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 THE TEXTILE WORLD RECORD 
 KINK BOOKS 
 
 Kinks on Wool 
 Carding and Spinning 
 
 Second Edition 
 
 Compiled from the 
 
 Questions and Answers Department 
 
 of the 
 
 TEXTILE WORLD RECORD 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 CLARENCE HUTTON 
 
 LORD & NAGLE CO. 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 Boston, Mass.. U. S. A. 
 
r \^ 
 
 Copyright, 1912 
 
 LORD & NAGLE COMPANY 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
 n-i^f 
 
 ff.jr 
 
 <§CI.A332080 
 
 too/ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The success which attended the publication 
 of Kinks for Wool Carders and Spinners, a 
 large edition having been exhausted, has led 
 us to compile this book of practical experi- 
 ences in Woolen Yarn Manufacturing-. 
 
 The editors of the Textile World Record 
 are at all times face to face with the problem 
 of securing - practical information. For years 
 its subscribers have been invited to make free 
 use of its columns in asking questions relating 
 to woolen manufacturing, and it occurred to 
 us that if some of the most important and 
 most interesting of the practical questions that 
 have been answered were gathered together in 
 a handy form for quick reference, it would 
 meet a wide-spread want. 
 
 This book contains information which has 
 been supplied by manufacturers, superintend- 
 ents, and overseers from their private record 
 books and their stores of knowledge gained by 
 experience. 
 
 Many questions are answered and much 
 information given, but subscribers should 
 remember that if there is any information 
 they desire which is not given in this volume, 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 it is their privilege to ask the Questions and 
 Answers Department of the Textile World 
 Record, and every effort will be made to pub- 
 lish the information for them provided the 
 question is one of general interest to the trade. 
 
 No effort has been made to arrange the 
 subjects in the order of precedence in manu- 
 facturing, but the book is fully indexed, which 
 should enable anyone to find the information 
 he seeks in the shortest possible time. 
 
 Grateful acknowledgment is due to the men 
 who have supplied the information, and if 
 Kinks on Wool Carding and Spinning should 
 benefit any of the large number of men for 
 whom it is intended, both they and the pub- 
 lishers will feel that its mission has been 
 accomplished. 
 
 TEXTILE WORLD RECORD, 
 
 Lord & Nagle Company, 
 
 Publishers. 
 
Kinks on Wool Carding 
 and Spinning 
 
 Trouble in Carding Shoddy 
 
 In a shoddy mill using 60-inch cylinders, Z 
 in a set, running 100 revolutions, we have 
 much trouble with uncarded threads and short 
 staple. What is the best size of wire for the 
 cylinders, doffers and workers for this class of 
 work? Is a slow, thick feed better carding 
 than a fast, thin feed, where the production 
 remains the same? Carder (1160). 
 
 Shoddy should be laid down in the picker 
 room and properly oiled for at least twelve 
 hours and if possible twenty-four hours. It 
 would pick and card better as the rags are 
 then soft and pliable. The teeth in the picker 
 should be sharp. The number of teeth de- 
 pends on the grade of stock and the staple 
 wanted. It is important to set the feed rolls 
 properly to the cylinder and wrap them witht 
 a damp strip of cloth as tight as possible to 
 fill up the distance from the center of the feed 
 roll to the teeth of the cylinder. If the feed 
 roll is properly set good results should be ob- 
 tained. One hundred revolutions on 60-inch 
 cylinders is too fast. It does not give time to. 
 
IO KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 card properly and only shortens the staple 
 and makes a lot of waste. I would advise run- 
 ning 80 revolutions; even 75 would not be too 
 slow, and the card clothing- will last longer. I 
 would prefer a medium heavy feed running 
 the feed rolls slow, rather than a thin feed 
 and running them fast. I would advise 3 2 
 wire on the first cylinder, 3 3 on the second and 
 34 on the last. Set the first with a 30 gauge, 
 second with a 32 gauge, and third with a 34 
 gauge. If the cards are in good condition and 
 properly set there is no reason why good re- 
 sults should not be obtained. All this can be 
 spoiled by trying to do too much in a given 
 time. It is better to do less and have the work 
 right than to get off a large production and 
 have it spoiled. Rogers. 
 
 Matching Mixtures 
 
 How can I determine the proportions of 
 each color in the enclosed samples of black 
 and white mixed cloth? Mixture (440). 
 
 The best way to match textile mixtures of 
 different colors is to make a small sample, 
 weighing the stock on a grain scale, and card- 
 ing and mixing the different colors on a hand 
 card. One hundred grains is a convenient 
 weight, as each grain is equivalent to 1 per 
 cent. After it has been carded the stock is 
 washed in neutral soap, dried and compared 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING II 
 
 with the sample to be matched. Repeated 
 tests are made until the right proportions are 
 obtained. If facilities are at hand, it is a good 
 plan to verify the hand-card sample by mak- 
 ing - a larger one of, say two pounds, carding it 
 on the breaker card. A small card for this 
 purpose is built and it is a very useful ma- 
 chine in a mill making mixed goods. 
 
 Twisted Rolls in Carding 
 
 I send you with this letter samples of 
 twisted rolls or nubs which form on our cards 
 in carding English wool graded as 4 6s. These 
 rolls form between the fancy and the doffer. 
 I can lie on the floor and see them drop under 
 the card after having been drawn down by the 
 cylinder. I changed the speed of the tumbler 
 thinking that it held the stock too long, but 
 there was no improvement. The card is 4 8 by 
 48 with 3 4 wire on the cylinders. The fancy 
 is 9 inches in diameter clothed with 2 8 wire, 
 open set. I have tried setting the workers 
 close and away off, but without helping mat- 
 ters any. The difficulty is encountered only 
 with this 4 6s grade of wool. It occurred to me 
 that the rolls might be caused by the wool 
 heing gummy. I would like very much to have 
 you tell me what will remedy the trouble. 
 
 Carder (1163). 
 
 These rolls are made by the fancy which has 
 too coarse a wire for the cylinder. The fancy 
 wire should be at the most only two numbers 
 coarser than the cylinder wire. In most cases 
 the same wire is used. The stock like sample 
 
12 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 requires but little work from the fancy, it lies^ 
 on the points of the cylinder wire, and in this 
 position it is in the right place to be rolled by 
 the fancy. A 28 wire fancy running on a 34 
 wire cylinder would be about right for rolling 
 the stock. Sometimes a coarse fancy will 
 throw bits of stock on the doffer where the 
 draft of the fancy will keep it rolling until it 
 goes back in the card or drops on the floor. A 
 fancy stripper can be used to good advantage 
 on some kinds of stock to prevent rolling. 
 
 Lytton. 
 
 It would be very easy to locate the trouble 
 ii I had an opportunity of examining the work 
 on the card, but it is difficult to point out the 
 remedy at a distance and with only such par- 
 ticulars as "Carder" gives. The stock is long 
 and hard to raise and card out. There is a 
 natural tendency for it to roll. To do good 
 work the card must be in Al condition, with 
 all belts tight, especially the lickerin and 
 fancy belts. The cards should be set fairly 
 close, especially the doffer and fancy. The 
 speed of the fancy must be just right to raise 
 and clear the cylinder, otherwise it will load 
 and cause rolls. It might be a good plan to 
 reverse the workers. This will card the stock 
 out better, but it will be harder on the staple 
 and on the wire. I think most of the trouble 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 1 3 
 
 is due to the setting and speed of the fancy. 
 The fancy belt should be tight and the cloth- 
 ing kept sharp. More work is spoiled on the 
 card by the fancy than at any other point. 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 Equipment and Operation of Carbonizing 
 Plant 
 
 We have been in the habit of using wool 
 more or less burry as we have no means of 
 getting rid of the burrs before sending the 
 stock to the cards, the wool being put to the 
 cards with the burrs in and the result is that 
 the card clothing is in bad shape. I have been 
 considering introducing a burr picker, but am 
 in doubt whether it would do the work as well 
 as carbonizing. For that reason I would like 
 to see some good articles on carbonizing, giv- 
 ing full instructions as to how it could and 
 should be done and the probable cost and 
 equipment for a carbonizing plant, that would 
 handle about 500 pounds of wool a day. 
 
 Buxton (1244). 
 
 Carbonizing is by far the most satisfactory 
 method of removing burrs from wool, unless 
 the burrs are very large or are what is known 
 as "hard" burrs. These may be all knocked 
 out of the wool by burr picking which will 
 leave the stock in better condition than by the 
 carbonizing process, as the latter has a tend- 
 •encv to weaken the wool. To carbonize the 
 
14 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 wool for hard burrs the vat should be filled 
 with cold water and enough sulphuric acid 
 added to bring the bath up to about Q° Tw. 
 
 After the bath is brought up to the required 
 strength the scoured wool is entered and al- 
 lowed to soak for about three hours and then 
 forked out, drained and thoroughly extracted. 
 The wool may be put into the acid bath either 
 wet or dry, but in putting in the dry stock 
 more liquor is absorbed and consequently when 
 it. is taken out more water has to be added, 
 which weakens the bath, and, of course, more 
 acid is required to bring it back to its former 
 strength. This is an essential point as the 
 bath should not be allowed to run down if the 
 stock is to be carbonized thoroughly. 
 
 The next step in carbonizing is the drying 
 and baking process, which can be done either 
 on the old fashioned table dryers or in the 
 Stone dryer manufactured by the James 
 Hunter Machine Co., or the Sargent carboniz- 
 ing plant. If the table dryer is used a set of 
 heavy crush rollers and a cone duster would 
 have to be installed in order to crush the 
 burrs and free the wool from the dust and 
 pieces of burrs which cling to the stock. 
 
 If the table or drawer dryer, Fig. 1, is used r 
 the stock must be spread out evenly and not 
 too thick on these drawers, and the fan 
 should be started, the sliding door in the air 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 
 
 15 
 
 Partition 
 
 It 
 
 Outside. O* Building 
 
l6 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 shaft closed, and the sliding door in the out- 
 side of the building opened. In this way the 
 stock should be dried considerably as the cold, 
 damp air is driven outside. The fan should 
 be left running about two hours, the steam 
 then turned on, the outside sliding door closed 
 and the sliding door in the air shaft opened. 
 There should be enough piping in the coil so 
 that the drying room can be heated to a tem- 
 perature of at least 220° F. The fan if kept 
 running all this time will give a good circula- 
 tion. The wool should be turned over once in 
 a while so that it will dry thoroughly, and 
 should not be taken off the dryer until the 
 burrs are well baked, when they will turn 
 black and can be crumbled up between thumb 
 and finger. The stock should then be passed 
 through heavy crush rollers and a cone duster, 
 and then neutralized. In neutralizing the 
 stock enough alkali and soap should be used 
 to remove the acid, or to have the stock smell 
 sweet. If too much alkali is used it turns the 
 stock yellow and makes it harsh. In building 
 the table or drawer dryer as many drawers 
 can be put in as are required. One dry room 
 with about 5 drawers, 3 by 3 feet square, 
 makes a pretty fair room to heat, and, of 
 course, the fan should be in proportion to the 
 size of the room built. Tambura. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 1 7 
 
 Calculating Weight of Sliver 
 
 The first breaker of a set of woolen cards is 
 fitted wih a Bramwell feed, the second breaker 
 with a Torrance creel, and the third breaker 
 or finisher card with an Apperly feed or a 
 creel. What is the method of calculating the 
 weight of ends or sliver that should enter 
 these feeds in order to give a 6-run roving? 
 
 Milton (867). 
 
 No set rule can be given for calculating the 
 size of the drawing for a given size of roving. 
 The carder must use his own judgment, taking 
 care not to have it too heavy or there will be 
 difficulty in passing it through the guides on 
 the second breaker. If the drawing is too 
 heavy on the feed table of the Apperly feed 
 the roving is apt to be lumpy; the finer the 
 drawing and the more of it on the feed table 
 the better the roving. With a creel on the 
 second breaker and an Apperly feed on the 
 finisher the size of the roving is regulated by 
 an adjustment of the gears. Sam Driver. 
 
 Carding Cotton Mixes 
 
 I am having trouble carding cotton mixes. 
 The cotton is fairly well matted; the picker 
 does not do very good work and neppy yarn is 
 the result. We have an old wooden frame 
 card, and lately when we moved from one 
 floor to another the card was so racked and 
 worn that we could not set it close enough to 
 take out the neps. What would be the best 
 method of setting, and to what size gauge? It 
 is set to 29 now. Where is the setting most 
 
15 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 liable to help, and will the fancy help or cause 
 the neps? We are now making 1 1/2-run 
 yarn; about 1 1/2 draft on the spinning ma- 
 chine or about 4 8 inches of roving. The stock 
 contains from 20 to 50 per cent, cotton. The 
 ring doffers make about 14 turns a minute. 
 
 Clinton (774). 
 
 If the card is in such shape as Clinton says 
 it is, the best thing to do is to open the win- 
 dow and throw it out. If the mixing picker is 
 not doing good work, have the machine fixed 
 so that it will. The mixing picker has nothing 
 to do with making neps. Run the cotton and 
 the stock that is mixed with it separately 
 through the picker before mixing. I never set 
 a card closer than 29-gauge on any kind of 
 stock. If Clinton can set the stock with a 
 29-gauge without having it strike, the card is 
 all right and the fault must be somewhere 
 else, probably in the fancy. Set the fancy so 
 you can just hear it on each side; then set 
 both sides firmly into the cylinder. See that 
 the stripper belt is tight; run the first breaker 
 doffer faster so as to get the stock out of the 
 card quicker. Speed the ring doffers up to 18 
 or 20 turns and the condenser accordingly. 
 The roving is apparently about right. 
 
 Sam Driver. 
 
 Even and Uneven Roving 1 
 
 I am boss spinner in a woolen mill. About 
 two weeks ago the weavers complained about 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 19 
 
 lumps in the filling which broke in the eye of 
 the shuttle. The mules are set just the same 
 as they always were. Can you tell me where 
 the trouble is? Grant (994). 
 
 Since carding and spinning go hand in hand 
 in woolen manufacturing, it is first necessary 
 to refer briefly to carding. As a rule the 
 carder calculates his roving to be drawn down 
 to about one-half, on the mule, in order to 
 assist in drawing out and reducing any lumps 
 or other irregularities in the roving in the final 
 yarn produced. There will be no trouble in 
 drawing out a good even roving made from 
 long, even-stapled wools, this one-half or more 
 in spinning; however, the best spinner will 
 find it impossible to draw out uneven roving 
 or such as made from short staple stock more 
 than one-third, without keeping the mule 
 standing most of the time piecing up broken 
 ends. 
 
