Spinner

“ Not only the clerk of the spinners examines the yarn when he receives it, and counts the threads in any of the knots which appear to be too small, but the name of the spinner, with a note of the quantity of knots, accompanies the yarn into the store-room, as was before observed, and from thence to the spooler, by whom it is wound off; any frauds committed in reeling cannot fail to be brought home to the spinner. ”

“ It exhibits the process of spinning, at the moment when the spinner has drawn out a sufficient length of thread from the distaff, and just previous to the act of taking it out of the slit on the top of the spindle, to wind it on that instrument. It is said by classic writers that the spindle was always, when in use, accompanied by the distaff, as "an indispensable part of the apparatus." ”

“ Each spinner has a bundle of hemp round his waist, the double or bight being in front and the ends crossing each other behind. With his left hand he draws out a few fibres and fastens them on one of the hooks with his right, which holds a piece of thick woollen cloth—he grasps these fibres, a boy then turns the wheel and the spinner walks backwards—the man draws out more and more fibres from his bundle as he recedes, and the twist which is given to them by the rotation of the hooks on the wheel makes each length of fibre entangle itself among those previously drawn out ”

“ The spindle must turn noiselessly and without a throb in its holders. Jarring sound cannot be avoided unless the holders are made of knit straw as in the Punjab, or of tough leather.
(5) No machine is properly made unless it manufactures in the hands of a practised spinner at least 21⁄2 tolas of even and properly twisted yarn of six counts in an hour. ”

“ The spinner, by his long practice and skill, is enabled to make any description of yarn, either fine or coarse, by the manner in which he supplies the hemp to the revolving wheel, and can produce with the greatest nicety, any given length of yarn from a given weight of hemp. Each spinner can make about a thousand feet of yarn in about twelve minutes. ”

“ The American that has intelligence [16] and skill enough to be a first-class spinner, will generally look around for something easier about the time that he has the trade acquired. It is an occupation that cannot be followed up in old age, as it is too strenuous, the operator being on his feet constantly, and having to use his head as well as his muscles.
General Remarks on Metal Spinning Chucks
For common plain shapes, a patternmaker’s faceplate, with a tapered center screw, is sufficient for holding the wood chuck. ”

“ Northover.
"We're oftener in fault than the Frames, however. Sometimes the spinner's to blame herself—she may be out of sorts and heavy-handed and slow on her feet and can't put up her ends right, or do anything right; and often it's the fault of the other girls and the 'rove' comes to the spinner rough; and often, again, it's just luck—good or bad. If the machine always ran perfect, there'd be nothing to do. ”

“ Too much twist in roving makes bad yarn, and spoils the top rolls on spinning frames. The square root of the number is about the twist for roving. It gives the Carder a chance to keep up with the spinning, and gives the Spinner a chance to make a better quality of yarn. If there is too much twist in the roving, you cannot draw it on spinning frames without spreading the rolls ”

“ The spindle was a stick ten or twelve inches long, having at the top a slit or catch in which to fix the thread, so that the weight of the spindle might continually carry down the thread as it was formed. Its lower extremity was inserted into a small wheel of wood, stone, or metal, the use of which was to keep the spindle more steady, and to promote its rotation: for the spinner, who was commonly a female, every now and then twirled round the spindle with her right hand, so as to twist the thread still more completely ”

“ By wiping off thread-boards, waste catching on to the ends and spinning. By rolls not being kept clean and oiled. By spinners not being careful enough when they clean their rolls. By spinners brushing and cleaning their frames. By brushing down over head. By spinners not keeping their clearers clean. The carder should be just as particular about making his roving as the spinner is about making his yarn; then there will be good work all through. A dry front roll will make bunches on spinning frames, and will do the same on speeders. Sweepers should not blow their waste under the frames. ”

“ To-day, the spinner, who is in a difficulty requiring a mechanical solution, turns the whole matter over to the machinist, who puzzles it out without, in many cases, getting his due reward. It is, however, a general practice for machinists to originate improvements, and the competition in this respect is so keen, that a spinner is never at a loss for a choice of appliances. ”

“ How to avoid making lap waste in spinning room. By keeping spinners where their work is, and by not giving spinners any more work than they can keep up. By having good doffers and good starters. If doffers and starters are not good they will make more waste than their wages will come to. Doffers should wind the thread four times around the bobbin. Starters should not wind on to bobbins when there is yarn on to piece up by. ”

“ It is very desirable that all the wheels in a spinning-class be kept in a perfect condition. When that is the case, the spinner does not tire and works cheerfully and speedily. Our class is attended by five ladies, who spin five or six hours every day, and by twenty-three students of the Ashram school, of whom eighteen are boys and five are girls. ”

“ The limits of accuracy are not as closely defined as in straight machine work, but there are times when good fits are absolutely necessary, as in cases where two shells must slip snugly together. In this chapter we have taken up only the plain every-day kind of spinning, and were we to follow its work in the gold and silversmith’s trade, we would see it evolve into a fine art. In order to insure really good work coming from the spinning lathe, there is a wide range of knowledge that the spinner must have. ”

“ For the next two illustrations of spinning, by the Navajoes, Camanches, and other tribes of New Mexico, the Patent Office is indebted to Judge Peters, of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
We have here another instance in which the thread-making idea has manifested itself among the red race, and a very interesting one. The spinner has a small stick, which she holds horizontally in one hand, and on it winds the thread, as on a spindle, as fast as it is spun. The bunch of cotton is itself twirled round by means of a short and small rod, passed through the lower part, with its ends projecting. ”

