Spinner

Early spinners worked on a drop spindle, drawing out and twisting the wool fibres to make a yarn. Wool is easy to spin because the scales on each fibre cling together helping to make a continuous yarn. The spindle was made of either wood or bone with a weight, or whorl at the base acting as a flywheel. Twisting the spindle put twist into the fibres, producing a strong yarn. Warp yarn was spun harder for strength.

The first machine made to spin yarn was the spinning jenny, invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. Hand operated by one person, the jenny produced dozens of lengths of yarn atthe same time. By 1793, women and children could earn 4 to 5 shillings a week. Before any wool was attached to the jenny, it had to be carded and slightly twisted into slubbings. Bobbins of slubbings at the front of the machine were converted to bobbins of spun thread at the back. Yarn was wound onto cones which held ten times the amount of a bobbin if it was warp yarn.

This of course took the place of several hand spinners and meant that the weaver could be kept supplied with as much yarn as he needed.

Once the yarn had been spun, it could be plyed or doubled (called doubling) to create a thicker, softer thread.

Modern Spinning Methods

Ring Spinning
Ring spinning was first invented in America in the 19th century and was mostly used to make heavy carpet yarns. Not until the 1950s was the method used to spin thread for the fine woollen industry.

Developments in the suppression of the ‘balloon’ which was formed prior to the winding on of the yarn onto the spindle; the improvement of the ‘false twist’ tube which twisted the yarn in the drafting zone (this would be the draw in the mule) and the introduction of lightweight plastic ‘travellers’ all took away a great deal of the strain from the slubbing and the yarn. This meant that continuous spinning was possible, in contrast to the ‘spin and wind on’ process of a self-acting mule.

The self-acting mule (one can be seen in Trowbridge Museum), has a maze of gears, cams and ropes, with one electric motor powering the whole machine.

Electronic Mule
This mule has individual DC electric motors for all the motions which makes it expensive to run. It is used mainly for the production of fine Cashmere and lambs wool yarns for the hosiery and knitwear industry.