 With reference to uneven roving delivered 
 to the spinning room, the lumpy sorts will be 
 the ones making the most trouble, in fact if 
 not impossible for a fine thread to be spun out 
 of it, since it is a well-known law in spinning 
 that the lumps will take the twist only after 
 the thin places between the lumps are twisted 
 extra hard. This naturally tends to increase 
 in proportion the size of the lumps, and in 
 turn reduce the thinner places still more. 
 In order to explain this subject, the accom- 
 
20 
 
 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 panying two illustrations are given. Fig. 1 
 represents an uneven, lumpy, unspun roving or 
 carded wool. Examining the illustration, we 
 will And that instead of having an even sur- 
 face, the roving is lumpy, caused either pos- 
 sibly on account of dull card wires, or insuffi- 
 cient carding, or improperly prepared stock, 
 etc. Such roving may now and then occur in 
 any mill, but it should be seldom the case, and 
 if found, the trouble at once remedied by 
 proper attention to the set of cards where it 
 was made. 
 
 In drawing out this roving on the mule, the 
 same receives a few turns per inch as the car- 
 riage backs off. The drafting occurs at this 
 point, and since the tendency is for the twist 
 to take effect between the lumps, as previously 
 mentioned, it follows that the lumps are more 
 or less untouched with reference to twists by 
 the mule, remaining soft and pliable, and 
 being drawn out only slightly in size. The 
 thinner places between the lumps have taken 
 all the twist which actually ought to have 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 21 
 
 gone in the full length of the thread under 
 operation, said fine hard twisted portions of 
 the yarn not drawing down any to speak of. 
 For this reason the mule does little toward 
 correcting such imperfect roving, resulting in 
 an uneven yarn as readily seen by means of 
 examining diagram Fig. 2, where we see that 
 the bunches, as mentioned before, although 
 slightly drawn out as to size, are yet distinct 
 in the thread, the thinner portions of the 
 thread having taken all the twist, clearly 
 showing too much of it. The reason for this 
 is found in the fact that the larger in circum- 
 ference a body, the harder it is to revolve it, 
 and since the lumps in the roving are of a 
 larger diameter as compared to the thinner 
 portions of the thread, it consequently follows 
 that said lumpy portions of the thread acquire 
 little, if any, twist compared to the thinner 
 portions; in fact all the thinner portions in 
 the full stretch of roving under operation 
 must be twisted solidly into a wire, as we 
 might say, before twist is put in the larger 
 places, i. e., the bunches, each bunch acting as 
 a pin of a fixed lever for the length of the 
 thin roving adjoining. 
 
 The proper amount of the draft to be put in 
 the yarn at the mule, requires good judgment, 
 the rule usually observed being that the longer 
 and coarser the stock, the quicker the drawing 
 
22 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 should be. If the roving pulls out from be- 
 tween the draft rollers during drawing, it is a 
 sure sign that the draft is too slow, and for 
 which reason put on a larger draft gear (back- 
 ing off gear), or let out on the upper steady 
 rope and take up at the bottom. If the rov- 
 ing snaps off about half way between the draft 
 roll and the tops of the spindle during draw- 
 ing, it is an indication that the carriage is 
 backing off too quickly, the twist not having 
 a chance to take hold, and in which instance 
 reverse the previously given advice. 
 
 Conrad. 
 
 Vigogne Yarn 
 
 I am informed that the enclosed sample of 
 vigogne yarn, or in fact any vigogne yarn, is 
 not made in this country. Can you tell me 
 where it is manufactured? 
 
 Manufacturer (1199). 
 
 The sample enclosed was a cotton and wool 
 mixed yarn. Our French correspondent in 
 replying to this inquiry gives the following 
 account of the genuine vigogne fiber and the 
 fabrics made from it: 
 
 Of all the special wools obtained from South 
 America such as lama, guanaco, alpaca, vi- 
 gogne, etc., it is the last named which excels 
 all the others. The vigogne hair is used in the 
 manufacture of shawls, fishing nets and 
 cloaks. The different shades of vigogne hair 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 2$ 
 
 are lirst separated. The inhabitants of the 
 countries where vigogne hair is grown produce 
 a very solid fabric from it which compares 
 favorably with the best grades of wool goods. 
 It is completely waterproof and at the same 
 time fine and light. The best vigogne fabrics 
 come from Catamarca in the Argentine Re- 
 public. Since 18 90 an imitation of vigogne 
 has been made. This consists in mixing wool 
 and cotton in variable proportions. In many 
 cases the wool is replaced by the hair of the 
 angora rabbit and sometimes of the ordinary 
 rabbit. I will try to send you a few samples 
 of vigogne fabrics in a few days. Gaul. 
 
 Changing to Coarse Stock 
 
 We have changed our cards over to a coarse 
 clothing for long coarse stock but have not 
 changed the fancy. Now the doffer cannot 
 take the stock from the cylinder and the cloth- 
 ing is choked up. We have tried setting the 
 fancy deeper into the cylinder, running it 
 faster, and have even bent the wire forward. 
 Is there anything you can suggest that will 
 help us out? Foster (9 67). 
 
 This seems to be a case of saving the old 
 fancy at any cost. As there is only one fancy 
 on a card and as the cost of reclothing it with 
 wire suited to the work would be small, I 
 would suggest that Foster get clothing a little 
 coarser than that on the cylinder. All the 
 
24 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 expedients tor making the fancy do work it 
 was never intended to do seem to have been 
 tried, so I judge a very short stock had been 
 previously used or the fancy was about worn 
 out. The range of work that a fancy will do 
 is large, but there are limits and when 
 reached, the cost of new clothing should not 
 be considered against the loss caused by 
 makeshift devices. Burleigh. 
 
 Soap and Oil Solution 
 
 Please let me know what I can use to keep- 
 a solution of oil, soap and water from separat- 
 ing. This solution is made by boiling the fol- 
 lowing ingredients: 
 
 14 gals, prime lard oil, 
 3 lbs. olive worsted soap, 
 3 gals, water. 
 
 Perth (1263). 
 
 The quantities of materials indicated by our 
 correspondent are not properly balanced; the 
 quantity of soap, being only 7.9 per cent., is 
 too small to emulsify the 27.3 per cent, of lard 
 oil. As soap itself is an emulsifying com- 
 pound, the greater the amount used the 
 greater will be the result. It is suggested that 
 our correspondent use not less than 25 pounds 
 of soap in this mixture and increase the 
 amount of water by 10 gallons. To effect a 
 more thorough emulsification of the oil the 
 addition of a few pounds of concentrated soda 
 ervstals is recommended, as it will aid materi- 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 2$ 
 
 ally. Very good results are obtained by the 
 use of a few quarts of any good sulphated oil, 
 taking the place of a corresponding weight of 
 soap. It is presumed that our correspondent's 
 mixture is intended for oiling wool, and if 
 such is the case he will find should he use a 
 mixture containing sulphated oil, that the lard 
 oil will not separate after boiling, and that the 
 scouring out of the lard oil will be more easily 
 effected. Berwick. 
 
 If the soap is of a good quality, it alone 
 should be sufficient to emulsify the oil and 
 water present. The designation, "olive wor- 
 sted soap" is, however, a rather indefinite one. 
 If it is an olive oil soda soap containing about 
 25 to 3 per cent, of water, the proportion 
 here given should easily carry the oil without 
 any separation. If, however, the soap is only 
 a soft soap made up with a large proportion of 
 water, it is probable that there is not sufficient 
 real soap present to properly emulsify the oil 
 and water. To bring about such an emulsion 
 that will not separate into its constituents, it 
 will be necessary to add a small amount of 
 alkali to the mixture in question. I would 
 suggest the use of 3 to 4 pounds of soda ash. 
 The latter should first be dissolved in some 
 water to be used by boiling, and then the solu- 
 tion added to that of the soap and oil, and the 
 
26 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 whole mixture well boiled up together. If it 
 is not desirable to use soda ash on account of 
 any special use to which the emulsion is to be 
 put, a milder alkali like borax may be em- 
 ployed. About 4 to 5 pounds of borax should 
 be substituted in this case for the soda ash. 
 The use of borax will make the emulsion 
 somewhat more expensive, but its alkalinity 
 will be much milder. Howell. 
 
 Nubs for Knickerbockers 
 
 We are going- to make a line of knickerbock- 
 ers and I would like to get some information 
 on making nubs; how to set the cards to get 
 good yarn. Akron (983). 
 
 To make nubs for knickerbockers select 
 short, fine wool and run it through the picker 
 dry and then through a first breaker as fol- 
 lows: Feed on very light; set off the workers 
 from the cylinder 3/16 of an inch; set the 
 strippers just close enough to the cylinders to 
 clear them; set the doffer with a 28-gauge. 
 Do not run the comb; set the fancy just to 
 touch the cylinder, start the card and the nubs 
 will drop under the card. For nubs larger or 
 smaller set the cards accordingly. 
 
 These nubs are then taken to the fulling 
 room and fulled until quite hard, then dried 
 and they are ready for mixing. When the 
 batch is ready for the cards set off the workers 
 of the first breaker from 1/8 to 3/16 of an 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 2? 
 
 inch; let the strippers remain as they were, 
 but set the workers off the strippers slightly; 
 set the doffers as for regular work and the 
 fancy the same. 
 
 Set the second breaker the same as the first, 
 except that the worker next the fancy is set 
 quite close to the cylinder. This is to regulate 
 the size of the nubs required; set the fancy 
 the same as on ordinary stock. Set the fin- 
 isher the same as the first and second break- 
 ers, with the exception of the first and last 
 workers. These can be set closer to the cyl- 
 inder to regulate the size of the nubs. The 
 best way to get the workers on both sides alike 
 is to notice the number of turns on the nut 
 before setting. Sam Driver. 
 
 Difficulty With Rub Rolls on Coarse Wool 
 
 We would like to know of a good means for 
 overcoming the difficulty in making well 
 rubbed roping from pure wool similar to the 
 enclosed sample. What is the best lubricant 
 for this class of wool? A great deal of stock 
 drops below the card and the roping runs back 
 on the mule on account of the roping being 
 so loose and fluffy. Dexter (1158). 
 
 In carding coarse wool like the sample sub- 
 mitted, I found the following method to give 
 the best results: The aprons should be set to 
 a 32 gauge with the middle roll on the same 
 level with the rest, giving them a long run and 
 being careful that they do not rub together. 
 
28 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 They can usually be run at 3 50 revolutions,, 
 but if they shake the card at a less speed they 
 are either worn badly or set wrong. The one 
 that is either too long or too short should be 
 changed. Stop the aprons so that when the 
 eccentric is moved it will go either towards or 
 away from the card, as it will move easier In 
 this position. The eccentric is held by two 
 bolts on the under side. A leader should 
 never be used on either pulley and the belt 
 can generally be made to run properly by 
 adjusting the idle pulleys. Keep the aprons 
 damp or they will not do their work. The 
 best dressing for aprons is made of three parts 
 crude oil and one part degras. With very lit- 
 tle heat this mixture will readily blend. Put 
 this mixture on after stripping the cards and 
 the work will go along smoothly. Coarse wool 
 will sometimes drop under the card if the 
 cylinders are allowed to get dull, or are run 
 too fast. The cylinders on coarse wool should 
 run about 70 revolutions a minute. 
 
 Lytton. 
 
 To answer this question intelligently one 
 should be on the spot, as the question is rather 
 indefinite. Much depends on the adjustment 
 of the rub rolls. The Barker condensers can 
 be made to rub anything if they are properly 
 adjusted and oiled with the right kind of rub 
 oil. Neatsfoot or Castor oil answers very well 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 2g 
 
 as a rub oil. Some claim that they are too 
 expensive, but no oil is too expensive that 
 gives satisfaction. Many carders are handi- 
 capped by superintendents who insist that 
 because an oil is cheap the carders must use 
 it. Use enough oil or emulsion to keep the 
 stock partly damp. Judgment must be used 
 in oiling the wool. Get the stock damp, but 
 not too wet, and it will work better. If the 
 rubs get filled up with oil use some ammonia 
 as this will cut out the oil and make the rubs 
 take hold better and give better results. 
 
 If the stock drops below the cards they 
 must be running too fast. For this grade of 
 stock 85 revolutions per minute is fast enough. 
 If run any faster, there will be a lot of waste 
 made. Setting the cards properly and having 
 them sharp cannot help but give good work. 
 Adding a little powdered rosin to the rub roll 
 will make them take hold better. If "Dexter" 
 is using the old style rub roll he should take 
 each set out and grind down even on a roller 
 grinder and then set close with a little oil on 
 each. Rogers. 
 
 A Kink in Carbonizing 
 
 It will show how economy is consulted in 
 the Yorkshire handling of rags if a leaf from 
 the book of a Leeds firm is quoted. These 
 dealers had an unlimited demand at one time 
 
30 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 for carbonized waste of a maroon or brown 
 color. They asked a dyer how they could car- 
 bonize and dye brown in one operation? He 
 brought them some Azo-Carmine, which was 
 dissolved in the acid for carbonizing. The 
 latter was strong enough to discharge some of 
 the original color and after the oven-drying 
 and the subsequent willeying the mixed rags 
 came out all wool and all brown of substan- 
 tially the very shade wanted. The item is 
 given as an encouragement to experiment and 
 to ingenuity. Regent. 
 
 Causes of Uneven Roping 
 
 I read a list of Causes of Uneven Roping in 
 the Textile World Record several months ago 
 and I cut out the article. It has been lost and 
 I want to get another one like it, for there are 
 some points in it that I had not heard before, 
 and I've been in the card-room since I was a 
 boy. Perhaps it wouldn't do any harm if you 
 published it again. Dobney (937). 
 
 The portion of the article referred to by 
 Dobney is as follows: When using creels on 
 the second breaker never have a full set in at 
 one time; have partly filled spools on one-hair 
 of the creel and full spools on the other half: 
 the roping will be more even in this way. 
 When all the spools run out together there 
 are so many splicings that they cause the rop- 
 ing to be heavy for a time. The more spools 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 31 
 
 there are in the creels the more doubling and 
 the more even roping. One drawing out 
 makes the roping finer. 
 
 Among the causes of uneven roping are im- 
 perfect cleaning and mixing of the stock, ir- 
 regularity in putting on oil and composition, 
 inaccurate weighing and feeding, feed rolls 
 and other cylinders winding stock and filling 
 up after stripping, strained drawings from 
 second breaker to Apperly feed, belts and 
 gears slipping, and inferior card-room help. 
 Perfection in the form of all cylinders from 
 the largest to the smallest is essential in mak- 
 ing even roping. 
 
 If the ring doffer is out of true so that it 
 comes nearer to the cylinder during one part 
 of its revolution, there will be a gradual vari- 
 ation in the roping from coarse to fine and the 
 increase and decrease will alternate in lengths 
 equal to the circumference of the ring. If the 
 main cylinder is out of true so that one side 
 runs nearer to the doffer than the other, the 
 variations in size of roping will be repeated in 
 lengths equal to the circumference of the cyl- 
 inder. Uneven roping may also be caused by 
 the workers, leader-in, tumbler and fancy 
 being out of true. 
 
 These imperfections may not always be ap- 
 parent to the naked eye and are not very 
 easily detected. There is no doubt that these 
 small things are the cause of uneven roping 
 
32 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 and of uneven yarn, besides an endless 
 amount of trouble. The remedy is simple and 
 consists in truing the small cylinder as well 
 as the large one and keeping them true no 
 matter how hard the cards may be driven. 
 Quality first and then quantity is the best rule 
 for both carder and manufacturer. 
 
