Nightingale. 
 
 Practice in weaving and loo*-!- fixing 
 
 TS 
 
 1490 
 N68
 
 Textile Record Bud Book No. 3 
 
 PRACTICE 
 
 IN 
 
 Weaving *#> Loom-fixing 
 
 A COMPLETE MANUAL FOR THE WEAVE-ROOM 
 
 D. B. NIGHTINGALE, 
 
 Master Weaver 
 
 PUBLISHED BYTHE TEXTILE RECORD 
 
 425 WALNUT ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 Price, ..... 75 Cents.
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 TEXTILE SCHOOL 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1884 
 
 Oldest in America. Most Com- 
 plete in the World 
 
 Instruction given in Designing, Weaving, Carding, Spinning, 
 Chemistry, Dyeing and Finishing in 
 
 Cotton, Wool, Worsted and Silk 
 
 The School is equipped for the practical work in 
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 for every branch. Care and manage- 
 ment of the Power Loom given Spe- 
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 School year begins October and extends to June. Evening Classes 
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 For Illustrated Year Book and other information, address j 
 
 E. W. FRANCE, Director 
 
 BROAD AND PINE STS. PHILADELPHIA
 
 PRACTICE) 
 
 IN 
 
 Weaving and Loom-Fixing, 
 
 A Complete Manual for the 
 Weave Room. 
 
 With full detailed instructions respecting the 
 
 Construction and Operation 
 
 of Woolen and Worsted Looms, including 
 
 necessary calculations. 
 
 By B. D. NIGHTINGALE, 
 
 Weaving Master. 
 
 Published by 
 
 THE TEXTILE RECORD, 
 
 425 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 1887. 
 
 Price, 7" 5 Cents.
 
 UNIFORM WITH THIS BOOK. 
 
 Textile Record Hana book No. 1, Practice in \v ool Carding, by Joseph 
 
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 OOPYRIQHTED 1887, 
 BY CHARLES HEBER CLARK.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 MAKING THE LOOM READY. 
 
 PREPARATORY OPERATIONS THE BOXES FITTING THE 
 PINS THE SHAFT THE PICKING PLATES THE PICK- 
 ING-BARS SETTING AND FASTENING THE SHOE 
 
 MAKING CONNECTIONS THE SWEEP-STICK AND STRAP 
 
 THE CRANK-SHAFT 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 LATHE AND SHUTTLE-BOXES. 
 
 THE CRANII-ARM OF THE LATHE SETTING THE LATHE 
 FIXING THE SHUTTLE-BOXES AND FITTING THE 
 SHUTTLES BENDING THE BOX-ROD PICKERS AND 
 
 PICKER-RACES . . . 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE SHUTTLE. 
 
 SHUTTLE TROUBLES AND THEIR REMEDIES PICKER-RACE 
 AND SHUTTLE-BOX CAUSES OF DIFFICULTIES BEND- 
 ING THE REED PUTTING IN THE PICKERS AND 
 PICKER-STICKS THE BUNTER THE PACKING ON THE 
 SPINDLE THE PROTECTOR A TIGHT SPRING ON THE 
 ROD THE KNOCK-OFF LEVER THE SHIPPER AND 
 FORK 24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 HEAD-MOTIONS. 
 
 THE PUMP MOTION METHOD OF FIXING IT SETTING THE 
 
 STUDS AND CHAIN CYLINDER CRANK HARNESS-WIRE 
 
 AND STRAP CONNECTIONS THE FINGER-JACK LOOM 
 SETTING UP THE HEAD HOOKS AND FINGERS STICK- 
 ING OF THE SLIDE THE SHED CAUSES OF MISPICKS 
 THE HORIZONTAL MOTION MODERN IMPROVED 
 HEAD-MOTIONS 37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE BOX-MOTION. 
 THE OLD CAM-MOTION THE FORKS SETTING RATCHET 
 
 AND PLATE THE FRICTION-BAND TIMING THE 
 
 STARTING OF THE BOXES REGULATING THE STRAPS 
 
 WORN FINGERS FRICTION OF THE CHAIN-CYLIN- 
 DER PUTTING ON THE CYLINDER SETTING THE 
 CYLINDER-GEAR BOXES MISSING LEVERS RUNNING 
 THE FILLING-CHAIN THE FANCY BOX-MOTION . . 57 
 
 3
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 STARTING A WARP. Pa s e 
 
 SETTING A WARP READY CONDITION OF THE HAR- 
 NESSESREPAIRING HARNESSES HOOKS NUTS ON 
 THE HEDDLE-WIRES RULE FOR THE NUMBER OF 
 HEDDLES DRAFT DRAWING IN THE WARP THE 
 RIGHT KIND OF REEDS IMPERFECT REEDS REED- 
 ING THE WARP FINDING THE WIDTH MEASURING 
 LEASE-RODS 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 WARP MATTERS. 
 
 LIFTING IN THE WARP HOOKING UP THE HARNESS- 
 DRAWING IN THE SELVAC.KS THE BEAM-FRICTION 
 DIFFICULTIES WITH BEAMS TYING-IN THE WARP 
 FASTENING THE REED HANDLING THE CHAIN 
 PUTTING ON THE LINKS POINTS ABOUT LINKS 
 BUILDING FILLING-CHAINS PINS OF THE BARS SIZE 
 OF THE SHED EXAMINING THE HARNESS .... 84 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 SHUTTLES, TEMPLES, AND BELTS. 
 
 GOOD AND BAD SHUTTLES SHELLACING SHUTTLES 
 POINTS OF SHUTTLES MEETING IN THE SHED IN- 
 JURY DONE BY SHUTTLES TEMPLES THE USE OF 
 HOOKS STRAPS THE DUTCHER AND OTHER TEMPLES 
 SETTING THE TEMPLE METHOD OF PUTTING ON 
 
 TEMPLES THE BELT ON THE LOOM OILING THE 
 BELT PUTTING ON THE BELT LACING BELT-SLIP- 
 PING 95 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 IN THE WEAVE- ROOM. 
 
 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF OVERSEERS SUPPLIES 
 FOR THE WEAVE-ROOM, AND THEIR COST EXAMI- 
 NATIONS PERCHING, AND HOW TO DO IT RIGHT 
 TICKETING AND MEASURING SEWING-IN BOOKS FOR 
 THE WEAVE- ROOM A GOOD FORM SUGGESTED . . 1 09 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CALCULATIONS. 
 
 CALCULATIONS FOR WOOLF.N YARNS RUNS AND CUTS- 
 FULL EXPLANATIONS METHODS WITH WORSTED 
 YARNS TABLE OF RUNS, CUTS, YARDS, AND GRAINS 
 WEICJHT IN A YARD OF WARP FILLING CALCULA- 
 TIONS TO FIND RUNS FROM OUNCES POUNDS 
 NEEDED FOR CUTS PERCENTAGES OF YARNS SIZES 
 OF PULLEYS PERCENTAGES OF WOOL, ETC. . . . I2O 
 
 4
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MAKING THE LOOM READY. 
 
 PREPARATORY OPERATIONS THE BOXES FITTING THE PINS 
 THE SHAFT THE PICKING PLATES THE PICKING-BARS 
 SETTING AND FASTENING THE SHOE MAKING CONNEC- 
 TIONS THE SWEEPSTICK AND STRAP THE CRANK-SHAFT. 
 
 Fastening the boxes. If I were to begin 
 the overhauling of a loom, I should strip it of 
 everything but the two principal shafts, and 
 those I would lift out of the boxes. Fixers 
 have always been troubled with the boxes get- 
 ting loose, and the difficulty that we experience 
 in reaching them to tighten them up makes 
 adjustment of a loose box a job that any fixer 
 dreads. So that now, while everything is out 
 of the loom, it is a good time to make them per- 
 manently fast. On the new Cromptom looms 
 the rib that is cast on the frame helps to keep 
 them in their place; but the old looms are 
 always a trouble if the boxes are not well fixed. 
 
 Take the box out, and lay a straight edge on 
 the inside. If the middle rib is higher than the 
 outside ones, two of the best bolts you can find 
 will not keep it from rocking on the frame ; and
 
 unless you have one or two unsightly pieces of 
 picking-stick to brace it down, the chances are 
 that you will have to crawl under the loom very 
 often to tighten the box and bark your knuckles. 
 File across the ribs until your straight-edge 
 shows them to be even, care being taken lest 
 you get them slanting from either side. 
 
 Fitting the pin. In putting the box on, 
 take time enough to fit a good pin through both 
 box and frame, and in such a manner as to draw 
 the box down, so that it fits snug on the top of 
 the frame. This is often carelessly done, and 
 the pin, when holding the box up too high, pre- 
 vents it from obtaining a bearing on the top of 
 the frame as well as the side. If this is the case, 
 you cannot keep it tight, no matter how hard 
 you tighten up the bolts. Do the job well, 
 taking time enough for it, and you will save 
 yourself much disagreeable duty. 
 
 Having fitted the box to the frame, so that it 
 has an even bearing on both top and side of the 
 frame, the bolts snugly tightened will hold the 
 box so that it cannot rock or start. 
 
 Set-screws. Before putting the boxes on 
 the frame, look after the set-screws or cap-bolts. 
 On a loom that has been run any length of time 
 they are usually found worn out. It takes but 
 a very short time to spoil the set-screws in the 
 bottom shaft boxes, if they are allowed to rattle
 
 around loose until you have been compelled to 
 tighten them up to keep the shaft in its bearings. 
 While you are at it, fit in good set-screws. Let 
 them screw in rather tight. You cannot screw 
 them in with your fingers, perhaps ; but when 
 they are in, you can take a large wrench and put 
 your muscle to it, and the caps will stay there. 
 
 The shaft. We will next turn our attention 
 to the shaft. The big gear should have no 
 worn-out teeth in it. They always come where 
 the pick begins, or the protector strikes. If 
 they are worn at all, I should cut a new key- 
 way one-quarter of the way around the hub. 
 The gear should fit to perfection. We want the 
 picking shaft to stay in its place when we get 
 through with it, and we cannot afford to leave 
 the gear-wheel running out of true on the shaft. 
 
 So, if not perfectly true, get it fixed, and, 
 when it is keyed on, see to it that the key fits 
 snugly the whole length of the key-way. 
 
 The advantages of a perfect-fitting key are 
 that there is no danger of the hub being split in 
 driving it in. A light riveting hammer will 
 drive it in, and it will stay for good when it gets 
 there. And, not the least important, you do 
 not have to waste several hours of precious time 
 to get it out when you want to. 
 
 The picking plates, Next look after the 
 picking plates. If they have ever been loose,
 
 the key-way will be found ragged, and almost 
 useless. Either cut a wider key-way, or turn 
 the shaft over and cut a new one on the opposite 
 side. Be sure that each plate is fastened on the 
 shaft exactly like the others and spare no pains 
 to get this result, or else trouble will follow, and 
 be likely to continue for a while, too. 
 
 While the plates are loose, see if the grooves 
 for the picking-roll-extension are not worn too 
 badly on the edges. If they are, it is very 
 important that they be fixed, either by planing 
 or filing, while you have a chance. If the grooves 
 in the plate, and the ribs on the extension, are 
 not square on the edges, the bolts are broken 
 sometimes at the rate of two or three in a day. 
 The usual treatment is to put the biggest bolt 
 that it is possible to get in through the plate, 
 and if that breaks, to do the same thing over. 
 The right way is to fix the grooves and the 
 extension, and then it does not take much of a 
 bolt to keep them fast. Therefore it pays to 
 make a good job while the plates are off. 
 
 Before putting on the plates put a good collar 
 on the shaft, on the gear end, to prevent end- 
 play. It is very important to do this, for it 
 saves the gear more than anything you can do, 
 by keeping it tight in its place and preventing 
 it from slipping with the pinion-gear. Having 
 done this, slide the picking-plates on, but do not
 
 drive the key tight until the picking bars are in 
 place, so that you can try the roll on the shoe, 
 and make it strike the latter in the right place. 
 
 The picking bars. Before putting the pick- 
 ing-bars in place, have them straight. Little 
 attention is paid to this matter sometimes, and 
 a bar is put in while twisted and bent, and then 
 the fixer wonders why he cannot get as good 
 pick on one side of the loom as he does on the 
 other, or why it is that one side takes a sweep- 
 stick 19 inches long, and the other side one of 
 1 7 inches. A good pick, or at least a trustworthy 
 one, cannot be obtained unless the picking-bar 
 is straight. 
 
 Setting the shoe. In setting the shoe we 
 come to a task that often puzzles fixers of long 
 experience, and the rules, as laid down by differ- 
 ent authorities, are seldom alike. Some assert 
 that 7*/ inches is the right place; while others 
 cannot run a loom successfully short of 8 inches 
 from the socket. Every man has an idea, and 
 possibly a good one, too ; but I do not believe 
 in doing much measuring for the sake of follow- 
 ing some rule that I have read of. It is far less 
 important than studying out the principle and 
 being guided by that. Any fixer will find this 
 out, if he ever gets hold of a kind of loom where 
 the picking-shaft is farther from the back-girth 
 upon which the socket rests, than it is on the
 
 Crompton or Knowles looms. It will then be 
 found that the 7^ inch rule is not the thing. 
 In that case we are obliged either to try until 
 we get it right, or to learn the principle upon 
 which the picking-shoe is constructed, and work 
 from such knowledge. 
 
 The distance of 7^ inches is, in my opinion, 
 too far back to set a shoe on a Crompton loom. 
 The pick loses its force at the point where it is 
 most needed. The shoe is so constructed that 
 from the bottom the incline is about one-half as 
 steep, for about half the distance travelled by the 
 roll, as it is from the middle of that distance to 
 the top; so that when the roll strikes the shoe 
 at the bottom, the speed of the picking-stick is 
 comparatively slow at first, getting swifter and 
 stronger as the roll reaches the steeper parts, 
 until the point is attained where the shuttle 
 leaves the box. Now, if we set the shoe back, 
 the relation to the shoe, of the circle described 
 by the picking roll, is changed completely, and, 
 if anything, it gives more power at the begin- 
 ning of the stroke than it does at the last, and 
 you borrow power by lowering the lug-strap. 
 
 You then have a pick that jerks the shuttle 
 full speed at the start, making it easy to fly out 
 on the slightest provocation, and sometimes 
 without any provocation at all. Furthermore, 
 the lower the lug-strap is set, the nearer you get
 
 to the wrong end of the lever, and it takes an 
 immeasurable amount of increased power to 
 throw the shuttle a loss every way. 
 
 To move the shoe too far forward is to go to 
 the other extreme from setting it too far back ; 
 the only difference being that you cannot run 
 the loom at all if the shoe is set directly under 
 the shaft. Therefore, to get the best results, I 
 think 7^ inches is the right place to set the shoe 
 on the Crompton loom; and I state this measure- 
 ment, not on account of the inches it takes, but 
 to show that if you should set other things right, 
 and then put your shoe where it would do the 
 most good, you would find it about 7^ from the 
 socket. 
 
 Fastening the shoe. Having become satis- 
 fied that this is the place where we want the 
 shoe, then measure every time, and in putting 
 our picking-bar in place make the shoe fast 
 enough to stay where you put it. If it is a new 
 shoe, file it a little inside. Most fixers put the 
 shoe on, if it will go on, without filing, and a 
 bur in the corner gets all the strain of the tight- 
 ened set-screw. When working, the bur soon 
 gets crushed and the shoe is loosened. If it be 
 filed square and true inside, so that the ribs rest 
 solid on the bar, you have a bearing which will 
 hold better than an over-tightened set-screw, 
 ^nd you seldom burst the shoe in fastening.
 
 Fastening the picking-arm. On the same 
 principle I would fasten the picking-arm. I 
 have often found home-made picking-arms with 
 no rib around the edges, on the inside. No 
 part of this would touch the bar but the middle, 
 which in fact should never touch at all, and you 
 could turn the set-screw as tight as possible and 
 then rock the picking-arm on the bar. It only 
 runs but a short time before it is loose; and as 
 the fixer dislikes to take it to the bench to make 
 a good job of it, he gets under the loom, tightens 
 it up, perhaps several times a day, until he gets 
 sufficiently disgusted. Then he takes it to the 
 bench and finds the bar worn so that no picking- 
 arm, however perfect, will fit on the bar and 
 have a true and solid bearing. It is run in this 
 way for years, and, times without number, some 
 one has to fix that picking-arm. On the new 
 style looms, especially, careful attention should 
 be paid to this matter. If the inside of the pick- 
 ing-dog is not filed carefully, to square it, the 
 bearing on which the loose picking-arm works 
 soon gets cracked and broken. 
 
 Making connections. Having got every- 
 thing on the bar, put it in place and proceed to 
 make the connections. The picking-ann-stud 
 should be in good shape if you do not want to 
 be fixing it every little while. I would not put 
 a stud on unless there is a good enough thread
 
 on it to permit of the nut being screwed up very 
 tight. If the stud should get loose for a few 
 minutes, when you go to fix it you will find it 
 spoiled. It should never get loose; and it will 
 not if it has a square, solid bearing on the pick- 
 ing-arm. 
 
 The pin in the Stud. A very insignificant 
 but troublesome thing is the pin in the stud. It 
 is too small an affair to be worthy of much care, 
 so the fixer twists a piece of wire in the hole to 
 serve for a pin and, of course, it cannot come out. 
 He cannot get it out sometimes when he wants 
 to put a new sweep-stick on in place of that 
 which this same crooked piece of wire has spoiled, 
 by gouging out the stud-hole of the stick. 
 
 I regard it as a matter of great importance to 
 look after these so-called little things, and when 
 I put a stud on, I cut a leather washer that will 
 fit tight on the stud, and then drive a tight, 
 straight pin in the stud. If it fits the hole all 
 right, it will not come out ; but if it is too taper- 
 ing it cannot get a bearing excepting at its 
 thickest part and of course will come out. Fit 
 it in right. This will not take long, and it will 
 save you many times the labor expended because 
 the job will last, to say nothing of the sweep- 
 sticks saved. 
 
 The sweep-stick, The sweep-stick should 
 always have a rivet or bolt in the end to keep it
 
 from splitting ; and the prudent fixer or overseer 
 will see that this is done and a supply of them 
 already prepared before they are needed. 
 
 The sweep-strap, For a sweep-strap, which 
 is the next thing we will put on, various kinds 
 of material are used. I do not have a very high 
 regard for rotten belting for this purpose. Nor 
 are the canvas sweep-straps without their faults. 
 The canvas straps, if everything is in the best of 
 order, are the most desirable ; but frequently 
 they break the screws in the stirrup-strap until 
 the picking stick is so full of screws that you 
 are compelled to take it off for want of room to 
 put in another screw. Some fixers put the 
 stirrup-strap on the side of the picking-stick. It 
 is a slovenly and undesirable way of doing it. 
 If the screws are breaking it is the fault of the 
 loom. They will not break if other things are 
 running all right. It generally occurs when the 
 pick is such as to compel you to put the lug- 
 strap too far down, and that is never necessary. 
 If power enough cannot be obtained, overhaul 
 the picking-motion and make things right ; and 
 if other things in connection with the picking- 
 motion are doing their work properly you can 
 raise your sweep connections on a level and 
 there will be plenty of power. Do not punch 
 your sweep-strap full of holes; one hole is 
 enough. 
 
 14
 
 In making our sweep connections, now that 
 we have had everything off the loom, I should 
 have the picking-stick-stud in the centre of the 
 slot; and then fasten it temporarily until I could 
 try the rolls on the shoe. You can now move 
 the picking-plates so that the roll strikes the 
 shoe all right, and then make them fast. This 
 done, try the sweep. The picking-roll should 
 touch the shoe at the bottom, and give enough 
 sweep to bring the picking-stick to within one 
 inch of the bunter. If it does this, make the 
 connections fast and you will not have to move 
 them much when you come to start the loom. 
 
 The crank-shaft. We will now fasten every- 
 thing in connection with the bottom shaft and 
 we are ready for the crank-shaft. The boxes 
 should be given the same thorough overhauling 
 that we gave the bottom shaft-boxes. In gear- 
 ing them together turn the picking-ball so that 
 it just begins to move the shoe and then gear 
 the two shafts together with the crank not quite 
 on the top, or, inclined one tooth toward the 
 lathe. We may have to move it, but we will 
 try the lathe first and see if we are right. 
 
