Spinning frame

“ Spinning (see Spinning) .—Improvements upon the Saxony wheel caused continuous spinning to become a mechanical art at an earlier date than intermittent spinning. Arkwright’s water-twist frame was gradually changed to the throstle, which was a duplex machine furnished with one set of drawing rollers, and one set of spindles and flyers at each side of the frame-work. All the bosses of one line of rollers were connected so that one driving gear would serve for the whole length, and all the spindles were driven by bands from a central cylinder. ”

“ Ironsyde came to the works one morning to watch a new Twist Frame and a new operator. The single strand yarn for material from the spinners was coming to the Twist Frame to be turned into twines and fishing lines. Four full bobbins from the spinning machine went to each spindle of the Twist Frame, and from it emerged a strong 'four-ply.' It was a machine more complicated than the spinner; and, as only a good billiard player can appreciate the cleverness of a great player, so only a spinner might have admired the rare technical skill of the woman who controlled the Twist Frame. ”

“ The upper half of each spindle projects above the top of the frame. The drum revolves horizontally before the spindles, having its axis a little below the line of the whorls; and receives motion, by a pulley at one of its ends, from an endless band which passes round a wheel E, like the large domestic wheel formerly used in spinning wool by hand, and of similar dimensions. ”

“ The constants in a machine of this kind are therefore the rate of revolution of the spindles and front rollers; and, generally speaking, the amount of twist increases as the roving becomes finer. This can be attained by an increase of spindle speed or a decrease of that of the rollers, as will be readily understood, but considerations of a mechanical nature generally lead to the latter course being pursued. The spindle speeds in a slubbing intermediate, and roving frame, dealing with the same class of roving, would be approximately 700, 800, and 1,100 revolutions per minute. ”

“ 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 ”

“ A book which describes this process says it was an obvious improvement to set the spindle in a frame and set it whirling by a band passed round it, and around a large wheel which was in revolution. But it was not so obvious that anybody, through long years, thought of it till about three hundred and fifty years ago. I believe this improvement which constituted the common spinning-wheel was invented in Germany. A woman could spin with it much faster than in the old way, but she only kept one spindle employed. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The front rollers indeed move in many such machines four times faster than the back pair. The rest of this flax-spinning apparatus resembles in every respect the throstle frame of the cotton-spinner. The thread, as it escapes from the front rollers, gets twisted by the spindle and flyer, and wound up in constant progression on the bobbin, the motion of the latter being retarded either by a washer of leather beneath its lower end, or sometimes, as shown in the figure, by a weighted lever H, suspended from a cord, which embraces the pulley-groove turned on the lower end of the bobbin. ”

“ Now, I impressed my audience as strongly as I could with the above fact, that if one wants to throw a quoit with certainty as to how it will alight, one gives it a spin; if one wants to throw a hoop or a hat to somebody to catch upon a stick, one gives the hoop or hat a spin; the disinclination of a spinning body to let its axis get altered in direction can always be depended upon. ”

“ You will find that nearly any rounded stone when spun will get up in this way upon its longest axis, if the spin is only vigorous enough, and in the very same way this spinning top tends to get more and more upright. ”

“ With amiable alacrity the girl set the big wheel buzzing, and deftly drew out the yarn from the spindle, stepping briskly to and fro, twirling and twisting with an ease and grace which convinced the admiring observer that the best thing ever invented to show off a round arm, a pretty foot, a fine figure, and a charming face, was a spinning-wheel. ”

“ How coarse threads are made. First, by coarse roving; second by spinners letting two roving run through the guide; third, by one end catching on to another and running on to the bobbin; fourth, sometimes where there is two ends on one boss, one end will break and catch onto the other and spin. If the trouble is in the spinning, you untwist the thread and you will find two threads instead of one. If not two threads, the trouble is in the carding room. ”

“ It is now possible to define the various stages in the whole process of mule spinning. These are as follows:—
First. The period during which roving is being delivered and twisted. During it, the rollers are revolving at a defined speed; the carriage is being drawn outwards at a constant rate; the spindles are revolving rapidly at a velocity definitely relative to that of the front roller. During this period the faller and counter faller are held in the position shown in Fig. 148, being quite clear of the yarn.
Fig. 148.J.N.
Second. ”

“ Now you will find that in every case this box only resists having the axis of revolution of its hidden flywheel turned round, and if you are interested in the matter and make a few observations, you will soon see that every spinning body like the fly-wheel inside this case resists more or less the change of direction of its spinning axis. ”

“ They generally sit on the ground to spin, and draw a thread about a yard long, which they wind on the spindle, tie a knot on the upper end, and draw another thread: though this work is very tedious, compared to what may be done by our common spinning-wheels, yet their dexterity and constancy enable them to manufacture all their wearing apparel. ”

“ It is wonderful the way they can manipulate a top. I have seen them take a large-sized one, having a spindle by which it was made to rotate, and by simply placing the spindle between the palms of the hands, and drawing one hand back while advancing the other a number of times it attained sufficient velocity, when it was taken from the table on which it was spinning and a turn taken around the spindle with a string that was pendant from351 a paper lantern hanging high up against the ceiling of the building. ”

