Sulzer weaving

An Early's weaver working at his Sulzer loom, 2002 (copyright Mike French).

The warp chain is fitted into the rear of the loom, the ends of the warp are brought upwards and over a long tension bar (or roller) and then each end is passed individually through a 'dropping pin' or 'dropper'. While the loom is in motion the strands of warp are kept tight, with the dropping pins held above an electrically controlled slide bar. Should a warp strand break, it allows the pin to drop onto the bar and complete an electrical circuit which stops the loom. When this occurs a green light will appear at the right hand side of the loom (this system tells the weaver where to look for the fault).

From the droppers the warp strands pass through the many eyelets across the width of a 'heald' or 'harness' which is held in a heald frame. A loom can have a varying number of healds depending on the type of blanket being produced (normally four to six). The warp threads are passed through the healds in a sequence that conforms to the required pattern of the blanket being woven. The loom is then geared so that the shafts that hold the healds rise and fall in the correct order, predetermined by a 'pattern chain' or 'dobby' mechanism. This allows the warp threads to rise and fall, so that the weft strands pass across the loom after each movement thus producing a woven blanket. Each strand of weft that goes across a blanket is called a 'pick' and the average speed of a Sulzer loom is about 230 picks per minute.

The weft yarn is fed in endless supply from the 'weft battery' containing a number of the rewound cones or cheeses on the left hand side of the loom frame. The yarn is transported across the loom by a small 'gripper shuttle' which grabs the yarn in its jaws and takes it across to the opposite side. On reaching this end a 'scissors and tuck' mechanism comes into operation, the scissors cut the yarn half to one inch from the shuttle and this end is tucked back into the woven blanket, forming a 'selvedge' edge. The shuttle is then projected back to the other side of the loom to commence the operation again. Should the weft break a red light appears on the loom.

As the blanket is gradually completed, the woven material moves forward and then downward to be wound securely round a 'take-up' roller; when the required length of material containing a given number of blankets has been wound onto the take-up roller the loom is stopped and the length of woven cloth removed. This length of cloth is now called a 'stockful'. It is taken to be weighed and then removed to the mending section for any minor repairs and inspection. If the blanket is a 'point' blanket the mending section will also sew in the required amount of points.

Mike French