The object of all the processes thus far described has been that of cleaning (in the picker), arranging the fibers in a parallel position to each other, making uniform, and drawing out the stock. In every case the stock delivered from a machine is lighter than when fed into it, and contains just twist enough to hold it together and prevent its being stretched or strained when unwound from the bobbin, and fed into the next machine. The minimum amount of twist in roving is desirable for the reason that it permits the stock to be drawn out more easily and uniformly, the little twist that is put in the roving by the slubber being practically eliminated when it is pa.s.sed through the rolls of the intermediate. The same applies in the case of the roving pa.s.sing from the roving to the spinning frame.

=Fly Frames.= The process in the manufacture of yarn after the cotton has pa.s.sed through the drawing frame consists of further attenuation of the sliver, but as the cotton sliver has been drawn out as much as is possible without breakage, a small amount of "twist" is introduced to allow of the continued drawing out of the sliver.

From the drawing frame, the drawing pa.s.ses through two, three, or four fly frames, according to the number of yarn to be made. All these machines are identical in principle and construction, and differ only in the size of some of the working parts. They are the slubber, intermediate, roving,--and fine or jack frame-fine, and the function of each is to draw and twist.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROVING DEPARTMENT

1. Slubber machine, showing sliver of cotton pa.s.sing through the rolls and then given a twist while it is wound on the bobbin.]

=Intermediate Frame.= The function of the intermediate frame is to receive the slightly twisted rove from the slubber and add thereto a little more twist and draft. The rove is taken from two bobbins to one spindle in the machine, an arrangement which tends to insure strength and uniformity. The principle of the machine is in other respects the same as that of the slubbing frame.

=Roving Frame.= The function of the roving frame is to receive the twisted rove from the intermediate and add more twist and draft, thereby further attenuating the rove. As in the intermediate frame the rove is generally taken from two bobbins for one spindle.

=Fine or Jack Frame.= This machine is used when fine yarns have to be made. It is built on the same principle as the preceding frames, the only difference being that a finer rove is made from which finer numbers of yarn can be spun. As in the slubber, intermediate, and roving frames, the rove is taken from two bobbins for one spindle.

=Spinning.= In the manufacture of single ply yarn the final process is that of spinning, which consists in drawing out the cotton roving to the required size, and giving it the proper amount of twist necessary to make the yarn of the required strength. While the spinning frame is built on entirely different principles from the roving, intermediate, or slubber frame, the object of each machine is the same as that of the spinning frame. The princ.i.p.al point of difference is the amount of twist imparted to the cotton roving.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROVING ROOM

1. A drawing frame showing the sliver of cotton pa.s.sing through the machine.

2. A slubber showing the sliver pa.s.sing through and wound on bobbins.

3. Roving machine showing the cotton pa.s.sing from one bobbin through the roller to another.]

The objects of the spinning process are:

1. Completion of the drawing out of the cotton roving to the required size.

2. Insertion of the proper amount of twist to give the thread produced strength.

Excessive speed causes defects in the yarn and undue wear and tear on the machine.

There are two methods of spinning: ring spinning and mule spinning.

The mule spinning is the older form. There are but few mule frames in operation in this country.

=Mule Spinning.= The function of mule spinning is to spin on the bare spindle, or upon the short paper tubes, when such are required to form a base for the cop bottom. The mule will spin any counts of yarn required, and is especially adapted for yarn in which elasticity and "cover" are essentials. Hosiery yarns are produced on the ordinary cotton mule and are very soft spun.

The bobbins of roving are placed in a creel at the back of the machine, the stands of roving being pa.s.sed through the rolls and drawn out in the same manner as at the roving frame. The spindles are mounted on a carriage which moves backward and forward in its relation to the rolls, the distance roved being about five feet. When the spindles are moving away from the frame the stock is being delivered by the rolls, the speed at which the spindles move away from the rolls being just enough to keep the ends at a slight tension. The twist is put in the yarn at the same time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPINNING ROOM. COTTON DEPARTMENT

1. Humidifier--an apparatus to give off moisture.

2. Spinning frames--showing the cotton as it comes from the roving frame and pa.s.ses through the spinning frame.]

When the spindles reach their greatest distance from the rolls, the latter are automatically stopped and the direction of the motion of the spindle carriage reversed. The yarn is wound on the spindle while the carriage is being moved back toward the rolls, the motion of the rolls being stopped in the meanwhile, the spindles revolving only fast enough to wind up the thread that has been spun during the outward move of the carriage.

The mule is a much more complicated machine than the ring frame, its floor s.p.a.ce is much greater, and more skilled help is required for its operation. Under ordinary conditions it is not practical to spin finer yarn than No. 60s on a ring, while as high as No. 500s is said to have been spun on a mule. The same number of yarn can be spun on a mule with less twist than on the ring. This is important in hosiery yarn.

Ring spinning is used for coa.r.s.e numbers, and has greater production and requires less labor than mule spinning. Ring-spinning yarn is used for warp purposes.

=Ring Spinning.= The function of ring spinning is to draw out the rove and spin it into yarn on a continuous system. The yarn made is spun upon bobbins.

