FRANKLIN INSTITUTE LIBRARY PHILADELPHIA Class . Book../ Accession. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/cottonspinninghoOOthor HONOUES, OE THIED TEAE COTTON SPINNING THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS LIMITED COTTON SPINNING {HONOURS, OR THIRD YEAR) BY THOMAS THORNLEY SPINNING MASTER, BOLTON TECHNICAL SCHOOL AUTHOR OF “cotton SPINNING CALCULATIONS” (WITH KEY); “PRACTICAL TREATISE ON DRAWFRAMES AND FLYFRAMES ” (“ SELF-ACTOR MULE,” VOL. I, j “ MULE-SPINNING,” VOL. II.), ETC. BEING A COMPANION VOLUME TO “FIRST YEAR COTTON SPINNING” AND “INTERMEDIATE, OR SECOND YEAR COTTON SPINNING” WITH SEVENTY-LIVE ILLUSTRATIONS SECOND EDITION LONDON SCOTT, GREENWOOD & SON 8 BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. CANADA : THE COPP CLARK CO., LTD., TORONTO UNITED states: D. VAN NOSTRAND CO., NEVY YORK 190; \_All rights remain with Scott, Gree?iwood &C Son'] First Edition Reprinted . October, 1901 April, 1907 PREFACE. Since the revision and extension of the scheme of the cotton spinning examinations of the City Guilds of London Institute, some four years ago, there has been greatly felt the need of a book dealing succinctly and definitely with the subjects comprised in the syllabus of the honours grade. Many times it has been pointed out to the author that no one book did cover this syllabus. The first aim of the present work is to meet the requirements of the honours syllabus, and to more or less cover, as far as space has permitted, practically the whole of the subjects specified therein. It must not, however, be imagined for a moment that this treatise is intended only for students in honours cotton spinning. On the contrary, it is hoped and believed that students actually attending classes will only form a comparatively small section of the readers. It must be remembered that the present syllabus of the honours grade of the City Guilds has been expressly designed and passed by a selected committee of experts, with a view to meeting the requirements of masters, managers, foremen, salesmen and any others who already hold, or are hoping to hold, more or less responsible positions in connection with our great cotton spinning industry. Any work, therefore, which expressly aims at fulfilling the requirements of this syllabus must necessarily appeal to all such individuals, and tend to be of more or less service to them. To appreciate fully what is meant by these remarks, reference should be made to the honours syllabus as reprinted at the commencement of this work. It will be seen that it comprises such subjects as the selection and commerce of cottons and cotton yarns ; the practical manipulation of all the machinery con- VI PEEFACB. tained in a fully-equipped coarse, medium or fine cotton spinning concern, as well as that of a cotton doubling mill ; also mill planning ; waste spinning ; wages and fire prevention. Speaking, for instance, with reference to reeling, doubling, thread making, etc., there is at the present time often an inquiry for a book dealing especially with these subjects. As they come well within the scope of the present honours syllabus, they are here dealt with somewhat fully. In like manner, there has been latterly a good deal of interest manifested in cotton waste spinning, and a considerable amount of information on this subject will be found in this treatise. Those familiar with the present author’s more ex- haustive treatises on special machines and processes of cotton spinning will well understand that he makes no pretence of having fully exhausted in this treatise the subjects that are more or less treated upon. Eather has it been his special aim to provide a comprehensive treatise covering the whole of the subjects specified in the honours syllabus. Sufficient has now been said to fully indicate the scope and aim of this work, and it remains for the reader to judge whether the objects aimed at have been attained to the extent indicated above. It may be added that with this volume also the grateful thanks of the author are due to the gentlemen and firms specified in the first volume. It may also be added to this preface that within the last two or three months an important Committee has been formed, com- posed of members of the County Council of Lancashire and representatives of Technical schools, a principal duty of this Committee being the consideration of how best to promote the study of spinning and weaving, by bringing the Examination syllabuses to still greater perfection and by any other suitable means. THOMAS THOENLEY. Bolton, August, 1901. CONTENTS. PAGE Syllabuses and Examination Papers oe the City and Guilds OP London Institute 1 Cotton .... CHAPTER I. 8 CHAPTER II. The Practical Manipulation op Cotton Spinning Machinery 17 Doubling and Winding CHAPTER III. 98 CHAPTER IV. Reeling, Bundling and Gassing 116 CHAPTER V. Warping, Testing, Commerce and Uses op Yarns . , . 136 CHAPTER VI. Production and Costs . 168 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Main Dbiving 167 CHAPTER VIII. Arrangement op Machinery and Mill Planning . . . 184 CHAPTER IX. Waste and Waste Spinning 200 Index to Illustrations 212 General Index 214 [Below is reproduced the Official Sifllabiis of the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Third Year's Course in Cotton Spinning^ Honours Grade. 1. The character and quantity of waste produced at each stage in the preparation and spinning of cotton and its utilisation ; the preparation of waste for spinning ; spinning- waste ; the machinery used for this purpose ; the character of the yarns produced, and the purposes for which they are suitable. 2. The production of doubled yarns ; the machinery used ; the preparation of yarn for doubling ; the characteristics of each variety ; the modes of utilising doubled yarn for different purposes, and the machinery employed therein ; thread manufacture. 3. The terms and conditions on which raw cotton is bought ; the method of selecting it when purchasing ; the defects usually existing, and their effect upon the value ; tests for moisture and the permissible limit. 4. The various uses to wh’ch cotton yarn is put ; the characteristics required for each purpose ; the methods of making up yarns for various markets ; reeling and bundling machinery. 5. The methods of testing cotton yarns for strength, elasticity, twist and moisture ; defects in yarn and their remedy ; the conditioning of yarn ; the terms and conditions of sale. 6. The manipulation of the cotton by the various machines ; the defects occurring during work and the method of correct- ing them ; the adjustment of the parts of each machine for VOL. III. 1 2 COTTON SPINNING. ordinary and special work ; the necessary changes in the construction of the various machines for different kinds of work ; the steps necessary to keep machines in good working order. 7. The construction and planning of spinning and doubling mills ; the arrangement and selection of machinery for eco- nomical production ; schemes of drafts, speeds and produc- tions for various counts ; the methods of lighting, heating, humidifying, ventilating and fire protecting ; the arrange- ment of motive power and power transmission machinery. 8. Costs of production ; wages ; labour charges ; insurance and other charges. Full Technological Certificate . — A certificate will be granted on the results of the ordinary and honours grade examinations. For the full technological certificate in honours, the candidate must have passed the three examinations, and if not otherwise qualified must also have passed the Science and Art Department examinations — in the elementary stage at least — in geometrical as well as in freehand or model draw- ing, and also in two of the following subjects : — Macliine Construction. I Theoretical Mechanics. Mathematics. | Applied Mechanics. The certificate of the Lancashire and Cheshire Union for the preliminary examination in cotton spinning will be accepted by the institute in lieu of certificates in the above subjects. EXAMINATION PAPEKS. 3 [Below are reprinted the two latest Examination Papers in the Honours, or Third Year's Stage.~\ CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE. EXAMINATIONS DEPARTMENT. TECHNOLOG [CAL EXAMINATIONS, 1900. COTTON SPINNING. Honours Grade. — Third Year’s Course. Tuesday, 1st May, 7 to 10. Instructions. The number of the question must be placed before the answer in the worked paper. Not more than twelve questions to be answered. The maximum number of marks obtainable is affixed to e ach question. Answers should be illustrated, as far as possible, with clear sketches. Three hours allowed for this paper. 1. Describe the methods of preparing the various kinds of waste for re-spinning. How are they prepared for card- ing, how treated and delivered by the cards ? Is it possible to draw waste yarns ? If so, to what extent, and where is it affected? (25 marks.) 2. For what purposes are waste yarns employed ? For what kind of fabrics are they most useful, and why ? (22.) 3. How many times, in your opinion, should yarn be twisted to produce six-fold thread ? In what direction should the twist be introduced at each stage, and why ? What are the number of turns per inch to be given to the thread at each stage, selecting any counts you like ? (23.) 4. Describe the operation of twining. What are the advantages obtained, if any, over other systems of doubling when adopted for the production of doubled warps? How 4 COTTON SPINNING. does the machine compare as to amount of production with other machines ? (25.) 5. You are supposed to be buying cotton for a mill spin- ning warp and weft counts 40’s to 50’s. The twist yarn must be strong and wiry, and the weft moderately soft. What kinds of cotton would you buy? What qualities would determine your selection, and how would you fix the price ? Assume that colour is not of much importance. (23.) 6. A good deal of yarn is now being used for merceris- ing”. State (a) what kinds of cotton are best, (b) how they should be prepared and spun, (c) how should they be twisted. Seasons for your answers must be given. (24.) 7. If, in examining yarn, you discover soft places at inter- vals, to what would you attribute, and how remedy, them? An ample answer is required. (25.) 8. It is necessary to cleanse a scutching machine periodi- cally. Name the parts which, require cleaning, those which need most attention, and describe fully how and in what order you would proceed to clean them. If you were scutch- ing low-middling American cotton, how often do you think you would need to thoroughly clean ? (26.) 9. If, having charge of revolving flat carding machines, you found some of the webs with cloudy or bare places, to what causes would you attribute, and how would you remedy, either fault? (25.) 10. The slivers from a finishing drawing frame are found to be very uneven in weight at irregular intervals. What, in your opinion, is the reason for this, and how can it best be prevented ? What happens if the cotton used is uneven in length? (24.) 11. Describe the construction of any differential motion of a roving frame with which you are acquainted. Say what would be the practical effect if the strain on the cone strap was so excessive as to cause it (a) to slip, or (b) not to advance when the traverse was changed. If you know of any means by which either of these faults can be prevented, describe it. (25.) 12. You are watching the working of a mule, and notice that when the carriage is (n) running out, or (b) running in, the spinning or winding is bad. Detail the faults that most frequently occur at either stage and their causes. A short, but complete, answer is required. (28.) EXAMINATION PAPEES. 6 13. Say fully what differences there should be in the constructive details of drawing and roving frames used respectively for the preparation of 28’s from good Broach cotton, and 150’s combed yarn from Egyptian cotton. (25.) 14. Say what you know about the procedure necessary to keep carding engines in good working order. How often would you strip, grind and generally overhaul them if you were carding (a) good middling American, (b) brown Egyptian cotton? If, in grinding, you found the points very dull, how would you proceed ? (25.) 15. Give a scheme of drafts for a mill to produce (a) 20’s hosiery yarn, (b) 50’s weft, (c) lOO’s combed Sea Island. You must state wBat weight of lap you begin with at the card. (27.) 16. Suppose that you had a free hand in the erection of a mill spinning a wide range of counts, say from 20’s to 50’s, two-thirds of the production being from 26 ’s to 32’s, what kind of machines would you select, and how would you arrange as to lifts of bobbins and other details? You can assume any total output you like. (25.) 17. What should be the principle upon which a spinning mill is lighted? Where is it necessary to have the light in the various stages, and what arrangement would you advise to give the best effect by day and night respectively. (22.) Honours Grade. — Third Year’s Course. Tuesday, April, 7 to 10, 1901. Instructions as above given. 1. State in lb. the amount of waste made weekly in a mill producing 40,000 lb. net weight of yarn from 30’s to 40’s. At what points is it made, and of what character at each point? What kind of cotton would you use, and, crediting the value of the waste, what would it cost per lb. in the yarn? (23 marks.) 2. Describe any machine used for the purpose of breaking up hard waste, and say what the action on the cotton is, and in what condition it is delivered. (24.) 3. What are the chief differences between lace yarns, sewing 6 COTTON SPINNING. thread and doubled warps ? What are the distinctive essential qualities of each, and why are they essential? (23.) 4. Describe fully the method of treating sewing thread after it is cabled, in order to prepare it for sale, either soft or glace. ( 24 .) 5. Assume that you are purchasing cotton for a good quality medium count of warp yarn. Describe in full how you would proceed to judge the samples submitted to you. State what grade of cotton you would select, and, in the event of the cotton being delivered to you excessively moist, how you would determine the allowance to be made. (24.) 6. Describe the process of reeling. How and in what lengths are the hanks wound for delivery (a) in this country, (6) in France, (c) for re- winding, (d) for bleaching ? Say how the hanks are tied. (25.) 7. Is it possible to ascertain the twist in single yarns by any machine ? If not, how would you most accurately ascertain it? What effect has twist upon the elasticity of yarn? In yarn intended for the pile threads of velveteens is strength or elasticity most important ? (24.) 8. What are the terms and conditions on which cotton yarns are sold in Manchester, Bradford, Glasgow and Not- tingham respectively, either with or without an agent ? ( 23 .) 9. What are the chief causes of unnecessary loss or damage to the cotton in the cleaning process (a) in the dust -trunk, (b) in the opener, (c) in the scutcher ? What is the character of the damage at each stage, and how would you prevent it ? ( 26 .) 10. Assume that you have had just completely overhauled, re-clothed and ground a revolving flat carding machine. How would you proceed to adjust the various working parts, and in what order? What precautions would you take before again commencing work ? (27.) 11. You are watching the operation of a combing machine, and you notice that the sliver as delivered is cloudy or curled. To what causes would you attribute these defects, and how would you remedy them ? (25.) 12. Detail the differences in the construction and operation of two mules, the one intended to spin lOO’s twist and the other 40’s weft? A full answer is required. (25.) 13. How would you proceed to generally overhaul a mule ? EXAMINATION PAPEES. 7 What parts require the greatest attention or the most frequent adjustment? (25.) 14. If, on examining mule cops, either from the same or different mules, you found some of the cops badly wound or snarly, how would you proceed to discover the cause in either case ? How is the defect most likely to arise ? (25.) 15. What drafts would you use to spin (a) 24’s ring twist from a ’15-hand sliver of Indian cotton, omitting the inter- mediate frame, (b) 40’s weft from a ‘IG-hank sliver good middling American, (c) lOO’s twist from a ’IQ-hank sliver from Egyptian cotton, with and without a jack frame? (27.) 16. Describe and sketch the arrangement of spinning machines in a mill producing from 30’s to lO’s yarn two- thirds twist, (a) on mules, (b) on ring frames. Say (1) the number of spindles and gauge of machines, (2) if any differ- ence in the arrangement of the line shafts is necessary in the two cases, (3) if any variation would be needed in the number or size of the preparatory machines. (26.) 17. Assume that you have 35,000 ring spindles producing 14 oz. per week each of 40’s yarn. What number of preparing machines would you want, at what speed would you run the spindles, and what production would you expect to get from each ? (24.) 18. State in detail the labour charges for preparing and spinning either 32’s, 60’s or lOO’s twist. (22.) OHAPTEE I COTTON. Q. Name the chief cotton markets of the world in which the raw material is sold to the trade, and say what sections of the trade are supplied by each, A. Liverpool is hy far the most important cotton market of the world, and supplies by far the larger proportion .of the English cotton mills, as well as many bales for consumption on the continent. Manchester. — Owing to the construction of the Ship Canal and the efforts of many persons interested, there is now a large and ever-increasing trade in raw cotton done at Manchester. Havre, on the river Seine, in France, is probably the prin- cipal cotton market for that country. Bremen, one of the three free towns in North Germany, is the principal market for raw cotton in Germany. Amsterdam serves for Holland. Bombay is the principal cotton market in India. New York is the principal cotton market for America, although considerable business is done in sach places as New Orleans, Houston, Galveston, Charleston, etc. Alexandria is the principal market for cotton in Egypt. Q. How and through what agency is cotton bought in Liverpool ? Describe the functions of buying and selling brokers, and their respective duties. A. Usually when the representative of a spinning firm goes to Liverpool to buy cotton he acts through the agency and with the aid of a buying broker. A buying broker may be stated to be a spinner’s agent to assist him in his purchases, while a selHng broker may be said to be a cotton merchant’s agent to aid him in selling his cotton. COTTON. 