 The picking motion on the Knowles loom is 
 practically the same as on the Crompton, and 
 the rules for running the latter, apply to the 
 Knowles. In point of construction it is not 
 excelled by any loom made. The same, in fact,
 
 may be said of any picking-motion where a shoe 
 is used ; the only difference being in the length 
 of the shoe-shaft and the distance from the back 
 of the loom. 
 
 When a Knowles loom is sent from the shop 
 you will find that the sweep-stick is in two parts, 
 and bolted together midway. It is a convenient 
 arrangement and can be used on any loom to 
 advantage. 
 
 There are other slight changes on the Knowles 
 picking motion, and, taken as a whole, it is a 
 most excellent arrangement.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 LATHE AND SHUTTLE BOXES. 
 CRANK-ARM OF THE LATHE SETTING THE LATHE FIXING 
 
 THE SHUTTLE-BOXES AND FITTING THE SHUTTLES BEND- 
 ING THE BOX-ROD PICKERS AND PICKER-RACKS. 
 
 Crank-arms of the lathe. In beginning 
 work on the lathe we will first put on the crank- 
 arms. The strap that goes on the crank, 
 whether it be of iron or leather, should not be 
 tight. It is very easy to make a loom run hard 
 if this is too tight, more e pecially with an iron 
 strap. The thickness of the crank-arm should 
 equal the diameter of the crank. If it does not, 
 when the bolts are tightened up the band or 
 strap squeezes the crank so hard as to make it 
 almost impossible to move the loom by hand. 
 This applies to new looms mostly. 
 
 Setting the lathe. Having put the crank- 
 arms on, we will next set the lathe. The race- 
 board should be five-eighths of an inch below 
 the breast-beam, and leveled before fastening. 
 The middle sword should be the last to be fast- 
 ened, and should pull down on the lathe. To 
 accomplish this, tighten up the bolts on the bot- 
 
 17
 
 torn just enough to hold what it gets. Then 
 olace a block of wood on the race and strike 
 with a loom-weight. One or two blows will sag 
 the lathe down enough to hold, when the bolt 
 should be tightened up as hard as possible, so 
 that the jar of the loom will not let the sword 
 slip up. 
 
 Shuttle-boxes. We can now find plenty to 
 do on the shuttle-boxes, whether they are new 
 or old. If new ones they should be taken out 
 and filed, as the corners and edges are usually 
 found to be rough and sharp. Do this job 
 thoroughly, and do not be in too much of a 
 hurry, as you will never have a better chance to 
 put the boxes in proper shape. I find it a very 
 advantageous thing to file the sides of the mouth 
 of each box, the lower half the most, as it will let 
 the shuttle touch the top of the side, before it 
 will the bottom, and prevent filling-cutting. 
 
 Have a shuttle handyl to try in the box while 
 you are filing, and you can get each box so that 
 the side of the shuttle below the eye cannot 
 touch the lower part of the box-side at all, and 
 you will find that it prevents filling-cutting at that 
 spot very effectually. File the edges of the long 
 slot in the back of the box through which the 
 picker slides. File the sharp edge off only, and 
 do not neglect it, for the shuttle is liable to be 
 damaged if this is not done, and then it causes 
 
 18
 
 the shuttle to bind tighter than is natural, and 
 the fixer wonders why he cannot get spring 
 enough oft" of the swell to let the shuttle go in 
 easy. For the same reason the boxes should 
 be polished with emery cloth. The gum and 
 rust on the inside of the boxes bind the shuttles 
 too tight, and everything about the picking- 
 motion has to be run a little different while they 
 are in this condition. After they are worn 
 smooth the fixer has to go over them and tighten 
 up the binder-springs. Perhaps he has to bend 
 the swells a little differently, and fuss with a 
 new loom for many days before it is " limbered 
 up," as they term it. I prefer " limbering" the 
 loom up at the start, so that I have less alter- 
 ing to do. 
 
 Many fixers have great trouble in making the 
 boxes work on a new loom, when the principal 
 trouble lies in the fact that the rusty or gummy 
 box causes the shuttles to stick, and they hold 
 into the picker, or on the iron slide or evener. 
 This is a small matter, and some may be disp ised 
 to pass over it lightly, but if fixers will be more 
 careful in starting a new shuttle-box, and will 
 clean it and polish it up before putting it in, it 
 will be found a very profitable thing every time. 
 
 Fitting the shuttles. Having cleaned and 
 polished the box, before putting it in the loom 
 I would fit the shuttles. In this part of the 
 
 19
 
 work no fixer needs to be reminded of the im- 
 portance of care, but I think very few realize 
 how much trouble they might save in the run- 
 ning of a loom if they put all the skill that care 
 and study would enable them to do, when bend- 
 ing and fitting the swells. We know that it is 
 a common occurrence for the shuttle in one box 
 to work differently from the rest. If we have a 
 shuttle that lags a little we find that others from 
 the same side have enough power. A crooked 
 shuttle is nearly always thrown from a certain 
 box; the same with a shuttle that flies out after 
 passing through the shed. Of course, this is 
 not always the case, but most fixers will agree 
 with me that in the majority of instances certain 
 boxes give more trouble than the rest. 
 
 The reason must be that they are not alike ; 
 and of course, the difference must be in the bend- 
 ing of the swells or binders. In bending them, 
 therefore, I would use the utmost care to have 
 them exactly alike in every way. 
 
 The binder should touch the shuttle for a 
 space of about 5 inches, 2^ inches on each side 
 of the place where the binder-spring touches the 
 binder. If one swell touches most, nearer the 
 back end of the spring, and another in the same 
 box touches most, nearer the front end, there is 
 a vast difference in the pressure that is brought 
 to bear on the shuttles in those boxes.
 
 My reason for bending the swell so that the 
 contact with the shuttles comes on each side of 
 the point where the spring touches, is that to 
 put it nearer the back end of the swell, binds the 
 shuttle too tight and does not allow the slides, 
 that even up the points of the shuttle, to push 
 them forward easily. If this is the case, the box 
 is held up by the point of the shuttle resting on 
 this slide, and will cause the picker to catch in 
 the box. On the other hand if the swell is bent 
 so that the contact comes on the front end, it 
 does not hold it tight enough. 
 
 In bending them, round the neck of the swell 
 so that the shuttle does not strike a corner as it 
 enters the box. Some believe that is the best 
 way, but most fixers do not. The side of the 
 shuttle is soon worn away, unless the swells are 
 bent so that the shuttle has an easy entrance in 
 the box. 
 
 While you have your box at the vise put all 
 your swells in and try one shuttle in all the 
 boxes and look through each box to see if you 
 have not twisted the swell in bending it. If it 
 is twisted you can see that it touches on but one 
 side, and consequently you do not have more 
 than one-half the surface in contact with the 
 shuttle that you would if both sides touched. 
 One would hardly suspect this, and for this rea- 
 son I like to bend the swells where I can get at
 
 them and see to do it right. I like to take pains 
 with them and when I am through with them I 
 do not bend them every time I go nearthe loom, 
 or allow any one else to do it, either. I cannot 
 bend a swell properly with a loom weight or an 
 old picking-ball, and I do not think any one else 
 can. There are many "special" bends for various 
 troubles, and I have tried nearly every way, but 
 they are all unnecessary. Bend the swell right, 
 and if the shuttle flies out or is thrown crooked, 
 fix the right thing. You will have less trouble 
 in the end. 
 
 Bending the box-rod. In putting the box- 
 in the lathe there are a few points about bending 
 the box-rod, not generally noticed. The back 
 of the box should tip up about one-sixteenth of 
 an inch, and to do this the box-rod has to be bent. 
 In performing this operation, the bend is made 
 at the lower end of the rod, or where it passes 
 through the hole in the picker-stick-stand. 
 When the box is lifted to the fourth one, a 
 difference of ^ of an inch may be found. The 
 same thing occurs sometimes when the rod is 
 bent towards or from you, as you face the box. 
 In this case it will bind the box when it is lifted 
 up, and I have known fixers to file the shuttle- 
 box-guides, and even the box, when the fault 
 really lay in the way the rod was bent. The 
 remedy, therefore, is in bending the rod in
 
 such a manner as to leave it perfectly straight 
 where it passes through the stand below, and 
 you can depend upon having each box come up, 
 tipped i-i6th of an inch, if you set them that 
 way ; if ^th, they will all be alike. 
 
 Pickers and picker races, We will now 
 put the boxes in the loom without putting the 
 box lever connections on, and turn our attention 
 to the pickers and picker-races.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SHUTTLE. 
 
 SHUTTLE TROUBLES AND THEIR REMEDIES PICKER-RACE 
 AND SHUTTLE-BOX CAUSES OK DIFFICULTIES BENDING 
 THE REKD PUTTING IN THE PICKERS AND PICKING- 
 STICKS THE BUNTER THE PACKING ON THE SPINDLE 
 
 THE PROTECTOR A TIGHT SPRING ON THE ROD THE 
 KNOCK OFF LEVER THE SHIPPER AND FORK. 
 
 On a new loom there is not much to do but 
 to put the pickers on, and see to it that we have 
 a packing solid enough to keep the picker from 
 going too far back, so that the shuttle will not I 
 catch. On nearly all looms there is a chance to I 
 improve a little in this, so we will consider that 
 we are working on an old loom. 
 
 We often find that a loom readily makes 
 trouble by throwing the shuttle out, and also by 
 throwing a crooked shuttle. It perhaps cuts I 
 the filling, and when we have a very heavy warp ; 
 in, it will bump the shuttle against the top of the ! 
 box and rough it up by so doing. On some ! 
 warps we have no trouble, while on others we ] 
 have to fix the loom every day. We then blame 
 the reed or the heavy warp for the trouble, but at 
 the same time we know that on other looms the 
 
 24
 
 same reed and warp will cause no trouble. To 
 get such a loom as that in such a shape that we 
 can put anything into it and not be afraid of it, 
 is a very desirable thing to accomplish, and I 
 think it can be done. I have had looms that I 
 dreaded to be called to, and I always had trouble 
 if the warp was in any way difficult. By study- 
 ing out its peculiarities and having a " brush " 
 with it when I had the time, I have got such 
 looms into the traces again, and every warp would 
 run right along. I usually found the trouble in 
 the way the shuttle-box, in connection with the 
 picker-race, was lined. Sometimes the whole 
 lathe-end would be found out of line, and it looks 
 like such an important job that few fixers would 
 loosen up the lathe end to fix it. 
 
 To find out how we stand let us put a good 
 reed in the lathe and put a straight edge on it, 
 extending into the shuttle-box. The straight 
 edge should be perfectly true and in using one 
 for this purpose, do not take anything for 
 granted, but find whether you are using a really 
 straight edge or not. 
 
 In trying it in the box and against the reed, 
 if everything is all right, the straight-edge will 
 be one-sixteenth of an inch from the face of the 
 reed at the edge or side of it. If it is any more 
 than that or any less, it is not as it should be. 
 
 Suppose you find that the straight edge 
 
 25
 
 touches the reed and is, say, one-sixteenth or 
 one-eighth of an inch from touching the box at 
 the back end of it. One way of remedying this 
 is to loosen the shuttle-box-guide and pack it 
 so as to bring the box out far enough to touch 
 the straight edge and throw it one-sixteenth of 
 an inch from the reed. This will do very well 
 so far as the box is concerned, and it is the way 
 this job is usually done, but if you bring the 
 box forward and not the picker race, how is that 
 going to keep the race in line with the box ? 
 And any loom-fixer should know, if he does 
 not, that the picker-race should run in exact 
 line with the box. If not, the point of the 
 shuttle touches the picker in one place when it 
 is back in the box and if brought forward and 
 the shuttle is held against the reed as it should 
 start out, it will be found that it touches the 
 picker in a different place ; and when thrown out 
 quick, the shuttle does not have time to swing 
 back against the reed and consequently goes 
 through the shed in a sideling sort of a way. 
 Perhaps it is thrown outward on the race, and in 
 bounding back on the reed is thrown out, after 
 passing through the shed. These are our crook- 
 ed shuttles and our shuttles that fly out after 
 passing through the shed ; the worst of all things 
 to fix. In order to avoid them we must have the 
 picker-race parallel with the box ; and if it is an 
 
 26
 
 iron-end lathe, the packing out of the shuttle-box 
 guides will not help matters much, but will be 
 more likely to make them worse. 
 
 Causes of difficulties. If the back of the 
 shuttle-box is found to be farther back than it 
 should be, before doing anything ascertain first 
 whether the race and box are parallel. Some- 
 times the front of the box is too far out, or per- 
 haps the front shuttle-box-guide is packed too far 
 out; or if not, the casting is too thick. The 
 front shuttle-box-guide is not apt to be too thick. 
 It should face out even with the inside of the box 
 and usually it does ; but often a piece of paste- 
 board or leather has been slipped in behind it. 
 But, if everything is all right in regard to the 
 front end of the box, the trouble with the back 
 end is in the whole lathe-end being out of true. 
 
 Now tip your box up, so that the back of it is 
 one-sixteenth of an inch higher than the front and 
 then see if the slot in the picker-race is right as 
 regards being level. It should be level and thus 
 allow the box to be higher at the back than the 
 slot is. If not found correct you can alter this 
 part, while you have the lathe-end loose for 
 bringing it in line with the reed. 
 
 Having become satisfied which way you want 
 to throw the end, loosen up all the bolts and 
 lag-screws and pack with paste-board. It does 
 not need a great quantity, as you will find out, 
 
 27'
 
 but put enough in so that you can tighten up 
 the bolts very tight and yet not throw the end 
 out of line. If, in looking at your boxes and 
 race, you found that the front end of the box and 
 the face of the front guide were out farther than 
 the reed, which often occurs, it might be enough 
 to put one thickness of press-paper nearest the 
 sword and two nearest the middle of the lathe. 
 That will serve to throw the sword backward, 
 and the end of lathe forward, which will perhaps 
 bring it far enough to make the back end of the 
 box I 16 of an inch farther out than the reed, 
 which is what you are trying to get. If the end 
 needs tipping either up or down, do it now 
 while you have it loose. 
 
 Of course to make a success of the job a 
 great deal depends upon the judgment of the 
 fixer, and he should proceed with confidence, re- 
 membering that there is a right way, and it only 
 needs perseverance to get it. 
 
 After fastening the lathe-end securely, try the 
 box in again and draw the picker out slowly, 
 allowing it to push the shuttle before it. Hold 
 the shuttle snug against the back of the box and 
 against the reed, and see if the point of the 
 shuttle keeps in one place on the picker. If the 
 lining of the lathe-end has been accurately done, 
 and the box and race are parallel, the point of 
 the shuttle will touch in the same place whether 
 
 28
 
 the picker be back, or forward, to the end of the 
 stroke ; and if you have got this result the loom 
 will throw the shuttle straight; it cannot help it. 
 
 Other causes of trouble. Of course there 
 are other things that can make the shuttle work 
 badly ; but usually they are very simple things, 
 and many fixers do some big overhauling to 
 make a loom throw the shuttle straight, when 
 some such thing as a bent reed is causing all the 
 trouble. 
 
 Bending the reed. Right here I would call 
 attention to the practice of bending the reed 
 back with the hammer when it faces out too far 
 for the back of the shuttle box. I have just 
 shown how the reed, box guide and shuttle box 
 can be brought in line with each other, and I 
 think it is a great mistake to spoil all the reeds 
 in the weave-room on a few looms that are 
 simply in need of proper adjustment. The trou- 
 ble caused by this pernicious practice is incal- 
 culable. I do not think these things would be 
 so frequently neglected, if loom-fixers fully ap- 
 preciated the importance of them. 
 
 Putting in the pickers. While we are 
 
 working at the picker- race we will put the pick- 
 ers in. They do not need to be gouged out to 
 fit the point of the shuttle. That practice is 
 sometimes convenient to resort to if the loom is 
 
 29
 
 not in good order and we wish to make the 
 shuttle follow the old rut ; but at best it is only 
 a makeshift. If the box and race are parallel, 
 the point of the shuttle will do all the gouging 
 necessary, and in the right place, too. 
 
 Packing behind the picker, The packing 
 behind the picker, like lots of other things about 
 the loom, can make plenty of trouble if not 
 properly made. Bent box-rods, broken shelves 
 in the boxes, broken box levers, broken pick- 
 ing sticks, bent picking-bars, besides the smashes 
 resulting from this general upsetting are 
 among the troubles caused by defective packing 
 behind the picker. 
 
 I used to have an idea that to make a soft 
 packing would help filling-knocking-off; but I 
 find that it only takes a few picks to drive the 
 packing back so that it amounts to nothing as a 
 cushion. I now make a ball out of cloth and 
 yarn, solid enough to last, and between this ball 
 and the picker I put a piece of good leather, put- 
 ting it so that it has a projection on one side 
 to fit in the picker-slot, and thus be kept in 
 place. 
 
 If any one imagines that to make a packing 
 too solid causes the shuttle to bound, I would 
 assure him that it would be working at the wrong 
 thing to attempt to prevent shuttle-bounding by 
 using a soft packing. It has to be hard enough 
 
 30
 
 to last ; and if the shuttle bounds, fix that with 
 the swell. 
 
 Putting in picking-sticks. The picking- 
 sticks can now be put on. Much could be said 
 of the quality of the picking-sticks we usually 
 get. The best are made of sound second-growth 
 hickory. That we cannot always get them we 
 know very well; but an overseer cannot do a 
 much better thing for the general good of the 
 weave-room than to see to it that a first class 
 article is provided. 
 
 Before putting them on, a rivet or bolt should 
 always be put in near the hole for the stud, and 
 one just below where the stick strikes the bunter. 
 The hole for the stud should be bored squarely 
 through the stick. Some one might say that any 
 one would know that ; but / know that there are 
 many who do not use proper care in boring the 
 holes in the stick, and consequently the stick is 
 twisted when put in. If, then, it binds between 
 the race and the spindle, a jack knife is brought 
 into play, and a not very scientific slice is gouged 
 out of it. Now a stick cannot last if it is not 
 properly treated, any more than anything else on 
 a machine ; and if fixers would use the care in 
 working with such things that a good carpenter 
 would, they would have more time to think over 
 their work, and keep the looms running at the 
 same time. 
 
 3'
 
 The bits employed are usually so dull that they 
 are not fit for boring wood as hard as hickory is. 
 In crowding a dull bit into the picking-stick at 
 the top there is danger of splitting the stick ; it 
 may be very slightly, but when it is put on the 
 loom the screw gives trouble by coming out, and 
 in trying to put a larger one in the stick is ruined, 
 Thus a new stick is spoiled where it may have 
 lasted for months. The cost is not much, of 
 course ; but the demoralizing effect of a fixer 
 having to keep on a run to fix these simple things 
 amounts to something in the aggregate, and 
 should be prevented. Use good bits, and take 
 care of them as a carpenter would. They art- 
 just as precious to a loom-fixer as they are to any 
 one else. 
 
 The hunter. Having put the picking-stick 
 on, with the previously made sweep connections 
 fastened to it, try your bunter. The bunter for 
 the stick should be thick enough to hold it off 
 the picker. Be sure of this, as this business of 
 putting on new pickers and sticks amounts to a 
 great deal in a fixer's work, and if the picking- 
 stick is stopped. by the picker, neither of them 
 can last long. 
 
 There are few things about a loom that are so 
 sadly neglected as the bunter. It is too in- 
 significant, in the minds of most loom-fixers, but 
 this is a mistaken idea. The bunter should be 
 
 32
 
 made out of something that will last. I have 
 tried rubber, and like it, but it does not last long 
 enough. I think good leather put in tight, with 
 the edges cut true, so that you can drive it in 
 solid, is the best thing you can use. 
 
 The packing on the spindle. The packing 
 on the spindle is mostly a piece of picker. It 
 does very well, but I think it is too hard to use 
 for that purpose. A few pieces of good, hard 
 leather answer the purpose better, as they do not 
 batter the picker. 
 
