WOOL-Combing, a well known operation, which, when performed by the hand, is laborious, tedious, and expensive. The expence of it through all England has been calculated at no less a sum than 800,000l.; and to lessen this expence, the Rev. Edmund Cartwright of Doncaster in Yorkshire bethought himself, some years ago, of carding wool by machinery. After repeated attempts and improvements, for which he took out three patents, he found that wool can be combed in perfection by machinery, of which he gives the following description.
Fig. 1. is the crank lasher. A is a tube through which the material, being formed into a sliver, and slightly twisted, is drawn forward by the delivering rollers; B, a wheel fast upon the cross bar of the crank; C, a wheel, on the opposite end of whose axis is a pinion working in a wheel upon the axis of one of the delivering rollers.
Note. When two or more slivers are required, the cans or baskets, in which they are contained, are placed upon a table under the lasher (as represented at D), which, by having a slow motion, twists them together as they go up.
Fig. 2. is the circular clearing comb, for giving work in the head, carried in a frame by two cranks. Fig. 3. the comb-table, having the teeth pointing towards the centre, moved by cogs upon the rim, and carried round upon trucks like the head of a windmill. a, b, The drawing rollers. c, d, Callendar, or conducting rollers.
Note. Underneath the table is another pair of rollers, for drawing out the backings.
In the above specification, we have omitted the frame in which the machine stands, the wheels, shafts, &c. Had these been introduced, the drawing would have been crowded and confused; besides, as matters of information, they would have been unnecessary, every mechanic, when he knows the principles of a machine, being competent to apply the movements to it.
The wool, if for particularly nice work, goes through three operations, otherwise two are sufficient: the first operation opens the wool, and makes it connect together into a rough sliver, but does not clear it. The clearing is performed by the second, and, if necessary, a third operation. A set of machinery, consisting of three machines, will require the attendance of an overlooker and ten children, and will comb a pack, or 240lb. in twelve hours. As neither fire nor oil is necessary for
machine-combing, the saving of those articles, even the fire alone, will, in general, pay the wages of the overlooker and children; so that the actual saving to the manufacturer is the whole of what the combing costs, by the old imperfect mode of hand-combing. Machine-combed wool is better, especially for machine-spinning, by at least 12 per cent. being all equally mixed, and the slivers uniform, and of any required length.