9 Both kinds of brokers receive one half per cent, commission or brokerage on all business done, the cotton merchant paying the selling broker and the spinner paying the buying broker. Occasionally a person combines in himself the offices of both buying and selling brokers in order to receive “double brokerage,” but this practice is not to be commended. The buying broker not only assists the spinner when he goes to Liverpool, but sends information to the mills as to the state of the market, and attends to the proper delivery, marking and weighing of the bales. The payment for the cotton is made from spinner to the buying broker, who for- wards the money to the selling broker and cotton merchant. The spinner makes his claims for falsely packed cotton through his buying broker. When a spinner goes to Liverpool he visits the office of his broker, and examines samples which may have been sent there from several selling brokers. Q. 1899. What are the chief defects in cotton as it arrives in England ? What effect has each upon its value ? What is meant when cotton is described as wasty ? How would you make allowances in valuing for such defects as irregular staple, dirtiness and exces- sive ijioisture ? A. The chief defects may be summarised as follows : Nep, unripe fibres, broken leaf, short and broken fibre, sand and mineral matter, moisture. The effect of each one of these defects is to reduce the value of the cotton in proportion to the extent of which it is present. When cotton is “wasty” the weight of yarn produced from a given weight of cotton is much less than it should be on account of the loss in waste being too great. If we choose to buy cotton that was of irregular staple, dirty and excessively damp, it would be essential that the price per pound be sufficiently low as to compensate for the in- evitable loss on working, or for the lessened price per lb. obtainable for the yarn. At times cotton has been heavily charged with moisture, and this has led to the adoption in some cases of ovens for testing the amount of moisture from a small quantity of cotton in about one and a half hours. age of loss can be readily ascertained, owing to the level quantity of 1,000 grains being taken. It has been found by experiment that cotton COTTON. 11 tested in such a manner may be expected naturally to lose 8 or per cent, of moisture. Suppose the oven shows 13| per cent, of loss, then we may say about 5 per cent, or so of this is added moisture. Q. 1899. You are supposed to be buying cotton for a mill spinning warp and weft, counts 40’s to 50’ s. The twist yarn must be strong and wiry, and the weft moderately soft. What kinds of cotton would you buy ? What qualities would determine your selec- tion, and how would you fix the price? Assume that colour is not of much importance. A. For a strong, wiry, twist yarn of 40’s to 50’s almost any of the Brazilian cottons, such as Pernams, Maranhams and Ceara, would do very well ; while for a moderately soft weft of the same counts Orleans would do. For high quali- ties of these counts brown Egyptian cotton is often used. The qualities that would determine the selection would be length, strength, uniformity and cleanliness of fibre, and we should determine these qualities by pulling tufts of the fibres between the finger and thumb of each hand, by feeling at the cotton and by shaking it. These qualities and the price of the cotton must be ruled largely by the price we expect to sell the yarn at, being not so high as to prevent the likeli- hood of profit, nor so low as to give such bad spinning and poor yarn as to drive away the customers. Q. 1899. If you were asked to buy a quantity of cotton for spinning, what properties would you examine it for, and how would you arrive at its relative value ? If you paid cash what terms would you expect to get? A. The leading principle in buying the cotton would be to see that it was suitable for the counts and description of yarn it was intended to spin from it. There is always a temptation to buy cheap cotton because, say, one-eighth of a penny per pound of cotton makes a large difference in the profits of a spinning concern if the price of the yarn can be kept up. If, however, the cotton costs one-eighth of a penny less and the yarn is so much worse, that, say, one-eighth of a penny per pound less is got for the yarn, while in addi- tion there is a greatly increased percentage of waste and much trouble with the operatives and lessened production, there can scarcely be much true economy in buying the cheap 12 COTTON SPINNING. cotton. The cotton should be of proper length of staple, possess the required degree of cleanliness and freedom from impurities, neps and short fibre. Uniformity of staple is also an important property. The usual method of testing for length at Liverpool is to pull and reduce a small sample between the thumb and fore- finger of each hand until a few fibres are obtained, from which the approximate length of staple can be determined, and also an idea of the strength. By shaking a small portion of cotton in the light of the window an approximate idea may be conveyed to the mind of an expert as to the relative amount of dirt. As regards terms of purchase it is usual to allow 1-| per cent, net discount for payment in ten days, and this is accompanied by a further allowance of 5 per cent, per annum for the number of days the cotton is paid for before the ten days are up. If payment is delayed after the ten days, 5 per cent, per annum is added for the extra time. Q. 1896. Upon what terms is cotton usually bought from the Liverpool brokers ? What is the allowance for tare ? A. As stated above the terms upon which cotton is usually bought in Liverpool are : Ten days’ credit less per cent., with an allowance of 4 lb. per cent, for tares. If the pay- ment is made before the expiration of the ten days, 5 per cent, interest is allowed on the account for the time gained, and on the other hand, if payment is delayed beyond the ten days, 6 per cent, interest is charged on the account for the extra days. Bor instance, suppose payment is made four daj^s before time, then II per cent, would be deducted from the account, and 5 per cent, on the account for the four days. The latter amount, however, would not be very great, as it could only reach £5 on every £100 in twelve months. For four days on £100 it might be Is. Id., as shown below : 365 : 4 : : £5 : Is. Id. It is also specified that falsely packed, damaged or un- merchantable cotton will be allowed for at the value of the sound cotton if the claim be sent in within a certain time limit. COTTON. 13 CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON. The chief contributors to the European supply are, in the order of their importance, as follows: The United States, India, Egypt, Brazil and Peru. Besides the cotton indi- genous to most of these countries, nearly all produce different varieties, generally grown from seed of the most popular kinds cultivated in the United States. The following are those usually quoted in the Liverpool Cotton Brokers’ Circular; to them are appended brief descriptions of their important characteristics : — American varieties are classed in four quahties — good ordinary, low middling, middling, and good middling; South American, three — middling fair, fair, and good fair ; Egyptian, two — fair, and good fair ; East Indian, three — fair, good fair, and good. Standard samples of these classes are preserved for reference, in case of dispute, in the offices of the Liver- pool Cotton Brokers’ Association ; and it is customary amongst brokers to form a set of the classes in which they deal, and, after careful comparison with the standards, to preserve them for easy reference when required. As, how- ever, the crop of each succeeding year differs in some im- portant respect from its predecessor, these standard samples are subject to considerable modification. According to the relative abundance or scarcity, fulness or deficiency, of special characteristics the different varieties are classed up or down, as the case may require. Thus, within a limited range, there is a constant fluctuation of the standard. Q. What are “spot,” “arrivals” and “future” cottons, and what are the conditions governing transactions in them ? A. “Spot” cotton means cotton that is actually on the “ spot ” or in the market, actual samples of which are inspected by the spinner prior to purchase. By far the greater proportion of cotton for actual use is bought on the “ spot ”. The terms of purchase have been previously given. Length of Staple. Fineness. Strength. Smoothness Colour, and Cleanliness. 14 COTTON SPINNING. A good dea of business is now done in what is some-, times termed “ arrivals ” cotton, or more often termed “ C.I.F.” cotton. These letters are brief for cost, insurance and freight. Such cottons are not actually at Liverpool, but are due “ to arrive ” within certain time limits. The purchaser does not see samples of the actual cotton, but it is agreed that the cotton shall be equal to certain type samples. The seller of the cotton at the foreign market pays costs, insurance and freight, the spinner being responsible when the cotton is delivered on the quay at Liverpool. The cotton may be for- warded directly to the mill without storage in Liverpool warehouses. The other terms for “C.I.F.” cotton are much similar to those for “spot” cotton. “ Futures.” — It is in “ futures” that a vast deal of speculation or gambling in cotton is often done, there being many persons who make it their businebs to speculate in cotton quite apart from the question of serving spinners with cotton for use. The term hull is sometimes applied to a buyer of “ futures,” and the term hear to a seller of “ futures ”. A point in England is of a penny. It is possible for a spinner to buy “futures ” cotton as a cover for large forward sales of yarn. “ Futures ” may be bought on a basis of, say, 5d. per lb. for middling American, and the contract may be made, say, in January for termination in April or May. In the intervening time “ weekly settlements ” are made, by which the spinner pays or receives the difference in the market value of his “ futures ” contract. Q. Name the principal properties of cotton, as a spinning fibre, in their order of value. Give reasons for your answer. A. Natural twist is the most important of the features which render cotton so eminently fitted to hold commercial supremacy amongst other textile fibres. If, for instance, flax were cut to the same length as an ordinary cotton fibre, it would be difficult to make the fibres adhere to each other, although there is no difficulty experienced with the cotton fibres. Nay, further than that, they have a strong natural tendency to stick to one another because of this natural twist. As to its extent and cause, we dealt with the matter in the first year book. A quality which — although not physical — undoubtedly has a great deal to do with its commercial supremacy, is the ease with which it can be cultivated and COTTON. 15 the lowness of its price per pound when compared with other fibres. Allied to this point is the quality which it possesses of readily blending with other and higher priced fibres, such as silk and woollen, in such a manner that it is often difficult to detect the presence of cotton in mixed goods. This ad- mixture and imitation are greatly facilitated by the quality of colour which it possesses, and the ready manner in which it can be satisfactorily treated by polishing, bleaching and dyeing processes. The hollow character of fully ripe fibres is a quality which greatly aids in the latter process, although we might place before it, in order of importance, length of fibre and fineness of fibre. These two qualities, combined with natural twist and the qualities of strength and elasticity, are the features which more especially enable us to make the millions of miles of long fine cotton, yarn or thread that are annually produced in the world. Other qualities are evenness and smoothness of fibre and natural moisture and pliability, all of which assist in the production of cotton yarns out of the raw material. Q. From what cottons would you spin a medium quality of the following yarns : 16’s to 24’s, 32’s to 36’s, 40’s, go’s, 80’s, all twist or warp yarns ? A. To some extent the selection of the cotton would be ruled by the kind of cloth to be manufactured, and whether lightly or heavily sized. The following might be given as suitable cottons : — 16’s to 24’s might take Dhollerah or Dharwhar Indian cotton, although large quantities of such numbers >re spun from American cotton. 32’s to 36 ’s. — By far the greater proportion of such yarns are spun from American cotton, such as Texas, or a moderate quality of Orleans. In a limited number of cases some Indian cotton is used for these numbers. Uplands and Mobile are rather weak for warp yarns. 40’s. — Orleans and Texas cottons are most used for 40’s warp yarn of medium quality. go’s. — F or warp yarns 60’s counts medium quality we might take carded Egyptian, South American cotton, or special American cottons, such as Bender’s and Peeler’s Orleans. 80’s. — Carded brown Egyptian cotton would be the most suitable for making 80’s warp yarn of medium quality. 16 COTTON SPINNING. Combed brown Egyptian is often used for 80’s warp yarns of high quality. 1 Q. What would be the consequence of mixing cottons of irregular length of staple in each of the successive stages of opening, lap-forming, carding, drawing, slubbing, roving and spinning? A. (1) Blowing -room . — It is customary to set the beater of the scutcher a little farther away for long fibre than for short, and extreme variations in the staple might result in the long fibre being broken or the short fibres taken forward irregularly and in clusters. It is not very probable that any ordinary variations in the fibre would show up prominently in this way. The air current always tends to take short light fibres forward more readily than long fibres, and in this way the short fibres are laid on the top cage and form a coating for the top of the lap sheet, and in this way lead to lap- licking. The speeds of the beater should be quicker for short cottons than long ones. (2) Carding . — -There will be an excessive amount of waste and much stripping will be necessary owing to the presence of a large amount of short fibre. With the feed-plate it is usual to give a different shape for long than for short fibres, and this cannot be done in the case under discussion. There will be danger of the long and short fibres being nepped. It would be difficult to suit the weight of sliver, and the pro- duction of the card to suit both long and short fibres. (3) Subsequent 'processes . — In all the processes subsequent to carding it would be impracticable to set the drawing rollers to suit both long and short fibres to the best advantage*. Very probably we should get cloudy and irregular slivers, rovings and yarn, due to the short fibres issuing from the rollers in clusters and wrapping round or standing out from the body of longer fibres. Naturally there would be bad spinning and much waste on the flyers, top clearers, under clearers, etc. 1 Many answers on cotton mixing are given in the first year’s section. Recent examinations have demonstrated the possibility of the questions on cotton in the first year’s papers overlapping those on the honours paper, and students should read both sections on this subject. CHAPTEE II. THE PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF COTTON SPINNING MACHINERY. BLOWING-EOOM. Q. 1899. If, on examining a lap produced on a finisher scutching machine, you found it {a) uneven in weight, (b) ragged at the edges, (c) splitting, where would you expect to find the causes of these defects, and what would you do to remedy them ? A. As regards unevenness it would be advisable to examine all parts of the feed regulator motion to see if they were in satisfactory working condition. The bowl box should be kept well cleaned ; the cone belt should be kept at a fair degree of tension. For the same defect care should be taken to have the laps presented to the back of the finisher in as regular a condition as possible, and everything affecting the fan draught should be carefully exan ined. For bad selvedges care should be taken to avoid any rough places on the sides of the scutcher between the beater and the cages. Every attention should be bestowed upon the efficient lining of the cages at the ends. A practice now sometimes adopted to improve the lap edges is to make the laps at the front narrower than those in the creel of the scutcher, and to repeat the narrowing process behind the card. Lap-licking or “splitting ” is often a very serious evil in a spinning mill. When a large quantity of soft waste is used in the cotton it is sometimes the case that a drag board is allowed to press against the lap during formation. In other similar cases a number of rovings are allowed to run in with the lap during its formation. The more efficient blending of cotton, using a less amount of short fibre, making the top cage of the VOL. III. 2 18 COTTON SPINNING. scutcher larger than the bottom one, are other remedies for “ splitting Q. What fault is caused by each of the following derange- ments of the piano motion ? (1) Fork in cone drum box too wide ; (2) pendants and bowls slack in bowl box ; (3) cleaning neglected between the cotton holders. A. In each of the three cases specified the effect would be dilatory action of the cone drum belt, and therefore ineffec- tive regulation of the lap by the piano motion. A slack cone belt fork would mean a loss in touching the belt by the fork at every change, and slackness in the bowl box would mean a loss between the bowls and pendants, while neglect of cleaning would cause the various parts to bind and work sluggishly. In the case of worn pendants an alteration in the height of the bowl box has sometimes been a good thing. As a matter of fact, because of wearing and neglect of cleaning and friction of these parts, some spinners are now adopting new regulating motions, in which the bowl box is dispensed. In one of these cases spring balances are used, and in another tripod levers instead of the usual pendants. Q. 1900. It is necessary to cleanse a scutching machine periodically. Name the parts which require clean- ing, those which need most attention, and describe fully and in what order you would proceed to clean them. If you were scutching low middling American cotton, how often do you think you would need to thoroughly clean ? A. The parts of the scutcher which need most cleaning, apart from the usual weekly wiping down, are the lap end, the regulator motion, the beater bearings, the beater and cage bars, and the interior sides of the machine. At intervals of, say, once per month— more or less according to individual cases — the calender rollers and fluted lap rollers are lifted out and the bearings thoroughly cleaned and re- oiled. It should be stated, however, that in some mills this work is only done at intervals of several months. The rollers themselves and the cages may be well rubbed with a blacklead brush, or whitening or French chalk, and then the machine made good again. At intervals of perhaps the same duration the. bpwl box q£ PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 19 the piano feed regulator may be pulled to pieces, all the parts thoroughly cleaned, aud blackleaded, and then replaced. The same with regard to the beatef bars and cage bars and insides of the machine, in order to make the passage of the cotton as free as possible. This foregoing work is often done at