A reed is part of a weaving loom, and resembles a comb or a frame with many vertical slits. [1] It is used to separate and space the warp threads, to guide the shuttle's motion across the loom, and to push the weft threads into place. [2] [3] [1] In most floor looms with, the reed is securely held by the beater. [1] Floor looms and mechanized looms both use a beater with a reed, whereas Inkle weaving and tablet weaving do not use reeds.
Modern reeds are made by placing flattened strips of wire (made of carbon or stainless steel [4] ) between two half round ribs of wood, and binding the whole together with tarred string. [1]
Historically, reeds were made of reed or split cane. [2] [5] The split cane was then bound between ribs of wood in the same manner as wire is now.
In 1738, John Kay replaced split cane with flattened iron or brass wire, and the change was quickly adopted.
To make a reed, wire is flattened to a uniform thickness by passing it between rollers. The flat wire is then straightened, given rounded edges, and filed smooth. The final step is to cut the wire to the correct length and assemble. The tarred cord that binds the reed together is wrapped around each set of wooden ribs and between the dents to hold the ribs together and at the correct spacing. [5]
The length of the metal wire varies depending on the type of fabric and the type of loom being used. For a machine-powered cotton loom, the metal wires are commonly 3.5 inches (89 mm) long. [6] For hand-powered floor looms, around 4 inches (100 mm) is common.
Both the wires and the slots in the reed are known as dents [7] (namely, teeth). [5] The warp threads pass through the dents after going through the heddles and before becoming woven cloth. [1] The number of dents per inch (or per cm or per 10 cm) indicates the number of gaps in the reed per linear width. The number of warp thread ends by weaving width determines the fineness of the cloth. [3] One or more warp threads may pass through each dent. The number of warp threads that go through each dent depends on the warp and the desired characteristics of the final fabric, and it is possible that the number of threads in each dent is not constant for a whole warp. [6] The number of threads per dent might not be constant if the weaver alternates 2 and three threads per dent, in order to get a number of ends per inch that is 2.5 times the number of dents per inch, or if the thickness of the warp threads were to change at that point, and the fabric to have a thicker or thinner section.
One thread per dent is most common for coarse work. However for finer work (20 or more ends per inch), two or more threads are put through each dent. [8] Threads can be doubled in every other space, so that a reed with 10 dents per inch could give 15 ends per inch, or 20 if the threads were simply doubled. Also, threads can be put in every other dent so as to make a cloth with 6 ends per inch from a reed with 12 dents per inch. [9] Putting more than one thread through each dent reduces friction and the number of reeds that one weaver needs, and is used in weaving mills. [8] If too many threads are put through one dent there may be reed marks left in the fabric, especially in linen and cotton. [9]
For cotton fabrics, reeds typically have between 6 and 90 dents per inch. [5] When the reed has a very high number of dents per inch, it may contain two offset rows of wires. This minimizes friction between the dents and warp threads and prevents loose fibers from twisting and blocking the shed. [5]
Handweaving looms (including floor and table looms) use interchangeable reeds, where the reeds can vary in width and dents per inch. This allows the same loom to be used for making both very fine and very coarse fabric, as well as weaving threads at dramatically different densities. [10]
The width of the reed sets the maximum width of the warp. [4]
Common reed sizes for the hand-weaver are 6, 8, 10, 12, or 15 dents per inch, although sizes between 5 and 24 are not uncommon. [9] A reed with a larger number of dents per inch is generally used to weave finer fabric with a larger number of ends per inch. Because it is used to beat the weft into place, the reed regulates the distance between threads or groups of threads.
Sleying is the term used for pulling the warp threads through the reed, which happens during the warping process (putting a warp on the loom). Sleying is done by inserting a reed hook through the reed, hooking the warp threads and then pulling them through the dent. The warp threads are taken in the order they come from the heddles, so as to avoid crossing threads. [6] [11] If the threads cross, the shed will not open correctly when weaving begins. [11]
In Emilia-Romagna, Italy wooden reeds are still used for the traditional making of garganelli and maccheroni al pèttine ( macaroni on reed). A small square of egg fresh pasta is cut, rolled on a stick and pressed on a wooden reed.
