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A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or man-made fibers. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez ( June 6, 1599 &ndash August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading Spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic Fibers are twisted together to form Yarn (or thread This article is about the fiber product For the type of joke see Shaggy dog story. Fiber or fibre is a class of Materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces similar to lengths of thread.
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History
Technology in World Civilization (MIT Press, 1991) surveyed the origins of the spinning wheel:[1]
One controversial aspect of the history of technology in North India concerns spinning wheel. Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula Because cotton textiles originated in India, it has long been assumed that the spinning wheel, as used with cotton, must also have been invented in the subcontinent, perhaps between AD 500 and 1000. However, early references to cotton spinning are so vague that none clearly identifies a wheel, according to Irfan Habib. A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load ( Mass) or performing labour in machines Irfan Habib (born 1931 is an Indian Historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee The references could equally indicate earlier methods of hand-spinning. The earliest unambiguous reference is in a document dating from about 1350 which mentions women using spinning wheels in the previous century. Habib also points out that the most usual word in India for a spinning wheel is charkha, and this derives from the Persian language. He therefore thinks that the spinning wheel was introduced into India from Iran in the thirteenth century.
If the spinning wheel is not an Indian invention, where did it originate? The earliest clear illustrations of this machine come from Baghdad (drawn in 1237), China (c. 1270) and Europe (c. 1280). . . There is some evidence that spinning wheels of some sort may have already come into use in both China and the Islamic world during the eleventh century.
According to the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (2007): "The spinning wheel was probably invented in India, though its origins are unclear. "[2] MSN Encarta (2007) further adds: "The spinning wheel, introduced into Europe from India between the 13th and 14th centuries, improved the hand-spinning method. Encarta is a Digital Multimedia Encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation. The spindle was set horizontally in a wheel turned by a foot pedal and produced a single thread. Spinning by hand is still the principal method used in many developing countries. "[3]
The spinning wheel replaced the earlier method of hand spinning with a spindle. Spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic Fibers are twisted together to form Yarn (or thread A spindle (sometimes called a drop spindle) is a Wooden spike weighted at one end with a circular Whorl; it may have an optional hook at either end of the The first stage in mechanizing the process was mounting the spindle horizontally so it could be rotated by a cord encircling a large, hand-driven wheel. The great wheel is an example of this type, where the fiber is held in the left hand and the wheel slowly turned with the right. Holding the fiber at a slight angle to the spindle produced the necessary twist. [4] The spun yarn was then wound onto the spindle by moving it so as to form a right angle with the spindle. This type of wheel, while known in Europe by the 14th century, was not in general use until later. It ultimately was used there to spin a variety of yarns until the beginning of the 19th century and the mechanization of spinning.
In general, the spinning technology was known for a long time before being adopted by the majority of people thus making it hard to fix dates of the improvements. In 1533, a citizen of Brunswick is said to have added a treadle, by which the spinner could rotate her spindle with one foot and have both hands free to spin. Leonardo da Vinci drew a picture of the flyer, which twists the yarn before winding it onto the spindle. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer During the 16th century a treadle wheel with flyer was in common use, and gained such names as the Saxony wheel, and the flax wheel. It sped up production as one needn't stop spinning to wind up the yarn.
In the 18th century the Industrial Revolution had a big effect on the spinning industry by beginning to mechanize the spinning wheel. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system With the establishment of overseas colonies, the British Empire at the end of the 17th century/beginning of the 18th century had a vast source of raw materials and a vast market Lewis Paul and John Wyatt first worked on the problem in 1738, patenting the Roller Spinning machine and the flyer-and-bobbin system, for drawing wool to a more even thickness. Lewis Paul (d 1759 was the original inventor of roller spinning the basis of the Water frame for spinning Cotton in a Cotton mill. John Wyatt (April 1700 &ndash 29 November 1766) an English Inventor, was born near Lichfield and was related to Sarah Ford Using two sets of rollers that traveled at different speeds yarn could be twisted and spun quickly and efficiently. They however did not have much financial success, nor did Thomas Highs, credited as the inventor of the spinning jenny. Thomas Highs (1718 – 1803 was a talented English reed-maker and Inventor known for his creation of the Spinning jenny, the throstle (a machine The spinning jenny is a multi- Spool Spinning wheel. It was invented circa 1764 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, near Blackburn In 1771, Richard Arkwright used waterwheels to power looms for the production of cotton cloth, his invention becoming known as the water frame.