 The feed rolls should be of the same size 
 and perfectly true; if one is larger than the 
 other, they will not deliver evenly, and this 
 will be more or less perceptible in the yarn 
 according to the difference in size between 
 them. Another very frequent cause of uneven 
 roping is the careless manner in which the 
 pulleys are lagged with leather, making them 
 untrue or lopsided, causing the belt to run 
 slack or tight, thus driving them at unequal 
 speeds and producing results similar to thoje 
 from uneven surfaces. 
 
 A dull tumbler will cause uneven strands on 
 the ends of the spools. Uneven feeds make 
 uneven roping. Another cause is defective 
 setting of the ring doffers. If the fancy on 
 the finisher is set too hard or runs too fast or 
 the card runs too long without stripping, or if 
 the cylinder is dull, fine strands will be made 
 on the ends of spools and heavy strands in the 
 middle. The first full spools made after strip- 
 ping the cylinder should be torn up. 
 
 Crowding the stock in the first breaker feed 
 and then letting it run nearly out is the cause 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 33 
 
 of much uneven roping. The small pulleys of 
 the Apperly feed should be cleaned and oiled 
 every week. When weighing roping weigh the 
 tops and bottoms, then the sides and the mid- 
 dle. The tops and bottoms should be run sep- 
 arately. If making warp and filling from the 
 same lot, the tops will make the strongest 
 warp. To ensure even roping, the feed rolls, 
 leader-in and tumbler should be faultless. If 
 they are allowed to get filled with stock, the 
 best results will not lie obtained. 
 
 Oiling Different Kinds of Stock 
 
 We would like to obtain all the information 
 possible as to the use of oil or emulsion on 
 woolen stock to be carded. 
 
 Should the consistency of the emulsion, i. e., 
 the proportion of the ingredients, vary in a 
 mill according to the different stocks it is 
 using, or is it customary for a mill to use the 
 same proportion of ingredients? 
 
 Are there a few standard proportions which 
 could be given as suitable for the different 
 kinds of woolen mill work? 
 
 What regulates the proper amount of emul- 
 sion to be used? 
 
 Are any better results obtained by using all 
 oil instead of a mixture? Dalton (1025). 
 
 It is customary for manufacturers to vary 
 proportions of the emulsions to suit the stock 
 that is being carded. 
 
 There are no standard proportions that 
 could be given for the different kinds of stock. 
 
34 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 The materials used for woolen goods vary so 
 widely that the exact proportions of oil and 
 water can be determined only by actul tests. 
 The amount of emulsion is regulated to pro- 
 duce the most perfect yarn with the least 
 amount of waste. 
 
 Opinions vary widely among manufacturers 
 regarding the relative advantages of using oil 
 or a mixture of oil and water on wool. One of 
 the disadvantages of using water is the evap- 
 oration which causes an irregularity in the 
 stock. If effective means are taken to prevent 
 excessive evaporation a moderate amount of 
 water facilitates the carding process. Any 
 water added to the stock in the picking room 
 of course evaporates before it reaches the 
 spinning process. 
 
 Soft Noses on Bobbins 
 
 We are spinning 7-8 to I 1/4-run yarn on 
 English and American mules and are troubled 
 with soft noses on the bobbins which cause 
 the filling to slip from the bobbin during 
 weaving and make much waste. Can you 
 suggest a remedy? Ridley (542). 
 
 We have secured the following expert opin- 
 ions on this trouble, the cause of which is very 
 difficult to point out without knowing all the 
 conditions in the mill where it exists. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 35 
 
 Be sure that the quadrant on the mule i& 
 not set too far back, as this will invariably 
 cause the mule to wind hard on the shoulder 
 and soft or slack on the nose. If it is a Davis 
 and Furber machine be sure that the two 
 center tracks are perfectly true and level, 
 otherwise it will wind with soft places. The 
 builder rail should also be in such a position 
 as will insure an even wind. Holz. 
 
 In order to answer the question fully we 
 ought to have full details of the style of mule, 
 together with the number of teeth in the 
 gears, the kind of quadrant plate, builder, etc. 
 Soft noses on bobbins can often be remedied 
 by setting the quadrant arm a little lower 
 down. This has the effect of turning the spin- 
 dles faster when the yarn is being wound on 
 the nose, thus making them tighter. 
 
 The difficulty might also be caused by the 
 faller leg knocking off the square stud too 
 soon, or it may be that there is something that 
 is imperfectly set just at the finish of the 
 draw so that the weight is taken off the yarn 
 and the yarn is not wound on the nose under 
 tension. There are so many things that might 
 cause this difficulty, and which vary with each 
 type of mule, that we can give only general 
 information without knowing more of the 
 details. Wilts. 
 
36 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 There are many things that might cause the 
 trouble which Ridley mentions. The floor may 
 be uneven; the track may drop as it goes 
 toward the head and the machine get ahead 
 of the wind; the faller might trip too quickly. 
 If we could have one of the bobbins sent us 
 we think there would be no difficulty in find- 
 ing a remedy. Lincoln. 
 
 Preventing Soft Noses on Cops 
 
 How can a woolen or worsted mule be pre- 
 vented from making soft noses on tops of cops 
 without a nosing motion? Stamford (670). 
 
 There are various things that would cause a 
 bobbin or cop to be soft on the top. First, if 
 the quadrant arm is too far from the vertical 
 the nose will be too loose. Second, the trouble 
 might be in the builder shoes; they not being 
 adjusted properly, as is often the case. Set 
 the rail on the forward and back shoes so that 
 when the builder is wound up the studs will be 
 close to the top of the incline. The adjust- 
 ment for both shoes at once is made by the 
 slot in that part of the rail opposite the in- 
 clined side. If necessary change the position 
 of the back shoe, without moving the front 
 shoes, by the small rod connecting the two. 
 For cops I would suggest that the shoe on the 
 inside be set so that the end of the builder rail 
 be just on the edge of the groove on the shoe, 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 37 
 
 ready to start down as soon as the builder 
 starts to work. 
 
 It is sometimes necessary to have a special 
 shoe on the front end of the builder rail. For 
 cops this can be secured from the shops where 
 the mules are made. At the rear end of the 
 rail there should be a hinged flip, one end 
 hinged to the rail and the other end resting 
 on a set screw, and as the rail is lowered the 
 flip, which is adjustable, becomes raised on a 
 level with the rail. Now the end attached to 
 the rail is lowered with it while the end rest- 
 ing on the casting remains stationary. As a 
 result the angle on the corner of the flip be- 
 comes raised above the surface of the builder 
 rail, and as the carriage comes against the 
 back stops the builder rail traveler strikes the 
 projection thus formed, and imparts a sharp 
 flip to the winding faller. The effect of this 
 is to wind a few turns of yarn down over the 
 nose of the bobbin, making a firm nose and 
 preventing the yarn from slubbing up the 
 bobbin. 
 
 Then again the trouble might be in the 
 drum gear, which is driven by the quadrant 
 chain. This gear should be larger for the 
 winding of cops. They have any desired num- 
 ber of teeth for this gear at the shops where 
 the mules are made. Spinner. 
 
T,S KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Testing for Soap or Alkali in Waste Liquor 
 
 Would you please inform me if there is any 
 chemical in liquid or powder form that when 
 added to waste liquor from washing" machines 
 will determine any trace of soap or alkali? 
 
 • Atwood (2038). 
 
 The testing of wash water to determine 
 whether it is free from soap or alkali is not 
 difficult, but in order to be sure of one's re- 
 sults it becomes necessary that the tests be 
 made carefully with properly prepared chemi- 
 cals. Testing for the presence of soap in any 
 wash or rinse water is best done with a few 
 drops of dilute muriatic acid added to a sam- 
 ple of the water contained in a clean glass. 
 If soap in appreciable quantity is present, the 
 water will become slightly turbid, due to the 
 separation of free fatty acid. If, on the other 
 hand, the amount of soap in the wash water 
 is very slight, the degree of turbidity may be 
 «o faint as to be difficult to detect. As most 
 mill soaps always contain free alkali, perhaps 
 the best test is for free alkali, which, if found, 
 is always a sure indication that soap is also 
 present. A solution of phenolphthalein in 
 alcohol (1 part of the former to 500 parts of 
 the latter) is first prepared. It can be ob- 
 tained at a drug store. Four ounces of this 
 solution will be sufficient for hundreds of 
 tests, as only one or two drops are used for a 
 test. A glass of the water to be tested is 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 39 
 
 taken, and to it is added a drop or two of the 
 phenolphthalein solution, when, if soap con- 
 taining- free alkali is present, the entire solu- 
 tion becomes tinted pink or reddish according 
 to the amount present. 
 
 As the solution of phenolphthalein is very 
 sensitive to alkali, the person who makes the 
 test should wash a test glass thoroughly after 
 each test, and keep it in a place where it may 
 not collect dust. The bottle containing the 
 test solution should have a glass stopper. 
 
 Beta-Naphthol. 
 
 Horse Power of a Waterfall 
 
 Please give the rule for estimating without 
 instruments the flow of water over a waterfall. 
 Also give me the rule for estimating the num- 
 ber of horse power where the height of the 
 fall and the flow of water are known, the lat- 
 ter having been found by the rule asked for 
 above. Maynard (1167). 
 
 The following is the method for the meas- 
 urement of an open stream by velocity and 
 cross-section to arrive at the theoretical horse 
 power of the stream: Measure the depth of 
 the water at from 6 to 12 points across the 
 stream at equal distances between. Add all 
 the depths in feet together and divide by the 
 number of measurements made; this will be 
 the average depth of the stream, which mul- 
 tiplied by its width will give its area or cross- 
 
40 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 section. Multiply this by the velocity of the 
 stream in feet per minute, and the result will 
 be the discharge in cubic feet per minute. 
 
 The velocity of the stream can be found by 
 laying - off 100 feet of the bank and throwing a 
 float into the middle, noting the time taken in 
 passing over the 100 feet. Do this a number 
 of times and take the average; dividing this? 
 distance by the time gives the velocity at the 
 surface. As the top of the stream flows faster 
 than the bottom or sides, the average velocity 
 being about 83 per cent, of the surface veloc- 
 ity at the middle, it is convenient to measure 
 a distance of 120 feet for the float and reckon 
 it as 100. 
 
 Water Power: 
 
 English Rule: 33,000 pounds raised one 
 foot in one minute = 1 h. p. 
 
 200 pounds of water (20 imperial gallons) 
 3 feet fall per second = 1 h. p. or 60 gallons 
 1 foot fall per second — 1 h. p. there- 
 fore: 224 gallons = 2240 (lbs.) X 3 (feet) 
 X 60 (seconds) -r- 33,000 = 12.2 h. p. Deduct- 
 ing 25 per cent, on account of turbine loss 
 gives 9.8 actual or effective h. p. 
 
 If the sectional area is taken in small sec- 
 tions and different rates of flow, 10 per cent. 
 for friction would be about right. 
 
 The gross power of a fall of water is the 
 product of the weight of water discharged in 
 a unit of time into the total head, or the dif- 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 41 
 
 ference of vertical elevation of the upper sur- 
 face of the water at the points where the fall 
 in question begins and ends. The term "head" 
 used in connection with water wheels is the 
 difference in height from the surface of the 
 water in the wheel-pit and the surface in the 
 pen-stock when the wheel is running. 
 
 A water wheel or motor of any kind can- 
 not utilize the whole of the head since there 
 are losses of head at both the entrance to and 
 the exit from the wheel. There are also losses 
 of energy due to friction of the water in its. 
 passage through the wheel. 
 
 F. S. Hinds, 
 Architect and Engineer. 
 
 Production of Woolen Finisher Card 
 
 Please state the best method of calculating 
 the production of a woolen finisher card. I 
 have calculated the production of our finisher 
 cards, from the weight of roving and size of 
 doffer rings, but the results vary from 15 to 2i> 
 per cent, from the actual product. The out- 
 side diameter of rings is 11 3/4 inches. Tht 
 doffer makes 14 turns per minute. We are 
 using 11 rub-roll condensers. The roving reels 
 1 1/2 runs as it comes from the condenser. 
 There are 20 ends taken from each of the two 
 doffers. Iroquois (342). 
 
 The error in Iroquois' calculation is evident 
 from his explanation. He has neglected to 
 take into account the draft of the roving by 
 
42 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 the condenser. At our request Iroquois has 
 informed us that the spool drum at the fin- 
 isher is 29 inches in circumference, and makes 
 21 turns per minute, showing a surface speed 
 of 609 inches per minute. The surface speed 
 of the doffer, which is 11 3/4 inches in diam- 
 eter and makes 14 turns per minute, is 517 
 inches per minute, consequently the spool 
 drum winds 18 per cent more length of rov- 
 ing than the doffer is delivering. This in- 
 crease is due to the draft of the rub rolls. 
 Iroquois' error was due to his calculating from 
 the speed of the doffer and the weight of yarn 
 at the spool drum. 
 
 Taking the speed of the spool drum and 
 weight of the roving at the spool drum as 
 factors we calculate the production of the card 
 as follows: 
 
 609 (in. per min.) X 40 (ends) = 677 yds. 
 roving per min. 
 
 677 (yds.) ~ 150 (yds. per oz.) = 4 1/2 ozs. 
 roving per min. 
 
 4 1/2 (ozs.) X 60 (min. per hour) = 17 lbs. 
 roving per hour. 
 
 Operatives Needed for a Ten Set Mill 
 
 How many operatives would be required for 
 a mill manufacturing wool goods like the en- 
 closed samples, which are medium carded 
 woolen goods? I wish that you would make 
 out a list of the machinery for a ten set mill 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 43 
 
 equipped for this class of work, and give a 
 statement of the number of hands required. 
 I would like to have you give the number of 
 each kind of operatives. Gaylord (1891). 
 
 In dealing with the equipment of a ten-set 
 woolen mill, I will begin with the machinery 
 for handling the raw stock. If it is the inten- 
 tion of the party to scour his own wool, it 
 will be necessary to have a four-bowl wool 
 scouring machine, a 21-foot dryer, an ex- 
 tractor, and burr picker, with two men to 
 operate these machines. The next depart- 
 ment should be the dye house, equipped with 
 five dye tubs, 8 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, 
 with perforated false bottom, made of cypress 
 and fitted with at least a 3-inch pipe to allow 
 an ample supply of water. It will be neces- 
 sary to have three men to pole the stock in 
 the tubs and attend to the extracting, with 
 another man to run the dryer and double 
 sheet the stock, and an overseer of dyeing. 
 
 The picker house comes next. There should 
 be a fearnaught. This equipped with an auto- 
 matic feed should properly handle all the mix- 
 ing for a ten-set mill. It will also be neces- 
 sary to have an oil tank in which to make and 
 measure the emulsion for the stock, and a 
 duster for the mill waste, also a blower sys- 
 tem to convey the mixed stock to the different 
 bins in the card room. Three men should be 
 able to handle the mixing and dusting, under 
 
44 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 the supervision of the overseer of carding, or 
 his second hand, and attend to the stock. 
 