 The protector. Before leaving the lathe, let 
 us look at the protector. It is often found bent 
 at the ends. If it is bent, take it out and straighten 
 it. The rod cannot have that easy swing that it 
 should have, if it is not straight. Often the ends 
 where the set-screw of the protector-finger fast- 
 ens, are so cut up with the screw that we cannot 
 set the finger where we want it. If very bad, 
 they should be either upset, so that the holes can 
 be obliterated, or a new piece welded on. 
 
 Have the daggers dressed, being careful not to 
 get them too sharp. To get them the right 
 length it is necessary to try them in the loom. 
 The one on the dead side should be long enough 
 to hold the other from binding the knock-off- 
 lever tight. They should also be made to fit into 
 the grooves of the knock-off-lever and the bunter. 
 Often they do not, and the r?su-lt is that looms
 
 will make smashes which, when tried, seem to 
 protect perfectly. If the dagger on the lever side 
 fits into the groove of the lever, and the one on 
 the opposite side is a little high, when the loom is 
 running the dagger on the dead side will strike 
 the upper side of the groove in the hunter and 
 glance with such force as to throw both of them 
 clear of the grooves and thus fail to protect. If 
 they strike perfectly even, nothing will be likely 
 to bend them, and you can depend on them. 
 
 When you put the protector in, put the fingers 
 on, and before fastening very tight, adjust the 
 daggers to fit the grooves. Then make the 
 fingers as fast as the set-screw will allow. In 
 tightening the spring on the rod, be careful not 
 to put too much spring on. This is a very com- 
 mon error. If the rod is straight, and works free, 
 it does not require much spring to keep the 
 fingers back on the swell when it is needed. The 
 rod should have an easy swing, which will allow 
 the shuttle, in entering the box, to throw the 
 protector so as to clear the grooves in the lever 
 and bunter. 
 
 Objections to a tight spring on the rod. 
 I have seen looms running under fixers who 
 believed in running the loom with a tight spring 
 on the rod, and have closely watched the effect 
 for many months, and I found it anything but 
 desirable. In order to prevent the loom knock- 
 
 34
 
 ing off, the shuttle had to come in the boxes with 
 terrible force, and even that did not keep the pro- 
 tectors from catching occasionally. 
 
 The evils resulting from such a condition would 
 take up a good many pages of this book, if fully 
 described. The one fact of having to increase 
 the power, if followed up, shows that the binders 
 have to be tighter than is natural. The shuttle 
 must have greater force to start it out of the boxes, 
 and that takes another large share of this bor- 
 rowed power. The loom requires a much tighter 
 belt, making it a very serious thing for the weav- 
 er more important on a loom than on anything 
 else that can be named- -on account of the frequency 
 of the starting and stopping of it. Then there is 
 the increased strain on the picking-motion, caus- 
 ing unnecessary wear on those parts ; and, worst 
 of all, when the loom does knock off, the immense 
 power exerted by the over-tight belt causes 
 broken gears, broken crank-shafts and loose 
 boxes, besides a general racking of the loom in 
 all its parts. Try running the spring loose, and 
 you will find it gives better results. I have dwelt 
 on this, because I know of so many cases where 
 the springs are run too tight, with the results 
 named. 
 
 The knock-off lever. While working on the 
 protector see that the knock-off-lever is not bound 
 when the loom protects. It should go far enough 
 
 35
 
 to knock the handle off, and then the dead side 
 should hold the loom, so that the long shipper 
 rod may be free to stop the loom. 
 
 The shipper, The shipper should always 
 work easy. On a loom that starts and stops 
 easily a weaver can accomplish twenty per cent, 
 more than he can otherwise ; not simply because 
 it takes longer to start the loom, but in acquiring 
 an easy, comfortable motion, and being able to 
 use the hand for something else when changing 
 the shuttle ; and where girls run the looms the 
 fatigue caused by working on a heavy shipping 
 loom discourages them not a little. 
 
 The shipper-fork. The shipper-fork, if prop- 
 erly adjusted, helps in this matter more than any 
 thing else. If any of the parts bind, the fixer 
 can easily detect and fix them ; but fixers do not 
 always think of the belt. If the shipper-fork is 
 set close to the pulley, the belt does not have time 
 to follow the motion of the fork. Consequently 
 the fork pulls on the belt, as it would if the shaft- 
 ing were not running. It pulls in a small degree, 
 but enough to cause a resistance, which makes it 
 hard to ship. The fork should be set four or five 
 inches from the point where the belt runs on the 
 pulley, and should be nearly at right angles with 
 the edge of the belt to prevent turning.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HEAD-MOTIONS. 
 
 THE PUMP MOTION METHOD OF FIXING IT SETTING THE 
 STANDS AND CHA1N-CYLINDER-CRANK HARNESS-WIRE AND 
 STRAP CONNECTIONS THE FINGER-JACK LOOM SETTING 
 UP THE HEAD HOOKS AND FINGERS STICKING OF THE 
 SLIDE THE SHED CAUSE OF MISPICKS THE HORIZON- 
 TAL MOTION MODERN IMPROVED HEAD-MOTIONS. 
 
 The pump-motion. There are many kinds 
 of head-motions, and in speaking on this subject 
 I shall aim to take up those that are in general 
 use. The oldest popular one is the pump-motion. 
 It is a hard motion when a great number of har- 
 ness is used, but for 12 or 16 harness, or less, it 
 runs very nicely if it be properly adjusted. The 
 great trouble with this head-motion is that it has 
 so many joints and connections, and these, when 
 worn, cause a great deal of lost motion and give 
 that jerking motion to the harness which is so 
 hard on the warp and on the numerous connec- 
 tions of the harness motion as well. To get good 
 results from the pump-motion, the studs and con- 
 nections, if badly worn, as some of them are, 
 should be replaced by new ones. It is poor 
 economy, in my opinion, considering the small 
 cost of repairing, to run this head-motion with 
 
 37
 
 the parts so badly worn that the crank-stud gets 
 */ of the way around before it begins to open the 
 shed ; therefore, if possible, if you have a head- 
 motion worn out, fix it up in good shape. 
 
 Fixing the head-motion. I remember very 
 well the mystery that loom-fixers used to attach 
 to the work on the head-motion, and I think it 
 was two or three years before I dared to take one 
 apart. I know now that the best way to get an 
 understanding of it is to pitch into it and have it 
 out at first. If you have every part of it loose, 
 and you are ready to begin to set it, I know of 
 no better way than first to set the stud or bolt in 
 the crank-plate, about where you think you will 
 want it ; then set the evener on the outside rod, 
 about y of an inch from the top of it, the reason 
 for this being that you may want a little room to 
 move it. Screw it fast, being careful to keep it at 
 right angles with the loom-frame. Then put in 
 the brace-rod on the opposite side and divide the 
 space where the thread is cut on it, so that you 
 have room to move that, if necessary. Then put 
 in a T.-jack with side jack on it. Now you can 
 connect the knife-casting on the brace-rod; but 
 before fastening the nuts slide it up on the pump- 
 rod and screw fast. This will allow the casting 
 to swing into a natural position. Then fasten up 
 the nuts on the brace-rod. Having done this, 
 draw the pump-rod down so that the T-jack is 
 
 38
 
 perfectly level. Then fasten the pump-rod. In 
 fastening this pump-rod, bear in mind that its 
 work is to pull down, so that the casting con- 
 nected Avith the arm should be lifted or driven 
 as high as it will go to take up the play that 
 may be in the studs and connections. When 
 fastened after doing this it holds the evener 
 where you want it. 
 
 Next, set the lower evener on its rod as you 
 did the first one, and set the lower knife-casting 
 with knife already attached, while the evener is 
 held up to the jacks. 
 
 When you have fastened this rod, the eveners 
 should be [closed] on the jacks, not tight enough 
 to bind them, but tight enough to take up the 
 play that may be between the jacks and eveners. 
 
 Setting the knives. Set the knives so that 
 the outside or back-jack-hook comes within 3- 1 6th 
 of an inch of the knife and the front-jack within 
 ^i of an inch. Many fixers allow much more 
 room than that, but it is unnecessary and 
 is an injury to the easy working of the head 
 The first movement of the head-motion is the. 
 slowest and the sooner the knives take hold of 
 the jacks the easier will be the movement of them. 
 
 Setting the Stands. In setting the stands 
 that hold the T-jacks be governed entirely by 
 the side-jack. It should be in a perfectly per- 
 pendicular position, and the top of it evenly 
 
 39
 
 divided between the two eveners. Be sure of 
 this. The object of setting the T-jacks so that 
 they stand level when the shed is closed, may 
 now be seen. The ends of the jack, describe 
 part of a circle and, of course, are holding the 
 side-jack nearer to the chain when they are 
 level than when open in either direction; so 
 that, if they do not stc*nd level, the jack is with- 
 drawn from the chain too far on one stroke and 
 pressed too hard on it on the opposite stroke, 
 making the head very liable to make mispicks 
 by slipping the jacks off the knives, or in bind- 
 ing the jack on the evener. For the same rea- 
 son the side-jack should be perpendicular. If 
 the T-jacks are set too far forward, they cause 
 the side jacks to stand in a slanting position, 
 with the top nearest the chain. \\ hen the jack 
 goes down to raise the harness it crowds against 
 the chain, and in going up the jack is withdrawn 
 from the chain. The philosophy of this can 
 easily be seen, but it is not always heeded. 
 Nothing will so cause the breakage of jacks as 
 neglect of this; and if the jack is crowded 
 against the ball, the chain may be slipped on the 
 cylinder, or even turned one pick too many. 
 
 Look into this when you are troubled with 
 mispicks and you will readily discover the 
 cause of the mischief. 
 
 Setting the chain cylinder crank, In set-
 
 ting the chain cylinder crank you find a chance 
 for experiment. The object is to turn the chain 
 as late as possible to avoid wearing the knife and 
 the edges of the jacks, and yet to get the cylinder 
 turned in time for the next pick. This can easily 
 be done, though not so easily described ; but do 
 not set the crank so that the cylinder begins to 
 turn when the lathe is back. The effect is to 
 cause the jacks to begin to change before they 
 are clear of the knife and sometimes they will be 
 worn out in a single week. The loom is also 
 very inconvenient for the weaver, as, in stopping 
 the loom, should the lathe come forward in the 
 least, and is then pushed back, a mispick is the 
 result. They are bad enough in this respect at 
 best. Do not let the hook fol'ow the chain cyl- 
 inder too far. It is apt to turn two notches in 
 the check-wheel. If it goes far enough to start 
 the roll down into the check-wheel it is far 
 enough. Many looms are run with two, and 
 sometimes three, springs on the check lever. 
 The loom was made with one and one is enough, 
 These unsightly and unscientific encumbrances 
 should be avoided. It makes it hard, and very 
 disagreeable for the weaver, who has to turn 
 the chain so frequently, to have to exert so much 
 muscle in finding the pick. If the hook does 
 not pull too far, and if the jacks work free'y so 
 as not to bind the chain, it will not turn.
 
 Harness wire and strap connections. 
 
 There are many ways of making the harness 
 wire and strap connections on pump motion 
 looms. Some use wire from the .side-jack to the 
 long bottom-jack. I prefer a harness strap, and 
 I think every one would if it were given a trial. 
 The wire makes a hard and unyielding connec- 
 tion and I consider it especially hard on the 
 harness. The best connection is to use a short 
 piece of wire to connect the bottom end of the 
 strap to the stirrup on the bottom-jack. One 
 end of the wire should be made with a long hook 
 to go through the stirrup, and the other end 
 should have a short, nicely made hook to go in 
 the strap. 
 
 Then, for the top end of the strap, have a hook 
 to go through the leather ; and then when you 
 have the loom in position so you can tell where 
 to set the bottom (or underneath) jack, you can 
 bend the end of the wire so that it will go 
 through the hole in the side-jack. To vary the 
 length of the connection, you can use the holes 
 in the strap. What better arrangement could 
 you have for changing jacks? You can unhook 
 your straps and lay them in a common pile as 
 they will fit on any loom. Round the corners 
 off on the top-end of the straps, so that they 
 will not catch one another in changing the pick. 
 Underneath, the wires on the harness should 
 
 42
 
 be the same as on the bow-jack loom and the 
 harness-hooks the same distance apart, so that 
 the harness can go anywhere. The strap should 
 be a flat one, with a neat wire-hook not a 
 buckle to fasten with. You can draw each 
 harness connection to the same tension easier 
 than by any other way. The top straps are the 
 same as the bottom ones. 
 
 The finger-jack loom. The finger-jack, up- 
 right-lever loom was, I believe, the next thing 
 to the pump-motion head. There are plenty of 
 them in use to-day, but they have long since 
 ceased to be made. These looms give trouble 
 by making raispicks ; but the head-motion is 
 very easy and if kept in good order will run 
 very well. The principal causes of mispicksare 
 very simple, too simple to be thought of some- 
 times. Of course, the many points about the 
 head-motion make it too easily gummed up and 
 clogged with dirt; or, the parts rubbing against 
 each other may stick and not permit the fingers 
 to fall in their places. My experience with 
 them teaches that if these looms give trouble 
 look for little things as the cause. 
 
 Setting up the head. In setting up the 
 head little difficulty is experienced, as the parts 
 each have a place and cannot very well be mis- 
 placed. The same may be said of the slots for 
 the studs and rolls ; they cannot very well be 
 
 43
 
 set wrong. The rolls should bring the knives 
 together so as to close in on the jacks evenly, 
 both back and front alike. When the arm, 
 which connects the rocker arm with the crank 
 plate, is in place, and the stud on the plate is on 
 top, the knives should be closed snugly against 
 the jacks, but not tight enough to bind them. 
 Do not be too sure you are right, but try them 
 both back and front, to see if either side binds. 
 The jack hooks when at rest, and the shed closed, 
 should not touch the underside of the knife. 
 That part of the hook that slips through the 
 fingers can become bent and allow the hooks to 
 get in various positions. 
 
 Hooks and fingers. In running this head it 
 is important to avoid letting the hooks or fing- 
 ers touch anything that moves, at a time when 
 they should be at rest. The sides of the head of 
 the fingers get worn perfectly smooth and flat. 
 When hugged together, this smooth surface, 
 which would lead anyone to suppose to be just 
 the thing to slip freely, often has the opposite ef- 
 fect. The oil becoming gummy, causes the two 
 heads to stick together, a kind of suction. If the 
 fingers are wiped and fresh oil put on, it will stop 
 it ; but to make sure that they do not stick and 
 make an occasional mispick, I take them out and 
 grind the sides of the heads slightly rounding, 
 This prevents them very effectually from sticking. 
 
 44
 
 The part of the hook that slides through the 
 fingers should be carefully bent if it does not 
 bring the hook in the right place on the knife. 
 All of the hooks should stand alike when tried 
 with the chain off. The same with the part of 
 the finger that touches the rolls or balls. If the 
 underside of the finger is warn flat and is nearly 
 as wide as the balls on the chain, file the sides 
 so that they have no corners on, and when the 
 balls on the chain move sideways on account of 
 being worn, there is less liability of them catch- 
 ing the wrong finger. 
 
 Sticking of the slide. Sometimes when the 
 shed opens pretty wide the slide of the hook 
 sticks or cramps in the hole in the finger. This 
 can be prevented by trying each jack. Take 
 the front knife off and with the lathe back, pull 
 each knife up as far as it will go and then feel 
 the finger to see if it sticks. It is a good idea to 
 file the inside of the finger-head always before 
 they are put on as there is no yielding when one 
 of them catches; something has got to bend or 
 break. 
 
 The shed. I always avoid making the shed 
 larger on these looms, by giving more sweep to 
 the head-motion. I keep sweep enough on it 
 for 20 or 24 harnesses and run the straps as low 
 as possible. The chain should be set so as not 
 to turn too soon. If it does, it catches the hooks 
 
 45
 
 on the edges of the knives as on the pump-mo- 
 tion, and is also liable to turn or slip the chain 
 on the cylinder. 
 
 The bow-jacks. This head with slight al- 
 terations is fitted with bow-jacks and makes a 
 most excellent motion. It is a very safe motion 
 on difficult work, being less liable to make mis- 
 picks than the finger-jacks. If it does make 
 mispicks, they can usually be attributed to the 
 action of the chain, which, if not made to work 
 smooth and easy, will give the fingers a jar just 
 as the knives begin to open, and then one of the 
 wrong fingers is liable to hook on the knives. 
 
 A cause of mispicks. There is one cause 
 for mispicks on these looms that is very obscure 
 and I doubt if it is generally known. I have 
 seen fixers work for days on a bow-jack loom 
 which would make a mispick two or three 
 times a day. Nothing can be more annoying 
 than this, as if the loom made a mispick every 
 five minutes one might detect it. 
 
 An example. I was troubled with a loom 
 doing this and I tried for two weeks to find the 
 came. I could, perhaps, have moved things 
 until I hit it, but I w is desirous of learning why 
 it was that one of these heads, which seemed in 
 perfect order, would make a mispick occasion- 
 ally ; so I altered nothing until I found some 
 clew. The fingers would shake when the head 
 
 46
 
 closed, but the jacks seemed all free and I 
 thought I had tried them all. 
 
 After being bothered with it until I felt like 
 giving it up, I discovered that one of the jacks 
 was a trifle wider than the rest, and the knives, 
 in coming together, would strike it, and the jar 
 gave them all an almost imperceptible bound. 
 I filed the jack and made them all even while I 
 was at it, and I never experienced trouble 
 again. 
 
 Try each jack. I always tried each jack 
 when I put them in and made them of equal 
 width and made sure that none of them were 
 squeezed by the knives, and the result was that 
 I rarely ever had one of these looms make a 
 mispick unless something else was out of order 
 which could be easily detected. The same thing 
 applies to the 1880 and 1883 Crompton loom, 
 and I know of large weave rooms using the 1880 
 loom in which this idea was tried and found 
 very satisfactory. It is a very natural thing for 
 the fingers to jar if the knives bump together on 
 the jacks, but I know that many do not think of 
 it. As with many other simple things, it is harder 
 to attract the attention of fixers to little things 
 like these than it is to tell them of some big job, 
 and yet these are equally important. 
 
 The horizontal motion. The horizontal 
 motion is one that does not meet with favor 
 
 47
 
 among fixers. Where it is used on more than 
 12 or 1 6 harness it is hard on account of the 
 manner of evening up the jacks. The eveners 
 have to draw all of the jacks up, which makes 
 the top and bottom connections pull against each 
 other. This unnatural movement causes a great 
 strain on the straps, as well as on the head-mo- 
 tion, and on heavy work a large number of break- 
 ages occur. To make matters worse, there are 
 five straps for each harness ; and being strained 
 at every pick they soon break, and will keep one 
 man busy on an ordinary section fixing harness 
 straps. The head is easy to regulate, and there 
 is plenty of room to make the shed as large or as 
 small as you wish ; but the most profitable thing 
 for the fixer to do is to turn his attention to reduc- 
 ing the strain on the harness connections to a min- 
 imum. If the straps give trouble by jumping out 
 of the sheaves or pulleys, the only remedy is to 
 fit blocks of wood over them. This is not a 
 scientific way of doing things, but you have the 
 satisfaction of knowing that principle which 
 causes your straps to be strained at one part of 
 the operation and to be very loose at another is 
 impracticable ; so you are justified in using means 
 which give the best results. 
 
 These looms will give very little trouble if the 
 work is not heavy and the number of harness small. 
 
 Another head-motion. The 1880 head on
 
 the Crompton loom is one that gives general 
 satisfaction to all. Of course some persons can 
 find things about it that don't suit them, but there 
 are many who are thankful that most of the 
 perplexities incident to the old style head-motion 
 are removed, especially when so much more care 
 is required in the production of woolen goods. 
 The action of the head is practically the same as 
 in the old style bow-jack looms ; but it is obtained 
 in a different way, which is so simple as to need 
 no explanation to those interested. 
 
 Binding of the jacks. The remarks re- 
 garding the binding of the jacks on this loom 
 may be called to mind. The time of turning the 
 chain-cylinder should be carefully attended to. 
 The edges of the jack-hooks will be worn off in 
 a few hours if they are suffered to bear on the 
 edges of the knife in changing. Should they be- 
 come worn through oversight, it is better to take 
 them out of the loom at once and file them into 
 proper shape. They should be filed with a three- 
 cornered file to get the proper bevel on the hook. 
 Be careful to make them all even. Grind or file 
 the knife to proper shape also. 
 