the week ends, and it is often found convenient to do part of it at one time and part at another. Q. 1899. How would you set the feed roller or pedal nose of a scutching machine relatively to the beater if you were preparing laps (1) from Tinnevelly, (2) from Uplands, (3) from Egyptian cotton? if the beater was 18 inches diameter, with two blades, and revolved 1,200 times per minute, what number of inches of lap would you deliver by the feed roller per minute if you were scutching American cotton ? A. We should not be far away from good practice if for Tinnevelly we set the beater blades to be about ^ or of an inch from the bottom feed roller, and about or ^ of an inch away for Uplands, and, say, or f of an inch away for Egyptian cotton. It must be remembered, however, that with the closest setting the blow of the beater will always be delivered on the cotton at more than 1 inch from the point where the cotton is gripped between the top and bottom feed rollers. As a matter of fact, if the cover of the beater be lifted up it will usually be observed that, say, about inch of cotton are hanging down from the feed rollers. The setting at this position is ruled somewhat by the same general law that rules the setting of drawing rollers, viz., the longer the staple of the cotton and the further away the rollers, the number of laps put up together also affecting the problem. With the pedals in place of the bottom feed roller it would be possible to bring the grip of the pedal and the top feed roller nearer to the striking point of the beater. As regards the rate of feed per minute, this would vary considerably in different mills, and will probably be somewhere between 60 and 80 inches per minute. Taking 80 inches per minute, this, of course, would be 80 inches to 2,400 strokes of the beater, which would equal 30 strokes per inch of cotton fed. Eeferring to Figs. 2 and 3, in each case A is the pedal nose ; B, the pedal roller ; C, oee blade of the beater ; D are 20 COTTON SPINNING. the feed rollers in Fig. 2. The arrangement in Fig. 2 is for long staple cottons. Fig. 3 is used for short staple cottons, and also for long staple cottons in openers where porcupine cylinders are used. Q. Describe the derangements which are liable to take place in machines in the blowing-room, and the manner in which the cotton passing through is injured by the occurrence of these derangements. A. It is possible that the faulty action of these or other machines may be due to defects in their construction or to derangements which arise in their manipulation, (a) In actual work the author has often witnessed bad edges made on the laps by pieces of cotton sticking to the bars of the leaf extractor, or to the sides of the machine between the cages and beater. Defective linings to the ends of the cages, or in efficient covering up or recessing of the ends of the cages, will lead to the same evil, and so also thin feeding at the edges of the feed lattice. In some cases bad selvedges have resulted from trying to make too thin a lap sheet, and in others by having dirty cages or air exits. (b) Uneven laj^s often constitute a most serious evil, and may be caused by numerous circumstances, the primary of which are defective action of the piano feed regulator and irregular feeding of the cotton. This evil may result from PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 21 the various doors aud covers of the machine not being made a sufficiently good fit, and thus affecting the air current. Possibly, also by dirty dust flues and wrong speeds of fan. The hopper feed may be wrongly ])roportioned in speed to the opener feed rollers, or some of its parts may be out of order. As regards the feed regulator, the cone belt should be kept in a flexible condition and of the proper tension. Worn bowls should be renewed, and slackness in the various studs, rods and levers should be avoided. It may be noted that feed regulators are now receiving more or less adoption, in which the troublesome bowl box is entirely dispensed with. Systematic weighing of tiie whole lap, and of small portions of lap, is essential to secure uniformity. Every opener or scutcher is provided witli small adjustment screws to vary the weight of lap readily. (c) Lap -licking is a serious evil in many cases, and may be due to using too much waste or short fibre in the mixing ; or to not having the top cage of larger diameter than the bottom one ; or to not having most of the draft in the top cage ; or by too much resistance on the brake motion for hardening the lap. In extreme cases sometimes stubbing or intermediate ends are run round with the lap, or a drag- board is made to rest on the lap during its formation, or the lap is thickened. {d) If uniform laps and freedom from breakdowns are to be obtained from these machines, the utmost care should be taken to ensure really efficient cleaning and oiling of the various parts. Also all the straps should be kept well up in tension, and the various rollers and. shafts should be known to work freely in their bearings. (e) Sometimes the proper dropping of the leaf extractor door, or the removal of the fly and dirt from the proper positions, are neglected so much that some of the impurities begin to pass with the good cotton. The same effect may be produced with an excessively strong fan draft ; while, on the other hand, if the air current be too weak, there will be a danger of good cotton passing with the impurities. (/) If the beater speed be too high, or if the feed rollers or pedal noses be set too close to the beater, there will be a tendency to cut the fibre. Setting too far away, on the other hand, may tend to take the cotton forward irregularly. 22 COTTON SPINNING-. and nip and string the fibre by allowing it to hang down from the feed rollers and be struck by the blades repeatedly. It is possible the latter evil may also be caused by worn beater blades. When it is remembered that in a two-bladed beater each blade strikes the cotton on an average upwards of 60,000 times in an hour, it will be understood that in process of time the steel blades may become worn. Some- times the blades are double-edged, and the beater is reversible so as to allow of bringing the unworn edges into action. In other cases they may be re-planed. (cj) If the stripping plate be set too far away, it allows the cotton to be carried round by the beater, resulting in overheating of the fibre. As regards constructive evils, it is possible : — (1) That the ends of the cages may be not properly recessed into the machine. (2) That rough places may be left on the insides of the machines, so that cotton will catch on them, the latter evil also resulting if the cages and various rollers are not well finished. (3) The various rollers, cages, beaters, fans, etc., may be not set to work with sufficient freedom (4) The various doors and covers and the fan-box may not be airtight. (5) The feed rollers may not be of sufficiently large diameter, or may be ineffectively weighted, resulting in the cotton being 'pinched from them by the beater, in unopened lumps of fibre. (6) Sometimes the pedal noses are not suited to the staple of cotton being used. (7) The various mechanical drafts of the machine may be wrongly proportioned. (8) Sometimes inadequate provision is made for adjustment of the feed rollers, stripping plate and other parts. Bayne's Regulator. In this motion the bowl box is entirely dispensed with. A heavy bar is hung from the rear of the pedal levers by a set of spiral springs, there being one spring to each lever. The springs used are of the well-known Salter’s make, as used in the well-known Salter’s spring balances, being of PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 23 uniform strength and- size. The long bar rises and falls in accordance with the average rise and fall of the pendants. This bar is kept suspended in such a manner that its centre of gravity is always the same distance below the average of the pedal ends, however irregular the individual heights and positions of such pedal ends may be. To obtain this effect, the increased pull of some of the pedals and springs is com- pensated for by the decreased pull of others, and, conse- quently, the rise and fall of its centre of gravity exactly corresponds to the increase or decrease of the thickness of the sheet of cotton. Within the hollow of the long bar alluded to, and pivoted at its centre of gravity, is a lever, one end of which is adjust- ably secured to a link fixed to the framing by regulating nuts, while the other end works directly in connection with the strap fork of the cone drum belt. The author witnessed this motion at work some three years ago, and it was undoubtedly giving satisfactory regulating, in addition to the advantages attendant upon dispensing with the bowl box. The Tri 2 )ocl Regulator. Fig. 4 shows another form of feed regulator which appears to be receiving some amount of adoption, and is much similar to one the author saw working on a scutcher of foreign make at the Paris Exhibition. At least one firm in America also appears to be making a modification of this arrangement, and another modification of the same idea appears to have been at work on the Continent for many years. The “ Tripod ” regulator (shown in Fig. 4) is made by Messrs. Lord Bros., of Todmorden, and is so named by its essential feature, which is that a number of three-armed or triangular levers of various sizes are used in place of the ordinary bowl box arrangement. The arrangement can be applied to existing scutchers. The makers themselves clawi the following advantages : — (1) Greater effectiveness. (2) Its efficiency is not impaired by any wear. (3) It never requires cleaning, as it will work when covered wuth dirt. (4) Time and expense of cleaning obviated, thus saving, COTTON SPINNING. PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 25 Fig. 4 (g). 26 COTTON STINNINC^. also, chance of bad work through the regulator not being put together properly after taking to pieces to clean. (5) No repairs ever required. (6) No bowls between the pendants are used, so that the regulating cannot be spoiled through flat places wearing on such bowls, (7) No lubricant required. (8) Cannot get out of order. (9) Working much more freely than the ordinary regulator, it puts very much less strain, and consequently less wear and tear, on the feed roller flutes and bearings. (10) The cone-drum strap may be tight without affecting its sensitiveness. (11) Gives such accurate work that for weeks its adjusting screw need not be touched. (12) From its extreme simplicity it gives less trouble and greater “yard by yard’’ regularity tha.n any regulator yet made. (13) Can be readily applied to any kind of piano regulator. It remains to be seen whether more extended trial will lead to the general adoption of this or similar motions. - Hopper Feeder. In addition to the hopper feeder arrangements shown in the first year’s section of this work, it may be advantageous here to illustrate the hopper feeder as made by Messrs. Lord Bros. Fig. 4 [a) is a longitudinal section of this feeder, and is practically self-explanatory. A is the feed box ; A', bottom lattice ; B, the lifting lattice ; C, the evener roller ; D, cleaner for C ; E is the stripper roller. A special feature is the “surplus” cotton arrangement mark behind the spiked lifting lattice, its object being to return overflow cotton from the reserve box into the feed box again. The reserve box itself is a feature not found on all hoppers. This hopper can be, and preferably is, driven from any con- venient shaft, independent of its opener or scutcher. It is also desirable to drive the inclined spiked lifting lattice that has the most work to do independently of the regulator, so as not to impose too much work on the cone regulator of the opener or scutcher. PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 28 COTTON SPINNING. At Fig 4. (b) are two diagrams intended to show the im- provement in the uniformity of feed obtained by applying this machine. CAEDING ENGINES. Q. 1900. Say what you know about the procedure neces- sary to keep carding engines in good working order. How often would you strip, grind and generally overhaul them if you are carding (a) a good middling American or {b) brown Egyptian ? If in grinding you found the points very dull, how would you proceed ? A. To keep carding engines in good working order it is necessary, in the first place, to see that “stripping” and “grinding” and “setting” are performed with sufficient frequency and skill. It is essential also that the cards be kept well cleaned and oiled, and with the straps and bands at a proper tension. Broken parts and damaged wire should be made good as quickly as possible. The frequency of stripping and grinding varies consider- ably with different firms. For either of the above cottons stripping may be done from two to four times per day. With hardened and tempered steel wire some firms lightly grind the same cylinder every fortnight or every week ; in other cases it is done once per month, while in still other cases a much longer interval is allowed to elapse between grinding. As regards thoroughly re-setting, this may be done once every six months. Doffers may be set to cylinders rather frequently. If the points were found to be very dull it would be best to first apply the full length or so called dead roller in order to grind more quickly. Afterwards the Horsfall might be applied to give a final and more accurate grinding. Q. 1899. The flat strips on a revolving flat card are found to be (a) uneven in weight compared with each other ; (b) uneven at various parts of the same flat ; (c) too heavy in each case ; (d) stripping badly. What are the causes of and how would you remedy each of these defects ? A. (a) The wire on some of the flats may be damaged, or PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 29 the ends of the flats may be worn irregularly, thus giving a different angle to the flats, or parts of the chain may be irregularly worn, or the wire foundation may be slack on some flats, (b) The wire may be damaged at one part of the flat and not at another, and the same remark applies to slack foundation. The front plate may be set further away at one end than the other. The wire may be harder and rougher and not as well ground at one place as another. (c) A common cause of the flat strips being too heavy is the front plate — between the last flat and the doffer — being too far away. There may be an improper angle in the teeth of the flats, such as having too much ‘"keen”, (d) A common cause of flats stripping badly is the stripping brush being set too deeply, and this has frequently come under the author’s notice. When an operative sees the flats stripping badly — and has not had previous experience — he at once naturally gets the brush to touch ihe bottom. This, however, aggra- vates the evil by fastening the fibre at the bottom of the teeth. Defective wire is a common cause of bad stripping. Q. 1900. If, having charge of revolving flat carding engines, you found some of the webs with cloudy or bare places, to what causes woidd you attribute, and how would you remedy, either fault ? A. Speaking generally, irrespective of maker of card, there are many good carders who immediately make a point of examining the feed parts of a card in the case of cloudy webs to see if there is irregular or defective setting of the feed roller, taker-in and possibly the back plate. An uneven lap sometimes allows plucking, and therefore gives cloudi- ness. Temporary cloudiness of the web is sometimes caused by neglect of stripping, and the carder generally has an idea when such is the case. Very wide setting of various parts will cause cloudy webs, and this remark applies, perhaps, more to the setting of the doffer from the cylinder than to anyihing else. Neglect of grinding will cause cloudiness. In some cases cloudy webs have been traced to the influence of air currents acting on the cotton on the face of the cylinder, more especially at the front and back plates, and in other cases the cause has been found to be the defective condition of some parts of the wire. Bare places may be caused by defective laps, and by one or two of the 30 COTTON SPINNING. things which also cause cloudiness. The remedies are obvious. Neglecting to collect fly from beneath the card may lead to cloudy webs, and especially from the front edge of the undercasing. By reversing the dotter by hand such ac- cumulations may be brought off with the doffer, and this is often the first thing that grinders do. Q. 1898. Having charge of carding engines, what would you do if you found that cloudy or uneven webs were coming ofl‘ the doffer? Where would you look for the fault, and how correct it ? A. It Would be an easy and profitable thing to first of all strip the card well, and note the effect on the web. After- wards the gauges might be inserted in order to get an idea of the distances apart of the main working parts. These being all right, the wire might be examined carefully as to whether it required grinding. It may be taken as a fundamental principle that defective stripping, grinding and setting are fruitful causes of cloudy webs. The wire itself, of course, in process of time requires renewing. The lap behind the card must necessarily receive early attention at our hands, es- pecially with reference to the special defect of unevenness, as it will be practically impossible to secure regular web from an irregular lap. The edges of the lap can soon be examined, and if any doubt exists as regards the regularity portions of two yards long should be unwound from it and carefully examined and weighed. Imperfect action of the doffer comb at times tends to bring the web off the doffer in a cloudy and uneven condition, especially the first thing on a cold frosty morning. See also previous answer. Dobson’s Patent Flat Geinding Apparatus. This patent anti-flexion apparatus for grinding the revolv- ing flats is applicable to, and can be adapted to, cards of other makes, as a rule, with very little trouble, as well as to the cards of the same firm. They mount the apparatus immediately over the taker-in, in a bracket upon which are formed two surfaces at different levels, to correspond with the angle of the flat. Underneath this fixing, and attached to it, is the grinding roller bracket, both brackets being adjustable in either direction, PKACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 31 The flats are conducted in a straight line, by runners or bowls, while passing over the grinding roller. The makers claim the following advantages : — (1) There is no moving part in the motion controlling the grinding. (2) The ordinary size of grinding roller can be used. A. B. C. D. SLIDING SURFACE WHEN GRINDING. A. B. C. E, SLIDING SURFACE WHEN CARDING B. F, CLEARANCE FOR RAISED SURFACE ON SLIDE WHEN GRINDING. (3) There is no movement in the axis of the grinding roller ^tself. i (4) When the flats are passing over the grinding roller they are^subject to no strain whatever. (5) When the flats are being ground they have the wire downwards under the same conditions