Spinning Wheel

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A spinning wheel is a device for Spinning (textiles) thread or yarn from natural or man-made fibers, where spinning is the process of twisting fibers together to create yarn.

The first improvement in spinning technology was the spinning wheel, which was invented in India between 500 and 1000 A.D.Cotton: Origin, History, Technology, and Production By C. Wayne Smith, Joe Tom Cothren. Page viii. Published 1999. John Wiley and Sons. Technology & Industrial Arts. 864 pages. ISBN 0471180459The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press 1994-2007 Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. It reached Europe via the Middle East in the European Middle Ages. It replaced the earlier method of hand spinning with a spindle (textiles). The first stage in mechanizing the process was to mount the spindle horizontally in bearings so that it could be rotated by a cord encircling a large, hand-driven wheel. The great wheel is an example of this type of wheel, where the fiber is held in the left hand and the wheel slowly turned with the right. Holding the fiber at an angle to the spindle produced the necessary twist.Spinning wheel. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 7, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

A series of improvements occurred in the 1700s and culminated in the first rotor or open end spinning mill in the United States in 1790. Until the acceptance of rotor spinning wheel, all yarns were produced by aligning fibers through drawing techniques and then twisting the fiber together. With rotor spinning, the fibers in the roving are separated, thus open end, and then wrapped and twisted as the yarn is drawn out of the rotor cup. Newer technologies that may offer even faster yarn production include friction spinning, an open-end system, an air jet, spinning a drafting system.

The changes in modern spinning have had for their object; the providing of mechanical means to rotate the spindle, an automatic method of drawing out the fibers, and devices for working a large group of spindles together, at speeds before unattainable.Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition article on spinning.

Types of spinning wheels Numerous types of spinning wheels exist, including the great wheel also known as walking wheel or wool wheel for rapid long-draw spinning of woolen-spun yarns; the flax wheel, which is a double-drive wheel used with a distaff for spinning linen; saxony and upright wheels, all-purpose treadle driven wheels used to spin worsted-spun yarns; and the charkha, native to Asia.

Hand powered Charkha , displaying a charkha.A charkha (etymologically related to Chakra) was both a tool and a symbol of the Indian independence movement.The charkha, a small, portable, hand-cranked wheel is ideal for spinning cotton and other fine, short-staple fibers, though it can be used to spin other fibers as well. The size varies, from that of a hardbound novel to the size of a briefcase, to a floor charkha. Mahatma Gandhi brought the charkha into larger use with his teachings. He hoped the charkha would assist the peoples of India achieve self-sufficiency and independence, and so used the charkha as a symbol of the Indian independence movement and included it on earlier versions of the Flag of India. The tabletop or floor charkha is one of the oldest known forms of the spinning wheel.

The charkha works similarly to the great wheel, with a drive wheel being turned by hand, while the yarn is spun off the tip of the spindle.The floor charkha and the great wheel closely resemble each other. With both, the spinning must stop in order to wind the yarn onto the spindle.

Great wheel One of the earlier types of spinning wheel, this wheel is hand powered. The fiber is held in the left hand and the wheel slowly turned with the right. This wheel is thus good for using the long-draw spinning technique, which requires only one active hand most of the time, thus freeing a hand to turn the wheel. The great wheel is usually used to spin wool, and can only be used with fiber preparations that are suited to long-draw spinning.

on a great wheel at a demonstration in the Conner Prairie living history museum loom house.

The great wheel is usually over 5 feet in height. The large drive wheel turns the much smaller spindle assembly, with the spindle revolving many times for each turn of the drive wheel. The yarn is spun at an angle off the tip of the spindle, and is then stored on the spindle. To begin spinning on a great wheel, first a leader (a length of waste yarn) is tied onto the base of the spindle and spiraled up to the tip. Then the spinner overlaps a handful of fiber with the leader, holding both gently together with the left hand, and begins to slowly turn the drive wheel clockwise with the right hand, while simultaneously walking backward and drawing the fiber in the left hand away from the spindle at an angle. The left hand must control the tension on the wool to produce an even result. Once a sufficient amount of yarn has been made, the spinner turns the wheel backward a short distance to unwind the spiral on the spindle, then turns it clockwise again, and winds the newly made yarn onto the spindle, finishing the wind-on by spiraling back out to the tip again to make another draw.

One advantage of great wheels is that the tension is easy to adjust; all that is required is a step forward or backward. The wheel also has a large ratio of number of turns of the wheel to number of turns of the spindle. Some disadvantages are that one must always be standing (a fact which gave rise to the term walking wheel), and that it is less efficient than a flyer wheel because one has to stop spinning in order to wind up the yarn already made.

Treadle wheel This type of wheel is powered by the spinner's foot rather than the hand. There are many variations, but the basic idea is the same. The spinner sits and pumps a foot treadle that turns the drive wheel via a crankshaft and a connecting rod. This leaves both hands free for drafting the fibers. The old-fashioned pointed distaff spindle is not a common feature of the treadle wheel. Instead, most modern wheels emply a flyer-and-bobbin system which twists the yarn and winds it onto a spool simultaneously. These wheels can be single- or double-treadle; which is a matter of preference and does not affect the operation of the wheel.

Double drive The flax wheel is a good example of a double drive wheel. The double drive wheel is named after its drive band, which goes around the spinning wheel twice. The drive band turns the flyer, which is the horse-shoe shaped piece of wood surrounding the bobbin, as well as the bobbin. The bobbin has a smaller radius than the flyer, thus the drive band tries to turn it faster. When the yarn is being wound on the bobbin, the bobbin goes faster and winds yarn on.

The drive band on the double drive wheel is generally made from a no-stretch yarn; candlewick is also used.

Single drive A single drive wheel has one drive band, in contrast to the double drive wheel, where the drive band goes around the wheel two times.Most of the drive bands for single drive wheels are made from synthetic cord, which is elastic and does not slip easily on the wheel.

Where the double drive works by attempting to turn the bobbin faster than the flyer, the single drive works by slowing the bobbin down with a brake band. While the spinner is making new yarn, the bobbin and the flyer turn in unison, but when the spinner wants to wind the yarn onto the bobbin, the bobbin slows down and thus the yarn winds on. The bobbin slows down because of the brake band, which is generally a slick cotton cord that goes over one end of the bobbin. The tighter the brake band is, the more pull on the yarn, because the more friction the bobbin has to overcome in order to turn in sync with the flyer.

Castle style spinning for the poor, a depiction of the castle style spinning wheel in art. Note also the distaff used to hold the fiber.When the spindle and flyer are located above the wheel, rather than off to one side, the wheel is said to be a castle wheel. This type of wheel is often more compact, thus easier to store. Some castle wheels are even made to fold up small enough that they fit in carry-on luggage at the airport. Castle wheels almost always have two foot treadles, though one treadle is often an option.

Notes

References

Cotton: Origin, History, Technology, and Production By C. Wayne Smith, Joe Tom Cothren. Published 1999. John Wiley and Sons. Technology & Industrial Arts. 864 pages. ISBN 0471180459