 The chain-cylinder. The chain-cylinder 
 should turn towards the loom. I have seen fix- 
 ers turn it from the loom rather than take the 
 chain off and turn it to make the twill run right. 
 When the chain is in place the bar does not stand 
 
 49
 
 on the cylinder as on the old bow-jack loom, but 
 is a little past the centre on the side farthest from 
 the loom. The jack-fingers are curved slightly 
 to suit this condition. Now, if the cylinder turns 
 from the loom, the ball on the chain lifts the jack- 
 finger slowly, and is too long in getting it into its 
 place, so that we have to set the time of turning 
 or starting too soon for the knives to get out of 
 the way of the hooks on the fingers. 
 
 On the other hand, if we turn the chain towards 
 the loom, the ball does not come under the finger 
 until nearly in its place, and when it does touch 
 the finger, it lifts it quickly. Consequently we 
 can so time the turning of the chain that the 
 knives have ample time to get clear of the hooks 
 before the finger begins to rise. There is another 
 reason for turning towards the loom, of which 
 mention will be made in connection with the fill- 
 ing-chain farther on. 
 
 Special head-motions. The Knowles head- 
 motion and the Crompton box-motion are the 
 same movement in- principle. The cylinder gears 
 turn the vibrator gears when the latter are 
 brought in contact with them, and, like the 
 Crompton box-motion, a vibrator gear, once 
 turned, remains in that position until it is geared 
 into the opposite cylinder gear, hence the open 
 shed. It may not be proper to say that the 
 Knowles is like that of the Crompton box- mo- 
 
 50
 
 tion, but instead, to reverse the expression, be- 
 cause the credit of bringing that excellent idea 
 out belongs to the Knowles. The whole mechan- 
 ism of the Knowles head-motion, for beauty of 
 action, and thorough construction is not excelled. 
 Of course there are different opinions in regard 
 to the open-shed principle, but the popularity of 
 the Knowles loom is strong evidence that the 
 time is near at hand when those who favor the 
 open-shed principle will be quite as numerous as 
 those who oppose it. I regard it as a very for- 
 tunate thing that we have the two different ways 
 from which to choose. I will not intrude my 
 opinion as to which is the better way, but will 
 leave it for those who use the looms to decide, 
 from the teachings of experience. 
 
 Method of operation. In running this head- 
 motion the fixer will have very little trouble. It 
 is so constructed that most of the parts cannot be 
 misplaced. The part of the cylinder gear that 
 operates the harness is adjustable, and therefore 
 can be moved forward a few teeth from the part 
 that operates the box-motion. This allows the 
 shed to close on the pick as it is beaten in by the 
 lathe. Some set it 6 or 7 teeth forward of the 
 box-motion ; but this is too risky. To move it 
 too far causes the shed to close on the shuttle, 
 and thus to fray the warp on the sides. Great 
 care should be used in setting the shells that they
 
 be both set alike, so that they engage the vibra- 
 tor-gears at the same time. The lock-knife 
 should close in on the vibrator-lever at the same 
 instant that the gears begin to move. If not, 
 they are liable to be slipped. 
 
 Strapping the harness. Avoid strapping 
 .the harness too tight. There is no need of it ; 
 and unnecessary friction is added thereby. 
 Should the soft set-screw ever need replacing in 
 the chain-shaft-gear, be careful to get it in the 
 same position as before, for should the chain turn 
 too soon, it will let the vibrators drop too soon, 
 and cause the gears to slip out of the cylinder 
 gear. 
 
 Sweep of the boxes, The sweep of the 
 boxes may be adjusted by the bolt and slot in 
 the compound levers. If the box chains are 
 worn in some places more than in others you 
 cannot bring them to the right height, of course. 
 If this is the case, do not botch up the chains, 
 but take them off and file them even. If the 
 work does not call for the fourth box, I would 
 run the shuttles in it, even on plain work, enough 
 to keep the chain worn even. 
 
 Balls on the warp chain. The balls on the 
 warp chain should be fixed to prevent the pos- 
 sibility of them touching two levers at once, a 
 thing that they can easily do. The fingers or 
 levers are malleable, and if new and old ones are 
 
 52
 
 used together they should be made to come even 
 by bending. A little care on the part of the 
 fixer is all that is required to obtain satisfaction 
 from this excellent head. 
 
 Harness on plain looms, The operation 
 of the harness on plain looms was formerly by 
 means of cams and rollers. These have been 
 superseded by the side levers which enables each 
 harness to be operated separately, thus giving 
 greater capacity for changes of weaves. 
 
 Gam-looms. Minutely to describe the differ- 
 ent " cam looms " would be superfluous, as, in 
 principle, one means all. There is little to it on 
 any of them, but, simple as they are, they need 
 to be properly adjusted to get good results. The 
 rollers should be adjusted so that the part over 
 which the back-strap rolls is larger than the rest 
 of them ; and all of them should be graduated 
 from back to front, the front being the smallest. 
 This gives the back harness more sweep than the 
 front one; and starting with the back roll and 
 making each one a little smaller than the other, 
 secures that the yarn is lifted to an equal height, 
 thus giving an even shed. Make each of the 
 ends of the rollers alike. It will not do to have 
 the size of the rolls different at each end, as by 
 this the sweep is altered, and in trying to get the 
 shed right at one end the other end will be made 
 all wrong. It is not necessary for the hanging of 
 
 53
 
 the harness in a roller or cam loom to be a 
 difficult job, and yet there are many who have to 
 do a great deal of changing and trying before 
 they get a proper shed. I find it a great advan- 
 tage to arrange the underneath straps, so that in 
 unhooking them to take the harness out the 
 length is not changed. When so arranged, all 
 that is needed in starting a warp will be to hook 
 them up, and if the shed was right before it will 
 be right now. 
 
 For plain work, where the same is continued 
 year in and year out, these plain looms have 
 much to recommend them. The weavers can 
 handle them in any way they choose, and the 
 shed is not changed, and the high rate of speed 
 at which they can be run gives them a great 
 capacity for a large production. 
 
 The side-lever loom. The difficulty in 
 making changes in the various forms of satinet 
 weaves on roller-looms makes the side-lever loom 
 a very desirable one where a variety of plain 
 weaves is used. The style of side-lever on the 
 excellent loom known as the Gilbert loom, may 
 be found also on others, with slight alterations. 
 The cams consist of thin plates having grooves 
 on one side of them; for different weaves the 
 grooves are made different, having a longer or 
 shorter dwell as may be required by the weave. 
 
 The jacks or levers have a stud cast on the 
 
 54
 
 side which fits in the ^cove of the cam-plate. 
 On some looms a roll is fitted over the stud 
 which makes it easier for it to follow the groove. 
 
 The cams are held in their proper " time " by 
 a long feather or key on the cam-shaft, and the 
 position in which the cams may be set depends 
 entirely on the cutting of the key-slot in them. 
 A four-harness twill would have the cams num- 
 bered from i to 4. These, put on in that way, 
 give the twill correctly. If you wished to reverse 
 the twill the cams would be put on beginning at 
 number 4. 
 
 To break the twill it would only be necessary 
 to put them on as you would break a twill in 
 writing, as I 3 2 4. 
 
 Gears. Different gears have to be used for 
 different weaves. I might give some numbers 
 for the Gilbert loom, and also for the Stafford, 
 the Davis & Furber, and others, but to make it 
 complete would take up too much space, besides 
 being unnecessary. One can easily study out 
 the gears he wants if he has no basis from which 
 he can figure. There are a great many places 
 where no record is kept of such things, and one 
 can only get the right thing by trying. A plain 
 cotton weave would be geared so as to make one 
 revolution of the cam-shaft for every two picks, 
 providing there is but one lift to the cam. If it 
 raises the harness twice for every revolution it 
 
 55
 
 makes it has two lifts, and consequently it only 
 has to run one-half as fast, or one revolution for 
 every four picks. A four-harness cassimcre twill 
 will make one revolution for every four picks. A 
 five-harness doeskin has to make one revolution 
 every five picks. 
 
 These side-lever looms, when the weave is 
 changed, and every thing is in proper time, need 
 less altering and fixing than any other kind of 
 looms, and where plain work is made they are a 
 very satisfactory loom to all concerned.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE BOX-MOTION. 
 
 THE OLD CAM-MOTION THE FORKS SETTING RATCHET AND 
 
 PLATE THE FRICTION BAND TIMING TH K STARTING OF 
 
 THE BOXES REGULATING THE STRAPS WORN FINGERS 
 FRICTION OF THE CHAIN-CYLINDER PUTTING ON THE CYL- 
 INDER SETTING THE CYLINDER GEAR BOXES MISSING 
 LEVERS RUNNING THE FILLING CHAIN THE FANCY BOX- 
 MOTION. 
 
 The old cam-motion, We will now take up 
 the box-motion, beginning with the old style cam- 
 motion, that which has been the terror of loom- 
 fixers where a number of shuttles had to be used 
 and perhaps a peculiar shaped cam. The motion 
 should be perfectly steady on this, but I have 
 frequently found the bearings of the tappet-shaft 
 worn very much. This is gross carelessness on 
 somebody's part, and it is more aggravating when 
 we consider the importance of having everything 
 connected with the box-motion in perfect order. 
 
 If the bearings are worn, get new ones, and 
 have them fit on the shaft, so that there is no 
 play in them. In putting the shaft in, take the 
 trouble to have it perfectly true. There is no 
 
 57
 
 room for anything but absolutely perfect work in 
 dealing with this thing. Let it turn easily in its 
 bearings, not loosely, but a " fit." 
 
 Ratchet-wheel plate. On a double reverse 
 motion the first plate for the ratchet-wheels is 
 keyed on. This should be well done, so as to 
 avoid any twisting of the ratchet plate after you 
 have it set. The key should be the full width of 
 the key-way, not one that wedges in and cracks 
 the hub of the plate. When this plate is fastened 
 on, put the ratchet wheels on to it as they be- 
 long. Do not make them very fast until they are 
 set. 
 
 The forks. On the tappet plate put a pair of 
 ratchet-wheels ; then get the forks and lever, or 
 hanger, ready. The large stud in the lever will, 
 if the least worn, allow the lever to sway to and 
 fro in working, and often it will sway enough to 
 make the fork miss a tooth on the ratchet. This 
 should be fixed, if too badly worn. If the forks 
 are old and worn blunt they should be filed. 
 This job should be nicely done, and by care the 
 point can be shaped to draw into the ratchet. 
 They can just as easily be filed so that the point 
 will slip out, so it pays to be careful. 
 
 I would not use a fork if required for reverse, 
 if it had to be filed too much to bring it right. 
 They are of course shortened, and the points are 
 wider apart than they should be, making trouble 
 
 58
 
 in getting the chain to vibrate the fingers 
 enough. In filing, be sure that the top ones are 
 alike, and the bottom ones the same. You can- 
 not fully determine just how the forks are going 
 to fit until they are tried on. 
 
 The stud on the top of the lever should be 
 raised high enough to bring the pin that holds 
 the fork in the lever in line with the tappet-shaft. 
 This will usually be found to be the top of the 
 slot. Now put the cam-plate on the bottom 
 shaft, having previously fitted two cam-blocks on 
 it, each exactly alike in regard to their shape, and 
 also as to the distance from the centre of the 
 plate. This insures an equal push by each cam- 
 block. The cam-plate should now be turned so 
 that the blocks push the lever to its farthest ex- 
 tent, and then you can set the ratchet wheels 
 against the fork. 
 
 Setting ratchet and plate. The object 
 sought in setting the ratchet with the forks pushed 
 to their fullest extent is to get our tappet-plate 
 fastened where it ought to be, and there is no 
 other way that can be employed in doing this, 
 unless you guess at it, as we shall see. Now, if 
 the fork is pushed as far as the blocks are set to 
 push it, we can set the plate and the ratchets, 
 both forward and reverse, and we know they can- 
 not be pushed any farther. We want the plate 
 to be set so that the centre of the truck-roll stud 
 
 59
 
 is directly in line perpendicularly with the centre 
 of the tappet-shaft. 
 
 We put on a tappet to guide us in setting, and 
 turn the plate by hand to its right place. If the 
 friction band is on you can tighten it so as to 
 hold the plate where you put it, having your 
 hands free to set the ratchet-wheels. 
 
 Set the top one so that you can just lift the 
 fork out of the tooth of the ratchet-wheel. Set 
 the reverse underneath in the same way. You 
 will find, perhaps, that it is hard to move one so 
 as to. set it without throwing the other out of 
 place. But it should not be neglected in the 
 least, and if, after trying it when everything is 
 fastened and ready to start, you find it is not just 
 right, do it over again. When it is set right, the 
 fork should be so that there is hardly room to 
 lift it out of the tooth of the ratchet when the 
 plate is held tight by the friction-band. Lift it 
 out of the top or push side, and press the bottom 
 fork in the reverse side, and if they go in with a 
 snap they are right, providing your plate is where 
 it should be. Getting the plate right, and at the 
 same time setting the ratchet-wheel is the prime 
 object. 
 
 The friction band. The friction band is of 
 far more importance in the successful running of 
 the box-motion than most fixers seem to be 
 aware of, judging from the careless way in which 
 
 60
 
 some of the bands are made and kept in order. 
 I know of nothing that gives such good returns 
 for the labor expended in doing a good job than 
 on this. The band should be made out of a piece 
 of iron of good quality, so that you can make 
 holes for the rivets and not have the band break 
 at the holes. Get the band as wide as possible, 
 but be very careful not to get it too wide, as some 
 cams or tappets fit the plate differently than 
 others, and would be a source of trouble if they 
 should cause the band to bind. Line the inside 
 of the band with a piece of new leather; it should 
 be the best you can get, and uniform. Put it on 
 as tight as possible, and cut the leather so as to 
 let the rivet-heads sink into it, and not come out 
 flush with the rest of the leather. 
 
 Effect of a good band. The effect of a good 
 
 friction-band is to give a smooth, easy movement 
 to the boxes. If the leather becomes glazed, the 
 friction lets the plate turn in a jerking manner, 
 and the same motion is imparted to the boxes. 
 An important advantage in using a good leather 
 lining is that it takes less friction to keep the 
 boxes from dropping, consequently there is less 
 strain on all parts. 
 
 Timing the starting of the boxes. In 
 
 timing the starting of the boxes there is little 
 room for variation. The tappet should move just 
 enough to raise or lower the box l / of an inch 
 
 61
 
 when the protector strikes. On some patterns 
 where you skip a box, or perhaps two, it is some- 
 times necessary to start it sooner; but there is 
 risk in turning it too soon, as the swell on the 
 next box is liable to open out the protector and 
 let the loom keep right on running with a shut- 
 tle in the shed. 
 
 Regulating the straps, In regulating the 
 straps that connect the filling chain fingers with 
 the fork, let the lathe be back; this allows the 
 fork to go back as far as it will go. Adjust the 
 straps on a reverse ball first. Do not fall into 
 the common error of having the connection too 
 short. It is done to prevent the fork from slip- 
 ping out of the ratchet. If the fork is inclined 
 to slip out, the strap cannot hold it in, so there 
 is no excuse for having it too short on that 
 score. 
 
 Set the chain on a reverse ball, and adjust the 
 strap so that it draws the forks up into the rat- 
 chets underneath. They need only to touch the 
 ratchet wheel loosely. If too tight the straps 
 draw on the fingers, and when the chain is turn- 
 ing from a blank to a reverse bar the pressure 
 will occasionally slip the chain on the cylinder. 
 This will sometimes confuse the fixer, and think- 
 ing that the forks missed catching in reversing, 
 he tightens the straps and increases the trouble. 
 If made so that they catch, it is enough, and it 
 
 62
 
 leaves room for the forks to drop into the top 
 ratchets. There will be no trouble in missing if 
 the points of the forks and the tooth of the rat- 
 chet are of the right bevel. 
 
 Worn fingers. Sometimes the under side of 
 the fingers are worn at the place where the ball 
 rests. If so, they should be filed so that the 
 finger is straight. If not, it lifts with an unsteady 
 motion which will shake the forks and make 
 them liable to miss. To remedy this, weights 
 are tied on the forks, and I consider these 
 entirely unnecessary. If the fingers are made 
 to work smooth and easy, and the straps prop- 
 erly adjusted, the forks are heavy enough. The 
 filling chain should not be set to move until the 
 forks begin to retreat. If moved too soon, the 
 fork is brought in contact with the under side of 
 the ratchet-wheel on reverse motion, and will 
 slip the chain the same as with a tight strap. 
 
 Friction of the chain-cylinder. The fric- 
 tion of the chain-cylinder is a particular thing to 
 adjust. Some fixers will not allow the weavers 
 to oil the stud on which the chain-cylinder runs. 
 If this is not done the back of it becomes dry 
 and the cylinder turns with a jerk, and sometimes 
 will not stop when it should. The stud should 
 be oiled, but not the friction end of it. The 
 leather washer used for friction should be made 
 of new leather, and the inside cut out with a 
 
 63
 
 sharp tool, so that it fits very tight on the square 
 shank of the stud. It should not be too thick, 
 as the iron washer should also fit on the square 
 shank to keep the whole from turning with the 
 chain-cylinder. A little care is needed in making 
 this friction what it should be, but it is a part 
 that can put the fixer to lots of trouble if it be 
 not right. 
 
 Connecting the rod for turning the cyl- 
 inder. There are various ways of connecting 
 the rod for turning the cylinder on the pump- 
 motion. The best way is to turn it from the 
 eccentric plate, on this style of loom , but many 
 are run from the pump-rod. The objection to 
 the latter way is, that the unsteady motion 
 caused by the parts being worn is imparted to 
 the motion of the cylinder, and this should be 
 avoided whenever possible. 
 
 The filling chain on the other styles of looms, 
 excepting the 1880 and later kinds are turned by 
 the pick and pick gear in connection with cam- 
 block plate. This gives no trouble, and is so 
 simple as to require no particular mention. 
 
 The box-motion. The box-motion on the 
 1880 loom with the improvements up to the 
 present time make this as near perfection as one 
 could well wish. We hear complaints from 
 some, but that will always be. It will require 
 skill and good judgment to run any loom that is 
 
 64
 
 capable of producing the variety of goods that 
 the markets now require, and which will in- 
 crease in their complication from year to year. 
 
 On the 1880 loom, the box-motion is com- 
 posed of a series of levers, and their operation, in 
 connection with the complicated arrangement of 
 gears, offers a very uninviting field for careless 
 fixing. If kept in proper order, I think this mo- 
 tion is more reliable than the old tappet-motion 
 in avoiding changing or missing; but the 
 arrangement, taken as a whole, calls for sound 
 mechanical ideas on the part of the fixer. It c.in 
 soon be ruined by botch work. I like the idea 
 that we have a chance to exercise our skill in 
 doing a job in a scientific manner on this box- 
 motion. 
 
 Putting on cylinder-gears. In setting the 
 parts of this, we will begin by putting on the 
 cylinder or quill-gears, the vibrating levers being 
 already jn place. We will put the gears on 
 without setting them in any particular place until 
 we find things in their proper positions. The 
 cam-gear stud may need to be set, and to find 
 that out, we put the gear on, and then try the 
 " dwell " cylinder-gear. The dwell should fit 
 almost tight on the slide made for it on the cam- 
 gear ; if it does not the teeth of the cam-gear will 
 fail to mesh with those of the gear on the bottom 
 shaft, and you know what the result is. 
 
 65
 
 I have often known these teeth to catch, and 
 fixers were at a loss to comprehend the cause. 
 There is no other cause for this mishap than the 
 dwell on the cylinder-gear being too loose, and 
 thus failing to guide the teeth in their proper 
 place. To set it up tight, observe that the stud 
 for the cam-gear is turned on an eccentric. You 
 can loosen the set-screws and turn the stud 
 wherever you wish. 
 
 In setting the gears you will, after putting on 
 the cam-gear, notice that there is but one place 
 that the dwell-gear can be set, so you cannot get 
 that in the wrong place. The other cylinder- 
 gear has to be set, and if not in the right place 
 to a tooth it will make trouble. 
 