as their working position. (6) Bach flat on the card is bound to be precisely the same 32 COTTON SPINNING. as the other flats — there is no possibility of its being otherwise. (7) Whatever the wear and tear on the end of the flats it is regulated by the grinding roller. (8) There are no corners or shelves for the lodging of fly or dirt. (9) The grinding surfaces are automatically cleaned by the passage of the flats. (10) The motion requires absolutely no attention. (11) The setting of the grinding roller is more steadily executed, as the motion is in the most favourable position for doing this. (12) x\ny dirt loosened in the flat wire by the vibration of the grinding falls on to the steel cover of the licker-in and cannot get into the card. Q. Describe the remedies for the following derangements in a carding engine : — (1) Web hanging or bagging between calendar and dofler. (2) Flocks forming at the side of the web. (3) Web following doffer instead of stripping clearly. (4) Flat strips leaving flats in a continuous web instead of being merely joined by a few fibres. A. (1) In certain definite experiments and alterations the author found that putting doffer comb to make its stroke lower down caused the web to bag or hang down, and if carried to excess broke the web. A remedy might therefore be found in such cases by shortening or lifting the stroke of the comb. It might happen in some cases that the calendar rollers were running too slowly, and, without doubt, speeding them up would tighten the web. (2) It has often happened that flocks, or bunches of fibre, have been formed at the edges of the cylinder and doffer, and some of them have passed forward with the good carded cotton. Often this evil has been due to defects in the con- struction of the card, and it has been a very difficult matter to provide an effective remedy. Formerly wooden linings were at the ends of the cylinders, and the replacing of these has diminished the evil of flock- PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 33 ing. There has always been a tendency for the emission of fly at the eads of the cylinder, and these have been rubbed into flocks by the end of the cylinder against the lining. In modern cards flocking is much less prevalent than formerly, due to the great pains taken to provide efficient casings and covers to the ends of the taker-in, cylinder and doffer. In any case keeping the fly well cleaned from the ends in question will diminish any tendency towards flocking. (3) A remedy for the web following the doffer might be found in setting the doffer comb closer to the doffer, or a little lower down, or in speeding up this comb. (4) As a rule, when the flats leave the cylinder in a continuous web, it is because the top edge of the front plate is set too far away, and in any such case the first thing to be done should be to set this plate closer to the cylinder. Q. What is the result upon the cotton passing through the cards when the rollers or flats are set too near the cylinder, and also when too far from it ? A. As a matter of fact these parts can scarcely be set too near without absolutely touching, except in the case of very heavy carding. Actual contact would probably damage the wire more than the cotton, but the quality of carding would after- wards suffer owing to the damaged wire. Actual contact, or extremely close setting with heavy carding, might cut, break and nep the fibre. In the case of the flats being too far away we might expect dirty and cloudy webs, owing to the fibre getting into the toe of the flat, and the flat being so far from the cylinder that the latter could not again take the fibre from the flat in a proper manner, while at the same time the dirt could not be properly transferred from the cylinder to the flats. Q. What are the particular merits of the Wellman and the revolving flat cards ? A. Although the Wellman card is now seldom or nevei made in England, there are some good spinners and practi- cal men who yet consider it to be far ahead of the revolving flat card as regards the quality of the work done, without injury to the fibre, at any rate for fine spinning. Taking the revolving flat card first, it may be said that its great superiority consists in the much larger quantity of VOL. III. 3 34 COTTON SPINNING. work capable of being turned off, combined with a much smaller amount of attention required. The setting of the flats is far more easily done than on the Wellman, in which each flat requires individual setting. There are far more flats and a great deal more wire capable of being brought into action on the cotton. The stripping of the flats is performed on the whole in a much better manner than on the Wellman, in which latter card each flat has to be lifted up away from its work, thus leaving a bare place on the cylinder while the flat is being stripped. The grinding of the flats can also be done without disturb- ing the flats or stopping the card, which is not practicable with the Wellman. In favour of the Wellman it may be said : — (1) Coarser can be used on the back flats than on those towards the front of the card, thus giving a graduated action of the flats. (2) At the same time we may have more bevel or wider setting of the back flats than the front ones. (3) Another important advantage is that the back flats, being dirtier than the front ones, can be stripped more frequently than the front ones, say twice or three times for the back flats to once for the front ones. Quite recently the author went through a noted fine spinning mill in which all the cards were of the Wellman flat type. It may be added that this card is named after its original inventor, viz., George Wellman, of the United States of America. Q. There are three ways of increasing the weight of carding or production in a given time : first, by increasing the thickness of lap; secondly, by in- creasing the speed of the feed rollers by means of a larger side shaft change bevel ; thirdly, by increasing the speed of the doffer. Under what conditions do each of these three methods recom- mend themselves ? A. (1) Speaking generally, the best and most usual method of increasing the production of the card is to put on a larger Barrow change wheel. This speeds up tne doffer and coiler parts at the front of the card, and by means of the side PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OP MACHINEEY. 35 shaft it speeds up the feed aud lap rollers at the back of the card. The beauty of this alteration consists in the counts of lap and sliver remaining unaltered, while the change can be readily effected. The quality of carding would be rather worse. (2) It might happen that our scutchers had already a difficulty in providing sufficient laps for the card, and in such a case it would probably be necessary to increase the thick- ness of the lap. This would alter the counts of sliver, which is usually undesirable. In cases, however, where we were going upon coarser counts, we might require a thicker sliver, and it would then be probably the best thing to increase the lap thickness. (3) It might happen that we had plenty of laps from the scutcher, and the weight of lap per yard was as heavy as it was considered advisable to have it. At the same time we might desire a coarser sliver owing to coarser counts, or again our drawframes could take a thicker sliver, but could not conveniently use up more length of sliver. In such cases a larger side shaft change bevel could be put on. The two last changes would give more weight of sliver, but the same length, while the first change would give more length of sliver of the same weight per yard. Q. 1898. If you found a carding engine making too much waste, how would you proceed to remedy it ? A. This would, of course, depend upon how and where the waste was being made, which to a large extent would very soon enable a practical carder to localise the cause and remedy the defect. If the undercasings of the taker-in were set too far away from the taker-in or from the feed plats, or the mote knives too close, or the feed plate was too far away from the taker-in, we might expect to find too much waste beneath the licker-in. It is possible that the extra waste might be caused by the flat strippings being too heavy, when it is probable that the front stripping plate would be too far away, the remedy being in this, as in the previous cases, very obvious. Occasionally the strips might be too heavy at one side only, when it is probable the front plate would be too far away at that side only of the card. When a card is old, out of truth, and covered with bad wire, it is natural to expect too much waste from these causes. It 36 COTTON SPINNING. might be that the extra waste was due to the presence of an excessively large proportion of short fibres in the cotton, and this of course should be borne in mind and attended to. Q. 1897. How would you proceed to grind the clothing on a carding engine cylinder (1) when newly clothed, (2) after ordinary wear ? State the reasons for the couise you adopt. A. When intending to grind a card, the feed should be stopped and the card run thoroughly bare, this operation taking anything from half an hour to an hour, according to the speed of the card. As the flats are ground in position with the card working, the question refers doubtless to the cylinder and doffer. The covers for these are removed so as to expose the wire to the action of the grinding rollers. There. are differences of opinion as to the use of the Horsfall, or the full length grinding roller, some men preferring to use the latter first, but finishing off with the former. The cylinder must be reversed in direction during grinding, as it would be difficult to get enough difference in surface speed between the grinding roller and the cylinder if both went the same way. The doffer, of course, is not compelled to have any such reversal, as it always, during working, revolves the contrary way to the setting of its teeth. It is a matter of opinion as to whether slow or fast grinding is the better, and the practice is therefore subject to variation in this respect. Slow grinding, however, is not much used. It may just be remarked that in slow grinding the speeds of the cylinder and doffer are much reduced, while in ordinary grinding the cylinder remains at its working speed, and the doffer is speeded up. As regards the difference between grinding a new card and a card that has been working for some time, in the case of the former there would, of course, be no necessity for running the card bare, as the cylinder, flats, doffer, etc., would not be charged with cotton. In the natural order of things it would probably take longer to reduce the wire of the new card to a satisfactory condition, and this would necessitate a longer time of grinding. In either case the requisite cords or belts would have to be applied for driving the cylinder and doffer and the two grinding rollers. Fig. 5 shows a card set out for grinding. A is the cylinder driven by the crossed belt, and revolving during grinding PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 37 upwards from the doffer. An open belt on one side of the card gives motion to the doffer, B, and on the same side two cords give motion to the grinding rollers, a, b. It is presumed that Horsfall grinders are being used with pulleys on each end. The opposite figure shows the driving of the pulleys on the other ends of the rollers by means of a tri- angularly disposed belt. Nailing-on Card xA^ppaeatus. For fillets and sheets usually now machines are used to assist in “nailing on,” and Fig. 6 is an example of such. It is introduced to facilitate the laying of cards, whether in sheets or in fillets, on carding engine cyliaders, and is equally applicable for wollen as for cotton cards, and for wood and iron cylinders. For laying fillets, a small worm wheel is used for small cylinders, and a large wheel (No. I) for large cylinders. ^ The 1 In laying sheets, the rest, carriage, ratchet, and pliers alone are used. The rest is fixed behind the cylinder, and the ratchet (No. 6), to which the pliers (No. 7) are attached by a strap, is fixed on the carriage (No. 8) in place of the dtum (No. 5). The sheet is first nailed on the cylinder by its upper edge, and is then stretched as much as re- quired by pressing down the lever (No. 6) ; when sufficiently stretched, the thumbspring being let go, the ratchet holds the card until nailed ; the carriage is then wound along the bed, and the operation repeated. The cylinder is held stationary, during stretching, by suitable catches. For turning-up wood cylinders a turning tool is fixed on the carriage (No. 8) and worked along by the rack and pinion. Card sheets and wood cylinders are quite obsolete in cotton spinning. The complete apparatus includes rest 60 inches long, carriage, drum, ratchet, two wheels, wheel support, turning-tool and holders, card pliers, strap, catches, screw-keys, &c, 38 COTTON SPINNING, Fig. PKACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 39 wheel required is fixed on the end of the cylinder shaft by four screws shown, and as great power is obtained by use of the worm and worm wheel, the cylinder is not very hard to turn ; the leg support is to keep the wheel in the proper position. The slide is placed at the back of the cylinder, and the fillet is placed two turns round the drum (No. 5), passing under the back board (No. 3), the required friction being given by the screws, spring and nuts inside the drum ; this back board is covered inside with emery, and the card in passing under is slightly sharpened at the tips, which is found an advantage ; the fillet passes over a curved roller, and is thus caused to lie fiat on the cylinder. The card-nailer stands opposite the cylinder, and, by the rack and pinion, moves the drum along as the card is laid, putting in the nails as required. By this means a perfectly even surface of card is obtained, and the work is done at much less cost and in a more superior manner than by the old process. Fig. 6 (a) shows the kind of nailing-on apparatus most familiar in cotton mills, and is made by Dronstield Bros, of Oldham. The card mounter is fixed on the card framing in front of cylinder or doffer, F, as shown in the sketch. It consists of a bed, K, upon which slides the mounting head, H, which is traversed by the screw to which the chain wheel, L, is fastened, or by the handle, M. The latter is used when it is required to traverse the head quickly by hand. The mounting head consists of a feed box, D, through which the fillet is guided to a cone drum divided into three sections of different diameters. In front of the drum is a curved plate which shunts the fillet from one section of the drum to the other. The fillet passes from the feed box to the first step of the cone which is the smallest in diameter, then round the curved plate to the second step, and so on to the final step of the cone, which is the largest in diameter. This last step being covered with leather, the fillet cannot slip over it ; but as it is larger in diameter it requires more fillet to go round it,' and a certain amount of tension is put on the fillet by slipping over the two first steps. Any further required tension may be put on by screwing down the weight on the feed box, or by putting brake on the shaft of the cone drum. From the last step of the cone the fillet passes to the lever, E, whence it passes direct to the cylinder or doffer. This 40 COTTON SPINNING. lever also actuates the finger which indicates the exact tension obtained, and is very sensitive. The rest and tool for turning up wood rollers, etc., is arranged to slide on the same bed, K, the mounting head being removed. The double purchase jack, U, which is actuated by the handle, E, is fixed on the cylinder or doffer shaft, and is screwed thereto by a screw and die which increases its hold on the shaft as the tension on the card fillet is increased. It is fitted with two fixed chain wheels for li in. and 2 in. fillets, so that it is only necessary to slip the chain from one wheel to the other when changing the feed from cylinder to doffer fillets or vice versa. PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 41 The following is the amount of tension which has been recommended : — Cylinder fillets, mild steel wire If hardened and tempered steel Doffer fillet, if mild steel wire If hardened and tempered steel Eoller fillet, 1 in. wide about 230 lb. „ 325 „ „ 160 „ „ 225 „ „ 120 „ Fig, 6 (6). — Diagram of Gearing of Coiler Kailway Head. Railioay Head. What is termed the “ railway head ” appears to have received a good deal of adoption in the United States of America, and is still in use in many mills there, although, so far as the author can judge, its use is being diminished in favour of the English system. The railway head contains an application of the cone drum regulating motion to what might be termed the first head or carding head of drawframe. The illustration (Fig. 6 (5)), shows the gearing plan and driving arrangement of a well-known American make of coiler rail- way head. This coiler head is to be used in connection with cards, 42 COTTON SPINNING. delivering into coder cans. It takes the place of the first process or head of drawing, and it is contended that it gives a more even sliver as the basis of subsequent operations. Motion is received from the driving shaft to the pulleys at A, and the various parts of the frame are driven from the bottom cone shaft as shown. The principle of the motion is that the draft may be automatically regulated by the cone drums according to the thickness of the combined slivers. While the back roller is driven at a constant speed the front roller is driven faster when the cotton is thicker, and slower when the cotton is thinner. In some cases the railway head has been coupled up to the carding engines in such a manner that several cards have fed one railway head. Patent Flat Motions. No practical man will deny the importance of keeping the wires on the flats of a revolving fiat card in good condition, and anything which prevents the wires being broken out of the fiat, or the bend being taken out of the wires, should be at least worthy of consideration by all practical men. The flat stripping is a source of anxiety to all carders, especially where the revolving fiat cards are a few years old. It is found that all the flats are not presented to the comb in the same relative position, this being due to various causes, chief amongst them being the elongation of the fiat chain. PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 48 and also by waste getting between the flats and the front disc or plate wheel, and, consequently, if the comb is set to one flat, that is, in the correct position on the disc, it will come into contact with the wires of those flats which, from the causes mentioned, are allowed to stand farther away from the disc, thus either taking the bend out of the wires or breaking the wires out of the flat, and, in either case, the power of the card to produce good carding is considerably diminished. Amongst the various devices which have been invented to cope with this evil is