Chapter VII: Axminster

AXMINSTER carpets, though in point of time a comparatively recent development of the industry, may claim to be, in point of structure, the nearest related of all machine-made fabrics to the Oriental ancestor. The similarity lies in the fact that they are tufted; and the tuft, though inserted in the fabric mechanically, and bound down without being knotted, undoubtedly represents the knotted tuft of the original hand-made carpet. The essential feature of a tufted Axminster carpet is that the tufts are inserted row by row between the warp threads, either before or after being cut off, and are then bound down by the weft, and so woven into the ground of the texture. Each tuft is used on the surface, and forms part of the design; none of the tuft material is hidden away or wasted in the body of the fabric beyond what is needed for attachment to the binding weft.

The Axminster loom was introduced into England from the United States about 1878; and since that time the fabric has developed steadily, with an increasing popularity, which has only been rivalled in recent years by that of the Chenille Axminster. Bradbury, in commenting upon the similarity of Axminster in structure and appearance to the original hand-made carpet, says: “Generally speaking they are far superior to Eastern and hand-made productions, and where price is permitted to enter as a factor, they leave these primitive structures still further in the rear.” This may appear to some an extravagant appreciation; but there can be no difference of opinion as regards the general merits of the fabric. It combines economy in the use of material, and in manufacture, with richness of texture and almost unlimited potentialities of design and colour effect.

As in other carpet fabrics, there are in Axminster plenty of varieties of qualities; but there are comparatively few differences in structure, such differences as exist being mainly matters of pitch, tuft, or method of tufting and binding. The original Axminster quality was called the Royal. This is about 5 per inch in the pitch, and 6 in the beat-up, with a tuft of about 7/8 in. This held the field until 1893, when a strong invasion of the British market by American Axminster, offered at a considerably lower price, caused the Axminster makers of this country to bestir themselves to meet this competition. They did so strenuously; and the result was the production of the quality known as the Imperial Axminster, which had an instant and a lasting success. This was made in a pitch of 7 to the inch, and a beat-up of about 6½, and was put on the market at a moderate price. For many years it held the position of being the critical quality of the whole trade; the standard by which the value of other qualities was measured, and, as has been intimated, it is only of recent years that its position has been challenged by the Chenille Axminster.

At the present time, it would probably be safe to estimate that three-quarters of Axminster manufacturers’ looms are being run on this quality.

The Imperial Axminster quality may, therefore, be taken as typical of the fabric; and a description of how it is made will cover most of the ground, while variations from the standard type can be indicated. The quality itself is made in slightly different ways by different makers, but a normal standard will have the usual double chain, preferably of 2-14 or other linen, but sometimes of cotton, a cotton stuffer, one end to each reed, and a jute weft of about 2 fold 7½ lb. count. The pitch is 189 or 190 in the 3-4 width. Fig. 7 gives a transverse section through the weft of the weave ordinarily employed. In this there are three warps employed, the two chain warps being wound on one beam, and the stuffer warp, which runs straight in the fabric, on another. There are three double shots of weft to each row of tufts. The two halves of the chain warp alternately bind two double shots above, the tuft binding shot and the intermediate, and one below. The effect of this structure is to form a flat back, and also, through the lateral pressure of the intermediate weft upon the tuft weft, under the same warp shed, to give the tuft a distinct inclination out of the vertical, adding thereby to the fabric a point of similarity to the hand-tufted carpet.

The diagram of another method of weaving this quality is given in Fig. 8.

Three warps are used here again, but as each undergoes a different rate of consumption, they are wound upon three separate beams. The stuffer, as before, runs straight; one chain binds the bottom and the intermediate shots, and the other the tuft shot. In this case, the tuft, equally supported on each side, tends to remain vertical, while the bottom weft, projecting below the tuft weft, gives the back a ribbed appearance.

Each of these two weaves has its merits. The former gives better cover with its sloping tuft, while the latter claims an increased resiliency and immunity from the shading in made-up carpets, so noticeable with the first-named weave.

Fig. 9 gives other but less usual structures. It may be noted that it is possible to employ jute for the tuft binding and intermediate weft shots, and at the same time a different yarn, preferably of woollen, for the bottom weft, which shows on the back. This serves to make the carpet heavier and more elastic to the tread.

Axminster may to some extent be compared with Tapestry and Chenille, in that it is essentially a two-process fabric; and the pile yarns are arranged so as to form the design before they are put into the loom. The actual method of preparation of the colours is, however, quite different from that employed in either of the other two fabrics.

The yarn is received from the dye-house in skeins, and is wound on to large bobbins with a 6 in. face. The yarn from these bobbins has then to be wound on to a series of wide spools, the number of which will be the number of the rows of tufts in one complete repeat of the design to be woven, while each spool contains as many ends of yarn as there are squares in the width of the design. This operation is called setting, or sometimes, reeding-in.