 Setting the cylinder-gear. To set it is 
 very simple. Slide it on the stud and press one 
 of the vibrator levers as far as it will go towards 
 it. Set the gear, so that when meshed with the 
 intermediate, and turned over and towards the 
 lever-gear, to take up the play in the teeth of 
 them, the last tooth of the cylinder-gear barely 
 touches the teeth of the lever-gear. This allows 
 the latter gear to get into its place before the 
 cylinder-gear starts to move. 
 
 Sometimes you can find many of the cylinder- 
 gears worn for four or five teeth. When they 
 are in this condition the box makes the attempt 
 to get to its place, but there not being enough 
 
 66
 
 teeth in the cylinder it cannot turn the lever- 
 gear far enough. The reason the cylinder-gear 
 is worn is, that the lever-gear has been gearing 
 into it after it began to turn. The fault lies in 
 the gearing or timing of the cylinder-gear. It 
 starts so soon that the lever-gear strikes it while 
 going at full speed, and thus begins to wear 
 them both. If the cylinder is set as I have 
 described the lever-gear is well into place before 
 they start. 
 
 Boxes Missing. This may also explain why 
 we find the box on one side dropped down, while 
 the other side is all , right. The gear which is 
 working pretty close happens to miss one of the 
 lever-gears, because the teeth on it are worn, or 
 perhaps the lever-gear does not gear into the 
 cylinders far enough. That is the place to look 
 for the cause of a box missing like that. There 
 is some little thing about the gearing of the lever 
 that is wrong. I mention this because I have 
 seen the filling chain, and the fingers on the fill- 
 ing chain tinkered with when the whole trouble 
 lay in the levers and gearing. 
 
 Levers. Now, without waiting to be driven 
 to it by the loom refusing to work right, suppose 
 we just look over a set of levers, and see how 
 they are and how they should be. If the levers 
 have ever been filed, either on the top or bottom, 
 or the vibrating finger, the only way to put them 
 
 67
 
 in good shape is to put a new one on. There is 
 never any room for too much metal about the 
 levers. They could not be put on and tried each 
 way with the indicating fingers without binding, 
 and I always found these box-motion levers well 
 handled when they left the shops. The only time 
 they get filed is when the stud for the indicating 
 finger lever gets set wrong and binds the vibra- 
 ting finger too tight one way, or something like 
 that occurs which only requires a slight altera- 
 tion. But, without counting the cost or looking 
 on the other side of the queston, the fixer files 
 something. The metal once removed cannot be 
 replaced again, although I have seen it tried. Yes, 
 indeed, I have seen such botch work on these 
 looms as required pins to be inserted in the tops 
 of the levers to compensate for what had been 
 filed off. A pretty mess ! It is always safe to let 
 the filing alone until you have become thoroughly 
 satisfied that you are right; and in regard to 
 these levers I am very certain that if one tried 
 very hard, he could be easily satisfied that they 
 needed no filing. The grates at the bottom of the 
 lever are the only things that I see about these 
 looms, or rather about this box-motion, which in 
 any way needs filing. . In fact you can use this 
 grate sometimes to help you in making the vibra- 
 tor fingers and the indicating fingers fit. 
 
 Easing the Levers. If, in trying the indi- 
 68
 
 cator fingers into the vibrators, you find they 
 bind, try the other side and divide up this undue 
 strain on the levers by moving the indicator lever 
 stud. This done, you can file each side of the 
 grate-slot, and thus ease up the levers when the 
 indicator raises up into the vibrators; and at the 
 same time, by taking it off each end of the slot, 
 you cause the lever-gears to gear deeper in each 
 of the cylinders instead of only one of them. 
 Aim to keep the vibrator fingers in such shape 
 that when the indicator presses into them it holds 
 the lever-gears firmly into the cylinder; there 
 should be no play or rattle about them at all. 
 
 Fingers for the vibrators. There are two 
 kinds of fingers to operate the vibrators. The 
 first kind worked in connection with the under- 
 neath fingers. There was considerable dissatis- 
 faction with them, and in some mills they were 
 taken off and replaced by the fingers which acted 
 directly on the vibrators. My experience with 
 the first kind of fingers has taught me that the 
 principal trouble is that the fingers are not heavy 
 enough for the improved vibrator finger. It will 
 give trouble in other ways, but I think it is easy 
 to keep it in proper shape, so that it will run right 
 along. 
 
 Running the filling chain. There is a 
 point in running the filling chain, which may well 
 be heeded. The underneath fingers are curved 
 
 69
 
 and their points reach considerably further than 
 the place where the ball rests when the chain is 
 stopped. The ball, in coming up, begins to lift it 
 early, and, being at the longest point of the fin- 
 ger or lever, lifts more slowly and consequently 
 more steadily, and by the time the chain stops 
 turning, it has lifted the long finger into place 
 with an easy motion. Let the chain turn from 
 the loom, and the ball comes under the finger at 
 the short end of it, regarding it as a lever, and it 
 lifts it suddenly and quickly into place. Now, 
 this jerking the lever up gives it a bound which 
 it cannot recover from in time, and it is liable to 
 cause some of the vibrators to change or to do 
 harm in some way. A moment's study of the 
 principle of this combination of levers will suffice 
 to show how natural the movement is; but some 
 men never think, and that was the trouble with 
 the fixer who considered that anything was good 
 enough, and so some of his cylinders were turned 
 from the loom and some towards it. He had 
 trouble with the fingers; they would fly up and 
 come down with several bounds. Hooks were 
 inserted in the bottom of the fingers, and springs 
 applied to each of them. For some reason, he 
 could not tell what, the points were broken off 
 the underneath fingers and the end rounded to a 
 nice blunt shape. Then, when he did run the 
 chain the right way, the fingers were so blunt that
 
 when the balls struck them they were lifted with 
 such force as almost to throw the long lever clear 
 over; and so things went, until in about a year 
 from the time the looms were put in, new from 
 the shop, there was very little left of the original 
 box-motion. This is the result of reckless alter- 
 ing without considering the relation which the 
 thing you are working on has to something else. 
 
 Other considerations. More could be said 
 about this box-motion. I might describe the 
 adventures of the fixer, who, for a whole day, 
 worked on a loom to remedy the effects of chang- 
 ing the star-wheel a thing that with ordinary 
 judgment could be pulled to pieces and replaced 
 in five minutes. When you alter one thing with- 
 out first thoroughly understanding what you are 
 doing, you cannot expect to fix it by altering 
 something else. 
 
 The fixer who is successful on one kind of loom 
 is successful on all kinds, because he thinks. A 
 new style of head or box-motion has no terror for 
 him, because he reasons that there is a principle 
 about machinery, and the makers of a loom can- 
 not depart from it and he can follow out their 
 idea from a mechanical stand-point and get all the 
 good there is in it. 
 
 The fancy box-motion. The fancy box- 
 motion made by Crompton, to apply on looms of 
 the old tappet style, is a very excellent arrange-
 
 ment indeed, and where mills are on work which 
 requires a good many shuttles I call it an invalu- 
 able improvement. The arrangement is practi- 
 cally the same as on the new loom, being altered 
 only to suit the difference in the loom. The filling 
 chain is turned with a hook as on the old style. 
 It is not perfect, but such as it is, it is a great 
 stride in advance of the old tappet motion. 
 
 The 1883 loom differs in that the levers for the 
 box-motion are placed in a horizontal position, 
 thus doing away with the upright levers or vi- 
 brator levers. The balls on the filling chain lift 
 the fingers that ride on the chain, and they, in 
 turn, lift the levers below on which are the lifting 
 or vibrator-gears. The two quills are placed one 
 above the other, between which the vibrator- 
 gears are placed. The action is more direct and 
 it does away with some of the difficulties experi- 
 enced with the earlier kinds.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 STARTING A WARP. 
 
 GETTING A WARP READY CONDITION OF THE HARNESSES 
 REPAIRING HARNESSES HOOKS NUTS ON THE HEDDLE 
 WIRES RULE FOR THE NUMBER OF HEDDLES DRAFT- 
 DRAWING IN THE WARP THE RIGHT KINDS OF REEDS 
 IMPERFECT REEDS REEDING THE WARP FINDING THE 
 WIDTH MEASURING LEASE RODS. 
 
 Repairing and starting a warp, In the 
 
 preceding chapters the principle subjects have 
 been touched. The minor details have been 
 omitted for want of space. We will proceed to 
 get a warp ready and to start it, and will speak of 
 the various things that come in our way as we go 
 along. 
 
 Drawing in the warp, The drawing in of 
 warps is a subject that seems to have different 
 degrees of importance attached to it in different 
 mills. Of course the drawing in can only be 
 done in one way ; but the work incident thereto 
 can be done in several ways, and in most mills 
 there is a chance for improved methods to be 
 worked in. 
 
 73
 
 Condition of the harnesses. I think it is a 
 fact that in nearly all mills of ordinary size the 
 care of the harnesses devolves upon persons^ who 
 think their duties are not anything more than 
 merely to clean the harness and reeds. No at- 
 tention whatever is paid to their condition. Some- 
 times a hook has broken off in the wood under- 
 neath while in the loom. The fixer, unable to 
 get at it to make a proper job of it, has tied the 
 wire on with a piece of lace leather. When that 
 harness once more gets to a loom, the lace has to 
 be resorted to again. The same with hooks for 
 the heddle wire. Then, again, the pins that fasten 
 the heddle wire get lost. The harness goes in 
 the loom all the same and the bar or heddle wire, 
 being loose, gets kinked and causes the top or 
 twisted ends of the heddles to catch on the next 
 harness and they are spoiled. So is the wood or 
 frame on which they caught. This is a picture 
 of no rare occurrence, but rather of a very com- 
 mon one. The harnesses are a much abused ar- 
 ticle in my opinion and it is because no one seems 
 to attach the importance to them that they de- 
 serve. If other things were to be neglected as 
 they are, we should think the weave room was 
 going to ruin. 
 
 Repairing harness. I would have some one 
 responsible for the care of them who was able to 
 keep them in good repair. A set of harness 
 
 74
 
 nearly always needs some little repairing after 
 weaving a warp out, and the better they are cared 
 for, the less accidents will happen to them. The 
 hooks should always be uniform. In some mills 
 where there are different kinds of looms, different 
 lengths of underneath wires are used, and even 
 top-hooks have to be moved to suit the different 
 looms in which the harness goes. This should 
 not be. The distance apart on all the harness in 
 the mill should be of one standard. The mov- 
 ing of hooks ruins the harness-frames by wear- 
 ing out the holes, and in trying to fix the hooks 
 so they will not come out the harness get split. 
 Hooks. The inside hooks should be put in 
 so that they are all of the same length from the 
 inside of the frame. If not, one hook bears the 
 strain of the heddle-wire more than the other. 
 Care should be used that the hooks are not 
 screwed in too far. Sometimes they are put in 
 so far that the top or twisted end of the heddle 
 touches the frame when you try to unhook it. 
 This should always be avoided, for it causes the 
 heddles to get bent while the bar is being un- 
 hooked to move them. 
 
 Center-wires. The center-wires are a good 
 thing and there is no reason why they should not 
 be on all harness, and a great many reasons why 
 they should. The heddles will last longer, the 
 weaver can move the heddles more freely in put- 
 
 75
 
 ting in threads ; they save the harness and help 
 the fixer in determining what strain he is putting 
 on when hooking up the harness. 
 
 Nuts on the heddle-wire. The easiest 
 thing to neglect is the nuts on the heddle-wire. 
 They are so small that the thread is poor at best, 
 but being out of the fixer's line of business, they 
 do not get tightened up when in the loom ; and 
 when in the drawing-in-frame, they give no trou- 
 ble and are neglected there till the heddles are 
 spoiled. There is no way to keep such things 
 right but to look for these faults. A set should 
 be carefully examined before the warp is drawn 
 in and everything put in order. 
 
 Threads on the butt. Provide a die to re- 
 cut the threads on the butt. It will be some 
 trouble, of course, but the trouble caused by bad 
 harness in a loom, both to the loom-fixer and to 
 the weaver, is a hundred times greater than the 
 work required to keep harness in proper order, 
 and far less satisfactory. A loom running on 
 nice work, with a good many harness, is at a 
 great disadvantage if it has a poor set of harness 
 in it. It will profit the overseer, as well as all 
 concerned, if the harness receive attention and 
 are kept in good repair. 
 
 The size of heddle. The size of heddle to 
 use is a subject on which opinions differ. My ex- 
 perience has been that it is not best to use a finer 
 
 76
 
 number than 24, and I like a 23 the best for all 
 purposes. On Blankets and such goods, that 
 take yarn of a coarse quality, I would have num- 
 ber 22 heddles. Some overseers want a very fine 
 heddle when finer yarns are used, and when the 
 warps contain a large number of threads. They 
 give as a reason, that the large heddle crowds the 
 warp. Well if a large number of threads should 
 be drawn on few harness, that might be true, but 
 such is seldom the case in fancy cassimere mills; 
 and, if true, it is unnecessary. I would not draw 
 that way if it crowded the warp, but would repeat 
 the draft. We want a heddle that will give the 
 best results^ll things considered. A thread will 
 be less liabfe to meet with friction, in the intersec- 
 tions in the eye of the heddle, in a coarse one, 
 than it will in a fine one. Then, there is the ad- 
 vantage of a stronger and better heddle lessening 
 the chances of heddle-smashing. I have used 
 them on fine worsteds when over 6.000 threads 
 were employed, and reeded only 66 inches wide, 
 and I found the results very satisfactory. How- 
 ever, it will be a profitable and satisfactory thing 
 for overseers to make a trial of this thing, and 
 thus see for themselves which gives the best re- 
 sults. 
 
 Rule for number of heddles. To estimate 
 the number of heddles required for warps with a 
 cross-draw, I give the following simple and nat- 
 
 77
 
 ural rale. Multiply the number of times the 
 thread is drawn in on each particular harness, by 
 the number of patterns in the warp. Thus 5408 
 threads, 26 in pattern, 208 patterns in warp. 
 DRAFT. 
 
 26 threads in pattern. 
 
 Number I is drawn 3 times 3 + 208=624 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 
 
 3+208=624 
 
 3 " 
 
 2 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 4 " 
 
 " 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 5 " 
 
 2 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 6 " 
 
 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 7 " 
 
 " 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 8 " 
 
 " 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 9 " 
 
 " 2 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 10 " 
 
 " 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 ii " 
 
 " 2 " 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 12 " 
 
 2 ** 
 
 2+208=416 
 
 Number of heddles, . . . 5408 
 
 Drawing in the warp. Wj are now ready 
 to draw in the warp. In this work the overseer 
 
 78
 
 may also interest himself more than is usual, and 
 do good. The work is mostly done by younger 
 persons, or by those who are not in a position to 
 judge fully the importance of the task they are 
 performing. For their good, and for the benefit 
 of the loom-fixers and weavers, it is best for the 
 overseer to see to it that the drawing-in is done 
 after his own ideas. The dravver-in should be 
 provided with suitable hooks for both drawing-in 
 and reeding. The time lost in working with poor 
 hooks is quite an item. By having a system of 
 measuring, the heddle bars can all be hooked up 
 while in the drawing-in-frame. They should never 
 be taken out until they are. The damage done by 
 leaving the bars unhooked is unnecessary and 
 very aggravating to the loom-fixer, who is com- 
 pelled to put in the threads broken by the tops 
 of the heddles, sometimes in whole bunches. 
 
 The drawer-in should be held to strict account 
 for mistakes made. Frequently the errors made 
 in drawing-in are taken as a matter of course. I 
 find that there are less of them if the drawer-in 
 is made to bear a share of the responsibility. 
 
 The right kind of reeds. The reeds used 
 in the weave-rooms of many first-class mills are 
 far from being what they should be. They can- 
 not be handled too carefully. A reed should 
 never be thrown on the floor, or laid on any but 
 a flat surface. It is an easy matter to kink or 
 
 79
 
 bend a reed, and once bent it is like a saw-blade, 
 it can never be perfectly straightened. 
 
 Bending reeds. The practice of bending 
 a reed in the loom with the hammer, alluded to 
 in a previous chapter, should not be permitted. 
 This causes great damage to the reeds, and makes 
 trouble for every one. When the dents are spread 
 apart, or bent, great care should be exercised in 
 repairing the defect. It is sometimes done with 
 the blade of a knife or the point of a screw driver, 
 a veryclumsy way, as any one will admit. A pair 
 of reed plyers should be used, and the reed shoufd 
 be made as near perfect as the eye can judge. 
 
 There are many kinds of fine goods that are 
 seriously damaged by wide splits. In former times 
 a slight streak in the cloth would not be noticed ; 
 but nothing short of perfection seems to suit now. 
 
 Imperfect reeds, Among the ill effects of an 
 imperfect reed perhaps none are more important 
 than the confusion of the weavers by wide dents. 
 They get accustomed to seeing the streaks in the 
 cloth as they are weaving and very often a wrong 
 draw goes unnoticed under the impression that it 
 is a wide dent. The cloth should present an 
 even and perfect appearance to the weaver whose 
 attention is then easily attracted by every imper- 
 fection, however slight. 
 
 Poor reeds are expensive. The quality of 
 our reeds should be carefully noted. A poor 
 
 80
 
 reed is a very expensive thing. We often find a 
 reed that will bend easily. If the dents are soft 
 enough to bend readily they are usually soft 
 enough to wear, and the effect of a worn reed 
 on a fine warp is well known. If the overseer is 
 careful to notice how the reeds obtained from 
 different makers turn out, as to quality, he can 
 soon determine how to keep the room supplied 
 with the best that can be had. The flexible 
 bevel-dent-reed lately introduced commends 
 itself to overseers for the many good qualities it 
 possesses. The dents when spread readily 
 spring back to their place, and the dents being 
 beveled are a great help to the warp. I regard 
 it as an invaluable improvement over the old 
 style reeds. 
 
 Reeding the warp. We will now turn our 
 attention to reeding the warp. To make calcu- 
 lations for reeds, determine the threads in a 
 dent and the width you want to make it : 
 
 Example. 3600 threads in warp, 4 threads in 
 dent, must be 72 inches wide. What is the reed ? 
 
 4)3600 
 72) 900(12^ 
 72 
 1 80 
 144 
 36 
 reeds is what you want. 
 
 81
 
 Another case: 5600 threads, 6 in dent, 14 
 reed. This will give the width : 
 
 Example: 14 reed 
 
 6 in dent 
 
 threads per inch "84)5600(66^ 
 504 
 560 
 504 
 
 56 
 
 Finding the width. To obtain the width, 
 the threads and reed being known and the reed- 
 ing being irregular, the only thing to do is to 
 get the average, as near as possible, of the num- 
 ber of threads per dent. 
 
 Example : 5408 threads, 1 5 ^ reed reeded 
 5 4 4 4 5. There are 6 dents in this reed 
 pattern, and the number of threads contained in 
 those 6 dents you will see is 26. Dividing by 
 the number of dents will show that there are 4^ 
 threads in each dent. Now multiply the reed, 
 15^ by the dents per inch as in an ordinary 
 case; 15^x41/3 gives us 68^ threads, divide 
 the threads in the warp by 68^, and we have 
 79 X inches nearly. 
 
 There are rules given which will work in cer- 
 tain cases, but you can see your way clear by 
 this method, and if you invent your own special 
 rules you will be more apt to remember them. 
 The principle which is here given is very plain. 
 
 82
 
 
 Measuring. The drawer-in, having been 
 given the width which the warp is to be reeded, 
 should measure off accurately so as to get the 
 warp in the center of the reed. If a mistake in 
 measuring is made the fixer has not room on 
 the ends of the reed to slide it, so as to bring 
 the warp in the center ; and to accomplish this 
 the reed is cut off at one end. It certainly 
 should never be done. Why spoil a reed to get 
 around a mistake temporarily? If the warp 
 cannot be brought in the right place in the loom, 
 it is far better to reed it over again. There is 
 little excuse for having a warp reeded so far out 
 of the way, however, and it does not often occur. 
 
 Lease-rods. The lease-rods should always 
 be left in, even though the selvage may be drawn 
 in on the regular harness. You cannot tell 
 when you may need them.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WARP-MATTERS. 
 