The ring spinning differs from mule spinning in having the carriage replaced by a ring, from which the machine takes its name. The ring is from one and one-half to three inches in diameter, grooved inside and out, and is connected with a flat steel wire shaped like the letter D, called the "traveller." Its office is to const.i.tute a drag upon the yarn, by means of which the latter is wound upon a bobbin. Its size and weight depend on the counts of yarns to be spun; coa.r.s.e yarns demand the largest ring and heaviest traveller.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MULE ROOM

1. Stocks from Finisher ready to be spun upon the mule.

2. Front Rollers with weight levers.

3. Clearers for Front Rollers.

4. Faller shafts containing Sickles.

5. Spindles.

6. Spun Yarn wound on cops.

7. Covers for carriage.

8. Body of carriage.

9. Drawing out band.

10. One of the wheels for the carriage.]

CHAPTER XI

THREAD AND COTTON FINISHING

=Thread.= In general a twisted strand of cotton, flax, wool, silk, etc., spun out to considerable length, is called thread. In a specific sense, thread is a compound cord consisting of two or more yarns firmly united by twisting. Thread is used in some kinds of weaving, but its princ.i.p.al use is for sewing, for which purpose it is composed of either silk, cotton, or flax. Thread made of silk is technically known as sewing silk; that made of flax is known as linen thread; while cotton thread intended for sewing is commonly called spool cotton. These distinctions, while generally observed by trade, are not always maintained by the public.

The spool cotton of to-day is of a different grade from that made before the sewing machine came into general use. The early thread was but three cord, and contained such a large number of knots, thin places, etc., that it could not be worked satisfactorily on the machines, so manufacturers were called upon to produce a thread that would be of the same thickness in every twist. This was effected by making the thread of six cords instead of three, thereby producing a smoother and more uniform strand.

=Manufacturing Processes.= The raw cotton for the manufacture of thread must be of long staple. If the fiber is short the thread made of it will be weak, and hence unsuited for the purposes required of it. Ordinary cotton is not adapted to the manufacture of the better grades of spool cotton on account of the shortness of its fiber.

Egyptian and Sea Island cotton are used because they have a much longer fiber and are softer in texture. The raw cotton comes to the factory packed in great bales, and is usually stored away for some months before it is used. The first step in the conversion of the bale of cotton into thread consists in giving the fiber a thorough cleaning. This is accomplished by feeding it to a series of pickers which pull the matted locks and wads to shreds, beat out the dirt and seeds, and roll the cotton in the form of batting upon cylinders until it issues from the finisher lap machines as a downy roll or lap.

The lap of cotton then goes to the carding rooms, where it is combed into parallel fibers by means of a revolving cylinder covered with fine wire teeth, sometimes 90,000 of them to the square foot. On leaving the carding machines the lap has become a gossamer-like web thirty-nine inches broad. This web is next pa.s.sed through a small "eye" which condenses it into a narrow band about an inch in width, known as the sliver. By this time the fiber has been so drawn out that one yard of the original lap has become 360 yards of the sliver. The sliver now looks almost perfect, but if it were spun it would not make good thread. It is necessary to lay every fiber as nearly parallel as possible, so that there will be an equal number of fibers in the strand per inch. Besides this, the remaining dirt and short fibers must be removed and the knots and kinks in the fibers straightened out. To accomplish these objects the cotton must be "combed." First, the slivers are pa.s.sed through several sets of rollers, each set moving faster than the preceding, so that the strands are drawn out fine and thin. In this condition the cotton pa.s.ses to a doubling frame, and from thence to the lapping frame, a device combining six laps into one and drawing the whole out into one fine, delicate, ropy lap.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WARP ROOM

1. Beam on which the warp is wound.

2. Warp.

3. Creel.

4. Spools in the creel.]

The comber now takes the lap and combs out all the impurities and short fibers, at a sacrifice of about one-fifth of the material; next, it combines six of these fluffy combed rolls of fiber into one. A number of these rolls are then drawn out by another machine twelve times as long as they were before and twisted together on a slubbing frame. This last drawing reduces the roll to about the thickness of zephyr yarn. After being further doubled and twisted, the yarn, or roll, is ready for the mule spinner, which accomplishes by means of hundreds of spindles and wheels what the housewife once did with her spinning wheel. The mule, however, does the work of more than 1,000 hand spinners and takes up much less s.p.a.ce. On this machine 900 spindles take the yarn from 1,800 bobbins, and by means of accelerating rollers and a carriage draw out and twist it to the proper fineness for the size of thread wanted. Having pa.s.sed through the complex processes of cleansing, combing, drawing, and spinning, the cotton is now in the form of yarn of various sizes, and the real work of thread making, which is a distinct art from yarn making, begins.

The thread-making process is briefly as follows: The yarn is doubled and twisted; then three of such yarns are twisted together, which give the six-fold combination for six-cord thread. For a three-cord thread three yarns are twisted together. After the twisting is completed the thread is reeled into skeins having a continuous length of 4,000 to 12,000 yards, according to the size, and is then sent to the examining department where it is rigidly inspected. Every strand is looked over, and any found to be defective are laid aside, so that when the thread is put on the market it shall be as perfect as care and skill can make it.

At this stage of the work the skeins of thread are of the pale cream color common to all unbleached cotton goods, and are technically known as "in the gray." They therefore have to be bleached pure white or dyed in fast colors. The skeins, whether intended for white or colored thread, are first placed in large, steam-tight iron tanks and boiled.

Here the thread remains subjected to a furious boiling for six or seven hours; when removed it is perfectly clean, but still retains the brownish gray color of unbleached cotton. It then goes into a bath of chloride of lime and is bleached as white as snow. The skeins are next drawn through an acid solution to neutralize the chloride. Another boiling, another bleaching, a bath of soapsuds, and the final rinsing, complete the cleansing and whitening process. Those skeins intended for colored threads are taken to the dyeing room and placed in tanks filled with suitably prepared dyeing solutions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TWISTING ROOM