 In laying out the card room, large bins 
 should be built, with a large galvanized iron 
 pipe running overhead, with an opening and 
 switch in each bin, and connecting with the 
 picker house, so as to enable the picker man 
 to blow his stock to any one of the bins. The 
 cards should be four cylinder, 60 by 60 inches, 
 with Bramwell feed for first breaker and Ap- 
 perly connecting with finisher card, combina- 
 tion rubs and garnett breast, also one floor 
 grinder and two traverse grinders. For help 
 there will be an overseer, second hand, and a 
 third hand to reel and weigh the roping. Two 
 strippers, one man to attend to the Bramwell 
 feeds, two men to care for the Apperly feeds, 
 and two boys to attend the finishers. 
 
 The spinning room should have twelve 
 mules, 2-inch gauge, four hundred spindles 
 each, and using an 8-inch bobbin, and a full- 
 ing machine for fulling spindle bands. The 
 help would be an overseer, fixer, one man to 
 carry roping from the card room, a boy ta 
 sort waste, and twelve spinners. 
 
 In the spooling and dressing department, 
 four spooling frames should be sufficient to 
 handle the work, and two dressing frames 
 equipped with size box and dryer for sizing 
 yarn, one twisting machine and one skein 
 winding machine. The help required would 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 45 
 
 be an overseer, one man to help around the 
 room and take warps to the weave room, two 
 dresser tenders, one girl each on the twisting 
 .and skein winding machines, and four girls to 
 do the spooling. 
 
 In the weaving department it will be neces- 
 sary to have three drawing-in frames, forty- 
 five 8 2-inch looms for thirty harness work. 
 These should be four-box looms. The over- 
 seer should have a man to attend to the reeds 
 and harnesses and direct the drawing in. 
 There would also be required two filling car- 
 riers, one boy to sort waste and pick up bob- 
 bins, three drawing-in girls, and in some 
 places it will be found necessary to have boys 
 or young girls to hand in to the girls that are 
 drawing-in warps. One man to look over all 
 warps before starting the loom in order to 
 guard against wrong drawing-in or reeding. 
 Two loom fixers, each one to take care of a 
 section of nineteen looms. The remaining 
 seven looms to be taken care of by either a 
 spare hand, or the man who does the perch- 
 ing. The burling and sewing should be under 
 the supervision of the overseer of finishing. 
 The amount of help required depends alto- 
 gether upon the class of goods made, and the 
 class of weavers in the mill. 
 
 The finishing room should have five fulling 
 mills, two 8-string washers, one extractor, one 
 -cloth dryer, one sand roll machine, three 
 
4.6 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 shears, two steam brushing machines, one 
 press, one dewing - machine and one measur- 
 ing and winding machine. The help in the 
 department, besides the overseer, would in- 
 clude a second hand, two men for the fulling 
 and washing, two men on the dryer, three 
 men on the shears, one man on the press, and 
 one to run the steam brush, or help in the 
 shipping of goods. The engine and boilers 
 would come under the care of the master 
 mechanic, who would have an engineer, fire- 
 man and helper. 
 
 If the mill was located far from a city it 
 would be necessary to have a fair sized ma- 
 chine and carpenter shop, with a master me- 
 chanic, boss carpenter and two helpers. 
 
 If some of the stock is to be carbonized, it 
 will be necessary to add two cypress dip tanks 
 with cages for acid, another extractor, and a 
 neutralizing washer to the wool scouring de- 
 partment. The same dryer can be used for 
 carbonizing as well as for wool drying, and 
 one more man would have to be added to this 
 department. Manx. 
 
 Setting Mixing* Picker 
 
 We are running a mixing picker with con- 
 cave feed rolls which seem to raise havoc with 
 the staple. Will you give me some pointers 
 on how the machine ought to be set so I can 
 compare them with our machine. 
 
 Daniels (1131). 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 47 
 
 1. The picker should be set on a solid 
 foundation so that there will be no vibration. 
 
 2. The spiked feed roll and concave dish 
 should be set as close as possible to the cyl- 
 inder teeth and not strike. This will keep the 
 feed roll from winding stock. 
 
 3. The feed roll should be set down in con- 
 cave within half an inch of striking. If set 
 way off the stock will dwell in concave and 
 cause it to cut the staple. Save the staple. 
 
 4. The feed rolls and apron should run as 
 fast as the cylinder will take it. This saves 
 the staple, because there will be no chance for 
 the stock to dwell in the concave. 
 
 5. The grates and outlet kept clean and 
 not allowed to get filled up with dirt under 
 the picker. This will give a better draft and 
 the picker will do better work. The stock will 
 be cleaner. 
 
 6. Plenty of ventilation back of the gauze 
 room, and the belts all good and tight. 
 
 With a picker equipped with spur teeth feed 
 rolls the feed rolls must be set as close to the 
 cylinder as on concave feed; everything else 
 the same. D. R. S. 
 
 The Belgium System of Woolen Carding 
 
 What is the Belgium system of woolen card- 
 ing? How does it differ from the system gen- 
 erally employed in American mills? 
 
 Geister (1932). 
 
48 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Regarding the Belgium system of carding, 
 I wish to say, it is a known fact that a great 
 deal of fine short noils and waste from Eng- 
 land find their way over to Belgium to be con- 
 verted into fine spun, beautiful yarn running 
 from 7 to 9 runs, and reshipped to England. 
 Europe is noted for making fine shoddy and 
 yarns. They have the system down to such a 
 nicety that a high class of goods is a result. 
 The Belgium system has not grown in the 
 United States simply because it requires 
 skilled help to run the machinery. There are 
 only a few mills in this country that u^e the 
 system. 
 
 Like our own woolen cards, the Belgium 
 system has three operations, namely, first and 
 second breaker and finisher. On account of 
 the fine, short stock used, the cards are cov- 
 ered with hoods to Heep in the fly. Unlike our 
 own first breaker in the woolen system with 
 its doffer and side creel to a bobbin, the first 
 machine in Belgium makes laps or rolls that 
 are fed to the second machine, the object be- 
 ing to give a more perfect blending of the 
 stock, especially in mixtures. The second ma- 
 chine resembles our second breaker, but when 
 the stock reaches the doffer it is combed off 
 and runs on a railroad back of the third ma- 
 chine or finisher. There is a traverse motion 
 going back and forth the width of the apron. 
 
 The stock comes out of the front of the 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 49 
 
 finisher in a thin web, and is subdivided into 
 threads — passing- through the rub aprons — 
 and then to the spools. Narrow leather belts 
 divide the sliver and there are four spools fill- 
 ing at a time from the front end of the ma- 
 chine instead of only two as is the case of the 
 ordinary finisher or condenser. The belts 
 dividing the ends are very narrow, about 1/4 
 inch wide, with 240 ends coming from a 
 60-inch card on to four spools. The Belgium 
 system is noted for its using very short and 
 very fine stock. It is not adapted for coarse 
 stock. The construction of the finisher is com- 
 plicated. The greatest care has to be taken 
 in setting the motion, and if the man in 
 charge does not understand the machine there 
 is endless trouble for him. The workers and 
 strippers on all the machines are covered. 
 
 Schwartz wald. 
 
 Fine Ends on the Apperly Feed 
 
 I am having trouble with the side ends com- 
 ing fine on the finisher of a card that is 
 equipped with an Apperly feed. Can you sug- 
 gest any remedy? Bunker (731). 
 
 There are many things that cause the out- 
 side strands to be fine at times. I would ad- 
 vise Bunker to take out the doffers and give 
 them a good light grinding. Then I should 
 give them a good brushing with a hand card 
 covered with wool. Grind all day if neces- 
 
50 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 sary, or until they are perfectly true. Per- 
 haps the waste ring is a trifle higher than the 
 others. In that case I should move the out- 
 side or waste ring out 1/16 or 1/8 of an inch 
 so the ring next to it on the other doffer would 
 deliver heavier roving. The spare ring may 
 steal from the ring next to it. When I had 
 trouble with the outside end being fine I used 
 to take out the packing of the spare or waste 
 ring and move it out 1/16 or 1/8 and that 
 would bring up the outside strands to their 
 proper size. I should incline the overhead 
 drawing on the side that was fine. 
 
 Sam Driver. 
 
 Setting of Workers and Strippers 
 
 We are running our cards on stock to be 
 made into felt goods. This stock contains 
 wool, cotton and shoddy in varying amounts, 
 according to the quality of goods desired. 
 There has been some discussion among carders 
 as to the setting of the workers and strippers 
 on the main cylinder. One carder maintains 
 that to get good results from practically two 
 cards, the setting of all workers should be the 
 same. I maintain that the last two should be 
 set closer than the first and second workers. 
 We are using all fillett clothing, No. 3 3 wire 
 on workers and main cylinder. Can you ad- 
 vise me which one has the better argument in 
 regard to setting the cylinders for best re- 
 sults? At present we are running workers set 
 about 3 2 gauge. Exeter (1935). 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 5 1 
 
 The 3 2 gauge is all right and the workers 
 should all be set the same. One thing can be 
 done that will greatly benefit this class of 
 work, and that is to have the worker pulleys 
 all of different sizes. Start from the feed end 
 of the card and have each pulley one-quarter 
 of an inch larger than the one before it. This 
 will make a more even mix and smoother rov- 
 ing, the stock will spin better and make 
 better yarn. It is also a good plan for second 
 breaker card. The idea of setting a part of 
 the workers off on a finisher card on this class 
 of work can have but one result. The first 
 that are set off will deliver the long stock and 
 retain the short, consequently the long stock 
 will go forward first and be put into the rov- 
 ing in the center of the strand; this will put 
 the short stock on the outside, which is just 
 the reverse of what it should be. 
 
 Lytton. 
 
 The first worker should be set with a 20 
 gauge open; the next worker set with the 
 same gauge, but left a little looser; the next 
 tight, and then graduating more closely until 
 the last worker is set as close as possible with- 
 out striking the cylinder. Set the strippers 
 the same as the workers to cylinder, and set 
 the workers as close as possible to the strip- 
 pers. Set the doffer close to the cylinder. 
 
52 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 The finisher or last card should be graduated 
 only a little closer. Commence the first 
 worker with a 27 gauge loose; the next one 
 set a little close; and so on until the last one 
 next to the fancy is set the closest. 
 
 Sam Driver. 
 
 Emery Cloth on Traverse Grinders 
 
 Can you tell me whether traverse grinders 
 are ever covered with emery cloth? I have 
 heard that they are but I have not seen one. 
 
 Bowie (1137). 
 
 Traverse grinders can be covered with 
 emery cloth and are in general use in cotton 
 card rooms. To fasten the ends of emery 
 cloth or filleting, two small slits are sawed on 
 each side of the emery wheel. Then the ends 
 of the cloth are put through these slits and 
 fastened on the inside of the wheel by small 
 clamps. Put on a very light coat of glue and 
 wind in the same as with any other filleting. 
 
 D. V. 
 
 Grinding", Settings and Care of Wool Cards 
 
 How often should a card be ground in order 
 to keep it in the best possible condition on 50 
 per cent, good clean fine Territory wool, 50 
 per rent, fine shoddy? 
 
 What are the causes of rough, twitty or 
 bunchy work from cards and how avoided? 
 
 How does a perfectly ground point on a 
 wool card look? 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 53 
 
 What is the best size of wire and clothing to 
 use on a set of woolen cards on all fine stock 
 (strictly fine), in order to make good, smooth, 
 even work free from specks or mixtures of all 
 kinds? 
 
 How close can carding surfaces on a wool 
 card be kept and not touch, and what thick- 
 ness of gauge is best to use to do the setting? 
 
 What is the best for carding out specks, a 
 rough point or an absolutely polished, smooth 
 point, no matter what the shape of that point 
 may be? Carder (19 81). 
 
 Cards should be ground as often as they get 
 dull. It is a good plan for the carder to look 
 over his cards every day or two, to see if 
 there are any dull places on either workers or 
 cylinders. If there are, they should be ground 
 as soon as possible. It is a good plan to use 
 what is called a false worker, which is an iroix 
 shaft, to take the place of any worker that 
 may be removed. The cylinder should also be 
 watched for blisters. A card will never do 
 good work when dull. It may have to be 
 ground in three or four days, or it may run as 
 many months. 
 
 Twits are made in a number of ways. A 
 single wire may be pulled up in a ring so as 
 to stand a little higher than the others. This 
 will often cause a twit every time it comes to 
 the wipe roll. 
 
 Rings should be watched carefully for high 
 wires, which should be put in place with a 
 tube. Noils will sometimes make twits. There 
 
54 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 are usually short splinters in noils. One of 
 these may get stuck between the wires of a 
 ring, and make a twit every time it comes to 
 the wipe roll. Twits are often made on the 
 mule and the carder is frequently blamed for 
 them. Many mules are run without a feed 
 rope, the spinner turning the quadrant by 
 hand. 
 
 If the spinner happens to be at the end of 
 the machine piecing up, and thinks the mule 
 will go in without breaking down, he fre- 
 quently stays there instead of attending to the 
 quadrant. In this way twits may be made the 
 whole length of the mule. A single stretch in 
 the mule may in this way make more twits 
 than a carder will make in half a day. Dull 
 wire will make rough work at any time, and 
 bunchy work is usually made by the stock 
 going in uneven on the feed end of the card. 
 The top feed roll should always be covered 
 with shorter wire than the bottom. The 
 lickerin should be covered with short wire. In 
 this way a great deal of bunchy work can be 
 prevented. It is a good plan to have the 
 worker pulleys of different sizes. This will 
 prevent many bunches. 
 
 The appearance of a ground point on a wool 
 card depends on what it is ground with. If it 
 is ground with fine emery or an old worn out 
 grinder, it will look like a chisel. If the 
 emery is of good quality and No. 8 in size, it 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 55 
 
 will grind the wire more to a needle point, 
 which is much to be preferred. 
 
 I prefer No. 3 2 for first breaker; No. 3 3 for 
 second breaker; No. 34 for finisher; with a 
 straight wire open set for the fancy. 1 never 
 use filleting - on a cylinder. I much prefer 
 sheets. Filleting will fill up much more 
 quickly than sheets, and the stock is harder 
 to raise from it. Filleting will not make such 
 even roving, for when the card is filled up the 
 top doffer will take more than its share of 
 stock. 
 
 If the rolls are true, carding surface on a 
 wool card can be set to a 32 gauge and not 
 touch when at work. A fine, sharp point is 
 best for all work on a card. Lytton. 
 
 Winding" Under on Woolen Mules 
 
 We are having considerable trouble with the 
 yarn winding under the bobbins on our mules. 
 This causes the yarn to break when it is 
 spooled or woven from the shuttle. We think 
 it is caused by the spinner's allowing the fall- 
 ers to get too high. Are we right? If not, 
 what is the remedy? Tippecanoe (377). 
 
