Handloom Weavers' Machinery
A handloom consisted of four wooden uprights joined at top and bottom to form a box-like framework. There were wooden rollers between both pair of uprights, one for the weft and one to collect the cloth. The weaving operation consisted of sending the shuttle containing the weft back and forth through the threads of the warp. A device operated by a treadle lifted and lowered alternate threads and a lathe hung from the top of the loom enabled the weaver to push each thread of weft up against the cloth already woven.
Before weaving could begin the warp had to be wound on to its roller, or beam, and the threads passed through the lathe and fastened to the cloth beam. The warp threads had to be dressed with flour and water paste to make them strong enough to withstand the weaving process.
One of the first inventions to speed up the process of weaving was Kay's flying shuttle which was mounted on four small wheels and knocked back and forth across the loom-gate by small hammers which the weaver operated by cords. This put the weaver further ahead in his output and made it even harder for the spinner to keep up. In 1770 however Hargreaves had invented the spinning jenny which could spin multiple threads.
|
