Slubbing

One of the earliest processes to be mechanised was the conversion of carded fibres into a lightly twisted thread. The slubbing billy came into use by the 1790s and looked very similar to an early spinning jenny.

After mechanisation, carding was carried out on a carding set, a series of rollers which produced a flat web of fibres. This passed through a second machine called a condenser which split the web of fibres into continuous slivers or slubbings.