 This trouble of winding under on woolen 
 mules is very annoying and, unfortunately, 
 very frequent in woolen mills. Attention to 
 the care and management of the machine will 
 generally remedy the trouble, but it is one in 
 which constant attention is essential, other- 
 wise the difficulty will recur. A prominent 
 
56 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 builder of spinning machinery, to whom this 
 question was submitted, writes the following: 
 ' There are several things that can cause 
 this trouble. In the first place the faller chain 
 may be too high; secondly, the mule may be 
 backing off too much, leaving the ends too 
 slack; thirdly, there may be a flat place on the 
 roll that runs on the rail; fourthly, the track 
 may not be level, or there may be a low spot 
 in the track as a result of the floor having 
 sprung; again the trouble may arise from the 
 shoe being too straight. The remedies for the 
 above faults will readily suggest themselves." 
 
 Testing* Grease Wool to Determine 
 Shrinkage 
 
 Please give me information regarding the 
 method of testing grease wool to determine its 
 shrinkage as practiced in French conditioning 
 houses. Sanborn (2018). 
 
 This inquiry was referred to our French 
 correspondent who replies as follows: 
 
 Grease wool is rarely conditioned. A sample 
 of about two pounds is drawn from the lot. 
 This is obtained by drawing small portions 
 from a number of bales. These samples are 
 taken from the fleeces on the outside of some 
 of the bales and on the inside of others. 
 Naturally it is necessary to draw the samples 
 from different parts of the fleece. In testing 
 large lots it is necessary to take the average 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING S7 
 
 of two or even three samples. The test sample 
 thus obtained is weighed in grains. It is then 
 scoured by the following process: 
 
 1. Washing in a solution of Marseilles soap 
 at 120° F. 
 
 2. Rinsing in water at 80° F. The wool 
 should be a clear white after this rinsing. 
 The duration of the operations varies greatly, 
 depending upon the condition of the wool. 
 
 3. Washing in a 1 to 2 per cent, solution of 
 hydrochloric acid at a temperature of 120° F. 
 
 4. Rinsing in a 5 to 6 per cent, solution of 
 carbonate of lime at a temperature of 120° F. 
 
 5. Rinsing in a solution of acetic acid at 
 80° F. After squeezing the water out by 
 hand the sample is placed in an ordinary 
 Persoz conditioning oven. The temperature is 
 raised to 212° to 240° F. At the end of 
 three-quarters of an hour the weight of the 
 sample is found to be constant, which indi- 
 cates that all of the moisture has been driven 
 off by the heat. The weight of the sample in 
 this condition is then increased by the conven- 
 tional allowance for moisture, which in the 
 case of wool is 19 per cent. The director of 
 the public conditioning house at Amiens is not 
 able to state the exact time required for con- 
 ditioning raw wool, as the time varies with 
 the condition of the wool. Gaul. 
 
58 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Qualitative Tests for Fibers 
 
 Can you give me a few qualitative tests for 
 textile fibers? Walton (974). 
 
 The following is a list of tests that was pub- 
 lished in the Textile World Record some time 
 ago: 
 
 1. Microscopic Appearance. 
 
 2. Cotton burns without smell, while wool 
 and silk shrivel up and give off the odor of 
 burning animal matter. 
 
 3. A boiling solution of caustic alkali dis- 
 solves silk and wool, but has little action on 
 cotton. 
 
 4. Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves 
 cotton and silk in the cold, while wool is little 
 affected. 
 
 5. Schweitzer's reagent (ammoniacal solu- 
 tion of oxide of copper) dissolves cotton and 
 silk, but not wool. Cellulose is reprecipitated 
 by gum, sugar, or acids, but the silk substance 
 by acids alone. 
 
 6. A solution of basic chloride of zinc dis- 
 solves silk, but not cotton or wool. 
 
 7. A solution of cotton in concentrated sul- 
 phuric acid gives a purple coloration with an 
 alcoholic solution of alpha-naphthol. This 
 reaction really indicates the presence of sugar, 
 and is therefore not given by silk or wool. 
 
 8. Millions reagent (mercurous-mercuric 
 nitrate) gives a red color with silk or wool, but 
 not with cotton. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 59 
 
 9. Wool (also hair and fur) is blackened by 
 heating with a dilute solution of plumbite of 
 soda, which is prepared by dissolving litharge 
 in caustic soda. Silk and cotton, as they do 
 not contain sulphur, are unaffected in color. 
 
 10. Nitric acid colors wool and silk yellow, 
 but does not affect cotton. 
 
 11. An acid solution of indigo extract dyes 
 wool and silk, but not cotton. 
 
 Nub Effects and How to Produce Them 
 
 We would like to have some information re- 
 garding the manufacture of nubs and how 
 they are put into the yarn without carding 
 out. Saxon (1245). 
 
 Bocker or nub yarns produce very attractive 
 effects when properly made and used in cassi- 
 meres and dress goods. The nubs can easily 
 be made if the process is understood. Short, 
 fine wool of a good felting quality is the best 
 to use for this purpose and by following the 
 instructions here given, good results should 
 follow. Take an old breaker card, set the 
 workers and strippers off from the cylinder 
 according to the size of the nub wanted, and 
 remove the doffer comb. Any first breaker 
 will answer, but one that is out of commission 
 can be made to serve, thus avoiding the ne- 
 cessity of breaking into the regular work of 
 other cards. Run in a sufficient amount of 
 the stock to fill the card. Stop the feed and 
 
60 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 allow the card to run, and the nubs will drop 
 out in good condition. Fill the card again as 
 required to produce the quantity wanted. 
 
 Felting the nubs will make them more firm 
 and avoid the liability of being reduced in 
 size in the after carding process. This is done 
 in various ways, such as boiling, soaping and 
 pounding, but there is danger of overdoing or 
 a lack of uniformity where these methods are 
 followed. The best results the writer ever 
 had came from the use of a machine similar 
 to a cylinder flock cutter with revolving forks 
 or rods in the place of the cutter, the cylinder 
 turning in one direction and the forks in the 
 other, similar to the action of a revolving 
 duster. I found this machine in use when I 
 went to the mill, but do not know whether it 
 was made specially for the purpose or was a 
 remodeled flock cutter. The nubs were 
 soaped slightly and put into the cylinder, ana 
 the felting was produced without the nubs- 
 being felted together, as often happens where 
 other methods are employed. The forks kept 
 the nubs well separated, and the felting was 
 sufficiently slow to avoid overdoing the proc- 
 ess. In coloring the nubs, care should be 
 taken not to boil too hard or allow them to 
 come in close contact with the steam, as this 
 will tend to felt them too much or unevenly. 
 
 The amount of nubs required can be mixed 
 with the lot at the picker, and the workers set 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 6l 
 
 •off a little in carding to avoid reducing the 
 nubs in size. This method is often employed, 
 but there are sometimes objections to it, es- 
 pecially where fine yarns are made. By set- 
 ting off the workers the quality of the carding 
 is somewhat impaired. If they are not set off 
 the nubs are reduced in size, and the fibers 
 carded from them go into the body of the 
 yarn, tending to change the mixture or shade. 
 We have seen rowy goods caused by the fibers 
 of the nubs being carded out, producing irreg- 
 ular effects, due to the variation in the felted 
 condition of the nubs, those that were felted 
 the least being more easily carded out. This 
 trouble can be guarded against by introducing 
 the nubs in the card instead of the picker 
 room. This can be done by a special feeding 
 arrangement attached to the card, preferably 
 the second breaker. The quality of the card- 
 ing is not sacrificed, as the necessity of setting 
 off the workers is avoided. The device con- 
 sists of a V-shaped feed box about 16 inches 
 deep and the same width at the top, with the 
 length corresponding with the width of the 
 card. There is a feed roll similar to the or- 
 dinary feed roll of the card, fitted to enter for 
 about one-half of its diameter into an aper- 
 ture at the bottom of the box. Against this 
 feed roll, outside the box, is arranged a brush 
 made with straight wire fancy clothing, the 
 diameter to be about five inches. Inside the 
 
62 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 box there is a shaft with iron pins passing 
 through it at different angles, extending about 
 four inches from the shaft in each direction. E 
 Suitable bearings for all these can be at- 
 tached to each end of the box. The device 
 can be supported by a frame work resting on 
 the floor, and placed so as to deliver the nubs 
 directly back of the front worker of the 
 second breaker. The feed roll may be driven 
 from the shaft of the doffer on the end oppo- 
 site the delivery of the card. The brush may 
 be driven from the fancy shaft on the delivery 
 side and the inside shaft with the pins can be 
 driven with either belt or gear, from the 
 brush shaft. 
 
 ■ The feed roll is speeded to suit the required 
 amount of nubs, and the brush is set high 
 enough to free the nubs from the feed roll 
 and deliver them to the card. The inside ar- 
 rangement is to stir the nubs in the box and 
 keep them constantly in contact with the feed 
 roll. An adjustable strip of metal should be 
 set along the edge of the feed aperture on the 
 delivery side, which should be toward the 
 card. The feed roll and inside shaft should 
 turn in the same direction, and the brush in 
 the opposite direction. The framework Is 
 fastened securely to the floor and the top 
 braced from above or from the card frame. It 
 will readily be seen that this arrangement 
 makes it possible to keep the workers of the 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 6j£ 
 
 first and second breakers set to suit the best 
 results in carding and serves to retain the full 
 size of the nubs. The finisher card will comb 
 out the fibers of the nub sufficiently to make 
 them spin well into the thread. 
 
 A very small nub giving - an attractive, 
 though subdued, effect can be made as fol- 
 lows: Where the creel instead of self feed is 
 used for the second breaker, fill the workers 
 with tallow as far in from the end as corre- 
 sponds with the space taken by three or four 
 drawings at the feed, and use drawings in that 
 space of a color of the nub desired. Where 
 the tallow has been used the carding effect 
 will be destroyed, and the stock will roll into 
 small nubs which will be delivered to the 
 finisher in the drawing. The effect may be 
 regulated by the number of drawings used and 
 the width of the tallow insertion. The stock 
 used should be similar to that used for other 
 nub effects, and the drawings made separate 
 from the regular carding and kept ready for 
 use as required. On account of the small size 
 of the nubs, strongly contrasting colors are 
 desirable. 
 
 These nubs produce very good effects in 
 dress goods and other fabrics not requiring 
 much gigging. Elmo. 
 
64 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Random Roping 
 
 Will you publish in the Questions and An- 
 swers Department how Random roping can 
 be made? 
 
 Random roping can be made with a creel 
 on the finisher in conjunction with vibrating 
 doffers. Everything must be adjusted just 
 right, both doffers must be positive in their 
 action and care must be taken to have the 
 rings occupy their required space and position; 
 then the rings will take up the required quan- 
 tity of stock from each stripe. Every other 
 ■drawing-in creel and guide is of a different 
 color, say, red alternating with green, etc. 
 The roping will have at certain intervals a 
 clouded appearance and then grow less cloudy, 
 approaching almost a clear color, and then 
 gradually reverse until the opposite color pre- 
 dominates. D. R. S. 
 
 How to Mix Wool and Shoddy 
 
 We are getting very uneven results from 
 wool and shoddy mixes and I would like to get 
 an explanation of how it is best to handle 
 them up to spinning. Devol (2129). 
 
 In the mixing of wool and shoddy, there 
 is nearly always trouble arising from the 
 tendency of the latter to lag behind in the 
 picking and carding processes, causing an 
 irregularity in the yarn, and not infrequently 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 65 
 
 serious imperfections in the cloth, such as 
 .streaky, rowey and cockled effects. In mix- 
 ture effects and where the warp and filling- 
 are of contrasting- colors, the results are often 
 very unsatisfactory. 
 
 However carefully the stock may be laid 
 down and blended in the picker room, when 
 it comes from the machine the current of air 
 accompanying it tends to carry the wool, 
 which is the lighter stock, to the farther parts 
 of the blow-room, while the shoddy, being 
 heavier from the grease and dirt it contains, 
 falls nearer the mouth of the picker, causing 
 a partial separation of the two kinds of stock 
 and an irregularity in the mixture, which is 
 to some extent repeated every time the stock 
 goes through the machine. As a result some 
 portions of the lot are likely to go to the 
 cards with a greater percentage of shoddy 
 than others. 
 
 When the stock comes to the cards, the 
 spike-apron of the self-feed takes the long 
 stock more readily than the short, so that 
 there is a tendency for the shoddy to drop 
 back, whereby the percentage of this stock is 
 increased as the amount of stock in the feed 
 gets low. To remedy the difficulty in the 
 picker room, various plans have been adopted, 
 none of which wholly overcome the trouble. 
 One plan is to hang a wooden apron in front 
 of the picker at an angle to turn the stock to 
 
66 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 the floor, not allowing- the wool to fly to the 
 outer parts of the room. Another good idea 
 is to have the blow-room as small as possible, 
 to do the work conveniently, thus giving less 
 room for the wool to get away from the 
 shoddy. After striking the walls of the room 
 it is forced to fall back where the shorter 
 stock is deposited, thus avoiding a separation. 
 In carding it is a good plan to keep the self- 
 feeds well filled, whereby more uniform re- 
 sults are obtained than if the stock is allowed 
 to run low in them. The writer was once 
 called to a position where they were having 
 serious trouble from rowey goods caused by 
 the tendency to separation above referred to. 
 We adopted a plan that entirely overcame the 
 difficulty. We first made a mixture of 20 per 
 cent, of wool and 80 per cent, of shoddy and 
 ran it through a breaker card. The thorough 
 mixing of this amount of wool with the 
 shoddy put it into a condition that insured a 
 more uniform mixture in the picker room and 
 did away entirely with the tendency to sep- 
 arate in the self feed. The fibers of shoddy 
 were so thoroughly combined with these of 
 the wool that they were carried along with 
 greater uniformity, both in the picking and 
 the carding. One may get the same result by 
 vising fleeced shoddy, which is a stock simi- 
 larly prepared by the shoddy manufacturer. 
 The shoddy maker sometimes makes this com- 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 6/ 
 
 bination with stock that is too short to dis- 
 pose of to advantage. The woolen manufac- 
 turer is often led to believe that fleeced shoddy 
 is intended to deceive him, but it is really to 
 his advantage if procured at a reasonable 
 figure. 
 
 Where one has not the machinery to pre- 
 pare the stock as suggested, he may get good 
 results by selecting his shoddy, and then ar- 
 ranging with the party to combine with it the 
 desirable percentage of wool. This the shoddy 
 manufacturer can easily do, and one can know 
 he is getting just what he pays for. If one 
 were using a shoddy costing 16 cents per 
 pound, he might hesitate about paying 24 
 cents, because it seemed excessive; but that is 
 about what the combination would cost if 
 made with 20 per cent, of wool at 5 5 cents per 
 pound. It would be just as cheap, since the 
 wool is simply added first instead of later in 
 the picker room, and the advantage of this 
 plan is without question. We adopted this 
 plan on a line of goods in which we used all 
 of our short waste and shoddy, and it gave ex- 
 cellent results, where we had been up against 
 all kinds of trouble generally accompanying 
 such low grade mixtures. If cotton is used in 
 connection with wool and shoddy, it is a good 
 plan to combine the cotton with the shoddy; 
 as the heavy shoddy and the light cotton pro- 
 duce a mixture that will keep its place with 
 
68 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 the wool in the picker room, and likewise be 
 beneficial in the carding and spining. Any 
 percentage of long stock may be used with the 
 shoddy, even 5 or 10 per cent, being an ad- 
 vantage, but 20 per cent, or more will give the 
 best results. 
 