The 6 in. bobbins, in number equal to the pitch of the carpet, say, 189 or 190 for the 3-4 width of the typical quality mentioned above, are arranged on a creel frame fitted with horizontal pegs in order corresponding with the colours of the first row of the design. Alternatively, a horizontal frame or table is employed, fitted with vertical pegs for the bobbins. This has the advantage of being more compact and accessible, but the colours are not so easily distinguished. The ends of the yarn from each bobbin are led on to the wide spool, through an open sley, which is opposite to it and equal in width. These ends, suitably tensioned, are then wound on to the wide spool. For a design of average length of repeat, say 1 yd., one full spool will weave about 250 yds. When the spool is full, therefore, the yarns are cut, and fastened down; and as many more spools are filled with the same arrangement of colours as are needed to weave the required quantity. The operators then re-arrange the bobbins in the creel frame in accordance with the second row of the design paper, which is set up in some convenient place for reference, draw them in order through the sley on to the spool, wind a second set of spools, and so on; each spool being numbered with its rotation as soon as filled.

When the spools for the whole of the repeat are wound, whether one or more for each row of tufts, they are passed to women, whose task it is to thread the ends through a series of tin tubes, the number of which corresponds with the number of ends on each spool. The tubes are soldered to a piece of tin, of L-shaped section, which is attached to the tufting carriage. The spools with tubes attached are then placed in the carriages, and are ready to be set up in order in the loom for weaving.

The tufting carriages are then placed, in the correct rotation so as to form the pattern, upon a pair of endless chains, which are actuated by the driving mechanism of the loom in such a way as to have an intermittent motion so that, when each spool is in position to make its row of tufts, the chains remain at rest long enough for the spool to be removed from them, lowered for the tubes to enter the warp threads; for the tufts to be cut off, and the spool to be replaced on the chains.

Each spool with its set of tubes and carriage, therefore, is so set in the chains that it can be automatically detached at the right moment and brought into position to form its successive line of fur. The mechanism that effects these ingenious movements is too complicated to describe here. It is an object lesson as to what variable and intermittent motions can be produced by combinations of cams, bowls, levers, rods, etc., while it gives the Axminster loom the distinction of being probably the most ingenious of all carpet looms, subject perhaps to that remarkable piece of mechanism, the Jacquard, not being regarded as exclusively part of a carpet loom.

When the spool reaches the lowest point in the path of the double chain which carries it, a few inches above the fell of the cloth, it is nipped by an arm from each side, and conveyed downwards in such a way that the tubes with the ends of the tuft yarns projecting are made to enter the spaces between the upper shed of the chain warp with a slight sweeping movement from the front to the back. This has the result of trailing the ends of the yarn close to the fell of the cloth and the last row of tufts, and leaving a space below the upper shed of the chain, so that the weft-carrying needle is able to insert a double shot above the middle of the exposed lengths of tuft yarn.

The tufting tubes are now lifted out of the shed, and somewhat forward towards the fell of the carpet, so as to double the tuft round the binding shot. At the same time the sley comes forward, presses against the tuft yarns and the weft enclosed by them, and carries them up to the breast comb and the fell of the carpet. With the tuft yarns and the spool in position, another shot of weft is inserted, either with or without a change of the warp shed, as the case may be, to assist in holding fast the row of tufts in the carpet. The tufting carriage and tubes are then lifted high enough to draw off a sufficient length of yarn to form the next row of tufts in the following repeat. The tufts are then cut by the meeting of two broad knives, which come together at the level of the surface of the carpet with a scissor-cutting motion. The spool and carriage are then replaced in the chains, moved one step forward; and the succeeding spool is brought into position.

It may be desirable to mention a different method of inserting the tuft yarn. In this case the spool is detached from the chain and made to descend almost straight, turning about 60° out of the vertical towards the back of the loom just as the tubes enter the warp shed. This has the effect of turning the free ends of the tufts somewhat upwards. The spool is then turned again so that the tubes are vertical, and are brought close against the fell of the cloth. The binding weft is then inserted, and the sley comes forward to carry the tufts up against the breast. At this stage, a toothed comb, made in two parts, one working over the other, comes up from below the breast to turn upwards the loose ends of the pile through the warp, one part of the double comb, called the dummy comb, slipping over the other so as to clear any tufts which might be pulled down on to the back. Then the second binding weft is put in, behind the tufts; and at the same time the tufts are cut. There is another beat-up of the sley, and the bottom weft is inserted. This completes the cycle; the warp chains change; and the process is repeated.

An alternative fashion of cutting to the double scissor or guillotine knives is sometimes employed, a circular knife in front engaging against a fixed straight knife at the back. This system has the advantage that the knives have not to be kept sharp, though they must be very accurately adjusted.

The weft motion is another ingenious piece of mechanism. The weft is inserted in the warp shed by a needle about 5/8 in. in diameter, entering from the right-hand side of the loom. The jute weft is conveyed from a ball, tensioned by suitable springs, and threaded through the eye of the needle. It is obvious that the weft shot must be double, and also that it would not stay in the shed after the withdrawal of the needle, unless it were caught in some way at the left hand of the loom. This is effected by a small shuttle carrying the edge-thread. This shuttle is similar to a sewing machine shuttle, but larger, being about 3 in. long and 1 in. in diameter. It runs backwards and forwards in a semicircular shuttle-race, and is so adjusted that it passes under a notch near the end of the needle, and over a loop of the weft, carrying the edge-thread through the loop, and holding it taut while the needle is receding in such a way as to prevent the weft slipping back, and to make a good selvedge to the carpet. When it is desired to use two different weft threads, the needle has an open eye, or hook near its end, instead of the ordinary eye, and the two wefts in turn are presented to this eye by a rocking eyeletted weft-carrier, so that the needle picks up the weft just before it enters the shed.