“ The best test for skill in ordinary spinning, is to take a long difficult shape, after being finished, and saw it in two lengthwise, and if the variation in thickness is less than 25 per cent of the original gage, it is good practice. ”

“ When not spinning you see that it falls down at once, I find it impossible to balance it on its peg; but what a very different object it is when spinning; you see that it not only does not fall down, it offers a strange resistance when I strike it, and actually lifts itself more and more to an upright position. Once started on scientific observation, nature gives us facts of an analogous kind in great plenty.
Those of you who have observed a rapidly moving heavy belt or rope, know that rapid motion gives a peculiar quasi-rigidity to flexible and even to fluid things. ”

“ In the first spinning device, a mass of fibre was arranged on a forked stick, and, as drawn therefrom by hand, it was twisted between the fingers and wound on a spindle. During the reign of Henry VIII. of England, however, the spinning-wheel replaced the distaff and spindle, and in every cottage and palace it became an indispensable article of household equipment. The young women in all walks of life were taught to spin. Spinning became the female occupation of the age, and it is interesting to note that the modern term spinster, meaning an unmarried woman of advanced age, here had its origin. ”

“ The rotation of a wheel on an axis is called spin, and the axle upon which the wheel rotates is called the axle of spin. The spin of a wheel may be completely represented in both magnitude and Fig. 1. direction by an arrow drawn parallel to the axle of spin, pointing in the direction in which a right-handed screw would travel if turned with the spinning wheel, and having a length which represents the number of revolutions per second of the wheel. ”

“ By means of that apparatus the yarn is wound upon the spindles in the following manner. As long as the stretching and twisting go on, the threads form an obtuse angle with the spindles, and thereby slide continually over their smooth rounded tips during their revolution, without the possibility of coiling upon them. When, however, the spinning process is completed, the spinner seizes the carriage with his left hand and pushes it back towards the roller beam, while with his right hand he turns round the handle of the rim or fly wheel, and consequently the spindles. ”

“ Since such a tender thread could not support even the weight of so slight a spindle, the apparatus was rotated upon a piece of hollow shell. The spindle as here described was, so far as is known, the sole apparatus with which yarn was spun until comparatively recent times.
The changes in modern spinning have had for their object: (1) the providing of mechanical means to rotate the spindle, (2) an automatic method of drawing out the fibres, and (3) devices for working a large group of spindles together, at speeds before unattainable. ”

“ You see, then, that although every body has three axes about which it will rotate in a balanced fashion without any tendency to wobble, this balance of the centrifugal forces is really an unstable balance in two out of the three cases, and there is only one axis about which a perfectly stable balanced kind of rotation will take place, and a spinning body generally comes to rotate about this axis in the long run if left to itself, and if there is friction to still the wobbling. ”

“ They use only a spindle and distaff; they hold the distaff in the left hand, give the spindle a twirl with the right, and let it swing in the air, the spinner drawing out the tow as it flies round. The thread is then wound up on the spindle, and another twirl given to it. In this manner they are accustomed to run about the streets and spin, which I think may fairly be called spinning street-yarn.
I had often heard that the ass was a strong-backed animal, but I never had stronger evidence of the fact than upon this journey. ”

“ They are also in a line which is at right angles to the total resultant (vertical or nearly vertical) force on the car. I will call N O O' N' the mid position. Let 1⁄2m be the moment of momentum of either wheel. Let us suppose that suddenly the car finds that it is not in equilibrium because of a gust of wind, or centrifugal force, or an alteration of loading, so that the shelf D comes up against H, the spinning axis (or a roller revolving with the spinning axis) of the gyrostat. ”

“ If a common humming-top, the spindle of which is its axis of rotation, is set spinning obliquely, it will be seen that the axis will continue to point along the line it took at the commencement of motion. By placing a heavy sphere in a lathe, resting its projecting axial points on some moveable bearings, and then getting the sphere into extremely rapid motion, one of the bearings may be removed without the mass falling to the ground. ”

“ The continuous system of spinning, which for a time had to take a second place, now appears to be again forging ahead, and looks as though it would supersede its more ponderous rival. Especially in countries outside England is this the case, for it is found that the method of ring spinning preponderates, and even in England the number of spindles devoted to continuous spinning is constantly increasing. ”

“ It is astonishing how many engineers who know the laws of motion of mere translation, are ignorant of angular motion, and yet the analogies between the two sets of laws are perfectly simple. I have set out these analogies in my book on Applied Mechanics. The last of them between centripetal force on a body moving in a curved path, and torque or moment on a rotating body is the simple key to all gyrostatic or top calculation. When the spin of a top is greatly reduced it is necessary to remember that the total moment of momentum is not about the spinning axis (see my Applied Mechanics, page 594) ”

“ The shape of the spindle was much like that of the well-known flat spinning-tops that come from Japan—namely, a disc through which passes an axle. A smart twirl given by the fingers to the axle makes the disc revolve very rapidly, and its weight causes the rotation to continue for a considerable time. ”

“ 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. ”