 It will be readily seen that the mixture 
 gives a loftiness to the stock that will cause it 
 to go along with the wool more uniformly in 
 picking. When it comes to the feeding to the 
 cards, the spike-apron takes hold of the wool 
 fibers, and the shoddy is so thoroughly com- 
 bined with them that they cannot get away, 
 as in the case when the shoddy is only com- 
 bined with the wool in the picking. By a little 
 careful calculation, the final mixture may con- 
 tain the desired percentage of short stock, and 
 the results obtained are well worth the 
 trouble. A second hand breaker card can be 
 procured for a song, and if placed near the 
 other carding or picking machinery, the cost 
 of running it is small. If it is desired to get 
 similar results at less cost, a good selection of 
 long stock, such as garnetted worsted, or the 
 like, may be used with the shoddy; but care 
 must be taken to have a good live stock, not 
 too coarse. Coarse or wiry fibers will cause 
 twitty yarn by slipping in the spinning. 
 
 Elmo. 
 
CARDING AND "SPINNING 6Q 
 
 Yarn Numbering 
 
 Please state the relation between the wor- 
 sted and cut systems of yarn numbering. 
 What would 2-20 cut yarn be equivalent to by 
 the worsted system? Broome (358). 
 
 The Simplex Yarn Tables (published by 
 Textile World Record, price 50 cents) give an 
 explanation of the basis of each system and 
 also enables one to find the equivalent of any 
 system in the units of the others. No. 1 wor- 
 sted = 2-3 cotton; 1.8 6 linen lea or woolen 
 cut; .35 run. No. 1 linen lea or woolen cut = 
 .535 worsted; .357 cotton; .1875 run. From 
 this it is clear that No. 2-20 cut is equal to 
 single 10 cut or No. 5.3 5 worsted. 
 
 As all our systems of yarn numbering are 
 based upon the fixed weight of one pound, 
 their proportions are expressed by the length 
 of the skeins used for them. Thus: Linen or 
 woolen cut, 3 00 yards; worsted, 5 60 yards; 
 cotton, 840 yards; woolen run, 1,600 yards. 
 
 Changing Ring Doffers on Woolen Cards 
 
 We have four sets of 4 8-inch woolen cards 
 with two doffers. We are taking off 36 ends 
 of roving, 18 ends on each spool and two waste 
 ends. We want to take off 54 ends and use 3 
 spools. The size of the roving is about 5/8 
 run, made from horse blanket stock. What 
 changes will be necessary to get the best re- 
 sults? Hampshire (967). 
 
70 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 In order to put 54 ends on a 48-inch card, 
 or 3 spools of 18 ends each, it would be nec- 
 essary to put 27 rings and 1 waste ring on 
 each doffer. There should be 27 top rings, 
 13/16 inches wide, besides 1 wide ring to carry- 
 waste end. The bottom doffer should have 27 
 rings, 14/16 inches wide, and 1 wide waste 
 ring. On the short side of the Apperly feed a 
 
 1 1/8-inch waste ring should be used; on the 
 long side a 1 5/16-inch waste ring, as on this 
 side the stock is more likely to bunch in. The 
 lickerin has a better chance to comb out the 
 stock on the short side of the feed. On the 
 short side the feed rolls hold the fibers while 
 the latter are being combed out by the licker- 
 in; on the long side the feed rolls let go 
 earlier. For these reasons it is better to use 
 a 1 1/8-inch waste ring on the short side of 
 the feed and a 1 5/16-inch ring on the long 
 side. Most carders use 1 1/2 or 2-inch side 
 rings. We have used all sizes from 1 1/4 to 
 2-inch, but the best results are obtained from 
 the 2-inch outside rings. When more than 48 
 ends are taken from the doffers a narrower 
 outside ring is used. A good rule to follow is 
 
 27 rings, 3 3/16 inch equal 21 15/16 inches. 
 27 rings, 14/16 inch equal 23 10/16 inches. 
 2 rings, 1 2/16 and 1 5/16 inch equal 
 
 2 7/16 inches. 
 Total, 48 inches. 
 
 One and one-half and 1 9/16-inch outside 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 7 I 
 
 rings can be used. This will make both out- 
 side rings near the same size and they will 
 work fully as well. 
 
 The best way to run the ends is to take 9 
 outside ends from each side of top doffer to 
 top drum, making 18 in all. The center 9 ends 
 pass to the center of the middle drum; the 18 
 ends on center of bottom doffer, to bottom 
 drum; the other 9 ends on outside of bottom 
 doffer, to center drum of spool stand. This 
 may look like a Chinese puzzle, but if the 
 stock is good it works very well; if the stock 
 is poor, the three-spool stand is a nuisance. 
 A three-spool stand should never be used on 
 heavy work. As "Hampshire's" work is 5/8 
 run on the card, 4 8 rings are all that should 
 be used. For that size the rings should not be 
 less than 7/8 and 1 inch wide. By using nar- 
 rower rings the stock is packed tight on the 
 ring to get the weight and it is hard for the 
 wipe roll to take it from the doffer. This 
 often causes twits and bad places in the rov- 
 ing, makes the work go bad on the card and 
 all through the mill. 
 
 It would be a good plan to change the mule 
 to take 24-end spools and use 24 ends on each 
 doffer with outside rings. If this is not advis- 
 able it might be well to put the card in good 
 shape and increase the speed of the doffer. A 
 card on 5/8-run work should take off from 
 400 to 600 pounds of stock a day. Another 
 
/■ 
 
 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 way of increasing production is to increase the 
 size of the doffers. An increase of 3 inches in 
 the diameter of the doffer would increase the 
 production 50 per cent. If doffers 9 inches in 
 diameter running- 20 revolutions a minute and 
 taking off 300 pounds of stock a day are ex- 
 changed for doffers 12 inches in diameter and 
 running 20 revolutions a minute, the produc- 
 tion would be increased to 450 pounds per 
 day, a gain of 50 per cent. The larger the 
 doffer the better the work as the cylinder has 
 more surface to lay the stock on. Rogers. 
 
 Changing the number of ends from 3 6 to 
 5 4 will necessitate the use of narrower rings 
 and probably have the effect of crowding the 
 cards in getting the heavy roving required for 
 5/8-run yarn. On horse blanket stock and 
 similar material, the top doffer will often col- 
 lect more stock than the bottom doffer, mak- 
 ing it necessary to run the former faster. To 
 get 54 ends the rings can be arranged as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 2 waste rings, 1 1/4 inch. 
 27 top rings, 13/16 inch. 
 27 bottom rings, 14/16 inch. 
 
 When using 1 1/2-inch waste rings it is ad- 
 visable instead of having a cotton or woolen 
 web on the Apperly to use a leather band 
 with wire set in for that purpose the width of 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 73 
 
 the webbing. The card will have to carry 
 more stock in supplying the narrow rings. 
 The ring doffers must be kept in good condi- 
 tion and points kept clear, by having dickeys 
 put on the rings or by having wire wipe rolls 
 set to the rings just so they will clear the 
 points. It is preferable to have these rolls 
 covered with a medium wire about 3/16 inch 
 long with a knee so that it will not stand up 
 straight. It is advisable to have the wire set 
 in leather. 
 
 In running the dickeys the surface speed 
 should be high enough to keep the points 
 clear without having to set hard on the rings. 
 If fancy wire is used on a 2-inch dickey with 
 a 12-inch doffer running 20 turns, it will be 
 necessary to run the dickey about 45 turns. 
 
 Ironside. 
 
 On the top doffer the use of 13/16-inch 
 rings would be advisable, making a total 
 length 21 15/16 inches. On the bottom doffer 
 use 14/16-inch rings, making the total length 
 23 10/16 inches. This would leave about 11/4 
 inches for each waste end and 45 9/16 inches 
 for the 54 regular ends, or 27 ends to each 
 doffer. A 3 -spool stand will be required to 
 bring the roving on 3 spools of 18 ends each; 
 the center spool receiving 9 ends from each 
 doffer; this would necessitate an increase of 
 stock on the breakers. 
 
;74 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 In placing - rings on the doffer the wide ring 
 must be put on the top doffer on the wide side 
 of the feed. Newport. 
 
 Variation Allowed in Spinning Wool Yarn 
 
 In working low shoddy work, a stock con- 
 taining a large percentage of clean and dirty 
 card waste, the dirty card waste, however, 
 being thoroughly cleaned and dusted before 
 used, what variation would it be considered 
 fair to allow the carder on his yarns, taking, 
 for instance, 165 grains or 1 15/16 runs and 
 105 grains or 1 1/16 runs? We would also 
 like to have the same question answered in 
 regard to yarns ranging from 90 to 105 grains, 
 and made of clean, low grade stocks which 
 contain either a small percentage of cotton or 
 wool as a basis. 
 
 In order that you may be able to judge bet- 
 ter and give a more accurate answer we give 
 you the following information regarding our 
 -equipment: Our picker house is equipped with 
 :a Sargent duster and a Fearnaught picker, the 
 mixes being run through the picker three 
 times in order to insure proper mixing. The 
 card room contains six sets of cards, practi- 
 cally new clothing on all, with Bramwell feeds 
 and Apperly feeds between the first and second 
 breakers, the second breaker and finisher 
 hitched together, and Barker rubs on finisher. 
 
 Carder (1989). 
 
 For the 16 5 grains, ten grains variation 
 wrould be the extreme. For the 105 grains, 
 eight grains ought to cover the variation. For 
 the clean stock, 9 to 105 grains, four or five 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 75 
 
 grains ought to be enough variation. In mak- 
 ing this statement I only estimate the varia- 
 tion at the card; the mule is not considered. 
 
 Lytton. 
 
 Production and Consumption of Wool 
 
 If you know of any statistics showing the 
 number of spindles in the world's wool indus- 
 try and the production and consumption of 
 wool will you kindly print them? 
 
 Record (2247). 
 
 An interesting estimate of the world's pro- 
 duction and consumption of wool appeared in 
 a recent issue of Dalgety's Review. The wool 
 spindles in all countries were given as follows: 
 
 England spindles 6,684,52b 
 
 Germany 5,084,069 
 
 France 3,078,013 
 
 Austria 850,000 
 
 United States 4,021,098 
 
 Belgium 656,677 
 
 Russia 800,000 
 
 Italy 250,000 
 
 Spain 150,000 
 
 Japan 400,000 
 
 Increase in former coun- 
 tries and number of 
 spindles in other coun- 
 tries 1,025,625 
 
 Total 23,000,008 
 
 merit on the wool consuming capacity of these 
 
 The Review then makes the following com- 
 spindles and the actual supply: 
 
yb KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 In estimating 1,0 25,625 spindles, we take 
 into consideration an increase in spindles 
 throughout the entire world since 1907. Tak- 
 ing these 23,000,000 spindles in the whole 
 world, and assuming that each spindle pro- 
 duces about 1.32 lbs. per week — 23,000,000 X 
 1.32 lbs. = 30,360,000 lbs., and for 52 weeks — 
 30,360,000 lbs. X 52 = 1,578,720,000 lbs. 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that in 
 these 1,578,720,000 lbs. of yarns produced 
 there are a large number of carded yarns in 
 which cotton, silk, noils and waste enter in a 
 certain proportion. Supposing that 489,600,- 
 000 lbs. of these yarns are produced with 
 wastes and other kinds of material. This 
 means that there is an annual production of 
 1,089,120,000 lbs. of combed yarns. 
 
 Taking then the production of greasy wool: 
 
 Pounds. 
 The Argentine produces about. . 584,000,000 
 
 Australia 1,102,000,000 
 
 Africa 160,000,000 
 
 Asia 216,000,000 
 
 Europe 811,000,000 
 
 North America 339,000,000 
 
 Total 3,212,000,000 
 
 The average yield of thoroughly washed 
 wool can be stimated at 40 per cent, of 3,212,- 
 000,000 lbs. or 1,284,800,000 lbs. clean scoured 
 wool. It seems then that consumption is 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING JJ 
 
 about equal to production after allowing for 
 the weight of the waste in the combing proc- 
 ess, viz., noils. 
 
 Size of Wire 
 
 Can you give us information or some sort of 
 a table showing the best card-clothing wire 
 for fine and coarse stock? Field (927). 
 
 The way the batches come along now in 
 most woolen card rooms makes it a hard task 
 to name just the right size wire that would be 
 best for general use. One batch may be a 
 nice, fine all-wool lot; the next may be a mix- 
 ture of very coarse wool and shoddy, and the 
 next of fine wool and shoddy, or it may be a 
 silk mix or a hair mix, etc. The carder hardly 
 knows what will go on next. If batches of the 
 same quality could follow each other, much 
 better and more even roping could be made 
 and would save the carded a good deal of 
 trouble and much valuable time and waste 
 would be saved to the interest of the company. 
 When batches keep jumping from one run to 
 six runs and vice versa, it is no wonder there 
 is so much trouble with uneven roping. 
 
 When the carder has a set of cards on a 
 500-pound lot, 5-run warp running just to suit 
 him, the lot is nearly run out, and the next 
 lot may be 2 1/2-run coarse wool and shoddy 
 or some other kind much different from the 
 
/8 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 5-run lot. I should recommend the following- 
 scale and number of wire for a set of cards 
 for general run of work: 
 
 FIRST BREAKER 
 
 Feed rolls, if not steel rings, which are de- 
 cidedly the best. 
 
 Feed rolls, top and bottom, No. 18 convex or 
 diamond point, straight steel wire. 
 
 Tumbler, No. 33 wire, steel. 
 
 First two workers, No. 3 2, the remainder 
 No. 34 steel wire. 
 
 Strippers, No. 3 2, steel wire. 
 
 Cylinder, No. 3 3, the sheets steel wire 
 
 Doffer, No. 3 3, steel wire. 
 
 Fancy, No. 3 0, sheets or filleting, steel wire 
 
 SECOND BREAKER 
 
 Feed rolls, top and bottom for creels, No. 
 18, convex or diamond point straight steel 
 wire. 
 
 Leader-in, No. 24, diamond point steel wire. 
 
 Tumbler, No. 3 3, steel wire. 
 
 Two workers, No. 34, the remainder No. 3 5. 
 
 Strippers, No. 3 2. 
 
 Cylinder, No. 34, sheets. 
 
 Doffer, No. 34. 
 
 Fancy, No. 3 2, sheets or filleting. 
 
 FINISHER 
 
 Apperly feed rolls, No. 24 bottom, and No. 
 26 top, diamond point straight steel wire. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 79 
 
 Leader-in, No. 24, diamond point steel wire. 
 Tumbler, No. 3 4. 
 
 First two workers, No. 3 5, the remainder 
 No. 3 6. 
 