“ How the Frenchmen have learned the habits of this well-known little spinner, and cultivated him, and made of him a cheap and nutritious article of diet for the French nation, is fairly well known. How the little fellow builds his house and weaves his ropes, is not quite so well known. The house itself, with its black outside, and the beautiful sky-blue, pearly inside, is a work of the greatest skill, while the mechanism by which it is opened and closed forms a chapter{443} in the world’s wonder-lore. The little spinner lives in a soft, fleshy ‘mantle,’ inside of his stony house. ”

“ The fastest speed given is suitable for all work under 5 inches in diameter, and the slowest for work within the capacity of the lathe. On large shells it is sometimes necessary to change from one speed to another as the work progresses. Figs. 33 and 34 show the spinner at work, and illustrate how the tool should be held, and also the proper position of the left hand.
Fig. 33. View showing how the Tool is held when Spinning
Fig. ”

“ When the person at the reel begins to turn, the first spinner, who has completed his yarn, holds it firmly at the end, and advances slowly up the walk, while the reel is turning, keeping it equally tight all the way, till he reaches the reel, where he waits till the second spinner takes his yarn off the whirl hook, and joins it to the end of that of the first spinner, in order that it may follow it on the reel. ”

“ Specimens of Metal Spinning
Hand Tools
Hand tools, in great variety, form the principal asset of the spinner’s kit. Spinning tools are made of tool steel forged to the required shapes, and are hardened and polished on the working end. The round steel from which they are made varies from 1⁄2 inch to 11⁄2 inch in diameter, according to the class of work upon which they are to be used. The length of a spinning tool is about 2 feet, and it is fitted into a wooden handle 2 inches diameter and 18 inches long, making the total length of the handled tool about 3 feet, as shown in Fig. ”

“ Guest states, that “it was no uncommon thing for a weaver to walk three or four miles in a morning, and call on five or six spinners, before he could collect weft to serve him for the remainder of the day; and when he wished to weave a piece in a shorter time than usual, a new ribbon or a gown was necessary to quicken the exertions of the spinner.” This check existing on the industry of the weaver, it is no wonder that mechanical ingenuity was tasked to invent a quicker way of spinning. ”

“ But in either case we have only three pairs of spinners and four kinds of silk, the pale-blue fasciculi the dry white, the dry yellow, and the viscid and very elastic silk which is employed only in the circles of the web, and which often does not become yellow till after exposure to the light. Apparently the surest method of investigation will be carefully to destroy one pair of spinners at a time without injuring the others, and then note the effect upon the spinning. ”

“ With the present rate of spinning at 6 as. a lb., one spinner earns 3 as. per day by spinning 20 to 24 tolas?, more earn 2 as. a day by spinning 15 tolas and the rest 11⁄2 as. a day for 10 tolas, the beginners excluded. The more the spinner is used to the work, the more he will earn. ”

“ How then can spinning be introduced in every home? I have already suggested the introduction of spinning and systematic production of yarn in every national school Once our boys and girls have learnt the art they can easily carry it to their homes. But this requires organisation. A spinning wheel must be worked for twelve hours per day. A practised spinner can spin two tolas and a half per hour. The price that is being paid at present is on an average four annas per forty tolas or one pound of yarn i.e., one pice per hour. Each wheel therefore should give three annas per day. ”

“ After a few strokes of the spinning tool have been taken, the shell will appear about as shown at B, Fig. 12, and at this point it is necessary to trim the shell at the edges with the diamond-point tool. Trimming is required because spinning stretches the stock and the resulting uneven edge will cause splits in the metal if it is not trimmed occasionally. As a carpenter is known by his chips, so a spinner is known by the way his work stretches. ”

“ The spindle itself is long and heavy, and the whorl, in the older examples, is a large disk cut from a mountain goat's horn. There is no attempt at decoration, nor do the spindles compare with those found in Peru and other parts of America for neatness and beauty. An unusual feature of the method employed by the Hopi spinner is the manner in which the spindle is held under one foot while he straightens out the thread preparatory to winding it. ”

“ SHEARING MACHINE. This is a machine for cutting off the nap that is too long, making it smooth and even. ⁠ Courtesy of National Museum Courtesy of National Museum SPINNING WHEEL. This is the old spinning wheel, once in use in nearly every farmhouse, where they raised their own wool, spun their own yarn and made their own cloth with a hand loom. With the pin shown lying on the frame, the spinner whirls the wheel with her right hand and with her left feeds onto the spindle the loose rolls of wool, as they come from the cards. ”

“ I do not know from which spinners the various parts of the net are formed.
The spinning mammulæ, or spinnerets, are represented in Fig. 6. They form a little group upon the lower surface of the abdomen, near its hinder end. In a state of rest, they are closely approximated, but when in use they are more or less widely spread apart like so many fingers or short legs. Indeed, there is reason to regard the spinners as corresponding in essential structure with the true legs of the spider. They are jointed or articulated, and capable of considerable movement. ”

“ Such skill is far superior to that of the Russian metal worker, who, instead of making a vase or ornament of one piece, cuts up several sections and soft solders them together, after covering them with crude “gingerbread” work to disguise his poor metal work.
The amateur can imitate the Russian work, but never the work of the skilled spinner. There are several grades of spinners, most of them never attaining the skill of the model-maker or the facility for handling the different metals. ”

“ He traveled much through South Lancashire and Cheshire, and there he came in daily contact with the cotton-spinners. A weaver of great ingenuity and tireless purpose, James Hargreaves, had invented what was known as a spinning-jenny, an arrangement by which [Pg 86] many spindles, fastened in a wooden frame, would work together by the turning of a fly-wheel. This machine could do the work of many spinners, and in a much shorter time. ”