 LIFTING IN THE WARP HOOKING UP THE HARNESS DRAWING 
 IN THE SELVAGES THE BEAM-FRICTION DIFFICULTIES 
 WITH BEAMS TYING IN THE WARP FASTENING THE REED 
 HAN1.LING THE CHAIN PUTTING ON THE LINKS POINTS 
 ABOUT LINKS BUILDING FILLING CHAIN PINS OF THE BARS 
 SIZE OF THE SHED EXAMINING THE HARNESS. 
 
 Avoiding damage. In starting the warp, a 
 great many of the damages to the goods, that 
 are caused by some part of the loom not being 
 properly adjusted, can be prevented by making 
 sure trut each part is in proper order. There is 
 no weave-room but that has mistakes made in it 
 every day, and always will have; but there are 
 lots of these mistakes that begin when the warp 
 began, and we can keep them down by keeping 
 a sharp look out in starting the warp. 
 
 Lifting in the warp. To hold the harness 
 up when we lift the warp in we need a stick or 
 rest. I have seen a hook hung over the top of 
 the frame of the loom, but I do not think it as 
 good as the rests made of wood. They should 
 be hollowed on the under side to make them 
 light, and should be high enough to hold the 
 
 84
 
 harness within one inch of the height they should 
 be when hooked up. This leaves the bottom 
 wire slack enough for you to hook on before 
 hooking the top, which you will do on all looms 
 excepting the pump-motion. 
 
 Hooking up the harness. If they are 
 hooked on top first, the straps on the bottom are 
 too tight to permit of the wires being hooked, 
 unless you let the harness down. In hooking up 
 the harness, be sure that the head-motion is 
 closed. You can then level up the harness which 
 should be carefully done. 
 
 Drawing in the selvages. After we have 
 the harness hung, we will draw in the selvage. 
 The straps and heddles usually employed are 
 none too good. In very many cases they are 
 utterly unfit for the purpose. The idea is quite 
 prevalent that anything will do for the selvage. 
 It will strike some people, after a while, that the 
 selvage is a very important part of the cloth. It 
 is a common thing for most of the selvage threads 
 to be thrown back in the weaving, and they are 
 never put in again during the whole warp. Some- 
 times they cannot be put in for want of heddles. 
 One strap may contain six or eight heddles, and 
 the other side two. Sometimes eight or more 
 double threads may be drawn all right on one 
 strap ; while on the other, for want of heddles, 
 four or six are put in each heddle. 
 
 85
 
 In some mills the character of the selvage is 
 kept uniform on all of the goods. It is dressed 
 in three colors, four threads of each. This gives 
 a neat appearance to the goods, and rightly gives 
 the impression that everything pertaining to 
 them receives the utmost care. 
 
 A good selvage also protects the warp in 
 weaving. It enables the temples, or temple- 
 hooks, to get hold of something that can stand 
 the strain put upon them. It should be of 
 uniform width on every piece woven one inch 
 in width at least. 
 
 The beam friction, Having drawn in the 
 selvage we next put on the beam friction. A 
 good substantial friction should be used, and care 
 should be taken in its construction. Uneven 
 cloth causes more damage than any other fault 
 in weaving ; and it is being produced every day 
 in any weave-room. The trouble resulting from 
 it is incalculable. In most cases uneven weaving 
 is almost imperceptible. It is not always detected 
 even on the perch, but in the finishing-room it 
 begins to show up in the shape of shaded goods, 
 cockles and the like. It confuses the finisher, 
 and sometimes makes a bad matter worse; so 
 we cannot be too careful about everything con- 
 nected with the beam. 
 
 Ordinarily a heading is tied around the beam- 
 head. It is a good thing, and if nothing else is 
 
 86
 
 used it should always be put on. There are 
 other things that can be used also. 
 
 Difficulties with beams. The chief trou- 
 ble with beams letting off unevenly may be found 
 in the way the chair holds them. It can easily 
 be moved, and if it slips one way or the other, to 
 cause the shafts to bind against the frame of the 
 loom it will not let off easy. The chair should 
 have a solid foundation ; not an uneven packing 
 of leather, but something on which it can rest 
 square and solid. It should be bolted very tight, 
 so that the weights do not pull it over and thus 
 cause the shafts to bind. 
 
 Unless the work is extremely heavy, I should 
 always set the chairs so that the shafts of the 
 beam can be seen to have room to spring to and 
 fro as the pick is beat in. It may be just per- 
 ceptible but it will answer the purpose. If the 
 shafts are fight the beam binds. On very light 
 work the beam, if resting on the chairs, will take 
 so little weight as to be hard, or may be, impos- 
 sible, to regulate. In that case provide blocks to 
 rest on the girth, and long enough for the beam 
 shafts to rest on them, and be held off the 
 chair. 
 
 Putting leather in the bearing for the beam 
 on the frame of the loom will lift it up; but 
 blocks are better, for they do not hold the shafts 
 so rigid, but allow them to work back and forth ; 
 
 87
 
 and this action seems to let the beam-head work 
 around, and not slip by jerks. 
 
 Width of band. The band should not be 
 too wide. They are often made wide to give them 
 strength ; but sometimes this goes too far, and 
 they are made so wide that they bind on the 
 sides of the groove. If cloth is not tied around 
 the head, it is equally good, and in some cases 
 better, to let the head rest on the bare chair and 
 then put a clean thrum under the band. This 
 the weaver should change at the beginning of 
 each cut. This will insure against having the 
 beam running with a glazed friction. It looks 
 like a good deal of work, but I can assure the 
 reader that it is a profitable thing to do, both for 
 the sake of the uniformity of the weaving and for 
 the help it gives the warp, if a tender one, by let- 
 ting off so much easier, and uniformly each 
 pick. 
 
 Tying in the warp, In tying in the warp 
 the ends should be combed and well straightened 
 before tying. If a thread here and there is slack, 
 you are not sure of them all showing up when 
 you look the harness over. Sometimes a wrong 
 draw may be missed in consequence and you can- 
 not afford to take any chances in this work. 
 
 Care in tying in the warp is time saved, for 
 many threads may be broken out at the start by 
 the shuttles if the shed does not open out free. 
 
 88
 
 Fastening the reed. In fastening the reed, 
 measure each side so that you are sure to get the 
 yarn in the center. The blind nuts in the slat that 
 fastens the reed are, in many cases, spoiled, and a 
 nut is placed on the outside. Each time the reed 
 is taken out these have to be laid on the breast 
 beam while the process of tying in, etc., is being 
 gone through with. When you want them you 
 may find them where you put them, or you may 
 find them under the loom, a great annoyance 
 always. Now, why not take the slat out and get 
 the nuts fixed and put where they belong ; it is 
 such neglect as this, in all the simple things about 
 a loom, that runs a section down and keeps the 
 fixer on the go from morning until night. 
 
 The reed should not be screwed perfectly 
 tight with the slat before the cap is put on. It 
 does not allow it to adjust itself and the cap when 
 put on may spring the reed. The cap should 
 never be pounded hard. This bends the dents of 
 the reed and is a damage to it. 
 
 Handling the chain. We now have the 
 warp ready fot the weaving. Let us look at the 
 chain. On old chain, to make perfectly sure that 
 there is no danger of mispicks being caused by 
 it, it is best to turn it by hand all the way around 
 and look at and feel each bar to see if it is possi- 
 ble for the risers to slide one way far enough for 
 a jack to slip off. Do not tie up a chain at ran- 
 
 89
 
 dom and let it go. If you tie string between the 
 sinkers on a chain of 16 harness, you do it on the 
 part nearest the back of it, so that there are 16 or 
 18 spaces, each of them worn slightly on the 
 ends that come together. Being crowded tight, 
 it makes them worse than they would be if the 
 bar were not tied at all. If you tie your chain so 
 that the ball nearest the string comes under the 
 jack-finger, or if the jacks are moved to one side 
 to make them come over a chain so tied, either 
 one side or the other will not come right. It will 
 take some manoeuvring to make them come 
 right. 
 
 The loom should not be started until the chain 
 is fixed so that it is impossible for a jack to slip 
 off the balls. 
 
 Putting on the links. The links of the chain 
 should be put on all alike. A chain is always 
 liable to make mispicks if the links are not put on 
 right. The link can catch on the end o( the cyl- 
 inder and drop again, just as the shed opens, so 
 you cannot see what caused the mispicks. If you 
 are troubled by having mispicks occur once in a 
 while, but not often enough to enable you to 
 watch the loom and see what did it, just try 
 the plan of doing the following simple things in 
 a thorough manner and you will not be troubled 
 so much. 
 
 Points about links. Links should be put 
 90
 
 on the chain so that the outside link on one side 
 of the chain is opposite the outside one on the 
 other, the inside link opposite an inside one. This 
 causes the chain to hang plumb and keeps it 
 straight while passing over the cylinder. An- 
 other way of putting links on is to let them over- 
 lap each other like shingles on a roof. The end 
 of the link pointing towards the cylinder should 
 be the outside end and the other end of the same 
 link coming on the inside of the next one pre- 
 cludes the possibility of the end of the link catch- 
 ing in the groove on the cylinder. This way. of 
 putting them on shortens them slightly and is 
 not so well on new cylinders. Whatever way is 
 employed, be sure to keep both sides alike and 
 directly opposite each other. 
 
 Building filling chain. In building the 
 filling chain the same care in regard to the links 
 is necessary. Trouble with pattern changing can 
 be averted in one-half of the cases, if the chain is 
 built right. On reverse-motion, the reverse- 
 balls should be callipered. They have to be ex- 
 actly alike for reverse and you may as well take 
 a little trouble here, as to spend your time fixing 
 the loom. 
 
 The pins of the bars. The pins for the bars 
 are another place where work is often slighted. 
 They should be of uniform length and not too 
 large. If a pin feels as if it is nearly broken 
 
 9 1
 
 when you bend them to make them stay in, take 
 it out. A chain coming apart while running is 
 likely to do a great deal of damage. 
 
 The size of the shed. We are now ready to 
 weave the heading in, and while doing so let us 
 regulate the size of the shed, and also its height. 
 Do not make the shed too large. It is common 
 for fixers to run with the shed opening the full 
 width of the reed. The aim of a good fixer is to 
 make the loom run without making it too large. 
 If the shuttles do not run straight a large shed 
 will not help them. You are only trying to get 
 the yarn out of the way of the shuttle, instead of 
 keeping the shuttle where it belongs. Try your 
 shed in various ways to make sure you have 
 everything right about it. Be very careful not 
 to let it bottom too hard. It should just clear 
 the race-board when the shed is opened full 
 width. The harness should be leveled so that 
 when the shed is opened the top-threads of it are 
 even. If one harness is permitted to work lower 
 than others, the shuttle will occasionally slip over 
 a thread. This can be avoided by keeping them even. 
 
 On warps with a backing on them, you some- 
 times have to lower some of the backing harness 
 to get them down on the back-pick. In such a 
 case, you cannot help having that harness lower 
 when it is raised, but it will not matter so much 
 on a backing harness. 
 
 92
 
 If you have difficulty in getting the harness 
 low enough, you can help it by making the un- 
 derneath connections extra tight. Do not leave 
 the loom until you are sure that the harness is 
 working so that it makes a good shed. It may 
 be working right while you are watching it, and 
 after a time the connections get slacker, or may 
 be the warp does not run as tight on the selvages 
 as it did while you were at the loom, and if any 
 of these things happen you may have a cut full of 
 harness-skips on the back. So, to be on the safe 
 side, see to it that you have a shed adjusted in 
 such a way as to meet any contingency that may 
 arise. 
 
 Examining the harness. We now have to 
 
 raise the harness one by one, to look them over. 
 Inasmuch as this operation is the only safe one 
 that we can have to make sure that there are no 
 wrong draws in the warp, it is important that it 
 be very carefully done. A few minute's time is 
 of little consequence compared with the time it 
 will take to fix a wrong draw if one is passed. 
 The safest way is to have a white rod to put un- 
 der the threads of each harness as they are lifted. 
 The run of the pattern should be followed the 
 entire length of each harness; and do not trust 
 to the eye too much. 
 
 On some harness the pattern may come up 
 with a colored thread at regular intervals among
 
 black. In such a case, should a colored thread 
 be left out and a black one come up in its place, 
 or the colored threads come too close together, 
 the eye can readily detect the difference; but 
 where there is a pattern on each harness, there is 
 no safe way but to count the patterns over as you 
 go along. On mixes it is sometimes very diffi- 
 cult to decide which is the right thread; but 
 there is no other way than to examine closely. 
 It is sometimes necessary to use a glass. On silk 
 and black, double and twist, if the silk is very 
 fine, the only way to look them over is to take 
 each thread and untwist it. This may require 
 hours to do, but you cannot get out of it. It will 
 not do to risk anything on such goods. 
 
 It is also a good plan to weave a piece and 
 then to make another heading. The piece need 
 not be more than three inches long; and when 
 the lap is woven down, take the piece and have 
 it scoured. When dry, wrong draws will usually 
 show up plain enough to be seen. None of these 
 precautions should be neglected upon any account. 
 
 94
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SHUTTLES, TEMPLES AND BELTS. 
 
 GOOD AND BAD SHUTTLES SHELLACING SHUTTLES POINTS ' 
 OF SHUTTLES MEETING IN THE SHED INJURY DONE BY 
 SHUTTLES TEMPLES THE USE OF HOOKS STRAPS THE 
 DUTCHER AND OTHER TEMPLES SETTING THE TEMPLE- 
 METHOD OF PUTTING ON TEMPLES THE BELT ON THE 
 LOOM OILING THE BELT PUTTING ON THE BELT LACING 
 BELT-SLI PPING. 
 
 Good and bad shuttles. In starting the pat- 
 tern, before putting in the shuttles, we may as well 
 look them over and see if they are in good condi- 
 tion. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that 
 fully one half of the shuttles in use are unfit for the 
 purpose; and in most cases their condition is due 
 to neglect. We find them worn flat on the tops 
 and sides. If anyone says that this cannot be 
 helped, I would ask him why it is that on some 
 looms, and with some weavers, shuttles seem to 
 be in good condition after running nearly "two 
 years ? That such is a fact no fixer will deny. 
 It depends on the cafe they get. A set of new 
 shuttles can be ruined in weaving out one warp ( 
 either by the shuttle striking the top of the box 
 
 95
 
 as it enters, .or by striking the side. If the shut- 
 tle is worn flat, even if it be made smooth after- 
 ward, it will chafe the warp much more than if 
 kept rounding. 
 
 Shellacing shuttles. If the loom is break- 
 ing the shellac on the shuttles, it should be 
 stopped at once. If the shellac is worn off you 
 cannot afterward keep the wood smooth. Shellac 
 should always be kept on hand, and whenever it 
 is necessary to sand-paper the shuttles they should 
 be covered with a coat before being used. 
 Weavers should not be permitted to sand-paper 
 their shuttles. It is only wearing them out. The . 
 right way to keep them smooth is to shellac 
 them. In shellacing shuttles, remember that if 
 they are coated with dust, covering them with 
 shellac will not remove the dust, but, instead, 
 will fix it on the shuttle. They must be cleaned 
 and left perfectly smooth before applying the 
 shellac. 
 
 Points Of shuttles. The points of the shut- 
 ties can be ground so as to feel smooth, and yet 
 be in a condition to break out the thread of the 
 warp. 
 
 They will do this when the fixer can hardly be 
 made to believe it. He tries the shuttle by 
 pushing the points through the threads, and if 
 they slip off, all right'; he thinks no damage can 
 be done by breaking threads. The shuttle goes 
 
 96
 
 through much faster than the fixer can push it 
 through, and if a thread comes in its way the 
 shuttle will break it. To avoid all danger from 
 this, grind the points so as to keep them well 
 tapered. You will not expect to do this at one 
 grinding, but each time they are ground the fixer 
 should keep this in mind and maintain the shape 
 of the tip. 
 
 Meeting in the shed. One other effect of 
 blunt shuttle-tips: they sometimes meet in the 
 shed. On the 1880 loom this is more frequent 
 than on others If the tips are properly tapered 
 they cause both of the shuttles to fly out of the 
 shed if they meet. If the tips are blunt, they 
 catch one another and have only mom- ntum 
 enough left to slide alongside of each other, thus 
 causing a smash. 
 
 The points of new shuttles should be round- 
 ed a little before starting. The points are too 
 sharp to use without some grinding. They 
 should not be ground enough to make them 
 blunt, but only to have the sharp point taken off. 
 If this be not done, they make such a steep hole 
 in the picker that the shuttles cannot slip out of 
 it when dropping from one box to another and 
 this may cause them to meet. 
 
 Injury done by shuttles. In an ordinary 
 sized room there are hundreds of threads broken 
 every day by shuttles not being in proper con- 
 
 97
 
 dition. The threads thus broken are bad to sew 
 in, as the end is usually carried as far as it will 
 go, in the shed. Many of them are missed by 
 both sewers and burlers and are only seen when 
 the goods are finished. This, together with the 
 trouble a poor set of shuttles gives the fixer, 
 would seem to show that it is a thing of great 
 importance. 
 
 Temples. Time was when anything would 
 do for a hook to hold the cloth out at the selv- 
 ges. The contrivances used for this purpose when 
 viewed in the light of present requirements, are 
 varied and interesting. We can remember some 
 first-class weave-rooms where apiece of wire, bent 
 so as to form two hooks, was used. Some of 
 them were so bent that the weight came entirely 
 on one hook. A torn and ragged selvage is the 
 result of using such hooks. Nor is this all; 
 the cloth should be held out as near the full 
 width as possible. The warp cannot weave well 
 if the sides are being worn by the reed. It also 
 makes the goods imperfect. Anything that 
 serves to rough up the yarn should be fixed at 
 once, for it makes a bad imperfection on some 
 goods. 
 
 On some kinds of goods a temple cannot be 
 successfully used, or at least the old style Butch- 
 er temple cannot. The number of cases where 
 a temple will not run is not so many as fixers
 
 suppose. It depends on how they are set and 
 also on the judgment of the weaver. 
 
 The use of hooks. We will suppose you 
 are using hooks. They should be made with at 
 least four hooks in each strap. To put the 
 hooks in the leather as it can and should be done, 
 is a very nice operation, and it requires not a lit- 
 tle skill and patience to perform it. The hook 
 should be made before you put it in the strap. 
 One way of making a hook is to take a coarse 
 file and rasp off the iron until it has somewhat of 
 a taper. It is most likely to have a taper with 
 three sides to it, like the point of a three-cornered 
 file. If there are corners in the hook, where it is 
 turned, they will surely tear the selvage so that 
 they have to be avoided if you want to have the 
 thing right. 
 
 The proper way is to finish tapering the wire 
 with a smooth file and be careful to leave the 
 wire round when you are done filing. The point 
 should not be too slender. It can be made sharp 
 enough to go in the selvage all right without 
 weakening the point. 
 
 Before bending the hooks each one of them 
 should be ground, not entirely for the purpose of 
 sharpening them but to make the wire smooth, so 
 that the inside of the hook will be smooth when 
 bent. It is best to bend them with an old pair of 
 round-nose plyers so as not to scratch the the wire. 
 
 99
 
 Do not bend the hook so that the inside is N 
 shaped. It is not fit for the purpose if so bent. 
 It must be rounded nicely. The hooks should 
 be put in the leather so that each one may be 
 tight enough to be prevented from turning. The 
 ends of the wire, if care be used, can be made to 
 sink into the leather and not feel disagreeable to 
 the weaver. Make each hook so that they come 
 of even lengths. Of course you will taper them 
 so as to give the proper slant to the strap ; but 
 the hooks should all take hold when hooked in 
 the cloth. If properly made a hook will bear 
 twice the weight without tearing the cloth that 
 they otherwise would. 
 
 Straps. Rollers to bear up the straps should 
 always be used. The strap should never be put 
 over the corner of the breast beam. The hooks 
 pull directly from the reed and each time they 
 are hooked up they make a thin place in the 
 goods. In former times, when attention was 
 called to this, the excuse would be offered that 
 the temple hooks caused it, and it was supposed 
 to be something that could not be helped. It has 
 got to be helped now. 
 