 Strippers, No. 3 4. 
 Cylinder, No. 3 5, sheets. 
 Ring doffer, No. 3 5. 
 Fancy, No. 3 4, filleting. 
 
 CARD CLOTHING FOR A SET OF CARDS ON 
 COARSE STOCK 
 
 If a set or' cards is running permanently on 
 coarse wool, or coarse wool and shoddy mixed, 
 the numbers of wire should be: 
 
 FIRST BREAKER 
 Feed rolls, if not steel rings, No. 18, convex 
 wire. 
 
 Tumbler, No. 3 2. 
 
 Two workers, No. 30, the others No. 3 2. 
 
 Strippers, No. 30. 
 
 Cylinder sheets, No. 3 2. 
 
 Doffer, No. 32. 
 
 Fancy, No. 30. 
 
 SECOND BREAKER 
 Feed rolls, No. 18, convex or diamond point 
 wire, straight tooth. 
 Leader-in, No. 24. 
 Tumbler, No. 3 2, steel wire. 
 Workers, No. 33. 
 Strippers. No. 3 0. 
 
80 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Cylinder, No. 3 3, sheets. 
 
 Fancy, No. 3 2, sheets or filleting. 
 
 Doffer, No. 33. 
 
 FINISHER 
 
 Bottom rolls Apperly feed, No. 18, convex 
 or diamond point wire, straight tooth. 
 
 Top rolls Apperly feed, No. 18, convex or 
 diamond point wire, straight tooth. 
 
 Deader-in, No. 24. 
 
 Tumbler, No. 34. 
 
 Workers. No. 3 4. 
 
 Strippers, No. 32. 
 
 Cylinder, No. 3 4, sheets. 
 
 Ring doffers, No. 3 4. 
 
 Fancy, No. 3 3, filleting. 
 
 Sam Driver. 
 
 Putting" on Card Clothing 
 
 I would like information on putting on card 
 clothing as regards the apparatus required and 
 the method of doing the work. 
 
 Deary (1042). 
 
 It is necessary that every card room should 
 be provided with a suitable frame and drum 
 for winding on filleting. It is important that 
 it should be wound on with as even a tension 
 as possible. The frame should be made 
 strong and wide enough so that the bearings 
 of whatever is being covered will set firmly 
 in the bearings of the frame. Place collars 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING OT 
 
 on the shafts so that when winding- on fillet- 
 ing- they will not vibrate. Bolt on the frame 
 a slotted bracket with a long stud and a small 
 gear, with crank attached. Place a large gear 
 on the shaft of whatever is to be covered, and 
 gear into the small gear. By winding this 
 way a much steadier motion and more even 
 tension can be had than with a crank at- 
 tached to the end of the shaft. 
 
 The drum, if for a 4 8 -inch card with doffer 
 48 by 30, should be made 54 inches wide and 
 31 inches in diameter. The drum must be 
 turned off true and smooth so that the backs 
 of the card teeth will not get bulged. A stout 
 frame must be built for the drum and bolted 
 to the floor. 
 
 A piece of belt 1 1/2 inches wide, with small 
 clamp attached, can be fastened to one end 
 of the drum, another belt can be fastened on 
 the floor on the other end and brought over 
 the drum for friction. Sonie have the drum 
 placed in front of the grinding frame, with a 
 suitable bearing to bolt on the frame. When 
 putting on filleting it should be wound on the 
 drum quite tight. This will press and keep 
 the backs of card wire in their proper place. 
 The roll must be turned with a steady and 
 even motion to keep an even tension. 
 
 The clothing should be wound on as tight as 
 it will bear; if not. it will be apt to get loose 
 
82 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 and strike the cylinder and cause bad work 
 and be a source of trouble all the time. 
 
 D. R. S. 
 
 Speed and Size of Pulleys 
 
 Please give me a simple rule for calculating 
 the speed and size of direct connected pullej^s? 
 
 Manitoba (450). 
 
 Suppose two pulleys, A and B, are con- 
 nected by a belt. Then: 
 
 Diam. of A X speed of A r= diam. of B X 
 speed of B. 
 
 From this it follows that: 
 
 Diam. of A = (diam. of B X speed of B) -r- 
 speed A. 
 
 Also that: 
 
 Speed of A = (diam. of B X speed of B) -f 
 diam. of A. 
 
 Ex. A 12-inch pulley running 150 r. p. m. 
 drives another pulley 225 r. p. m. 
 
 Find the size of the last named pulley. 
 
 (12 X 150) -^ 225 = 8 inches, diam. of 
 pulley running 225 r. p. m. 
 
 Ex. A 15-inch pulley running 80 r. p. m. 
 drives a 10-inch pulley. Find the speed of the 
 last-named pulley. 
 
 (15 X 80) -f 10 = 120 r. p. m. of 10-inch 
 pulley. 
 
 The circumference may be used in place of 
 the diameter if desired. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 83 
 
 Core Yarn 
 
 Recently we have tried some experiments 
 with a yarn composed of a cotton thread with 
 a wool covering. These have not been wholly 
 successful and if you have any information 
 bearing on this work will you let me know 
 how it should be done? 
 
 Burlington (2262). 
 
 There is no novelty in the idea of making 
 wool yarn with a cotton core. As far back 
 as 18 78 two Leeds men patented provision- 
 ally a process for "embedding by rolling or 
 otherwise an additional twisted thread in an 
 unspun condenser sliver, the combined thread 
 being wound upon a bobbin without any 
 twist and used as a weft in weaving soft and 
 strong fabrics." In 19 01 two Halifax (Eng. ) 
 men took out a patent for a yarn consisting 
 of "a sliver from a condenser rubbed round a 
 core of cotton, the combined thread being 
 wound on a condenser bobbin and spun in the 
 ordinary way." There have also been pat- 
 ented schemes for covering a core of twisted 
 paper with wool in a similar manner and for 
 making cotton core yarn by drawing the cot- 
 ton thread diagonally across the rings of the 
 ring doffers, in place of running the thread 
 and sliver side by side. There have been 
 plenty of other attempts made in Yorkshire 
 and yarns produced in this manner have been 
 seen and tried often. Twenty years ago a 
 
84 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 great many woolen men were puzzling over 
 the problem of how to do away with the ne- 
 cessity for a separate twisting of the cotton 
 and the wool, but the twisting method is prac- 
 tically universal today. Cotton is very exten- 
 sively used as a supporting thread in the 
 cheap carded woolens made in the Colne Val- 
 ley. It is not used as a core, but as a tie 
 thread. The wool sliver is spun on the mule 
 cop and the two are brought together upon 
 the ring twisting frame. 
 
 Following are the experiences of two emi- 
 nently practical men in making core yarn: 
 Says A: The two ways I remember were: 
 "1st. Cotton spools placed under the con- 
 denser, the ends being led through the divider 
 with the soft sliver. Thread and sliver were 
 rubbed together and run on the bobbins in the 
 usual way. 
 
 "2d. The condenser bobbins were taken 
 direct to the twisting frame and the soft 
 sliver was twisted with the cotton thread. 
 
 "Both methods were failures because a 
 woolen thread is no good unless it is drawn 
 during spinning." 
 
 Says B: "The drawback to running the cot- 
 ton and woolen threads together on the mule 
 is that you cannot draw the woolen when the 
 cotton passes through the rollers at the same 
 time. You do not get as nice or as strong a 
 yarn as one that is drawn a little in the spin- 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 85. 
 
 ning. Another fault is that there is too much 
 space on the mule between the rollers and the 
 spindle top, consequently the yarn has a tend- 
 ency to show soft places owing to the greater 
 thickness and heaviness of the woolen." 
 
 The theoretical purpose of using the cotton 
 as a core instead of a companion thread is to 
 make the former less conspicuous in the fin- 
 ished cloth. I send a sample or two of Colne 
 Valley tweed to correct any impression that a 
 two-fold cotton and woolen thread necessarily 
 proclaims its character upon the surface. It 
 will be agreed by anyone that whether judged 
 by touch or sight the cotton support is well 
 hidden in the softer cloth. 
 
 "Twisting is an extra," to continue my quo- 
 tation from A, "but that is done very cheaply 
 and the thread is good in every way. You can 
 mill the cloth to get a good cover, raise it if 
 necessary and use it pretty roughly and still 
 have a sound piece of goods. Or you can 
 alter your blend and ideas. You can make 
 the cotton thread light in color and get fine 
 worsted-twist-looking patterns in another 
 finish." 
 
 Seeking further experiences of the produc- 
 tion of cotton core yarn I turned to the paten- 
 tee of a process for wrapping an untwisted 
 worsted sliver spirally round a central thread 
 of cotton. The work was done on an ordinary 
 flyer drawing and twisting frame, permitting 
 
86 KINKS OX WOOL 
 
 the sliver to be reduced to the desired thin- 
 ness. The cotton was led through the nip of 
 the front drawing rollers to one side of the 
 untwisted sliver and was then drawn diagon- 
 ally across the front of the rollers, close to 
 the nip and thence down to the spindles. The 
 path of the cotton was kept close to the nip to 
 avoid twisting the worsted, the intention be- 
 hind the whole operation being the production 
 of a yarn which should not shrink unequally 
 and raise knots and lumps in the fabric under 
 the hands of the cloth finisher. The patent 
 has been allowed to lapse, but as Mr. Brog- 
 den's experience may be useful, I explain that 
 the object of the experiment was the produc- 
 tion of khaki cotton-faced drills with a wool 
 back. The worsted sliver used was fine me- 
 rino and the cotton core a good Egyptian. 
 The warp of the cloth was Egyptian cotton 
 also and without great difficulty a smart cot- 
 ton-faced khaki drill fulfilling Government 
 tests was produced. The maker was conscious 
 of certain defects in the fabric and the Gov- 
 ernment experts found these out. The avoid- 
 ance of twist in the sliver did not entirely pre- 
 vent inequality of shrinkage. Worse still, the 
 wool back did not wear well. Where creases 
 were formed in wear the sliver was soon 
 rubbed off the filling, leaving thin streaks in 
 the garment. It is not improbable that carded 
 woolen sliver which has only been rubbed on 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING $7 
 
 a cotton core will also soon be rubbed off and 
 the contingency deserves to be reckoned with 
 and observed. 
 
 Pushing inquiry further afield, I sought the 
 advice of a silk man who in his own time has 
 been a bold experimenter. He had heard of a 
 process, applied to silk and not necessarily in- 
 applicable to wool, in which a silk roving was 
 twisted round a cotton thread upon a twisting 
 frame. Two rollers were used, one delivering 
 silk, one cotton, the silk coming the faster. 
 The two were passed to a spindle having a 
 double flyer and set at such an angle that only 
 the roving came in contact with the cotton at 
 the point at which the bobbin was practically 
 reached. He had examined also a collection 
 of samples in which thrown silk had been 
 twisted round a cotton core to make a sort of 
 "rolled-gold" silk poplin and in which also 
 thrown silk was twisted around flexible wire 
 to make onde and spiral effects. It is clear 
 that the production of core yarn has attracted 
 notice in widely different directions. To name 
 one other, one might refer casually to the dif- 
 ferent means taken for producing ropes with 
 cores of steel or strong fibrous materials. 
 
 James Strand. 
 
 Broken Drawing on Breakers 
 
 Can you give me a reason for broken draw 
 ing on the breakers? Foss (959). 
 
88 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 There are many causes for the breaking of 
 drawings. The doffer may be running too 
 fast, in which case a reduction of speed would 
 be to the advantage of the work and would 
 also tend to increase the strength of the draw- 
 ing. The doffer comb may have been striking 
 and been worn rough or it may need cleaning. 
 Drawing may also break by being stripped too 
 far below the center of the doffer. This may 
 be remedied by raising the stroke of the comb. 
 
 Sometimes the drawing breaks down from 
 too great a draft on the side drawing, in which 
 case the end drawing will break as it leaves 
 the doffer on the farthest end from the draw- 
 ing rolls. Remedy: reduce the speed of the 
 rolls. If the doffer gets dull, rough or out of 
 true, the drawing will break down. 
 
 There are various ways of supporting the 
 drawing as it passes to the rolls. On low stock 
 it is a good idea to place a narrow apron 
 under the comb, the same as for the Kershaw 
 and Scotch feeds, and driven from the side 
 drawing shaft. 
 
 Sometimes the short and long stock is not 
 blended and picked right; this often causes 
 a breaking of the drawing. Too heavy a feed 
 making the drawing heavier at times than at 
 others may be the cause. The comb may bfe 
 too high or too low, too fast or too slow. Have 
 good stripper belts and keep them tight and 
 clean. When the side drawing breaks down 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 89 
 
 often extra work and waste results. Too much 
 waste in the feed is another cause; also the 
 stock getting- too low or too high. If the draw- 
 ing falls down raise the comb; if it pulls too 
 tight, lower the comb. The center of the 
 stroke of the comb should be a little above 
 the center of the doffer. On long stock it is 
 sometimes necessary to have a longer down- 
 stroke and on short stock a longer up-stroke. 
 Set the comb as close to the doffer as it can 
 be and not strike, and keep the comb teeth 
 free from grease. 
 
 All kinds of supports are used to keep the 
 drawing from falling down, such as cone- 
 shaped cylinders placed under the comb, wire 
 and broomstick supports from the floor to 
 comb, and many other contrivances. If the 
 stock is really too low and short to make good 
 drawing it is best to bring the first and second 
 breakers together and place a short endless 
 slat apron between after the fashion of the 
 Blamire feed. Sam Driver. 
 
 Blending and Oiling 
 
 Can you give me the method of blending 
 and oiling three lots of wool; viz.. No. 1 blend; 
 500 lbs. of all-wool Saxony, Australian or No. 
 1 Ohio fleece, spun to 10 run; No. 2 blend, 500 
 lbs. of coarse wool; No. 3 blend, Oxford Mix, 
 500 lbs., composed of 125 lbs. black wool, 125 
 lbs. white pulled wool, 250 lbs. black shoddy? 
 
 Deering (1068). 
 
-90 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Carders as well as superintendents have a 
 tendency to overlook the importance and value 
 in this department of having their batches 
 "blended and oiled as they should be. Too 
 much emphasis cannot be laid on the import- 
 ance of having the batches properly blended 
 and oiled to make good carding and spinning. 
 Carders should watch with great interest this 
 part of the operation for their own benefit, as 
 well as for the company's. 
 
 FINE WOOL 
 
 No. 1 blend: 500 lbs. all-wool Saxony. Aus- 
 tralian or No. 1 Ohio fleece, spun 10 run. We 
 will first run it through the wool duster and 
 then through the burr picker. Lay down in 
 five layers. To each layer spread on 8 qts. of 
 oil (olive oil would be best). Beat down each 
 layer with a pole. W r hen through blending, 
 run through the picker twice, feeding light 
 and mixing well in gauze room. It is now 
 ready to sheet up. Let it lie four days in the 
 sheets before going to the cards. When ready 
 for the cards run through picker once. Eight 
 quarts of oil to 100 lbs. No water. 
 