With this culinary technique, the pasta is ridged around the circumference; extruded pasta could only have longitudinal ridges.
These ridges help the pasta "hold" the dressings like bolognese sauce better than it would without ridges or with longitudinal ones.
Bead weaving is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads. Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together. It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a "chain of cards"; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth. Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed and patented in 1785 by Edmund Cartwright. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by the Howard and Bullough company made the operation completely automatic. This device was designed in 1834 by James Bullough and William Kenworthy, and was named the Lancashire loom.
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the horizontal weft is drawn through and inserted over and under the warp. A single thread of the weft crossing the warp is called a pick. Terms vary. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end.
A dobby loom, or dobbie loom, is a type of floor loom that controls all the warp threads using a device called a dobby.
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
Pile weave is a form of textile created by weaving. This type of fabric is characterized by a pile—a looped or tufted surface that extends above the initial foundation, or 'ground' weave. The pile is formed by supplemental yarn running in the direction of the length of the fabric or the width of the fabric. Pile weaves include velvet and corduroy fabrics and machine-woven Berber carpets.
Silk In India, about 97% of the raw mulberry silk is produced in the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Mysore and North Bangalore, the upcoming site of a US$20 million "Silk City", contribute to a majority of silk production. Another emerging silk producer is Tamil Nadu where mulberry cultivation is concentrated in Salem, Erode and Dharmapuri districts. Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Gobichettipalayam, Tamil Nadu were the first locations to have automated silk reeling units.
The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.
Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.
In weaving, the shed is the temporary separation between upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is woven. The shed is created to make it easy to interlace the weft into the warp and thus create woven fabric. Most types of looms have some sort of device which separates some of the warp threads from the others. This separation is called the shed, and allows for a shuttle carrying the weft thread to move through the shed perpendicular to the warp threads. Which threads are raised and which are lowered are changed after each pass of the shuttle.
Band weaving refers to the hand production of narrow woven fabric. This fabric may be called tape, band, inkle, strap, belt, back strap, trim, and more. It can be accomplished on a variety of types of looms, including inkle, band, tape, backstrap, and rigid heddle looms. Hole and slot heddles are also designed to weave bands. Depending on which loom is used, the material could be warp-faced or a balanced weave.
A heddle is an integral part of a loom. Each thread in the warp passes through a heddle, which is used to separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft. The typical heddle is made of cord or wire and is suspended on a shaft of a loom. Each heddle has an eye in the center where the warp is threaded through. As there is one heddle for each thread of the warp, there can be near a thousand heddles used for fine or wide warps. A handwoven tea-towel will generally have between 300 and 400 warp threads and thus use that many heddles.
The Lancashire Loom was a semi-automatic power loom invented by James Bullough and William Kenworthy in 1842. Although it is self-acting, it has to be stopped to recharge empty shuttles. It was the mainstay of the Lancashire cotton industry for a century.
Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.
Waffle fabric, also known as honeycomb fabric, has raised threads that form small rectangles. It can be made by either weaving or knitting. Waffle weave is a further exploitation of plain weave and twill weave which produces a three-dimensional effect. The combination of warp and weft floats creates the structure. It is woven partly on tabby areas surrounded by ridges of long floats. The weave consists of warp and weft floats arranged around a plain weave center. The warp and weft threads are interlaced and floating in a way that creates small square ridges and hollows in the fabric in a regular pattern.
A weaving shed is a distinctive type of mill developed in the early 1800s in Lancashire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire to accommodate the new power looms weaving cotton, silk, woollen and worsted. A weaving shed can be a stand-alone mill, or a component of a combined mill. Power looms cause severe vibrations requiring them to be located on a solid ground floor. In the case of cotton, the weaving shed needs to remain moist. Maximum daylight is achieved, by the sawtooth "north-facing roof lights".
The Game of Thrones Tapestry is a hand-crafted tapestry, woven by hand on a jacquard loom, with additional embroidery. The tapestry tells the entire story of the television show, Game of Thrones. It consists of seven 11-metre-long panels and one 10.5-metre panel. The eight panels depict scenes from each episode and include images of crew at work. The tapestry was commissioned by HBO and Tourism Ireland, the tourism bureau of Northern Ireland where HBO filmed much of the series.
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