one patented by Messrs. Gillett & Fogg, of Chorley, of which the following is a short description : — Eeferring to Fig. 7, A, A, A are the flats ; B a slide which slides against the ends of the flats ; C is a small block in which the comb is made adjustable ; D is the end of the comb. The comb instead of being held rigidly upon the arms is allowed to move backwards and forwards upon the arms. A spring presses the comb in the direction of the arrow, bringing the block against the slide and the slide against the flat ends, and the comb in its up and down motion is kept in a line parallel to the wires of the flat, no matter what position the flat assumes, and the comb, after being adjusted once in the block (which is provided with adjusting screws), is kept at the same distance from the wires of every flat, no matter whether the flat lies close to the disc, or is pushed away by waste, or allowed to fall away by the elongation of the chain. Another of the new motions for stripping the flats is dis- cussed in the se’ction on carding in the first volume. Patent Double-cueve Flexible Bend. An interesting improvement in the revolving flat card has been patented by Messrs. Gillett, Fogg & Thompson, in which 44 COTTON SPINNING. the principle by which the flats manipulate the cotton has been entirely changed. The flat is made to take hold of the cotton in its entangled form, and to give it to the cylinder again in such a manner that the operation may be said to resemble to some extent the operation of the comber. By this improved method a large amount of dead and short cotton is left in the flat, and the long fibres are placed again on the cylinder in a more parallel condition. In Fig. 7 (a) A is the flat nearest the taker-in, and the other fiat is nearest the doffer. Eeferring to the sketch, it will be seen that at the back of the card the flats are presented to the cylinder with their toe nearest to the cylinder, the flats are clothed with wire cloth- ing, which is composed of two counts of wire. The wires at the toe are of coarser counts (less points in a given space), thicker and therefore stronger wires, and they are given a more acute bend ; in fact, they are bent to an angle of something like 50° from the foundation. The counts of the wire at the heel of the flat are fine, the bend about 70°, and the wire thinner. The object is to put the entangled cotton into the wires at the toe of the flat without breaking it up, and then to turn the flat gradually over, and draw the long fibres out of the entanglement, leaving dirt, dead and short cotton in the wires at the toe of the flat. It may be mentioned that the fine wires at the heel of the fiat are preserved in a clean condition until they come into contact with the cotton at the front of the card. The strips from this fiat are quite different to the strips from an ordinary fiat ; the dead cotton and dirt being present at the toe part of the strips, giving them quite a different appearance : the fibres are more parallel; and yarn produced from it is stronger and more compact. It may be mentioned that everything about the working of these flats is quite simple ; the same flats and flexibles are used with some slight alterations. This is a most important and novel departure in the construction of a revolving fiat card, but a more extended trial is necessary to prove its superiority over the ordinary card. Q. 1901. Assuming that you have just completely over- hauled, re-clothed and ground a revolving flat carding engine, how would you proceed to adjust PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 45 the various working parts, and in what order? What precautions would you take before again commencing work ? A. We may begin with the feed part of the card, and we may set the feed plate, say, to xoVo froiu the licker-in, taking every precaution to set these and other parts parallel to each other. As a basis we may take American cotton for medium counts of yarn, with the lap from the finisher scutcher weighing, say, about 13 oz. per yard. The gauge should be capable of being drawn along quite freely, although an equal pressure should be felt on it all across, and care should be taken not to have the gauge passing between the licker-in and mote knife when setting the feed plate. We may use the same gauge when setting the licker-in to the cylinder, first having the bolts in the licker-in pedestals slackened, and afterwards taking the precaution to screw these up well, or else the belts will pull the licker-in against the cylinder wire. Generally speaking, it might be con- sidered good practice to set the licker-in undercasing as close to the licker-in as it conveniently can be in order to prevent the emission of fibre. It is as well to remember that the angle of the mote knives is of great importance as well as their distance from the licker-in. Having finished with the feed parts of the card, the flats may next be adjusted, although perhaps some would prefer to set the flats first. On many cards, at least when it is required to set the flats, it is necessary to take off the worm pulley to permit of the flats being turned round by hand by means of a handle or key placed upon the specially prepared end of the worm shaft. Having selected a setting flat, we may take out a fl.at or two on either side of it. Assuming three setting places with two supports between the setting screws, the supports are moved out of the way, and the setting flat is worked round by means of the handle to the first setting point. Here adjustments are made to, say, a gauge of xJgo The same procedure may be adopted with the other setting points working from back to front of the card, and afterwards going over the work from front again, as altering one setting point is apt to affect the setting at another point 46 COTTON SPINNING. somewhat. Afterwards the two side supports on each side of the card should be brought up to just nicely touch the flexibles, and the flats replaced that had been taken out beside the setting flat. Coming now to the doffer, this should be set as close as possible without touching, say, to a gauge of convenient. The doffer comb need not be set as close as this. The cylinder undercasing may be set wide at the front — say, easy to several gauges’ thickness put together — but it should be a good deal closer at the back. Before recommencing work every precaution should be taken to ensure that none of the wires are rubbing, a good plan being to turn the cylinder and doffer by hand with the engine stopped, meantime carefully listening. Care should be taken also to have all the parts well screwed up, and to have all the bearings well oiled and all belts and cords replaced. COMBING. Q. 1898. What parts of a Heilman combing machine would you have to adjust if, after combing Egyptian cotton, you proceeded to comb a good quality of Sea Islands ? A. We have known Sea Islands and Egyptian cotton to be both advantageously worked on the comber with the same setting and timing, but should not care to try this for mode- rate Egyptian and long Sea Islands cottons. The distance between the flutes of the bottom feed rollers and those of the long steel detaching roller may be inch for Egyptian cotton, while i inch ought to be added to this for long Sea Islands, giving the distance as 2y\ inches. The distance between the flutes of the long steel detaching roller — an important setting point — and the front edge of cushion plate, or bottom nipper, may be lyn inch for Egyptian and inch for long Sea Islands. The nippers may be set to the cylinder needles and the top combs to the cylinder segment, with a 19’s gauge for Egyptian and a 21’s for Sea Islands. We may have detach- ing roller forward, and nip about one tooth of the index wheel later for Sea Islands. Other settings and timings PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 47 differ little, if any, for the two cottons, and the remarks made apply about equally well to single and duplex combers. Q. 1897. How would you proceed to set the various parts of a single nip Heilman combing machine relatively to one another when combing Florida Sea Islands cotton ? A. The timing and setting of a combing machine are of the utmost importance in any case, and are affected some- what by the following considerations : The amount of waste to be taken out, the length of staple and the weight of lap operated upon. In setting, certain gauges of special con- struction have to be used, and very great assistance is rendered in timing and setting by a special index wheel fixed on the cylinder shaft at the eod of the machine. This wheel contains eighty teeth as the standard, and is divided and marked out in twenty portions of four teeth each, with a special pointer to show the positions accurately. This method of division provides that one tooth is a quarter of a mark, two teeth a half, and, of course, three teeth three- quarters of a mark, without any necessity for these sub- divisions being marked on the face of the index wheel. The timing and setting of a comber bear a strong analogy to the timing and setting of a loom or mule, in the importance of their effect upon the correct working of the machine ; but the difficulty of adjustment on a comber is greatly minimised as compared to the other machines by the provision of this index wheel. Loom overlookers would doubtless more readily acquire facility in making correct adjustments if they had an index wheel marked out in this fashion, and instruc- tions were given to them to get the shedding to commence at 4i and the picking at 6, and the beating up to lOJ, etc. Similarly mule overlookers would not be liable to get far wrong if they had to set the backing-off friction to engage at 7^, the fallers to lock at 8|, etc. We put it this way because this is largely what is the case with the comber by the provision of the index wheel just explained. The feed rollers for long Sea Islands might be set inch from long steel detaching roller, the latter being an important setting point, although in this respect being probably second to the cylinder. With the index wheel at about 5 we might have lA inch gauge between front edge of fluted segment on the cylinder and long steel detaching roller, and we might have 48 COTTON SPINNING. a 22’s gauge between flutes of the same fluted segment and the flutes of the long steel detaching roller. The nippers ought to have a sheet of writing paper to bite equally and firmly between them, and there may be a inch gauge used between front edge of cushion plate and long steel detaching roller for long Sea Islands cotton, and the nipper knife might be set with about a 21’s gauge between it and the needles of the cylinder. As regards the leather detach- ing rollers, we might set them to have a piece of writing paper between the flats of their brass ends and the lifters, when the latter are in their lowest position, and the leather rollers are resting on the fluted segment of the cylinder. The top combs may be set to have a 19’s gauge between them and the cylinder fluted segment, and to about 14’s angle. As regards timing, the feed rollers might be set to move at about 5, the detaching roller about 6, the top comb to be down 5J, the nippeis to close about 9J, and the clutch wheel (Messrs. Dobson’s new comber) to be in gear at about f, all these, of course, being approximate timings. For Egyptian cotton the above settings would also largely hold good, the chief exceptions being that the distance between flutes of detaching and feed rollers would be reduced to inch, and the distance between flutes of detaching roller and front edge of cushion plate would be reduced to 1 -^ inch. Q. 1901. You are watching the operation of a combing machine, and you notice that the sliver as delivered is cloudy or curled. To what causes would you attribute these defects, and how would you remedy them ? A. Curliness of the fine web delivered by a comber head is of very frequent occurrence, and is sometimes difficult to remedy. A very common cause is not having the short top fluted piecing roller parallel with the other two detaching rollers. This roller can be very readily disturbed from a parallel condition owing to the method of sustaining it. The inter- mittent action of the machine and carelessness of tenters may lead to its disarrangement. Very dry weather some- times leads to the evils specified, and recourse in such cases may be had to the degging can. Curling is very frequently caused by defects in connection with the leather- covered detaching rollers, such as being PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 49 short of lubrication, badly covered with leather, and not being properly set and timed. The remedies in such cases are obvious. Cloudiness of the fine fleece may be caused by unlevel setting or covering of the nippe ’S. If the nippers do not hold the cotton firmly all across, the fibres are liable to be pulled from the nippers in tufts. Dirty cylin lers and flocking should be guarded against to prevent cloudiness of the web. DEAWFEAMES. Q. 1896. How would you set the rollers of a drawing frame if you were drawing slivers made from either good Dhollerah, Texas, Brown Egyptian or Sea Islands cotton ? How would you arrange the drafts in each passage ? A. There are several fundamental principles which chiefly regulate the distance apart of the drawing or “draft” rollers in a spinning mill ; (1) The distance from centre to centre of front and second rollers should always slightly exceed the length of the cotton fibres, say by yU of an inch. This applies more particularly to the front and middle rollers of the mule or ring frame. (2) When there is a very small draft the rollers can be farther apart, as between the back and middle rollers of the various machines. (3) The thicker the body of fibres operated upon, the farther apart should the rollers be. Because of this the rollers in the card-room are set a greater distance from centre to centre of adjoining rollers than the corresponding rollers in the spinning-room. The greater diameter of the rollers to some extent compels this. Coming, then, more particularly to the drawframe, for good Dhollerah we might have the first, third and fourth rollers 1|- inch diameter, and the second roller 1 inch diameter. A good working distance between the leathers of the first and second rollers would be of an inch or so, and between the other lines of rollers we might have the same or a little greater distance. The total draft would be about six, as doubtless six ends would be put up together. This total draft might be split up as follows : Between first and second rollers, 2 -86 ; between second and third, 1*71 ; and between the third and back rollers, 1-22. VOL. III. 4 50 COTTON SPINNING. Proof 6 total draft _ 1-71 X 2-86 ~ ’ ■ For American cotton, such as Texas, it is usual to have the rollers larger in diameter than as given above for Indian. Common dimensions are If inch diameter for first, third and fourth iron rollers, and If inch for second roller. Something a little more or less than ~ of an inch space might be allowed between the various lines of rollers, the wider distances being usually reserved for the back rollers. The drafts for Texas might be as given for Dhollerah, or a little varied therefrom. In many cases the rollers are f inch less diameter that as above given for American. For Egyptian and Sea Islands we could have the diameters of the rollers as given for American, or, say, If inch for the first, third and fourth rollers, and 1-|- inch for second roller. There might be a space of to f of an inch or more between the various lines of rollers, according to the diameters of the rollers and the length of the cotton. If six ends were doubled the drafts might be as given above for Indian and American. If eight ends were doubled the drafts might approxinate to the following : 3T2 between first and second lines, I‘95 between second and third lines, and 1'31 between third and fourth lines. Proof : — 8 total draft _ The drafts for all these cottons might be the same in each of the three heads of drawing usually employed. It may be added that an approximately correct rule for apj^ortioning the drafts of a draw frame is as follows ; (I) For the middle draft of the three, extract the cube root of the total draft. (2) Extract the square root of the middle draft thus found for the back draft. (3) Divide the product of the two drafts thus found into the total draft in order to find the front or delivery draft. For example, take a case where eight slivers are doubled together and a total draft of eight is required ; — = (1) ^8 = 2 = middle draft, (2) ^2 = 1-4 = back draft. /Q\ w-w — = 2-86 frono draft. (d) 1-4x2 ^ PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 51 Q. 1900. The slivers from a finishing drawframe are found to be very uneven in weight at irregular in- tervals. What, in your opinion, is the reason for this, and how can it best be prevented ? What happens if the cotton used is uneven in length ? A. The first thing to inquire into is the uniformity of the laps from the finisher scutcher, both as regards weight of full laps and weight yard per yard of the lap. If this is found to he sufficiently wrong it will be requisite to trace the cause. Very probably this will be found in something belonging to the piano feed regulator, such as dirtiness of the parts, something having worked loose, or slackness and slipping of the cone drum belt. It may be caused by the scutcher feed motion, or possibly by the opener feed regulator. Again, such unevenness has often been traced back to the hopper feed. Providing the lap is right when it leaves the finisher, it is probable that the sliver will reach the drawframe in a sufficiently uniform condition to make us conclude that the irregularity is caused in the drawframe itself, although it is sometimes caused at the comber when the latter is used. At the drawframe a great cause of irregular work is the imperfect action of the stop motion, and the various parts should all be tested and carefully watched to detect such imperfect action. Sometimes irregularities can be traced to defects in connection with the drawing rollers. If uneven work passes forward beyond the drawframe it is almost certain to give yarn that is irregular in counts. When the cotton is uneven in length it is difficult to get uniform drawing, because the rollers cannot be set to the best advantage for both long and short fibres at the same time. There is a tendency for the short fibres to come out in bunches, and to leave correspondingly thin places of sliver elsewhere. Q. 1898. If you were spinning 40’s twist yarn and you were asked to spin 24’s hosiery, what changes would you make in the setting and working of the drawing and roving frames ? A. If this change were to be of some permanence it is possible that the quality of cotton would be altered. Suppos- ing cotton of shorter staple be used, then the rollers of the 52 COTTON SPINNING. drawing and roving frames should be set closer together if at all convenient. In many cases of small orders it is quite probable that nothing but the mule or ring-frame would be altered, the various adjustments of twist, counts, etc., being made at the proper places of the final spinning machine. In many cases the cotton might remain the same and the altera- tions divided out between the drawing frames, bobbin and fly frames, and final spinning machine. Assuming this to be the case, the change pinion for counts on the drawing frame would require proper alteration, say a larger wheel in proportion to the amount of increased thickness of sliver re- quired at this point. At the roving frame several wheels would require to be altered according to well-known rules. The change pinion for counts or hank roving would require making larger in simple proportion to the increase in thick- ness of the roving. The ratchet or rack wheel would require to be made smaller, while the twist wheel and the lifter wheel or strike wheel would require to be made larger, all three in proportion to the square roots of the rovings previously making and those intending to make. 24’s hosiery would probably require to be of good quality spun from very fair cotton, and because of its soft, clean character the twist would require to be kept down as much as possible, and every care should be exercised to keep the rovings free from motes or stubs, as these are fatal to the processes of hosiery manufacture. Q. 1897. If you had drawing frames constructed and arranged for the preparation of slivers for 80’s Egyptian yarn, state fully what changes you would make in adapting them to draw slivers prepared from Broach cotton for 20’ s yarn. How would you set the rollers ? Give briefly your reasons. A. If eight ends were being put up together for the 80’s Egyptian — as is often the case with these yarns— -it is very probable that we should make two of the back spoons used for slivers going to each front delivery inoperative. In which case corresponding alterations would have to be made in the traverse guide. If this course w^ere adopted the draft would have to be diminished from about eight to about six. In some instances the full can knocking off motion has a change wheel used in connection with it, and in such cases this wheel would have to be regulated in size according to the PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OU MACHINEBY. 