 COARSE WOOL 
 
 No. 2 blend: 500 lbs. of coarse wool run 
 through duster and burr picker and laid down 
 in five layers. To each layer spread on 4 qts. 
 of oil and 10 qts. of water. Pole each layer. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 91 
 
 Run through picker twice. Four quarts of oil, 
 10 qts. of water to 100 lbs. 
 
 No. 3 blend: Oxford mix; 500 lbs. batch 
 wool and shoddy, 125 lbs. black wool, 125 lbs. 
 white pulled wool, 250 lbs. black shoddy. 
 Fifteen quarts of oil, 20 qts. water. This is 
 allowing- 6 qts. of oil to 100 lbs. of wool and 
 8 qts. of water to 100 lbs. of wool; nothing for 
 shoddy. If desirable, more oil and water can 
 be added. Mix black and white wool together 
 and run through wool duster and burr picker. 
 Run the shoddy through mixing picker. Make 
 five layers of wool and five layers of shoddy. 
 First layer of wool put on 3 qts. of oil and 4 
 qts. of water. Beat well with pole. Then put 
 on layer of shoddy; beat with pole. Next, a 
 layer of wool and then a layer of shoddy alter- 
 nately until finished. In feeding, take top to 
 bottom of pile. Feed on light and run through 
 the picker three times, mixing well every time 
 
 You will notice that I do not put any oil or 
 water on the shoddy, but put it on the wool. 
 I will give my reasons for doing so: First, the 
 shoddy has already received enough oil dur- 
 ing the process of manufacturing. Second, it 
 will not fill and gum the cylinder and doffer 
 wire with flocks and fine dust. Third, the 
 cards will run longer without stripping. 
 Fourth, it makes more even, smoother and 
 stronger yarn, and it cards and spins better. 
 
 The same rule for the blending and oiling 
 
92 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 of this batch can be applied to any percent- 
 age of wool and shoddy. To those using emul- 
 sions, the same percentage of oil and water 
 can be used and batches laid down the same 
 way, but keep the emulsions from getting on 
 the shoddy and cotton as much as possible. 
 
 Sam Driver. 
 
 Preparing White Wool for Mixtures 
 
 I would like information on the method of 
 preparing white wool for mixtures. 
 
 W. W. (986). 
 
 When white wool is mixed with black in the 
 raw state the mixture has a better appearance 
 if the white retains a part of its natural yellow 
 shade. Bleached white makes the mixture 
 look harsh when mixed with black, on account 
 of the sharp contrast. Moreover bleaching is 
 expensive. Various methods have been intro- 
 duced to displace bleaching by removing a 
 portion of the yellow shade of the fiber, 
 among them being the following: 
 
 1. For 100 pounds of wool, 1 1/2 pounds 
 of oxalic acid and 1 pound of sulphuric acid 
 66 Be., are dissolved separately, then added to- 
 2,000 pounds of water at 120° F. When start- 
 ing the bath it is advisable to add double the 
 quantities named. The wool is then entered 
 and at the end of 3 5 or 40 minutes the yellow 
 shade will be largely removed. The wool is 
 then taken out and rinsed several times. 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 93 
 
 2. For 100 pounds of wool 1 1/4 pounds of 
 •chloride of tin and 1 pound of hydrochloric 
 .acid are dissolved in water and then added to 
 the bath, which is heated to 165° P. and 1/4 
 to 4/10 of a pound of sulphate of indigo paste 
 added. The dyer must regulate the amount of 
 indigo to suit the requirements of each case. 
 The wool is worked in this bath for one hour. 
 
 3. For 100 pounds of wool 1/4 to 4/10 of 
 a pound of Prussian blue is dissolved with 
 four times the quantity of oxalic acid, forming 
 a concentrated solution. This is added to the 
 bath with 13 to 14 pounds of sulphate of soda. 
 The wool is worked from three-quarters to 
 one hour at 150° F. 
 
 4. For 100 pounds of wool 1/4 to 1/2 an 
 ounce of Formyl Violet S 4 B, 1/2 pound of 
 acetic acid (increased if the water contains 
 lime) and 4 pounds of sulphate of soda are 
 dissolved in the bath in which the wool is 
 worked at 160° F. 
 
 5. This is process 4 with 1 to 1 1/2 ounces 
 of cyanole extra added to the bath. 
 
 6. The wool is worked in a bath of bisul- 
 phite of soda at 2° Be. at a temperature of 
 100° F., to which is added 1/3 of an ounce of 
 methylene blue. The wool is worked for one 
 hour, then taken out and rinsed. Any of the 
 above methods will leave the wool in good 
 condition for mixes, and all have the advan- 
 tage of simplicity. P. Hoffman. 
 
94 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Density of Baled Wool 
 
 What is the density of Bagdad wool as im- 
 ported in bales? How does its weight com- 
 pare with that of water? 
 
 Douglass (2081). 
 
 A cubic foot of water weighs 1,000 ounces 
 or 62 1/2 pounds. A bale of Bagdad wool re- 
 cently imported measured 51 inches long, 17 
 inches wide and 17 inches thick; cubic con- 
 tents, 14,739 cubic inches. The gross weight 
 was 360 pounds, equal to 675 ounces, or 42 
 pounds per cubic foot. The weight of this 
 bale was 3 2 1/2 per cent, less than that of 
 water. 
 
 Core Yarn 
 
 In looking over the articles on core yarn 
 contained in the March and April issues it 
 occurred to me that your readers would be 
 interested in additional particulars regarding 
 this process. The cotton core is first wound 
 on the regular roping spools and fastened on 
 a frame work at the back of the card just 
 above the rub rolls. A guide is placed near 
 the doffing cylinder with guide eyes set so as to 
 deliver the core in center of the doffer rings. 
 The core is started between the wipe roll and 
 doffer, carried back to roping spool, and de- 
 livered in the center of the doffer rings. 
 
 When going through the rub rolls the cov- 
 ering is rolled around the core in such a man- 
 
CARDING AND SPINNING 95 
 
 ner that the core is almost completely hidden. 
 Two of these threads are then twisted to- 
 gether. An improved method consists in de- 
 livering two ends to the doffing rings as near 
 the center at possible and about 3/16 to 1/4 
 inch apart. When rubbed together the 
 threads of the core are embedded so well in 
 the fibers that when twisted either on a mule 
 or twister the covering will not strip. This 
 makes the thread almost if not altogether like 
 all wool. This process has eliminated the 
 trouble of stripping which was the result of 
 yarn made with a single core. 
 
 There is another process called the "double 
 covered" which is made by taking only one 
 spool from the card instead of two. The yarn 
 coming from the top condenser is taken 
 through and under, and again delivered to the 
 bottom roll, thereby getting a second covering. 
 This latter process is the best for heavy stocks, 
 as the covering is more even than that made 
 by the single covered process. I have seen 
 core yarn made and used for both warp and! 
 filing in woven goods and which did not strip 
 when used as warp. 
 
 The finishing or twisting of the yarn from 
 the card is best done on a twister, but can 
 also be done on a mule. It is almost neces- 
 sary to use a doubling twist scroll, as the or- 
 dinary scroll gives too much twist for ordi- 
 nary knitting yarn. GarhwaL 
 
<)6 KINKS ON WOOL 
 
 Winding-TJnder on Woolen Mules 
 
 In regard to winding-under on woolen 
 mules, I would like to state a few practical 
 points worked out in my experience in the 
 mule room. A high spot in the tracks will 
 cause winding under. When the mule backs 
 off, the faller locks and rests on a stud con- 
 nected with the builder-arm, which has a roll 
 connected on the end that runs on the builder 
 rail. If all the parts are in perfect order so 
 that there is no lost motion, the faller can 
 wind only to a given point up or down. If the 
 backing off chain is too long, allowing the 
 mule to unwind too much yarn when backing 
 off, the faller will dip and cause the yarn to 
 wind under. The faller fingers may be out of 
 line. Some of them may be too low. There 
 may be a high place in the track so that the 
 carriage is forced up a little, causing the faller 
 to dip just enough to wind under, especially if 
 there is a large shoulder or seat on the bottom 
 of the bobbin. If there is a low place in the 
 track it will cause a more open wind on the 
 bobbin and a longer build. The front builder 
 shoe may not be set right, the builder rail 
 dwelling too long on top of the shoe before 
 starting down the incline of the shoe or 
 shaper, as it is sometimes called. 
 
 Woolen Spinner 
 
I N E> KX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Apperly Feed, Fine Ends on 49 
 
 Balancing Solutions 24 
 
 Belgium System of Wool Carding 47 
 
 Bleached Wool for Mixtures 92 
 
 Blending and Oiling 89 
 
 Bobbins and Cops, Soft Noses on 34,36 
 
 Broken Drawing on Breakers 87 
 
 Burr Picking and Carbonizing 13 
 
 Calculating Pulleys and Speeds 82 
 
 Calculating Weight of Sliver 17 
 
 Carbonizing 13, 29, 46 
 
 Card Clothing, Putting on 80 
 
 Card Clothing Wire for Fine and Coarse Stock 77 
 
 Card for Sample Mixing 11 
 
 Carding Shoddy 9 
 
 Causes of Uneven Roping 18, 30 
 
 Changing Ring Doffers 69 
 
 Coarse Stock, Changing to 23 
 
 Core Yarn 83, 94 
 
 Cotton Mixes 17 
 
 Cylinder, Speed of 9 
 
 Density of Baled Wool 94 
 
 Difficulty with Rub Rolls on Coarse Wool 27 
 
 Draft at the Mule 21 
 
 Dressing for Rub Aprons 28 
 
 Drying after Carbonizing 14 
 
 Dyeing and Carbonizing in One Operation 29 
 
 Emery Cloth on Traverse Grinder 52 
 
 Equipment and Operation of Carbonizing Plant 13 
 
 Equivalent Numbers of Yarn 69 
 
 Even and Uneven Roving 18 
 
 Fancy, Reclothing 23 
 
 Feed Rolls 32 
 
 jp ioers, Testing 58 
 
 Fine Ends of Feed 49 
 
 Fleeced Shoddy 66 
 
 Grinding, Settings and Care of Cards 52 
 
 Horse Power of a Waterfall 39 
 
 How to Mix Wool and Shoddy 64 
 
 How Twits are Made 53 
 
 Lumps in Yarn 19 
 
 Matching Mixtures 10 
 
 Mixing Cotton, Wool and Shoddy 67 
 
9 8 
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mixing- Wool and Shoddy 64 
 
 Mules, Winding Under on 55 
 
 Neppy Yarn in Cotton Mixes 17 
 
 Number of Wool Spindles in World 75 
 
 Numbering Yarn 69 
 
 Nubs Forming on Card 11 
 
 Nub Yarns 26, 59 
 
 Oiling and Blending 89 
 
 Oiling Different Kinds of Stock 33 
 
 Operatives Needed for Ten-Set Mill 42 
 
 Picker, Setting 46 
 
 Preparing White Wool for Mixtures 92 
 
 Production and Consumption of Wool 75 
 
 Production of Woolen Card 41,71 
 
 Putting on Card Clothing 80 
 
 Quadrant, Setting 35, 36 
 
 Qualitative Tests for Fibers 58 
 
 Random Roping 64 
 
 Ring Doffers, Changing 69 
 
 Rowy Goods 66 
 
 Rub Rolls, Setting and Care of 27 
 
 Setting Cards for Nubs 26, 59, 63 
 
 Setting Mixing Picker 46 
 
 Setting Mule 34. 36, 56 
 
 Setting Workers and Strippers 50 
 
 Shoddy 9, 64 
 
 Size of Wire 77 
 
 Sliver, Weight of 17 
 
 Soap and Oil Solution 24 
 
 Soft Noses on Bobbins and Cops 34. 36 
 
 Speed and Size of Pulleys 82 
 
 Ten-Set Mill. Number of Hands Needed 42 
 
 Testing for Soap or Alkali in Waste Liquor — 38 
 Testing Grease Wool to Determine Shrinkage . . 56 
 
 Trouble in Carding Shoddy ". . . . 9 
 
 Twist in Lumpy Yarn 20 
 
 Twisted Rolls in Carding 11 
 
 Twits in Carding and Spinning 53 
 
 Uneven Roving 18. 30 
 
 Variation Allowed in Spinning Wool Yarn 74 
 
 Vigogne Yarn 22 
 
 Waterfall. Flow and Power 39 
 
 White Wool for Mixtures 92 
 
 Winding Under on Mules 55,96 
 
 Wire for Cards 54 
 
 Wire. Size of 77 
 
 Wool. Density of Baled 94 
 
 Wool Dryer 15 
 
 Wool Yarn with Cotton Core 83 
 
 Workers and Strippers, Setting 50 
 
 Yarn Numbering 69 
 
McBride 
 System of Carding 
 
 Rotary 
 
 Cloth Finishing 
 
 Press 
 
 I Manufactured by 
 
 Woonsocket 
 Machine and Press Go, 
 
 Woonsocket, R. I. 
 
1880 
 
 Mills 
 
 1912 
 
 have 
 been 
 used on 
 all 
 grades 
 and 
 kinds of 
 woolen 
 goods 
 for 
 thirty 
 two 
 years 
 
 when first 
 
 that adopted them 
 introduced are using them now — con- 
 clusive proof of unusual merit. 
 
 Let us send a represen- 
 tative to discuss with you 
 the grade of BRETON 
 
 OIL FOR WOOL best 
 suited to your conditions. 
 
 BORNE, SCRYMSER COMPANY 
 80 South Street, New York 
 
 Boston Fall River Philadelphia 
 
 Works, Clareraont, N. J. 
 
Rome Soap Mfg. Co. 
 
 ROME, N. Y. 
 
 Olive Oils 
 
 Red Oils, Wool Oils 
 
 Wool Scouring Soaps 
 
 Am. Potashes and 
 
 Specialties 
 
Corns & i* Machine Co. 
 
 Worcester, Mass. 
 
 Builders of 
 
 Automatic Wool Dusters 
 Parkhurst Burr Pickers 
 Goddard Burr Pickers 
 Fearnaught Mixing Pickers 
 Atlas Wool Mixing Pickers 
 Atlas Picker Feeders 
 Atlas Hair Pickers 
 Shoddy or Rag Pickers 
 Steel Ring and Wire Wound 
 Burr Cylinders and Feed 
 Rolls for Wool Cards 
 Metallic Breasts 
 
 Cloth Finishing Machinery for Woolen, Worsted, 
 Cotton Goods, Carpets, Plushes, Velvets, Etc. 
 
 Successors to Atlas Mfg. Co. and 
 Atlas Foundry and Machine Co., N.J. 
 
r 
 
 *\ 
 
 Leading woolen mills have successfully 
 used the Sargent Burr picker for many 
 years. The Sargent Multiplex Burr 
 Picker and Feed is unsurpassed for the 
 removal of vegetable fibres, and for 
 preparing wool for the Mixing Picker 
 and Cards. This machine has two 
 burr exits from which burrs are entirely 
 ejected from the machine. 
 
 Every carder should have a 
 catalogue 
 
 C. G. Sargent's Sons Corporation 
 Graniteville, Mass. 
 
JAN 2 1913 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 015 870 931 4 •