These improvements continued and culminated in the first rotor or open end spinning mills in the United States in the 1780's and 1790's. ROTOR was a huge and elaborate air defence Radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet Bombers Open end spinning is a technology for creating Yarn without using a Spindle. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the More modern spinning machines use a mechanical means to rotate the spindle, as well as an automatic method to draw out fibers, and devices to work many spindles together at speeds previously unattainable. [5] Newer technologies that offer even faster yarn production include friction spinning, an open-end system, and air jets. [6]
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. Long draw is the spinning technique used to create Woolen Yarns It is spun from carded Rolags It is generally spun from shorter Woollen ( American English: woolen) is the name of a Yarn and Cloth usually made from Wool. Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum As a Noun, a distaff (also called a rock) is a Tool used in spinning. Linen is a Textile made from the Fibers of the Flax plant Linum usitatissimum. The Free State of Saxony (Freistaat Sachsen ˈzaksən Swobodny Stat Sakska is the easternmost federal state of Germany. Worsted (pronunciation) is the name of a Yarn, the Cloth made from this yarn and a yarn weight category 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.
Hand-powered wheels
Hand powered spinning wheels are powered by the spinner turning a crank for flywheel with their hand, as opposed to pressing peddles or using a mechanical engine.
Charkha
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.
The charkha (etymologically related to Chakra) was both a tool and a symbol of the Indian independence movement. Chakra ( Pali: chakka Tibetan: khorlo Malay: cakera is a Sanskrit term meaning Circle or Wheel The term " Indian independence movement " is diffuse incorporating various national and regional campaigns agitations and efforts of both Nonviolent and Militant 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. Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp 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. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 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 term " Indian independence movement " is diffuse incorporating various national and regional campaigns agitations and efforts of both Nonviolent and Militant "Indian flag" redirects here For flags used by Native American peoples see the tribes' respective articles, for example the Navajo Nation.
Great wheel
The great wheel was one of the earlier types of spinning wheel. 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. Long draw is the spinning technique used to create Woolen Yarns It is spun from carded Rolags It is generally spun from shorter The great wheel is usually used to spin wool, and can only be used with fiber preparations that are suited to long-draw spinning.
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.
Treadle wheel
This type of wheel is powered by the spinner's foot rather than their hand or a motor. 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, which is necessary in the short draw spinning technique, which is often used on this type of wheel. Short draw is the spinning technique used to create Worsted yarns The old-fashioned pointed distaff spindle is not a common feature of the treadle wheel. Instead, most modern wheels employ 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 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. A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder with or without flanges on which Wire, Yarn, thread or film is wound Due to a difference in the size of the whorl (or the round piece around which the drive band runs) the bobbin whorl, which has a smaller radius than the flyer whorl, turns faster. This difference in speed winds the yarn onto the bobbin. Generally the speed difference or "ratio" is adjusted by the size of the whorls and the tension of the drive band.
The drive band on the double drive wheel is generally made from a no-stretch yarn or twine; candlewick is also used.
Single drive
A single drive wheel has one drive band, that goes around the fly-wheel and the bobbin or the flyer. 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.
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 or the flyer slows down and thus the yarn winds on. The one part slows down because of the brake band, which loops over that element. 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
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.
Notes
- ^ Pacey, Arnold [1990] (1991). Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History, First MIT Press paperback edition, Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
- ^ "spinning wheel" in Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (2007). 1994-2008 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
- ^ "Spinning," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
- ^ Spinning wheel. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 7, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition article on spinning.
- ^ 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 0471180459
See also
External links
- The Spinning Wheel by Mary Bellis
- Yarn at enotes.com
- Spinning Cotton - with charkha diagram
- Spinning Wheel - Virtual Museum of Textile Arts
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