53 change made in the thickness of the sliver. If the diameter of the sliver were varied considerably, then it is not unlikely that the size of aperture in the front trumpet tube would have to be altered in proportion. Perhaps the most important point to attend to would be the adoption of means by which the rollers could be got sufficiently close to accommodate the length of fibre. It is common to make the rollers much larger in diameter -for Egyptian than for Indian cotton — say, for instance, inch diameter for front iron roller, and 1 inch diameter for middle roller with Indian cotton, and 1| inch and inch diameter respectively for Egyptian. To get the best results, therefore, we should require new top and bottom drawing rollers. The weights on the rollers could conveniently be altered with lever weighting, but with dead weights it is a question as to whether it would pay to get new weights for the slight amount heavier which it is usual to allow for the Indian. Front Roller Front Roller Fig. 8. 54 COTTON SPINNING. Driving of Draioing- Frame Boilers. In an ordinary cotton spinning mill without combing all the machines contain three pairs of drawing rollers, except the drawframe, in which there are four pairs. Hav- ing four pairs of rollers on a drawframe somewhat com- plicates the driving, and there are several methods more or less in use. Probably the most common arrangement is the one shown at C (Pig. 8). Messrs. Howard & Bullough, for instance, make any one of the three methods shown in Fig. 8, according to require- ments. Usually the break draft is between the first and second rollers, as at B, G, but in the case of A this draft is between the second and third rollers. Having the wheels that drive the intermediate rollers on the opposite side to the driving pulleys, as shown at A, is considered by some to be the most convenient method. The arrows in each case indicate the transmission of power from one roller to another, and it will be noticed that while at C the driving is direct to the back roller from the front row, at B the third roller drives the fourth or back roller. The break draft is that which is altered when we put on a different size of change wheel for draft. Q. Having three heads of drawing, six ends up at each, making finished sliver about 15 dwts. for six yards, and with drafts as under — Card Middle Finisher box. box. box. Between front and second roller 2-3 1*7 3*5 ,, second and third ,, 1*8 1*8 1*3 ,, third and fourth ,, 2*1 1*7 1*1 how would you arrange the drafts to ensure more easy drawing and better results, while still retaining the same weight per yard of finished stuff from the same card stuff? A. i\.n essential condition of this problem is that the final product of all the three total drafts shall be the same after the rearrangement as before. It is required to proportion out the three total drafts and all the intermediate drafts in a manner calculated to give better working results. At present we have : — PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 55 2'1 X 1‘8 X 2‘3 = 8*69 = total draft at the card box. 1‘7 X 1-8 X 1-7 = 5‘20 = ,, ,, ,, middle box. I’l X 1’3 X 3'5 = 5’00 = ,, ,, ,, finisher box. The product of these three total drafts will therefore be— 8-69 X 5-20 X 5-00 = 226. While the final product is suitable for actual working, it is at once evident that the three total drafts are quite wrong, as they should be practically alike. At the same time the middle drafts are very badly propor- tioned, except in the finisher box, where a little more draft at the back and second from back positions would have given good results. In many cases the draft in each head of drawing is kept the same, and we might extract the cube root of 226 to find what this should be, or we might find suitable drafts by trial, thus — 6-1 X 6T X 6T = 226-98. These will therefore do very nicely. An approximately correct rule for proportioning the total draft of a drawframe is given a few pages earlier in this ti’eatise : but it will be quite convenient to simply take the finisher box as given, and slightly modify the decimal points according to the teachings of practical experience : — Back. Middle. Front. Thus, card box, 1-2 x 1-6 x 3*2 = 6'14:4. ,, middle box, 1-2 x 1*6 x 3'2 = 6-144. ,, back box, 1-2 x 1-6 x 3-2 = 6*144. The final product of these three total drafts will be just a few decimals higher than what is required, but should be sufficiently near. FLY FEAMES. Q. 1898. Suppose that in building a roving bobbin you found the coils were being laid too widely apart,^ what course would you take to correct the fault ? A. As far as it goes this question appears to the mind of the author as a typical and practical question, such as ought to find as much prominence as possible, both in teach- ing and in the examination papers, as it is the kind of thing 1 See also page 70i 56 COTTON SPINNING. we have to deal with iu a3tual practice. In the opinion of the author, no student who cannot answer this question correctly is worthy of a first honours, no matter what else he may know. If the coils were being laid too widely apart, then, evidently, the speed of the top rail or lifter would require to be reduced to the required degree, the rate of delivery and the winding-on of the roving remaining the same. In some cases this would be accomplished by putting on a less strike wheel, while in other cases a wheel belonging to the short lifter shaft train of wheels at the end of the frame would be changed. In some cases it would be possible to alter another wheel nearer to the cone drum than the small strike wheel for driving the reversing bevels. The question only calls for a short answer. Q. 1896. What parts of a roving frame are, directly or indirectly, driven from the twist wheel, and how are they affected by a change of that wheel ? A. The twist wheel is by far the most important wheel about the frame. It is fixed on the inner end of the jack shaft, or main shaft of the frame, and, with the exception of the spindles, it is connected more or less to every motion about the machine. It drives the top cone drum shaft, and from the end of this latter shaft is connected a train of wheels by which the drawing rollers are driven. Through the medium of the cone drums it is connected to the lifter and differential motion. If it were pulled off and the frame started the rollers and the lifter would stop, the spindles would go on as usual, and the bobbins would keep on revolv- ing ; but in a bobbin leading frame they would revolve at a reduced rate, so that no winding could take place. The chief duty of the twist wheel, of course, is to regulate the twist. This is done by putting a smaller wheel on when more twist is required, as when going on finer counts of roving. This smaller wheel drives the rollers more slowly, and allows the spindles to revolve at the same rate as previously, so that the same revolutions of spindle are made to a less delivery of roving, which, of course, means more twist per inch. A larger twist wheel puts less twist in by causing more material to issue from the rollers to a fixed number of revolutions of the spindles. It is not so easy to see the exact effect of a change in size of twist wheel upon the lifter speed and the differential motion.. Suppose we change to a finer hank PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OP MACHlNEEY. 57 roving, and we put a less twist wheel on, what effect will it have on the lifter and on the sun wheel? As regards the lifter, it is made to go more slowly by a less twist wheel being put on, and the author has known many carders to imagine that no further attention need be paid to the lifter speed. This may do for a small change, but not for a change of any magnitude. In this case the less twist wheel slowers the lift so much as to compensate for the slower rate at which the rollers deliver the roving. But this does not meet the case. The lifter, in addition, requires to be traversed more slowly to compensate for the roving being thinner, with which effect the twist wheel has nothing to do ; as the lifter wheel is usually a driver, it follows that a less lifter wheel should be put on for finer counts as well as a less twist wheel. Take now the connection of the twist wheel to the sun wheel, and consequently to the bobbins. In changing to finer hank roving the less twist wheel put on will cause the sun wheel to revolve more slowly, which means that the bobbins will revolve more slowly in a bobbin leading frame, and more quickly in a flyer leading frame. In either case compensation is made in the winding for the reduced rate at which the roving issues from the rollers, and this does all that is required until the completion of the first layer. Immediately the first layer is deposited upon the bobbin it is necessary all through the set afterwards to make compensation in the winding for the thinner nature of the roving, as well as its slower rate of delivery by the rollers. As every layer of roving put on the bobbin is thinner than when on the former hank roving it is necessary to ease the winding to a less degree than formerly at every change. This second effect is produced by a change in the size of the ratchet wheel. A larger ratchet wheel is put on, that is to say, a wheel that is the same diameter, but it contains more teeth. As a consequence the teeth are less, and each change now moves the cone strap to a less degree than formerly up the bottom cone. Fig. 9 gives a general view of a fly frame as made by Messrs. Howard & Bullough. It will be noticed that the twist wheel, T, W, at the inside extremity of the pulley shaft, drives almost all parts of the frame, either directly or indirectly. The gearing plan of a slubbing frame as made by Messrs. Hetherington is also given in Fig. 9 (a). Howaed and Bullough’s Feame. 58 COTTON SPINNING-. Q. 1900. Describe the construction of any differential motion of a roving frame you are acquainted with. CO ai 5 < Ll s o Say what would be the practical effect if the strain on the cone strap was so excessive as to cause it Geaeing op Slubbing Fkame, Hethekington ’s. PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OP MACHINEEY. 59 'IG. 9 {a) 60 COTTO^^ spinning. {a) to slip or {h) not to advance when the traverse was changed. If you know of any means by which either of these faults can be prevented, describe it. A. Holdsworth's differential motion is the oldest and best known form. In this there are five wheels, four of which are bevel wheels of equal size gearing into each other. The fifth wheel is the sun wheel. One of the four bevels is the main driver of the bobbins, and if the sun wheel were stopped it would rotate the bobbins at the same speed as the spindles. Two of the bevels are carried by the sun wheel, and are carrier wheels, of which one is only a balance to the other, and could be dispensed with. The other bevel is the driven wheel of the series, and is compounded with the first wheel of the “swing motion’’. The action of the sun wheel and carriers is such that in a bobbin leading frame every time the sun wheel makes one revolution two revolu- tions are given to the bobbin wheel in addition to those obtained from the main dri ving. If the cone belt slipped, the ends would run slack, because the sun wheel would run too slow, and therefore so also would tbe bobbins. If the cone belt did not advance properly it would tend to stretch the ends in proportion to the amount of the delay of the belt. Various devices have been brought out with a view to preventing or minimising such defects as the above. The most important is the great adoption of improved differential motions, which impose less work on the cone belt. In some cases duplex cones are adopted, and in others divided belts for the purpose of reducing such evils as the above. Holdsworth’s Motion. It may be well to add here an extended description of Holdsworth’s motion, and follow with one of the newer motions. It must be borne in mind that the power to drive all the parts of the machine is derived from its main shaft, which has a uniform and constant revolution. Eeferring to Fig. 10, a proper train of wheels drives the drawing rollers at a uniform speed ; another train drives the spindles also uni- formly from the wheel P upon the main shalt, M. These are PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 61 what we may term the constants. We may now get at the variants, the bobbin and the mechanism which drives it. Power is taken from the main shaft through the wheel Q to the top cone drum, one of a pair, by the use of which the variant capability is brought in. From the top cone drum power is transmitted by means of a strap to the bottom cone, upon the axle or shaft of which is fixed a small pinion wheel, E, gearing into the sun wheel, N. Upon the wheel N two lugs are cast to form bearing for the wheels L, L ^ through the first of which the power is transmitted to the wheel 0, whilst is an idle or at most a balance wheel. The bevel wheel, K, is the main driver of the arrangement. Being fixed to the shaft and revolving with it in the direction indicated, it turns the wheel L, as marked, this again causing the bevel to which the wheel O is cast to revolve in the direction shown, which, it will be observed, is opposite to the revolu- tion of the main shaft. The wheel N, and those connected with it, are necessarily loose upon the shaft, M, to admit of their revolution and variable movement in the opposite direction. If the bottom cone pinion, E, was not moving, the rate of revolution transmitted from the bevel, K, through the wheel, L, to the bevel attached to the wheel 0 would be exactly equal to that of the shaft, M, upon which it is fixed. Thus the wheel 0 driving the bobbins would revolve at the same rate as the wheel, P, driving the spindles; only the revolution of the two wheels would be in opposite directions, and spindles and bobbins, as a consequence, would revolve exactly at the same rate, in which state no winding could take place. The power to diminish or accelerate the rate of revolution is derived, as we have traced, from the cones. As the wheel N, driven by the cone pinion, E, revolves in the direction of its arrow, the speed of the wheel L and its 62 COTTON SPINNING. connection, the wheel O, are accelerated in exact ratio ; and thus the excess speed of the bobbin over the spindle is obtained. At the commencement of a set the bobbin must run at its maximum rate, and the machine therefore begins its work with the cone strap upon the largest diameter of the driving cone and upon the smallest of the driven cones. With the deposit of every layer of rove upon the bobbin the strap is traversed a little distance from the largest diameter of the top cone and each successive change until, with the full bobbin, the minimum diameter is reached, giving the minimum rate of revolution to the bobbin. A chief defect referred to above will now be easy to discover. It lies in the fact that the whole of the differ- ential mechanism revolves in a direction opposite to that of the shaft, M, upon which it is carried, at any rate with a bobbin-leading frame. E B Fig. 12. Messes. Howaed & Bullough’s AIotion.i Messrs. Howard & Bullough have effected considerable modifications in the construction of the apparatus, as will be evident from the following description. On the main shaft, A (Bigs. 11 and 12), is cast a boss or cross piece, G, for the recep- tion of, and to form a bearing for, the small cross shaft carry- ing the bevel wheels, B, H. Loose on the shaft. A, is the bell, 1 Fig. 11 shows this motion as it works on the machine, while Fig. 12 shows the various component parts in detail, The letters are the same in each case. PKACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 63 or, as it is sometimes called, the socket wheel, C, which through its connections drives the bobbins. Attached to the wheel C is the bevel wheel, D. Beyond the cross shaft, and loose upon the main shaft, is the wheel, B, in connection with the lower cone drum ; upon the extended boss of this wheel is cast the bevel wheel, E, which gears into the bevel, B. These con- stitute the parts of the new arrangement, the action of which is as follows : The shaft, A, revolves round, carrying the boss, G, and the cross shaft around with it. If no disturbing factor interfered all the wheels geared together would, as we have also seen in the old arrangement, revolve together, and no winding would take place, as the speed of the bobbins would be the same as that of the spindles. In this case, however, it is necessary to note that the revolutions of the various wheels are all in one direction, and thus entail little expenditure of power heyond that required to overcome the inertia of the various parts of the machine and to maintain them in motion. It will thus be seen that the chief defect of the old arrangement is much diminished, viz., the great waste of power and the strain upon the working parts, and especially upon the cone strap. We now, however, want the winding to be performed, and in order to do this the bobbins must revolve as before, faster than the spindles. As in the previous case, the differential power is obtaiued from the cone drums, the bottom one of which through its connections drives the wheel, B, which through its attached bevel, E, working into the bevel, F, on the cross shaft by means of the small bevel, H, on its opposite extreiuity, accelerates through the bevel wheel, D, the bell wheel, C, driving the bobbins. This acceleration is to the extent of the motion it drives from the cones. With the commencement of a set, of course, the bobbin starts at its maximum rate of revolution, whilst its rate is diminished by the shifting of the cone strap in the usual way. It will be seen that in this arrangement the revolution of the shaft. A, becomes a help to the cone strap instead of a hindrance and an obstacle, as in the older form. This motion is the invention of Mr. Tweedale. It may be added that several other excellent patented differential motions are on the market, and have received extensive and successful adoption. 