 On goods that draw in very hard, two hooks 
 on each side are necessary. It is a great deal 
 better to use two hooks than it is to overload 
 one in attempting to hold the cloth out, for the 
 weight comes in one place and will make thin
 
 places in goods that are very heavy. In using 
 two straps, provide rollers for each one of them. 
 In place of having weights on each strap, it is 
 better to use a spring on one of them. 
 
 The Butcher temple. On most of the work 
 a Dutcher temple will run very well, and it is 
 superior to hooks. There is no shading of the 
 goods as with the hooks. One reason why 
 temples do not meet with much favor in some 
 mills is because the fixer is not obliged to use 
 them, and consequently if one is put on and it 
 does not run without much trouble, he takes it 
 off and throws it aside where it may get rusty 
 and unfit for use. It was the same way with the 
 Tucker Stop-motion when they were put in differ- 
 ent mills for trial. If they gave any trouble they 
 were laid in the window, and the fixers never 
 tried to master them until the time came when 
 they had to. So it is with the temple. If the 
 fixer is obliged to make them run he can gener- 
 ally find a way to overcome the difficulties that 
 come in his way. A weaver should be taught 
 how to handle them; a great deal of it rests with 
 them. Some weavers get along all right with a 
 temple, while others cannot start up again after 
 having a pick-out. 
 
 Setting the temple. The temple should be 
 set so that the end of it stands within ^ of an 
 inch from the edge of the warp threads. If it is
 
 too near the end of the cloth, it is apt to tear the 
 fabric. When you draw the lathe up, the catch 
 should be set so as keep the end of the temple ^ 
 of an inch from the reed. Some set them so that 
 the temple is y 2 or even ^ of an inch from the 
 reed. The effect of this is to let the cloth begin 
 to slip out before the temple can get back to hold 
 it. The head of the temple should be set only 
 high enough to clear the race-board. It should 
 also point downward towards the reed. 
 
 On a breast-beam that has been battered up by 
 the points of shuttles and the like, you find it 
 difficult to get a solid bearing for the stand. If 
 packing is employed, it is sometimes put in so 
 that the temple points upward, and the head of it 
 may only just clear the race-board, yet the slant 
 of the temple being just opposite to that of the 
 race, when the lathe comes up far enough to beat 
 in the pick, the head of the temple may be ^ 
 an inch from the race. 
 
 These things should not be, as the trouble 
 with any temple is that it holds the cloth too 
 high. Fasten the stand firmly on the frame. It 
 will not do to have the temple rocking to and fro. 
 I think it would be an improvement if the stand 
 or bracket that supports the temple extended 
 down so that a lag-screw could be put through 
 the casting on the inside of the breast-beam. 
 
 Method of putting on temples. I once had
 
 to put temples on a lot of new looms, and not 
 liking to drill holes through the plate on the 
 breast-beam I got a thin piece of wood fastened 
 to the regular iron bracket, taking care to give it 
 the right pitch both downward and outward. 
 The part of the pattern that was to come on the 
 inside of the breast-beam was 12 inches long, and 
 had a slot \o l / 2 inches. From this I got my 
 brackets cast, and I found them a great con- 
 venience. The temple was held in just the right 
 place, and, of course, it could never slip. One 
 lag-screw was all that was required, and the slot 
 enabled me to move the temple in a few seconds. 
 
 Other temples. There are other temples 
 than that old standard, the Butcher. So far as 
 holding out the cloth is concerned the English 
 temple is a good one. It has, in place of the old- 
 style burr or roller, a series of brass rings 
 spiral shaped. It also reaches farther into the 
 cloth, and having more hold, retains the cloth in 
 the temple. There are objections to it, among 
 which I might note that the absence of any kind 
 of spring on the temple makes it rather danger- 
 ous to use, for should the shuttle stop in the 
 shed, and opposite the temple, it will very likely 
 break the latter. It certainly will if the loom fails 
 to protect. Still, this temple did more to supply 
 a long felt want than anything else in the field 
 for a few years. 
 
 103
 
 The Hardaker temple, on the same principle 
 as the English temple, but improved in the bear- 
 ings and stands gives us an article of real merit. 
 As with the English temple the cloth is held out 
 well, and there is very little danger of the shuttle 
 catching it and breaking it. 
 
 I do not think there are any kinds of goods 
 that this temple will not hold; and if the rolls 
 are kept in order there will be no danger of the 
 warp-threads in the cloth being cut by the pins. 
 
 There are other temples in use, but I have 
 mentioned the principal ones, and perhaps the 
 most popular. Temples are growing in favor, 
 because they are becoming a necessity, and the 
 overseer will do well to look into the merits of 
 anything that comes along in the shape of a 
 temple. Not only do they prevent shading of 
 the goods, but anything that is in any way likely 
 to wear up and go bad on the sides of the warp 
 may be given the same chance as the middle. 
 
 The belt on the loom. The belt on the 
 loom is about as little understood as anything 
 can well be, while nothing can be of more import- 
 ance. Many fixers never go farther than to 
 notice that a certain loom which has been run- 
 ning for some time all right, and which is notice- 
 able for the smooth and easy pick it had with 
 the belt moderately tight, suddenly gets into 
 such a condition that it will not go at all. Every- 
 
 104
 
 thing seems the same, and is the same, yet the 
 shuttle will not go across. The lug-strap is 
 lowered, and yet it will not pick. Then the belt 
 is tightened, and if enough is taken out the loom 
 then picks all right ; but the weaver can hardly 
 start the loom up on account of the tight belt. 
 
 Instead of having to upset everything to make 
 the loom run as it has run for some time, the 
 belt should have been cared for in time. 
 Whether you can see it or not, the reason for 
 the loom making such a sudden change is that 
 the condition of the belt is different, and once it 
 begins to slip it gets roughed up and is made 
 worse. Some looms run right along with the 
 belt very slack, and if it is so, the weaver can 
 handle the loom easily. It ships easily, and is an 
 immense advantage to the weaver. Other looms 
 cannot be made to run in that way. The prime 
 cause is the belt. Of course, other things have 
 been altered in an endeavor to make the loom 
 run better, but the belt should first be attended 
 to. It is not as easy a matter to get a belt in 
 proper condition when once it is out, as it is to 
 keep it right when you have it right. 
 
 Oiling the belt. Belts need oiling often 
 enough to keep them pliable. On the pliable- 
 ness of a belt depends its adhesiveness. There 
 is a mistaken idea that a rough surface will hold 
 on the pulley better than a smooth surface. 
 
 105
 
 Perhaps this is why a belt is sometimes scraped. 
 If a composition of gum, dirt and flyings has 
 accumulated on the belt the only thing to be 
 done is to scrape it off; but scraping for any 
 other purpose is fruitless. New belts are put on 
 with the flesh or smooth side to the pulley, for 
 the reason that the smooth side allows more of 
 the belt surface to touch the pulley, air is entirely 
 excluded from under the belt, and every part of 
 it adheres to the pulley. If the belt becomes 
 dry the surface will not as readily bend itself to 
 the pulley. The surface becomes coated with a 
 kind of dust, the result of the wear of the belt, 
 therefore it loses its adhesiveness, and whenever 
 a belt slips it wears the surface uneven. From 
 this condition of things a long train of troubles 
 can arise. 
 
 I do not think there is anything better for 
 keeping belts in good condition than pure neat's 
 foot oil. It answers the purpose. 
 
 Putting on the belt. In putting a belt on, 
 the butt of the scaff should strike the pulley first. 
 If the point of the scaff or joint strikes the pulley 
 first, the slipping of the belt will roll up the 
 points. Do not slash off the end of your belt in 
 a hap hazard way when you wish to cut it. A 
 tri-square should always be used and the ends of 
 the belts cut perfectly square. Punch an odd 
 number of holes. On a loom-belt five holes are 
 
 106
 
 needed. One single hole is usually not enough 
 for the lace to go through, unless you have a 
 very large punch. If two holes are punched into 
 one, they should be made so that the oblong hole 
 is lengthwise of the belt. You will then save the 
 effective strength of the belt. This punching is 
 better done with an oval punch. 
 
 Lacing the belt. In lacing the belt keep the 
 back or pulley side straight. Draw your lace so 
 that an equal portion of the strain is borne by 
 each hole. Keep the edges straight. 
 
 In making a proper job of this belt-sewing, I 
 do not think loom-fixers need instructions in 
 sewing so much as they need to be impressed 
 with the importance of the work. 
 
 It will not be denied that the work of mending 
 belts in the weave-room is often hastily done and 
 the resulting neglect is a thing of great moment 
 where there are so many belts used. 
 
 Belt slipping, It sometimes happens that the 
 belt is inclined to run to one side of the pulley. 
 The loom may start easy and be very hard to 
 stop, or vice versa. Of course, if such is the 
 case, the loom-shaft is not parallel with the line- 
 shaft. The tendency of a belt is to the high part 
 of a pulley if the shafts are parallel, but there is 
 no high side to loom pulleys. They are straight 
 across the surface, so that if the belt runsstrongly 
 to any particular side that side is nearest to the 
 
 107
 
 line-shaft. The belt will run to the ends of the 
 shafts which are nearest together. This being 
 known, if your belt does not run right, the weaver 
 will have more comfort if the fixer will take a 
 little trouble and fix it as it should be. 
 
 Running the loom. Our loom should now 
 be in good shape to start up and weave the warp 
 out to the best advantage. We have touched 
 upon everything that is necessary to success and 
 if everything has been properly and thoroughly 
 done there will be little trouble with the loom. 
 
 In running the loom the same principles must 
 be followed as are laid down for a proper over- 
 hauling. If the loom gets an ugly pick through 
 the belt slipping, you cannot expect to keep it in 
 good order by altering the picking-motion. 
 
 In saying that certain rules bring about cer- 
 tain results, it is taken for granted that other 
 things are right, one part of the loom works con- 
 jointly with others, and each part must be work- 
 ing right to insure harmonious action of the whole. 
 The habit that some fixers have of doing too 
 much fixing in certain cases, is one of their great- 
 est troubles. If a loom in its principal parts is in 
 good condition, and has been running successfully 
 and then begins to work badly, look out for some 
 simple thing that has gone wrong. The whole 
 loom cannot get upset so suddenly as that. Find 
 out what it is before touching anything. 
 
 108
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN THE WEAVE-ROOM. 
 
 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF OVERSEERS SUPPLIES FOR 
 THE WEAVE-ROOM AND THEIR COST EXAMINATIONS 
 PERCHING AND HOW TO DO IT RIGHT TICKETING AND 
 MEASURING SEWING IN BOOKS FOR THE WEAVE-ROOM 
 A GOOD FORM SUGGESTED. 
 
 In the weave-room. A large volume might 
 be written touching upon all the details of loom- 
 fixing, and the teachings of experience thus given 
 would be a decided benefit, no doubt, more es- 
 pecially to beginners. There is, however, not 
 room for the minutest details in this little treatise, 
 the purpose of which, more than anything else, 
 is to lead those who are engaged in the weave- 
 room, whether overseers, fixers or learners, to 
 think for themselves. It is a common habit for 
 fixers to try to follow the customs of others, in 
 the pursuit of their calling. I know that begin- 
 ners have been the subject of ridicule on account 
 of their seemingly awkward way of doing things. 
 The reason they seemed awkward was because 
 they were a little different from others in their 
 methods. Now, I do not think it is necessary to 
 
 109
 
 be well up in the technical slang of a class of 
 loom-fixers in order to meet with success. To 
 know what you are trying to do is of paramount 
 importance, and that is all you want of any one's 
 ideas. Experience teaches you which way is the 
 handiest to you in doing your work and that is 
 as good as the way of anyone else. Do not be 
 disturbed by those mysterious expressions in- 
 dulged in by some. I remember a fixer who, in 
 extolling his merits as a first-class hand, ran over 
 a list of the looms he had worked on and capped 
 it by saying, " I have also worked on the hori- 
 zontal ! " The manufacturer to whom he was 
 talking, had never heard of the horizontal harness- 
 motion loom and he thought he must be an extra 
 good man. 
 
 The more a man learns on any subject, the 
 more he realizes his own weakness and ignor- 
 ance ; and when a person gets just far enough to 
 think that he is perfect because he has " worked " 
 on this or that loom, he is in a pitiable condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Learners have been discouraged many a time 
 by these persons, and I would expose the sham, 
 and encourage them to brace up, and feel that 
 their ideas are as good as any one else's. If 
 they can only reach that point it would do 
 them more good than anything else they can 
 learn.
 
 An intelligent man can fix on any loom, it 
 matters not to him whether it be a Knowles, a 
 Crompton, or what not, it is all the same to 
 him. 
 
 Responsibility of the overseer. The over- 
 seer cannot be indifferent to the methods em- 
 ployed by the fixers in doing their work. He is 
 responsible for the condition of the room, and it 
 is his duty to himself and his employers to see 
 to it that due care is used in everything pertain- 
 ing to the work. The fixer will not be as likely to 
 appreciate the value of the supplies used in the 
 weave-room as would the overseer. There is no 
 department in the mill where extravagance 
 counts up as rapidly as in the weave-room. It 
 is due to the fixers themselves that the head of 
 the room should know what is going on. If one 
 fixer can run his section more economically than 
 another, he is entitled to credit for it, and not to 
 be classed the same as the fixer who may be care- 
 less and extravagant. Some fixers chafe under 
 the restraint put upon them by certain overseers. 
 In this they show poor judgment. They are 
 neither friendly to themselves nor to their overseer. 
 It is unreasonable to expect that the overseer 
 shall assume all the responsibility and leave the 
 work to be done in accordance with some one 
 else's ideas. If he values his own interests, he 
 will assert his right to have things done as he
 
 wants them, and the fixer who cannot acquiesce, 
 does not understand his place. 
 
 Supplies for the weave-room. In the mat- 
 ter of supplies for the weave-room the judgment 
 of overseers seems to differ. Some get nearly 
 everything made at home, and in my opinion 
 lose thereby, in most cases, as the makers of sup- 
 plies and repairs have better facilities for making 
 a suitable article than home machine-shops unless 
 there is a shop connected with the mill that is 
 equipped for doing all kinds of work. But in 
 mills that depend on outside shops for their 
 repairs it is cheaper and far more satisfac- 
 tory to get the supplies at the shops of the 
 makers. 
 
 Take, for instance, the studs used about the 
 loom. A picking-stud, perfect in every w T ay, can 
 be obtained for fifteen cents. The same for sweep 
 and picking-stick studs. No local shops can 
 make them for three times that sum. The same 
 also may be said of castings. Everything fits 
 and will give better satisfaction, and the room 
 may as well be furnished with everything requi- 
 site for making repairs promptly, as to wait until 
 you have a break-down and then pay as much 
 for an article as would furnish three such. The 
 costly and bungling plates frequently put on 
 broken castings should be avoided by keeping a 
 supply of new repairs on hand.
 
 It cannot be said that this is extravagant, as it 
 can be easily shown that it costs much more to 
 patch things up. The place to save is in the 
 usage the parts are subjected to while on the 
 loom. If the parts are cared for, and the habit 
 of battering and bruising castings stopped, there 
 will be fewer repairs needed, and those should be 
 of the best and ready for use whenever needed. 
 The same may be said of sweep-straps and the 
 like. A good article can be obtained and they 
 will give better results in the long run than by 
 using old belting, &c. 
 
 A supply of bolts should always be kept on 
 hand. When one is needed it is needed badly, 
 and the cost of furnishing the amount needed 
 from time to time, if bought in small quantities, 
 would furnish a good stock of all kinds. 
 
 These remarks are worthy of the careful atten- 
 tion of every overseer of weaving. 
 
 Examinations. When the rod is taken off 
 after starting the warps, the laps should always 
 be looked over by the overseer or second hand. 
 It is desirable that some one should do this who 
 has an idea what the goods should look like. 
 One person should see all the goods in the 
 room. If all of them are seen by one person, 
 he can more readily detect anything wrong or 
 changed by the comparison he is enabled to 
 make. 
 
 113
 
 Besides looking over for wrong draws, the 
 filling pattern should be just as carefully noticed. 
 It is a very common occurrence for styles having 
 a check, plaid, or figure of any kind to vary in 
 size on different looms, of course nothing can be 
 blamed for this but the picks, and for this reason 
 some one should notice this at the start, and see 
 to it that the picks are in and thus prevent this 
 uneven weaving from the start. The filling pat- 
 tern should be picked over, and also the harness- 
 chain. This should, by all means, be done by 
 some one besides the one who started it. His 
 understanding of the draft may be wrong, and if 
 he picked it over a dozen times he would prob- 
 ably read it just the same. A different person 
 would be likely to see it in a different way, and 
 thus prevent serious damages. None of these pre- 
 cautions should be omitted in any case. 
 
 Perching. The cloth-perching in large mills 
 has to be done by a percher, who gives his entire 
 time to the work, sometimes requiring several 
 assistants. 
 
 In moderate sized mills the overseer has to do 
 his own perching. This works well enough in 
 some cases, but it is often overdone. Manufac- 
 turers do not take into full consideration the 
 importance of this branch of the weaver's work. 
 A saving of ten times the expense of a percher 
 might often be made in cases where the overseer 
 
 114
 
 has not sufficient time properly to perform his 
 duties. The saving may be made, not alone in 
 the mistakes discovered and made good before 
 the cloth goes into the finishing-room, but also 
 in preventing them from continuing in the pieces 
 that follow. 
 
 If in the morning a piece be taken off containing 
 a wrong draw, thread-out or other defect, the 
 chances being that, whatever it was, it was still 
 continuing, what an amount of sewing it will 
 cause if the overseer should not get time to look 
 that piece over till the latter part of the day ? 
 Even then he may hurry it through and over- 
 look the mistake. All this is more than likely; 
 it occurs very often. A piece should be looked 
 over immediately after it is taken off. You may 
 stop a wrong draw that has only just started, or 
 perhaps one you have missed on the previous cut. 
 Wrong draws and other like imperfections, con- 
 tinually going into the finishing-room will make 
 trouble for somebody, and they should be stopped 
 at any cost. It is better to lose a good deal with 
 a loom standing than to lose a little by mistakes. 
 The last heading should be carefully examined 
 on every cut, and it is a good plan to teach the 
 weavers to do this before hooking the cloth 
 down. Many imperfections may be caught in 
 this way. 
 
 Ticketing. The tickets should be attached 
 "5
 
 to the last end of the piece and on the face. In 
 order to insure regularity in this the weaver 
 should always weave the string in the heading 
 with the ticket attached. They should never be 
 allowed to fasten the ticket to the cloth after it 
 is taken off the loom, for they are liable to get 
 it on the wrong end. 
 
 The pieces are finished towards the number 
 end, and if one ticket should be put on one end, 
 and on the next cut should be put on the oppo- 
 site end, if the style was one that had a figure 
 that had to be kept right side up, or a top and 
 bottom to it, as it were, in order to keep them 
 right, the nap would have to be put in oppo- 
 site directions on these two pieces in cutting 
 them. 
 
 Thorough inspection needed. In inspect- 
 ing the cloth over the perch, each piece should 
 receive a thorough inspection. The piece should 
 be looked over the face, looked through, and on 
 most goods it pays to look the back over. On 
 heavy weights this has to be done and it is some- 
 times useful on light weights, for an imperfection 
 will show plainer on the back on some weaves 
 than it does on the face. This is due to the 
 twist of the yarn. 
 
 Measuring. Everything should be marked 
 before passing the piece over to the sewer-in. In 
 measuring it must be remembered that it is not
 
 an easy thing to draw a piece over and come out 
 exactly alike with a yard stick. It is easy to 
 make a considerable percentage of difference in 
 the lengths and this is an important matter, for 
 it effects the weights. The finisher cannot make 
 accurate calculations if there are variations in 
 the weaver's weights and measurements. The 
 measuring machine for perches is not a lux- 
 ury entirely. By its use the exact lengths are 
 obtained and the weights of the goods are more 
 reliable. Variation in the weights should be fol- 
 lowed up immediately after the piece is weighed. 
 It will not do to wait until the next one comes 
 off, as then you will be more likely to have two 
 wrong weights instead of one. 
 
