each other and the product by the speed of the first shaft, which divide by the product of all the driven pulleys multi- plied into each other. Rule. — To find the diameter of a driving pulley to give a desired number of revolutions to a driven shaft.. — Multi- ply the diameter of the driven pulley by the number of revolutions you wish it to make, and divide the product by APPENDIX. 355 the revolutions of the drirer ; the quotient will be the re- quired diameter- of the driving pulley. Rule. — To find the diameter of a driven pulley giving a required number of revolutions to a driven shaft. — Multiply the diameter of the driving pulley by its number of revolu- tions, and divide the product by the number of revolutions desired of the driven, and the quotient will be the required diameter of pulley. EuLE. — To find the length of a driving-belt before the pulleys are in position. — Add the circumference of the 2 pulleys, divide the product by 2, and add the quotient thus obtained to double the distance between the centres of the 2 shafts, which will give the length of belt required. For a cross belt add the circumference of the 2 pulleys, multiply the product by 3, and divide by 2 ; the quotient added to double the distance between centres of both shafts will give the length required. Rule. — To find where to cut belt-holes in floors. — Meas- ure the distance in inches from centre of driving shaft to underside of floor ; on the upper side make a mark over the centre of shaft. Now measure the distance from centre of shaft on machine to be driven to floor, making a mark on the floor immediately beneath the centre, then measure the distance between the two marks. Transfer these figures to a board or paper, draw off the driving and driven pulleys after finding their diameters, at the distance from each other and the floor line previously obtained, and draw the lines representing the belt cutting the floor line, which will show where the belt passes through the floor. The drawing can be made to a scale to reduce it to convenient dimensions, 356 APPENDIX. maintaining the proportions. Tlie holes may now be marked off on the floor and cut with a certainty of being correct. In making the drawing it is best to do it full size on the floor, if room can be had; and allowance must be made for the thickness of the flooring. Belt-dressing. — A good dressing may be made by the use of castor-oil mixed about half and half with tallow or other good oil. Castor-oil makes not only an excellent dressing, but renders the belts vermin-proof. Water-proof glue. — Fine shreds of India-rubber dis- solved in warm copal varnish make a water-proof cement for leather or wood. Another cement is made by melting together equal parts of asphaltum and gutta-percha, and applying hot under a press. Cement for belting. — American isinglass and good glue equal parts ; add water just sufiicient to cover the whole and place in a boiler (glue-pot) ; let them soak for ten hours, then bring to a boiling heat, and add pure tannin until the whole becomes ropy and in appearance similar to the whites of eggs. Buff the grain off the leather where it is to be cemented, and apply the cement warm, and rub the joined surfaces solidly together; then let it dry for a few hours and it is ready for practical use. If properly done it will make a very strong joint. Test for Belting Leather. — A simple means for testing leather to ascertain the nature of the tanning to which it has been subjected, consists in steeping a cutting of the mate- rial about \ inch thick in strong vinegar. If the leather has been properly tanned, and is therefore of good quality, APPENDIX. 357 it will remain immersed for months without alteration, simply becoming a little darker in color. If, on the con- trary, it is not well impregnated with the tanning, the fibres will quickly swell, and after a short period become trans- formed into a gelatinous mass. Hints on Shafting. TABIiE, sUowing the Diameter, in Inches, of Wronght- Iron Shafts necessary to Transmit with Safety from 1 to ISO Horse-Power at from lO to 1,000 Kevolu- tions per Minute. Revolutions PER Minute. Horse- Power. 0 0 ui «* c> 0 0 0 0 0 o o o 10 0 M5 0 0 0 0^ i-T 7-i OJ «9