64 COTTON SPINNING. Calculations on Tioeedale’s Motion. It may be said that if the cone wheel, B, went just the same speed as the shaft, the cross shaft bevels, H, F, would have no axial motion. The wheels, H, F, have their maximum axial motion when the cone wheel is stopped, owing to the cone belt being slackened for doffing or other purposes. When working there are three distinct actions taking place : (1) H acts as a clutch with D, and endeavours to take D round thi i way as fast as the shaft. (2) F rolls round E, and in this way the cross bevels, H, F, are made to rotate on their own axis. (3) The cone wheel, B, E, in its revolution also endeavours to revolve the cross bevels and shaft, but in the opposite direction to that obtained from the direct rotation of the pulley shaft. The second motion goes to negative the first motion, and the third or cone motion goes to negative the second, so that the first and third motions assist each other. Taking the sizes as given on the sketch — S, W _ 40 _ 4 B, W 50 5’ or a difference of one-fifth in size between the two. There is the same proportion between the carrier wheels ExH_18xl6_l FETD 30 X 48 5’ In actual mill practice the manager or carder sometimes desires to ascertain the revolutions per minute of the bobbin wheel, C or B, W. When this is done, it is only a case of simple speeds to find the revolutions per minute of the bobbins and, from the diameters of the bobbins, the inches wound on. Rules. — (1) If the cone wheel revolve faster than the shaft, then we may take it that the revolutions of B, W would equal those of the pulley shaft, phhs one for every five revolutions gained by the cone wheel on the shaft. (2) Suppose, on the other hand, the cone wheel revolve slower than the shaft, then from the speed of the shaft subtract one for every five lost by the cone wheel. Every practical man should be easily able to act according to these rules, and the answer in each case will be the revolutions per minute of the bobbin wheel ^ B, W, PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 65 Examples . — Ascertain the revolutions per minute of the B, W, with frame shaft at 325 revolutions per minute, and cone, W, making the following revolutions per minute, 0 and 380. ( 1 ) ( 2 ) It is considered by some people that the arrangement of the differential motion shaft above the centre of the lift causes the rovings to be slackened in the winding more at one extremity of the lift than the other. Messrs. Howard & Bullough, with their new motion and rearrangement of various parts, manage to put their differential motion and pulley shaft more in the middle of the lift of the bobbin, thus tending to minimise the evil alluded to. Q. Referring to the stubbing, intermediate and roving frames, say whether, when the bobbin leads the flyer, its speed is accelerated or reduced on the completion of the winding of each layer of slub or rove ; also say what is the case when the flyer leads the bobbin, and state the practical disadvantages which have led to this arrangement being generally abandoned. A. On these bobbin and fly frames in all cases the spindles and bobbins revolve the same way as each other, and in all cases winding-on is accomplished by having either the spindles revolving faster than the bobbins, or else the bobbins faster than the spindles. The latter is now almost the universal practice, and is termed “ bobbin leading”. In this case the speed of the bobbin is reduced on the completion of the winding of each layer, while it is increased in the case of flyer leading. In all cases, so long as the machines are working, the speeds of the flyer and bobbin are most nearly equal to each other just before doffing. VOL. III. 5 325 325 - 0 - 325. = 65, and 325 - 65 = 260. 380 - 325 = 55. 55 - 11, and 325 -i- 11 336. Position of Jack Shaft. 66 COTTON SPINNING. The discontinuance of flyer leading has been principally brought about by two disadvantages : — (1) When a roving broke, the loose end often began to un- rove from the bobbin and to fly about and make waste and break other ends, and this is not the case with bobbin leading. (2) Every time the frame was started with flyer leading there was a tendency to stretch the rovings, due to the back- lash in the nine wheels which drive the bobbin being more than that in the five wheels which drive the spindles, while with bobbin leading this only tends to slacken the roving slightly. Various Calculations. Q. How many hanks and pounds per spindle can be pro- duced from the following ; Eevolutions of spindle, 650 ; turns of spindle for one of front roller, 5| ; diameter of front roller, ; working hours of frame, 48 ; hank roving, 34 ? A. (1) 6^ _ revolutions of front roller. 5-0 (2) 11-81 X 5 X 22 X 60 X 48 4 X 7 X 12 X 3 X 840 44-3 hanks per spindle. (3) ^ 12-65 lb. per spindle. 3*5 Q. What twist wheel would be required to give five turns of spindle to one of front roller from the following : Driving wheel, 54 ; outside spindle shaft wheel, 54 ; skew gear wheel, 50 ; wheel on spindle, 26 teeth ; top cone drum inside w^heel, 30 teeth ; top cone drum outside wheel, 40 teeth ; front roller wheel, 115 teeth ? 1 X 54 X 50 ^ revolutions of spindle to one ^ of frame shaft. (2) For five revolutions of spindle we get one revolution of front roller, what revolutions shall we get of front roller for 1-92 of spindle? PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 67 1-92 X 1 5 = *384 revolutions of front roller to one of frame shaft. We have now the particulars for a final speed calculation. = 33-12 twist wheel. 40 X 1 Q. A mill working Egyptian cotton and spinning 60’ s twist contains 50 mules of 1,020 spindles each, and produces 19,125 lb. of yarn in a week of 564 hours. The slubbing frame produces 19,800 lb., and each slubbing spindle produces 50 hanks of 1-hank roving. The intermediate frames produce 19,650 lb., each spindle producing 48 hanks of 3-hank roving. The roving frames produce 19,500 lb., each spindle producing 39 hanks of 11-hank roving. (1) How many frame spindles of each sort are there in the mill? (2) What is the draft in the frames? (3) How many hanks per spindle per w^eek are these mules doing ? Note . — The slubbers are sup- plied with a '20 hank sliver from the drawframe. A. (1) Spindles required : — Slubbing = 19,800 -p 50 = 396 spindles. Intermediate = 48 -p 3 = 16 lb. per spindle, and 19,650 -p 16 = 1,228 spindles. Eoving frame = 39 -A 11 = 3-54 lb. per spindle and 19,500 -e 3’54 = 5,508 roving spindles. (2) Drafts : — Slubbing frame draft = 1 *2 = 5 draft. Intermediate frame draft = j ^ ^ = 6 draft. Koving frame draft = ^ ^ = 7’3 draft. o Mule draft = ^ ;^Q.gQ (3) Mule hanks per spindle : — 19,125 X 60 50 X 1,020 = 22| hanks. Q. 1896. What is meant by a “ constant number ” in making calculations? Give an example of its use. 68 COTTON SPINNING. A. A “constant number,” as used in the cotton trade, is a “dividend” which may at any time be divided by some required quantity or condition, and the quotient thus obtained will be the wheel necessary to be put on to give the required condition; or the converse of this rule may be used. Thus, “a dividend for change pinion is a number which, divided by any required draft, will give the necessary change pinion, or divided by any change pinion will give the draft “A dividend for twist is a constant number, which if divided by any desired turns per inch will give the requisite twist wheel. If divided by any particular twist wheel, it will give the turns per inch to be put in.” Where a number of machines are working with certain wheels that are seldom changed, whilst at the same time the counts are often varied, there is no doubt that “ constant numbers ” are exceedingly useful. The use of the constants gives us a kind of shorthand arithmetic, and in this respect they fill a similar position to the slide rule. They are of little use in mills v/hich do not often change counts. Our remarks may first be illustrated by the change pinion for draft. It is well known that the front roller wheel, crown wheel, back roller wheel and diameter of back and front rollers are seldom varied as compared with the change pinion. When we have a little leisure time therefore in the mill we can take the above five particulars and work out a draft calculation as far as it will go. For instance, we will assume the following particulars to be on a self-acting mule, bearing in mind that exactly the same kind of working will apply to the ring frame, bobbin and fly frames, some draw- frames, the carding engine, etc. : — Wheel on front roller Wheel on back roller Crown wheel ..... Diameter of front roller Diameter of back roller . ^ ^ ^ = 270 constant. 18 X I To show now the practical utility of this constant : The number 270 is kept conveniently recorded, and if at any time, we desire to find the roller draft we simply divide by the change pinion which happens to be on. Thus, if there be a 35 change pinion on, the draft will be found as follows : — 18 teeth. 54 „ 90 „ 1 inch. PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 69 270 35 = 7-71. If, on the other hand, we desire to find what draft a certain change pinion will give, we simply divide the constant hy the change pinion. Thus, if there he a draft of 8 required, the change pinion necessary will be : — = 33-75, or, say, 34. 8 For getting the twist constant we should adopt substan- tially the same method, but the calculation is a much more complicated one. An excellent general rule is laid down on page 18 of Thornley’s Spiiming Calculations, and the same rule applies to finding the twist constant, excepting that the twist wheel is left out of the calculation. The rule referred to is as follows : “ Assume the speed of the central shaft of the machine to be one per minute, and by the rule for speeds find the revolutions of front roller per minute, and also of spindles per minute. From speed of front roller find inches delivered per minute. Divide the inches delivered into revo- lutions of spindle per minute.” This rule is illustrated by several examples, of which the following is one : On the tin roller of a ring frame is a 40 wheel driving an 85 stud wheel ; on the same stud is a 45 twist wheel driving, by means of carriers, a 100 on front roller ; diameter of front roller 1 inch, diameter of tin roller 10 inches, diameter of spindle wharf ^ inch. This calculation is worked in parts as per above rule, and then the parts are compounded into one operation as follows : — 1 X 10 X 4 X 85 X 100 X 7 on 4 • u — = 20 turns per inch ; 3 X 1 X 40 X 45 X 22 and the twist constant is found by simply leaving out of the above calculation the 45 twist wheel, thus : — 1 X 10 X 4 X 85 X 100 X 7 , , 3 X 1 X 40 X 2 2 = 900 constant. If we desired to put in twenty-five turns per inch, we simply divide the 900 by 25, and we obtain the requisite twist wheel. Thus = 36 twist wheel. 25 The foregoing answer deals with the subject to a much fuller degree than w'ould be practicable at an examination. 70 COTTON SPINNING. Q. 1899. In the course of building a set of bobbins on a roving frame, it is noticed that instead of being properly wound the coils run over. To what causes would you attribute this ; which parts of the machine would you examine, and in what order ? Give fully the reasons that would influence you. A. In 1898 the equivalent question on the roving frame asked for the remedy when the coils were too close or open, the answer required being that a proper size of lifter driving wheel should be put on. Eunning off at the ends, which is the subject of this present question, is a very serious evil when present to any extent. Eemedies adopted at one time or another are as follows : See that the lifter works with all the freedom possible, and does not bind in the collars or racks ; see that sufficient cone is put into the bobbins ; see that none of the wheels concerned in driving the lifter from the cone drums to the rail itself are badly worn in the teeth or slack in the studs. Also see that these wheels are geared sufficiently deep. See that the catches and cradles and hanger bar of the change motion work freely enough, and have all parts of the change motion in good condition. Some- times bobbins ran off owing to the frame being stopped just at the change, or possibly owing to the winding being very slack. Odd bobbins are spoiled at the ends in various other ways. As to order of looking for the cause of the evil, this would depend on a number of circumstances, such as certain frames being given to going wrong in special places more than others. The character of the running off would help an overlooker, or he might have been previously doing some alterations or repairs that had led to the evil. Q. 1899. Suppose you were making a six-hank roving, and you had to change to a four-hank, in each case retaining the same lift, what changes would you make, and in what order ? Give fully the reasons that would influence you. A. Such an alteration as this is often made in one mill or another, and it is seldom indeed that in such a case the length of lift is varied. As a rale, the changes made would be practically confined to the following four wheels, and it would be of little or no importance in what order the changes were made PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OP" MACHINEEY. 71 (1) Change pinion for draft. (2) Twist wheel. (3) Eatchet or rack wheel. (4) Small strike wheel or lifter wheel. (1) To find the change pinion for draft the following rale would be correct : — ■ 6 X Present change wheel _ ^ 4 • (2) Star or ratchet wheel — J Present rack wheel squared x 4 _ 6 (3) Twist wheel — J Present twist wheel squared x 6 = T.W. (4) Lifter wheel — J Present lifter wheel squared x ^ ^ 4 As regards reasons, a larger C.P. must be put on in order to increase the speed of back roller sufficiently to reduce the counts, w’hile the front roller speed is not affected by this wheel. A larger twist wEeel must be put on in order to speed all the rollers sufficiently to reduce the twist per inch, as the spindle speed remains unaltered. Square root is used because twdst per inch varies directly as the square root of the counts. The rack wheel is made less in order to quicken the travel of the cone drum belt, while the lifter wheel is made larger in order to get the speed of first lift of the bobbins right. Square root is used in the two last named cases because the diameters of rovings vary inversely as the square roots of the counts. Q. 1900. Say fully what differences there should be in constructive details of drawing and roving frames used respectively for the preparation of 28 ’s from good Broach cotton, and 150’s combed yarn from Egyptian cotton. A. An important difference is found in the diameters of the drawing rollers in each case. On a drawing frame for the Broach cotton suitable diameters of the bottom iron rollers would be 1|- inch for the first, third and fourth rollers, and 1 inch for the second roller from front. For the Egyptian cotton suitable diameters would be IJ inch for the first, third or fourth rollers from front, and or If inch for the second roller from front. For the Egyptian cotton 72 COTTON SPINNING. we might have about 17 lb. weight on either end of the top leather rollers, and, say, about 20 lb. for the Indian cotton. On a roving frame the diameters of rollers for the Broach might be 1 inch, | inch and 1 inch for the bottom rollers and inch or inch for all the top rollers, and those for the Egyptian inch, IJ inch and IJ inch bottom, and inch top if dead weighted. On the drawing frame it is probable there would be six ends doubled together for the Broach and eight ends for the Egyptian, although there is no hard and fast rule in this matter. Any difference in the number of doublings would probably be accompanied by a corresponding difference in the amount of draft. On the roving frame it is probable there would be less sizes of spindles and bobbins used for the fine counts than for the coarse, but there would be more roller draft and larger diameters of rollers for the finer counts. On both machines the measuring motions would be set to knock off at longer intervals for the finer counts, and also for the latter the spoons would require finer balancing. Some spinners would have no pressers for the fine roving. Change Motion. Fig. 13 shows an ordinary building motion, to which is applied a weight-relieving device, which is the invention of Mr James Lucas, one of Messrs Howard & Bullough’s employees, . who have adopted it in their stubbing, inter- mediate and roving frames. The invention consists in the application of an auxiliary arrangement which raises the tumbler weights alternately, and at the proper time, in order to relieve the hanger bar already referred to of any strain whatever. By referring to the illustration it will be observed that a pendant. A, is attached to the under side of the two- bar slide, B, which in turn is secured to the top rail in the usual manner. Upon this pendant are two adjustable stop pieces, A^ and A^, between each of which an arm, C, passes. This arm swivels upon an independent centre stud, and forms a sort of cradle at H, the two extremities of which are notched to take in the two weight hooks, E and E^. Each weight hook is extended through eyes in the holding catches, F and F^, and are both formed with stop pieces, so that when descending they bring with them the catches named, their PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 73 lower extremities being connected with the weights in the usual manner. A brief glance at the illustration will show that the upright rods suspending the tumbler weights are no longer connected with the upper cradle, but are worked independently by the rocking lever or arm, C. In whichever direction the bobbin rail moves, the rocking lever is caused by the stops, and A^, to move with it, and thus raise one of the weights, while the opposite one will come into action just at the time the necessary changes in the position of the cone strap are