 The causes of uneven weights are pretty well 
 understood. The way to prevent them will 
 probably never be very satisfactorily known. 
 The only way to obtain the best results is for the 
 overseer to take every precaution that circum- 
 stances suggest and not wait until he is in trou- 
 ble before beginning to look after the work. The 
 lots should be numbered, and, whenever a new 
 lot is started, its effect should be carefully noted 
 so that any change that is necessary to be made, 
 can be done before it is too late. 
 
 Sewing-in. After the inspection and mark- 
 ing of the cloth it is passed to the sewer-in. This 
 work if not in the control of the overseer of the 
 
 117
 
 weaving, should be, for none would derive as 
 much benefit from a knowledge of the condition 
 of the goods as he would. By having the direc- 
 tion of the sewing, he sees everything and can 
 thus keep himself acquainted with the work of 
 each weaver in particular, and the whole room in 
 general. Under his direction the mending can 
 be thoroughly done and according to the weave. 
 The pieces should be looked over after the sew- 
 ing has been done. It is the only way that the 
 overseer can be sure that his work is complete 
 and perfect. 
 
 Books for the weave-room. The books for 
 the weave-room are seldom alike in different 
 mills. I have found good points in every kind 
 that I have used. Their arrangement is gener- 
 ally made to suit the circumstances of the mill 
 where the book is used. One way would never 
 suit some mills, while in others it may be just 
 what is wanted. 
 
 In some mills each piece is numbered consecu- 
 tively. This is convenient for entering, for each 
 piece is entered as it is measured; first come first 
 served. But for reference it cannot be commend- 
 ed, neither is it convenient in making up the pay- 
 roll. I think the most popular and convenient 
 style of weave-book is like the form here given. 
 There may be slight changes to suit different 
 customs. 
 
 118
 
 WEAVE-ROOM BOOK. 
 
 
 g 
 
 OBO* 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 w < w < 'o>o-3& 
 
 
 
 | MM | INC. 
 
 
 3 
 
 5T 
 
 3 
 
 w 
 
 * *3 
 
 I 
 
 
 & 
 
 >S 
 
 Loom. 
 
 
 t 
 
 * 
 
 Picks 
 
 
 9? 
 
 
 
 T) 
 
 Shuttles. 
 
 
 S 
 
 P 
 
 Price. 
 
 
 r| = 
 
 Style. 
 
 
 *M 
 
 "SI 
 
 Yds. 
 
 
 * 
 
 ^rs 
 
 Weight. 
 
 
 i 
 
 > 
 
 Beam. 
 
 
 i 
 
 ill 
 
 Lot. 
 
 
 K 
 
 U) 
 
 t 
 
 
 1 
 
 119
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CALCULATIONS. 
 
 CALCULATIONS FOR WOOLEN YARNS" RUNS " AND " CUTS " 
 FULL EXPLANATIONS METHODS WITH WORSTED YARNS, 
 TABLE OF "RUNS," "CUTS," YARDS AND GRAINS WL1GHT 
 IN A YARD OF WARP FILLING CALCULATIONS TO FIND 
 RUNS FROM OUNCES POUNDS NEEDED FOR CUTS PERCEN- 
 TAGES OF YARNS SIZES OF PULLEYS PERCENTAGES OF 
 WOOL, ETC. 
 
 Woolen-yarn calculations. The base for 
 woolen yarn calculations is the " run." A run 
 of yarn is I pound spun to a length of 1600 
 yards. When spinners are paid by the run, they 
 receive so much for spinning 1600 yards of yarn 
 It is well to keep this in mind in making a study 
 of textile calculations. 
 
 Anyone can understand what you mean when 
 you say you want a 4-run yarn ; but there are many 
 who would not understand you if you were to say 
 you wanted 600 runs of 4-run yarn. Therefore 
 to know what a run of yarn is becomes essen- 
 tial in making calculations. The use of the 
 terms " 3-run," or " 4-run " yarn might be
 
 changed and the terms % or ^ used. A 3-run 
 thread is ^ the size of a i-run thread, because 
 in i pound cf i-run yarn there are 1600 yards, 
 in i pound of 3~run yarn there are 4800 yards ; 
 therefore the 3-run, being spun out to 3 times 
 as many yards as the i-run, is only ^ the size. 
 4-run yarn has 6400 yards per pound and is 
 only * the size of i-run yarn. So if we want 
 to add two or more threads together, as in 
 making double and twist yarn, we can treat them 
 as we would fractions, nearly. 
 
 To add together the fractions ^-f y 2 we know 
 it would make one whole. Thus, ^ -f- y 2 = | = 
 I. Now, of course you can readily see that ad- 
 ding 2 2-run threads together makes a i-run 
 thread, so that in this case, it reads right. But 
 we will take another. Add % and ^ together 
 in other words, add a 3-run and a 4-run to- 
 gether 
 
 H-i=& 
 
 Now we know that these two threads cannot 
 make one as heavy as J? of a run, less than f . 
 In adding two fractions having i for their num- 
 erator, the rule is : 
 
 Multiply the denominators together for a new 
 denominator, add them together for a numera- 
 tor. 
 
 This we have done. The result is the frac- 
 tion r 7 2, which means that it is not as heavy as
 
 the i-run thread. So the fraction expresses cor- 
 rectly the size of our thread, taking i-run for a 
 base. But we want to have it expressed in terms 
 that are more pertinent to the subject. This we 
 can do in all cases by first inverting the terms, 
 and then proceeding as in ordinary fractions. 
 Thus : V 2 = if runs, which is correct. 
 
 Another example: What weight of thread 
 have we by putting together 3, 7 and 9 runs 
 
 3 7 9 
 63 
 
 _ 6 3_ 
 37 
 
 26 
 '61 
 
 2lXl=2I 
 
 9X1= 9 
 
 7Xi=_7 
 37 
 63 
 
 or \y run heavy. 
 
 There arc other ways given for doing this, 
 but I know of no better way, and it is one that 
 will put before you in plain terms the size of 
 your doubled thread. 
 
 Guts and runs. The yarn table given here- 
 with is for runs and cuts. There are many mills 
 where yarn is numbered by cuts entirely. To 
 any one accustomed to numbering by runs it is 
 confusing. 
 
 A cut of yarn contains 300 yards. In 3-run
 
 yarn \ve have 4800 yards in a pound. It will 
 take 1 6 cuts to equal a 3-run yarn ; 24 cuts mul- 
 tiplied by 300 equals 7200 yards. The latter 
 sum divided by 1600 gives us 4^ runs. Hence 
 to convert cuts into runs, divide the yards per 
 pound in the cut. numbers by 1600. To convert 
 cuts into runs, divide the yards in the run num- 
 bers by 300, and you have the cuts. 
 
 Worsted yarns, In worsted yarn there are 
 560 yards per pound, this is called a hank. 
 Worsted is used in woolen goods so much now 
 that it is quite necessary for those employed in 
 the woolen business to understand the relative 
 value of the worsted thread in weight as com- 
 pared with a woolen thread. 
 
 You proceed in the same way as in cuts. A 
 5-run thread contains 5x1600=8000, 8000^ 
 560= 14.28+ which is a worsted number. A 
 No. 20 worsted thread is 560x20=11,200 yards, 
 11,200-^ 1600=7 runs - Worsted yarn is used 
 double on all except the heavy numbers, as 2-505, 
 2-403, &c. The meaning of this is that two No. 
 40 worsted threads are put together, so that the 
 two are twice the size of a single thread, which 
 will make them the weight of a No. 20, 2-503 
 would be the weight of a No. 25, &c. 
 
 All yarns are calculated on the basis of 7000 
 Troy grains in I pound avoirdupois. The object 
 is to have the avoirdupois pound, and to use the 
 
 123
 
 Troy grain as convenient divisions of it. That is 
 all there is to it. There are those who have 
 different views on the subject, but the best 
 authorities agree that the above is the right way. 
 
 TABLE OF RUNS, CUTS, YARDS AND GRAINS. 
 
 BH 
 
 34% 
 
 yds. 
 
 218.8 
 1094 
 
 ll 5 
 
 fes 
 
 547 
 
 48.6 
 
 33-7 
 3'. 
 9.1 
 -'7 3 
 $. 
 
 4-3 
 
 -3 
 
 .1 
 
 i.,.y 
 
 3^ 
 
 ;^ 
 
 
 2^.1 
 
 ^8 
 
 3'' 5 
 
 35- 
 
 33 7 
 
 
 25 
 
 yas. 
 
 & 
 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 777T 
 
 16.2 
 
 32.4 
 
 
 15.6 
 
 
 
 15 1 
 
 30.2 
 
 
 14 6 
 
 29.1 
 
 
 14.1 
 
 28.2 
 
 
 13 ~i 
 
 27 4 
 
 
 13.3 
 
 26.5 
 
 
 12.9 
 
 25-7 
 
 
 12 5 
 
 25- 
 
 
 11.2 
 
 24.3 
 
 
 1 1. 8 
 
 73.6 
 
 
 11.5 
 
 2 3- 
 
 
 112 
 
 22. 
 
 
 10.9 
 
 91.9 
 
 
 10.7 
 
 21-3 
 
 
 10.4 
 
 20.8 
 
 
 10.2 
 
 20.4 
 
 
 9-9 
 
 19.9 
 
 
 9 7 
 
 19-4 
 
 . . 
 
 9-5 
 
 19. 
 
 : 
 
 9-3 
 JM 
 
 l8.'2 
 
 Weight in a yard of warp. To show how 
 to calculate the weight of yarn in a yard of warp, 
 we will take a warp containing 1600 ends of 4-run 
 yarn, i yard of warp gives us 1600 yards of 
 thread. If that 1600 yards were i-run yarn, we 
 
 124
 
 should just have i pound of warp. Being 4-run, 
 which is y the size of the i-run, we have ^ of 
 the weight, 1^ + 16 = 4 oz. So to obtain the 
 weight of yarn in the warp, divide the threads by 
 the runs. 
 
 Example : 400 ) 1 600 
 
 4.00 oz. 
 
 Another: 5.25)4200(8 oz. 
 4200 
 
 Write the runs decimally for convenience 
 in case you have fractions of runs, as 5.25, 
 5.75, &c. 
 
 Weight of yarn. To obtain the proper 
 weight of yarn, the weight of the goods wanted 
 being known, the process is just opposite to the 
 other. To illustrate: We want to put in 1600 
 threads and want the warp to weigh 4 oz., what 
 weight shall we spin the yarn? 
 
 oz. 400)1600 
 
 400 runs. 
 
 or, 8ooj420o(5.25 runs. 
 4000 
 200.0 
 1600 
 
 400.0 
 
 Filling calculation. For the filling we mul- 
 tiply the picks per inch and the width in the reed 
 together, to get the yards in the filling. This 
 
 125
 
 may not appear quite clear to the learner. It 
 looks strange that I inch of filling multiplied by 
 the width of the cloth, equals all the threads in 
 the warp. Well, suppose we take a strip of the 
 cloth i inch wide, and we go lengthwise for I 
 yard, 36 inches. There are 46 picks per inch, so 
 36 -f- 46= 1656 inches of yarn. Now, we have 
 only got i inch of the width and I yard of the 
 length. We multiply 1656 by the total width, 
 which we will call 36 inches. We then have 
 59,616 total inches of filling in i yard of 
 cloth. 
 
 We then divide by 36 to get these inches into 
 yards and we have 1656 again, hence, the simple 
 rule. 
 
 Multiply the width in the reed by the picks in 
 I inch for the yards of filling in I yard of 
 cloth. 
 
 Example: runs, 4) 1656 
 
 4. 14 oz. 
 
 To find the runs from ounces. To find 
 the runs, the ounces being known, divide the 
 threads by ounces instead of the runs. The 
 weights thus obtained are the weights off the 
 loom, the yarn being exact, and no account being 
 taken of the listing, shrinkage in weaving, &c. 
 But these will count up, of course, and it will be 
 found that the goods will be heavier than the 
 weights produced by the calculation. This, to- 
 
 126
 
 gether with the shrinkage in length in the finish- 
 ing, will compensate for the loss in weight by 
 scouring, gigging and shearing, &c. So that the 
 weights finished will correspond with the weights 
 given by the calculation as near as can be. There 
 are those who may be more elaborate in their 
 method, but the results are no nearer correct, of 
 this I am certain. 
 
 Pounds needed for cuts. To calculate the 
 amount of yarn required for a considerable quan- 
 tity of yarn, we proceed a little differently. The 
 rules we have just given relate to the weight per 
 yard. We wish to find the pounds of yarn 
 needed for I or more cuts. 
 
 2970 threads of 4- run warp. 
 40 yards per cut. 
 
 i run of yarn, 1600)118800(74.25 runs. 
 
 By the above process we multiply the threads 
 by the number of yards it will require to weave 
 a cut of cloth. The cut may be 35 yards or a 
 little more. We allow it 40 yards of yarn for 
 take-up in weaving. We have 1 1 8,800 yards of 
 yarn, I run of yarn (1600) is contained in that 
 74.25 times, so we have 74.25 runs. To get this 
 into pounds, divide by the size of the yarn, 
 thus: 
 
 run 4)74-25 
 
 18.56*^ pounds of warp 
 
 127
 
 for i cut. To get the filling, \ve proceed as in 
 the former examples. 
 
 65 inches. 
 
 66 picks. 
 
 ~390 
 
 390 
 
 4290 
 
 35 the yards of cloth. 
 "21450 
 12870 
 
 1600)150150(93.84 runs. 
 
 144 
 615 
 480 
 
 1350 
 1280 
 
 700 
 
 We have multiplied by 35 the actual length of 
 the cut when woven. We make no allowance 
 for take-up, because the take-up in the warp does 
 not affect the amount of filling put in. 
 
 Size of yarn, 4.25)93.84(22.08 Ibs. of filling. 
 850 
 ""884 
 850 
 
 3400 
 
 The weaver can make an estimate of the filling 
 required to take out certain warps that are in the 
 loom in this convenient way. Suppose you have 
 
 128
 
 21 cuts in the looms, there are 56 picks o\ 4.25 
 run, 74 inches wide : 
 
 74 
 56 
 
 444 
 37-Q 
 4144 
 
 35 yards. 
 
 20720 
 12432 
 
 1600)145040(90.65 runs. 
 1440 
 1040 
 
 90.65 run, multiplied by 21 (the cuts), gives 
 1903.63, total runs wanted. 
 
 Percentages of yarns. In making calcula- 
 tions on the percentages of yarns required where 
 different kinds are used in one warp the following 
 examples and illustrations will be of benefit to 
 some, I think. 
 
 You have a warp dressed as follows : 
 2 threads of 4-run yarn. 
 
 I 2 
 
 What percentage of each one is required ? 
 
 We will take the lightest thread, and take, say, 
 one pound for a basis. You could take 10 or 100 
 pounds just a.s well, but this will do. By taking 
 the lightest thread we are sure that the others 
 will weigh more than one pound and the point 
 
 129
 
 will be easier to see. We say a certain amount 
 of 4-run yarn weighs I pound. We have two 4- 
 run threads, so we repeat that and set another 
 pound down, under the first. We then have the 
 2-run thread and we know that it weighs twice as 
 heavy as the 4-run thread without calculating. 
 But, if it is not so plain in other sums that may 
 happen we obtain the right result by dividing the 
 4-run by the 2-run thread. This gives us 2 pounds. 
 Add them all together and we have 4 pounds, the 
 total weight of the three threads. 
 
 Now, we want to find the percentage of each 
 one of them and we can then make our batches to 
 suit the quantity of yarn of each kind that we 
 need. You find the percentage just the same as 
 you would find what percentage you had taken 
 from $1.00 if you had taken 10 cents away from 
 it, which would be done in the following simple 
 way: 
 
 $i | ice. 
 
 10 per cent. 
 
 We add two cyphers to the sum subtracted, and 
 divide by the original sum. The quotient is the 
 per cent, taken from $1.00. 
 
 To find the percentage of each kind of yarn 
 we proceed in the same way. 
 
 Write the pounds decimally as in some in- 
 stances you will find it necessary. 
 
 130
 
 I 4-run thread=i.oo pound 
 I " " = 1.00 " 
 I 2-run " =2.OO " 
 
 4.00 
 
 Now, we get the percentage of each one and 
 from that we can always make a calculation as to 
 the amount of yarn wanted. 
 The operation : 
 
 I 4>run=i.oo 
 i " =1.00 
 I 2-run=2.oo 
 
 4.00 Ibs. 
 4 | 100 
 
 25 per cent, of I 4-run thread. 
 
 4 | 200 
 
 50 per cent, of i 2-run thread. 
 
 i 4-run thread=: 2 5 per cent. 
 
 I ' =2$ 
 
 I 2-run " =50 " 
 
 100 
 
 Proceed in the same way no matter how many 
 threads there are, making a separate item of each 
 thread, the percentage of all threads that are 
 alike can be added together afterward. As in 
 this illustration we have 25 per cent, for each 4- 
 run thread, they are each of one kind of stock so 
 we put them together and have 50 per cent.
 
 To calculate the percentage on wool. 
 
 We have a mix composed of 
 
 70 per cent, black, 
 20 " " blue, 
 10 " " white. 
 
 You have on hand, say 165 pounds of black. 
 You want to know how many pounds of each of 
 the other colors to use to make up the proper 
 proportion, so that you can use all of the black 
 you have on hand, how would you go about it ? 
 Some would say 20 per cent, of 165 is 33. 10 
 per cent of 165 is 16.50. 
 
 Let us see if this would be right. We will add 
 them together. 
 
 165 black, 
 33 blue, 
 16.50 white. 
 
 214.50 total batch. 
 
 70 per cent, of this sum should be 165, for, what- 
 ever amount of the other colors are used, the 
 quantity of black on hand must be 70 per cent, 
 of the whole batch. 70 per cent, of 214.50 is 
 150.14. We have 150 pounds as representing 
 the 70 per cent, of black, while we have put in 
 165 pounds. You will see at once that it is 
 wrong ; the reason why it is wrong is that we 
 have taken 20 per cent, and loper cent., respect- 
 ively, of what at the start was only 70 per cent, of 
 
 132
 
 what the whole should be, thus lowering its per- 
 centage and increasing the rest of them. 
 
 Now, let us try another way. If 165 is 70 per 
 cent, of the batch wanted, what is I per cent, of 
 it ? If we can get that we can multiply the I per 
 cent by 10 or 20 per cent or any other amount, 
 and it gives us the right result each time. To 
 get i per cent, we divide 165 by 70, thus: 
 70)165(2.357 
 140 
 
 250 
 2IO 
 
 40O 
 350 
 500 
 490 
 10 
 
 Having obtained I per cent, we multiply it by 
 each of the proportions wanted. 
 
 Black 70 times 2.357=164.990 ft>s. 
 Blue 20 " 47 -HO " 
 
 White 10 " " 23.570 " 
 
 235.700 
 
 It will be seen by the above that we have for 
 black 16410^ pounds, which is as near right as it 
 can be brought. To prove the work, add the 10 
 and 20 per cent, together and it should leave 
 164.99, when those two are subtracted from the 
 the total batch. 
 
 133
 
 By careful study of the principles involved in 
 these examples of textile calculation, anyone en- 
 deavoring to learn can find why these problems 
 are worked out the way they are. I have en- 
 deavored to avoid mysterious signs and terms, 
 remembering the remark made by a young man 
 who aspired to learn but " got discouraged by 
 those crosses, dots and signs.'- To those who 
 know something more of mathematical calcula- 
 tions than others, these examples will be none 
 the less plain. 
 
 Sizes of pulleys. We have a loom with a 
 12-inch driving pulley making 2 yr revolutions 
 to each pick, the line- shaft makes 146 revolutions 
 per minute, what size of pulley do we want to run 
 the loom 80 picks per minute ? 
 
 2 17X80=216.47, the revolutions per minute 
 of the loom pulley. 216.47X12=2597.64-^-146= 
 17.10 size of pulley. 
 
 Multiply 2 I? the revolutions per pick, by the 
 picks you want the loom to run, this gives speed 
 of the loom pulley. 
 
 Multiply this by size of the loom pulley 12- 
 inch, and the product divided by the speed of 
 the line-shaft, 146, gives the size of the pulley we 
 want, 17.10.
 
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