Chapter XI: Twisting and Reeling

In regard to cloth manufacture, most yarns are utilized in the form they leave the spinning frame, that is, as single yarns. On the other hand, for certain branches of the trade, weaving included, it is necessary to take two, three, or more of these single yarns and to combine them by a process technically termed twisting, and sometimes "doubling" when two single yarns only are combined.

Although the commonest method, so far as weaving requirements go, is to twist two single yarns together to make a compound yarn, it is not uncommon to combine a much higher number, indeed, sixteen or more single yarns are often united for special purposes, but, when this number is exceeded, the operation comes under the heading of twines, ropes and the like. The twist or twine thus formed will have the number of yarns regulated by the levelness and strength required for the finished product. The same operation is conducted in the making of strands for cordage, but when a number of these twines are laid-up or twisted together, the name cord or rope is used to distinguish them.[1]

[Footnote 1: See _Cordage and Cordage Hemp and Fibres_, by T. Woodhouse and P. Kilgour.]

When two or three threads are united by twisting, the operation can be conducted in a twisting frame which differs little from a ordinary spinning frame, and hence need not be described. There may be, however, appliances embodying some system of automatic stop motion to bring the individual spindles to rest if one thread out of any group which are being combined happens to break. When several threads have to be twisted together, special types of twisting frames are employed; these special machines are termed "tube twisters," and the individual threads pass through holes suitably placed in a plate or disc before they reach the tube.

More or less elaborate methods of combining yarns are occasionally adopted, but the reader is advised to consult the above-mentioned work on Cordage and similar literature for detailed information.

When the yarn leaves the spinning frame, or the twisting frame, it is made up according to requirements, and the general operations which follow spinning and twisting are,--reeling, cop-winding, roll or spool winding, mill warping or link warping. The type or class of yarn, the purpose for which the yarn is to be used, or the equipment of the manufacturer, determines which of these methods should be used previous to despatching the yarn.

_Reeling_. Reeling is a comparatively simple operation, consisting solely of winding the yarns from the spinning or twisting bobbins on to a wide swift or reel of a suitable width and of a fixed diameter, or rather circumference. Indeed, the circumference of the reel was fixed by an Act of Convention of Estates, dating as far back as 1665 and as under:

"That no linen yarn be exported under the pain of confiscation, half to the King and half to the attacher."

"That linen yarn be sold by weight and that no reel be shorter than _ten quarters_."

The same size of reel has been adopted for all jute yarns. All such yarns which are to be dyed, bleached, or otherwise treated must be reeled in order that the liquor may easily penetrate the threads which are obviously in a loose state. There are systems of dyeing and bleaching yarns in cop, roll or beam form, but these are not employed much in the jute industry. Large quantities of jute yarns intended for export are reeled, partly because bundles form suitable bales for transport, and partly because of the varied operations and sizes of apparatus which obtain in foreign countries.

YARN TABLE FOR JUTE YARNS

90 inches, or 2-1/2 yards = 1 thread, or
the circumference of the reel
120 threads or 300 yards = 1 cut (or lea)
2 cuts or 600 yards = 1 heer
12 cuts or 3,600 yards = 1 standard hank
48 cuts or 14,400 yards = 1 spyndle

Since jute yarns are comparatively thick, it is only the very finest yarns which contain 12 cuts per hank. The bulk of the yarn is made up into 6-cut hanks. If the yarn should be extra thick, even 6 cuts are too many to be combined, and one finds groups of 4 cuts, 3 cuts, 2 cuts, and even 1 cut. A convenient name for any group less than 12 cuts is a "mill-hank," because the number used is simply one of convenience to enable the mill-hank to be satisfactorily placed on the swift in the winding frame.

The reeling operation is useful in that it enables one to measure the length of the yarn; indeed, the operation of reeling, or forming the yarn into cuts and hanks, has always been used as the method of designating the count, grist or number of the yarn. We have already seen that the count of jute yarn is determined by the weight in lbs. of one spyndle (14,400 yds.).

For 8 lb. per spyndle yarn, and for other yarns of about the same count, it is usual to have provision for 24 spinning bobbins on the reel. As the reel rotates, the yarn from these 24 bobbins is wound round, say,

6 in. apart, and when the reel has made 120 revolutions, or 120 threads at each place from each bobbin, there will be 24 separate cuts of yarn on the reel. When 120 threads have been reeled as mentioned, a bell rings to warn the attendant that the cuts are complete; the reel is then stopped, and a "lease-band" is tied round each group of 120 threads.

A guide rod moves the thread guide laterally and slowly as the reeling operation is proceeding so that each thread or round may be in close proximity to its neighbour without riding on it, and this movement of the thread extends to approximately 6 in., to accommodate the 6 cuts which are to form the mill-hank.

Each time the reel has made 120 revolutions and the bell rings, the reeler ties up the several cuts in the width, so that when the mill-hank is complete, each individual cut will be distinct. In some case, the two threads of the lease-band instead of being tied, are simply crossed and recrossed at each cut, without of course breaking the yarn which is being reeled, although effectively separating the cuts. At the end of the operation (when the quantity of cuts for the mill-hank has been reeled) the ends of the lease-band are tied.

The object of the lease-band is for facilitating the operation of winding, and for enabling the length to be checked with approximate correctness.

When the reel has been filled with, say, twenty-four 6-cut hanks, there will evidently be 3 spyndles of yarn on the reel. The 24 mill-hanks are then slipped off the end of the reel, and the hanks taken to the bundling stool or frame. Here they, along with others of the same count, are made up into bundles which weigh from 54 lb. to 60 lb. according to the count of the yarn. Each bundle contains a number of complete hanks, and it is unusual to split a hank for the purpose of maintaining an absolutely standard weight bundle. Indeed, the bundles contain an even number of hanks, so that while there would be exactly 56 lb. per bundle of 7 lb. yarn, or 8 lb. yarn, there would be 60 lb in a bundle of 7-1/2 lb. yarn, and 54 lb. in a bundle of 9 lb. yarn.

The chief point in reeling is to ensure that the correct number of threads is in each cut, i.e. to obtain a "correct tell"; this ideal condition may be impracticable in actual work, but it is wise to approach it as closely as possible. Careless workers allow the reel to run on after one or more spinning bobbins are empty, and this yields what is known as "short tell." It is not uncommon to introduce a bell wheel with, say, 123 or 124 teeth, instead of the nominal 120 teeth, to compensate for this defect in reeling.