There have been other developments of the Axminster principle of inserting tufts into the weave of the fabric, and variations from the method of the wide spool and tubes. Of these, the most successful has been based upon the idea of conveying the cut tufts by means of nippers or grippers into the fell of the cloth. This has been worked in combination with the wide spools, but more satisfactorily in combination with yarn carriers operated by a Jacquard with a differential lift mechanism for selecting the colours.

In this loom, which has been brought to perfection for various qualities, pitches, and widths, in recent years, the pile yarns are wound on to creel bobbins, which are arranged, in much the same way as in Brussels and Wilton, in creel frames behind the loom. A frame of bobbins is a set of bobbins of the same shade, equal in number to the pitch of the loom. The number of frames is limited in practice to about 16, which, however, aided by “planting,” admit of design and colour effects comparable with those obtainable in Royal Axminster.

The yarns are led between guide bars and through perforated plates into the carriers, which are vertical strips of steel or brass grooved back and front and drilled with a series of slots, through which the ends of the yarn pass, being held in position by small springs. The frames of yarn are threaded through the holes in the carriers in order, so that the yarns of the top frame pass through the highest hole in the carrier, the second frame through the second hole, and so on. Viewed from in front, the ends of each frame of yarn will be seen in horizontal lines one above the other in the front grooves of the carriers.

These carriers are connected by cords or wires with a differential lift mechanism, which is actuated by the Jacquard, in such a way that the blank or perforation on the Jacquard card, corresponding with a certain colour, causes the carrier to be lifted until that colour is at the required height.

It can readily be understood that cards perforated in different ways, and presented to the Jacquard at once, can cause the carriers all across the loom to be lifted varying heights in such a way as to show at the required level a horizontal row of thread ends, corresponding to a row across the width of the paper design. The sequence of these rows, of course, forms the pattern.

It remains to cut off the tufts, to lay them in their place at the fell of the cloth, and weave them into the carpet.

There is a set of grippers, in shape very similar to the neck and beak of a bird, mounted on three shafts, and arranged so as to revolve in about a semicircle between the carriers and the fell of the carpet. The Jacquard, having operated so as to present the ends of the required colour in the carriers in a horizontal line, the grippers come up in front of them with open beaks, which are inserted just into the carrier grooves, and then close, nipping the ends of the yarn. The whole of the frame in which the carriers are mounted is then withdrawn away from the points of the grippers a sufficient distance to give the required length of tuft. A flat-toothed comb of hardened steel, of the same pitch as the grippers, carriers, and carpet, drops down with its points between the threads so as to hold them steady, while a travelling knife or set of knives, passing along the face of the comb, severs the tufts. The grippers then descend into the warp threads, laying the tufts against the fell of the carpet; the needle or shuttle passes over them and through the shed, carrying the binding weft, which is beaten up by the open sley, at the same time as the grippers open to release the end of the tuft, and double it upwards. Two other shots are inserted, while the grippers move in their semicircular path upwards to seize the next row of tufts, and again downwards to lay them in place.

The advantages claimed for this very ingenious method of Axminster weaving are: that the preparatory processes are considerably simpler than with the Royal and Crompton patents; that the quantity of any pattern to be woven can be better controlled; and that it involves less waste. There is no disadvantage in the weaving of a small quantity, if required, as 1 yard or 500 can be woven equally well; and the yarn left over at the end of an order can be cut off at the back of the carriers with a minimum of waste, and stored conveniently on creel bobbins. The cutting mechanism is also so good, that the surface waste is reduced to a negligible quantity, and a minimum of shearing and finishing is required.

However this may be, it is noteworthy that the principle has been applied with complete success to looms for weaving wide seamless carpets, where the gripper mechanism, though necessarily heavy, has probably a distinct advantage over the wide spool and tubes.

Axminster, like other carpet fabrics, has tended to develop in the direction of wide seamless goods; and this is a tendency that will be worth watching, leading as it does towards the evolution of the ideal carpet—a machine-made knotted fabric. Ideal, that is to say, in the sense that the knotting of a tuft on to a groundwork of warp and weft is the best way of putting a carpet together, and having regard for the facts that we live in a mechanical age; that we cannot afford time or money to make our own carpets by hand; and that we ought not to buy foreign hand-made carpets. Experiments in mechanically knotted carpets have continually been made, and definite progress has been won in recent years; but the technical difficulties are considerable, and it will be interesting to see whether a carpet of so exceptional a weave can be put on the market, except at a price comparable only with that of a hand-tufted fabric. Meanwhile, the seamless tufted Axminster, as it is now made in two or three forms, with tufts as securely fastened for all practical purposes into the body of the fabric as if they were knotted, holds the field as the nearest approach to the ideal, and is deserving of a far larger measure of support from the British consumer that it has enjoyed hitherto.