taking place. The author is quite of opinion that this is a step in the right direction. Briefly, the action of this motion as hitherto applied is as follows : When the bobbin rail ascends it carries with it the two- bar slide and the hanger or radial bar. This latter turns 74 COTTON SPINNING. the tumbler bracket partly round its centre until the adjust- ing screw relieves the catch bracket, to which is connected the strike shaft and wheels employed to give the reverse motion to the bobbin rail. In order to give a quick motion to these wheels, strong springs or heavy weights are used. These springs or weights also relieve the catches from the ratchet wheel so as to allow the drag weight to move the hanger bar and the cone strap to their necessary positions. In order to facilitate the lateral movement of the cone strap, especially in long frames, a heavy drag weight is used, and to enable the catch bracket to revolve freely round its axis at the time the change is being made the strain of one of the tumbler springs or weights has been taken up by the hanger bar. It will be observed that this strain is increased when the hanger bar has reached the angular position shown in sketch, which counteracts the action of the drag weight. That is, the tumbler weights or springs, to give the lateral motion to the strike shaft, retard the action of the drag weight and prevent the movement of the cone strap. Hence some time is lost before the bobbins are driven at their lower speed. Although this dwell of the bobbins may not be of long duration, the period may be sufficient to result in permanent injury to the finished sliver, especially in frames where there is a tendency to tight winding. It may be added that certain other makers are now applying much similar motions. Bars. In previous years the cap bars which sustain the leather- covered rollers have not been in all cases constructed with sufficient accuracy, making it difficult to maintain the rollers properly in position. During recent years various improve- ments have been effected m this respect, and Fig. 14 shows the cap bars as made for fly frames by Messrs. Howard & Bullough. The various parts of Fig. 14 are also numbered separately. These improved bars have now been working for some years. The principal improvement relates to the form of the fingers which carry the “ nebs ” or bearing blocks for the top rollers and the manner of securing the brackets, to which the fingers are attached to the bracket shaft. The illustrations show in Figs. 1 and 2 a back and side PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 75 view of the parts which form the cap bar respectively as applied to a frame with four spindles in a box, and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 enlarged views of the details. The finger a, instead of being square as hitherto, is formed pentagonal or five-sided in section, all the sides being equal. The lower portion of the hole in b is also specially formed, being cut out V-shape, so that when the finger is placed therein one of the flat sides must be uppermost, and thus present a level surface for the set screw, c. Precisely the same principle is carried out with regard to the mounting of the nebs. Fig. 5 showing the shape of the hole. It will be clear to the reader that by providing two angular bearing surfaces, with a flat one for the screws, the latter may be tightened without fear of twisting or forcing the nebs out of line with the opposite ones, thus securing correct alignment of the top rollers. To prevent the brackets, b, from twisting on the shaft, /, and allowing the “ nebs ” to fall into contact with the fluted bottom rollers, a groove, li, is cut transversely across the upper part of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 4. This groove admits of the insertion of a taper key, i, which holds the bracket securely in its place. 76 COTTON SPINNING. It will thus be seen that whereas the old bar had no facility for adjustment, the new one provides for accurate adjustment in all directions. It will be noticed also that the cap bar is fixed on the stand by an independent bracket, and the roller slides are free to move and allow of the rollers being altered without moving the cap bar, nor does the neb for the front top roller require to be disturbed, only the nebs for the other rollers having to be re-set after moving the bottom roller. The iron top clearer is hinged on the cap bar shaft, which is not disturbed by the moving or cleaning of the bottom roller. From what has been said it will be apparent to practical spinners that a very considerable improvement has been effected in an important part of these frames. MULES. Q. When mules are fitted with the ordinary long copping rails, and copping perfectly, what would be the effect (1) if the back plate were brought inwards half an inch ; (2) the vertical screw, which carries the front end of the rail, moved downwards four complete turns ? A. (I) If the back plate were brought in it reduces the inclination in the copping rail, leading to — {a) Shortening of the chase of the cop rather substantially all through the set of cops, but the shortening effect would be far the greatest for the first few minutes after doffing. {h) It would make the bottom cone of the cop longer and thinner, owing to the total fall of the rail being made greater during the time that the copping rail is resting on the coning incline of the front plate. (c) Except in the case of the bottom cone, the cop would be made very slightly thicker, as this is an effect which follows shortening of the chase. (2) [a) By screwing down at the vertical copping rail screw, broadly speaking the opposite effect is produced to that by pulling in the back plate, i.e., the inclination of the copping rail is increased. (h) This would lengthen the chase in an equal proportion all through the set. (c) It would make the cops somewhat thinner. It must be noted that altering the position of the back plate may PEACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINEEY. 77 affect the length of the bottom cone of cop, which is not the case with altering the vertical screw; also that variations in the length of chase may affect the depth of faller locking. Again, while alterations in the back plate affect the length of chase far more for the first few minutes after doffing than when the cops get larger, alterations by the screw give equal proportioDS through the set. Fig. 15 may be used to illustrate the answers on copping. A is the front plate ; B is the middle plate or loose incline plate ; C is the back plate ; D is the loose front incline of copping rail used to regulate the depth of lock and the amount of crossing thread ; E is the long and principal incline of the copping rail; F is the vertical screw by which the length of cop chase is regulated ; G is the vertical screw by which the relative inclination of the loose incline, D, is regulated, and consequently by which the depth of faller lock is determined ; H is the steady or stay bracket, by which the copping rail is Fig. 15. kept firmly in position, although quite free to move upwards and downwards. J is the front extremity of the builder motion worm with the builder wheel, K, at its inside extremity ; M is the stud by which the rear end of the copping rail is sus- tained on the back copping plate. Q. When mules are fitted with the ordinary long copping rail and movable incline, if the cops made are faulty, as in the three cases named, describe the altera- tions required in the apparatus without filing. (1) Thinner at the top of the cop than the bottom, and long cop nose. (2) Long chase during early draws. (3) Short stuff bottoms causing running under and short chase. A, (1) In many cases when cops are thinner at the top than at the bottom, and there is a longer cop chase at the top than the bottom than there ought to be in proportion, a remedy may be effected by alterations in the sector. It may be stated that when the centre of the sector stud is in the 78 COTTON SPINNING. same horizontal plane as the centre of the winding faller shaft, the winding faller wire should be in the centre of the working length of the spindle blade in order to give a parallel cop. By placing the sector stud in position indicated and then lifting the winding faller wire an inch or more up the spindles we should expect an improvement to result in the cops under discussion. Another remedy might be to have less of the front copping plate in action so as to thin the lower portion of the cop, while the chase could be shortened by the vertical screw of the copping rail. (2) Long chase during early draws is usually caused by having an insufficient amount of the back plate working. Owing to the shape of this plate if we drew it in to have the rail resting on a higher portion of the plate the chase will be shortened all through the building of the cops, but far more during the early draws than at a later stage. (3) The question may be taken as referring to either the portion of cop made during the early draws or to the bottom cone of the cop. Suppose the cop bottoms as made during the early draws were short and stiff, then running under might occur during the first few minutes. A remedy might be found by pushing the back plate a little bit out of action so as to lengthen the bottom. If the chase is short all through the set, then it might be lengthened by raising the front end of the copping rail by means of the front vertical screw of the rail. Taking the question as in coning that the bottom cone of the cop is too short and stiff, then the remedy might be found in putting more of the back plate at work and keeping the front plate as before, as this would lengthen out the bottom cone and make it proportionately thinner owing to the fall of the copping rail being increased while only the same amount of yarn is put on the bottom cone as before. The chase could be altered by the front vertical screw of the rail as before. Q. 1898. What are the principal changes necessary in a mule if it be desired to build a shorter and thicker cop than the one being made? Give brief reasons for each step. A. This alteration is a peculiar one, and by no means typical of what takes place in actual practice. If the examiner had asked for the alterations necessary in changing PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 79 to a shorter and thinner cop instead of shorter and thicker cop, then it would have been one of the best practical questions ever set, as it would have been equal to asking for the changes necessary in changing from twist cops to pin cop weft. Taking the question literally as given, in building a shorter cop there will be no steps necessary unless — as in the case of thinner cops — we desired to start building the cops further up the spindles. Simply to build shorter cops we should stop the mule and doff it so much sooner. To make thicker cops we should, of course, put on a larger builder wheel in proportion to the amount of increased diameter of cop required. The thicker the cops the larger should be the chase and the bottom cone of the cops as a matter of principle. The vertical screw at the front end of the copping rail might be screwed down somewhat in order to give the requisite degree of inclination to the copping rail to produce the length of chase required. To give the requisite length and diameter of bottom cone of cop required for the thicker cops, a little more of both back and front copping plates might be put into action. If it were desired to start building the cops higher up or lower down the spindles, as the case might be, then it would be necessary to alter the locking lever so as to start the winding at the position required. If the cops were made very much thicker it would be probably necessary to spin only on every alternate spindle, and in such an extreme case it would also be probably the best practice to put on a larger winding drum, so as to give a slower speed of spindles during winding-on. Granting also that the counts of yarn were to be changed at the same time, then all the change wheels would have to be altered in the proportion required. For a large change alterations in the bevels of spindles and setting of fallers might be necessary to give the best results. Q. 1898. A mule is found to be making a cop with a concave body. What is the cause of this defect ? How would you remedy it ? A. When cops vary in diameter it is much more frequently the case that they gradually taper thinner or thicker upwards, as the case may be, without again recovering their original diameter, and making a hollow-shaped or concave body, as 80 COTTON SPINNING. suggested iu the question. Such a defect, however, we have frequently witnessed, as also its exact opposite, or a convex bodied cop. As we have frequently demonstrated at one time or another, when cops vary in diameter or “ squareness ” of body it will be usually found that the defect originates from the plates. In the case under discussion, having first ascer- tained that there was nothing loose or badly worn about the copping parts, and granting that the defect exists in every set of cops being spun, it would probably be the best plan to at once make an examination of the plates. A sufficient knowledge of their correct configuration would enable us at once to tell whether they were correct in this respect or not, our examination extending, of course, both to the back and the front plates. We strongly recommend the possession of templets by overlookers, managers, fitters, etc., who may have to do with copping. These can be at once applied to the working surfaces of the plates, and any defects thereby shown up in an instant. A defect like the one mentioned in the question would probably emanate from the plates — either one or both of them — ^having too rapid a fall or incline at the point whereon the copping rail would be resting when the concavity in the cops was caused. It could be caused by a concavity or extra steep place in the back plate alone, which would cause the chase of the cop to lengthen at that portion and afterwards to shorten again, this being certain to result in the defect under discussion. To remedy it we could file the plates backwards and forwards towards the initial and terminal points from the concave portion in order to reduce the surfaces approximately to the same inclination, having regard to the fact that it is good practice to have the back plate rather less steep than the front plate in order to gradually shorten the chase and get more weight on the cops. In this filing, as we have said, anyone who was not pretty sure of the effect of his filing would do well to work to templet, and even an expert would be assisted in his work in most such cases. Another way in which such a defect might possibly be remedied would be to put less coning incline of front plate at work, so as to thin down the base of the cop to the same diameter as the concave portion, after which the upper portion of the cops might be thinned down by filing the back plate alone, or both plates, as the case might be from the concave PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 81 portion down to the terminal point. After the cops had been got right by filing plates, it is very probable that the shaper would require altering in size to maintain a correct diameter of full cop. In all such cases of copping the exact procedure which is best suited to any one case can only be determined by an examination of local conditions. In other cases, after putting a less amount of coning incline to work, we might drop the faller wire in relation to the sector, so as to thin the upper portion of cop. It may be noted that with short copping rails it has long been quite common to make the coning incline of the front plate straight, or even convex, and there is a tendency with some people to adopt the same practice with the front plate for the long rail. The Moorhouse Driving for Mules and Twiners. Decently it came to the knowledge of the author that Mr. Moorhouse — one of the inventors of the well-know duplex driving — had made other and still more radical alterations in the mechanism of mules and twiners, and had a mule working at the fine mill of the Park Koad Spinning Company, Dukinfield. As the author is anxious to present his readers with interesting and profitable information with regard to such matters, he proceeded to personally view and study the apparatus. It may be stated that the author was favourably im- pressed with Mr. Moorhouse’s new invention, and is of opinion that it will receive some application in the future, at any rate for mules of moderate spindle speed. Although it effects very great changes in the construction of the headstock, yet it is capable of application to existing mules of almost any make. It may be stated that in this new arrangement the parts relating to the changes and winding-on remain substantially untouched. While a different method of driving the rim shaft is adopted, the rollers and carriages are driven from the rim shaft by exactly the same mechanism as before. The spindles, however, are driven directly from the counter shaft during the actual operation of spinning and indirectly from the backing-off friction, and the usual down band during backing-off. Perhaps the greatest objection to it is the VOL. III. 6 82 COTTON SPINNING. i Fig. 15 (a). PRACTICAL MANIPULATION OF MACHINERY. 83 On the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of the headstock of a mule and overhead counter shaft with this invention applied thereto. Fig, 2 illustrates a back view of the pulleys aud bands. Fig. 3 illustrates the belt pulleys, belt, taking-in pulley and sleeve on the counter shaft and the bearings of such shaft in section. Fig. 4 illustrates a moditication. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate certain details in plan and elevation. To the rim shaft. A, are applied tlie usual backing-off friction cones, B and (J. To the said shaft and outside the headstock is also applied, by preference, a three-grooved pulley, 1). To the counter shaft, A, is applied a fast belt pulley, F, a fast band pulley, 6r, and a loose sleeve, II. Upon this sleeve is keyed or fixed a narrow belt pulley, /, and band or taking-in pulley, J. Also upon such sleeve is mounted a loose pulley. A”, and the three pulleys, F, / and A", lie side by side as illustrated. Around the pulleys, J) and A’, and carrier pulleys. A, M, N, 0 and P, also the pulley, on the tin roller shaft, A , is passed an endless rope band, A, the tension of which is regulated by the adjustment of pulley, M. Around the pulley, /, and pulley, ./', on the mule headstock connected with the taking- in mechanism is passed a band, T. Around the pulley, F, I or K, is passed the driving strap, U, which under the traverse of a strap guider, U, is designed to traverse on and off the pulleys, F, I and K, as hereinafter described. During the outward run of the mule carriage, and whilst spinning is designed to take place, the said strap lies partly on pulley, F, and partly on pulley, /, and the motion thereby imparted is then transmitted to the spindles, via shaft, A, pulley,