The working of the spinning class having been fully described in the
first two articles, the process next to be taken up is carding; but
having received a number of queries as to the working of hand-looms, I
propose to deal with this before going into intermediate processes.
Questions are asked as to which will be the most useful loom for weaving
hand-spun yarn. Some want our opinion about the automatic looms; others
insist upon the necessity of inventing a new swift-working machine,
while still others ask for monetary help to prepare such after their own
designs.
My humble but firm opinion is that the old pit-loom is the best,
especially for weaving hand-spun yarn. No doubt it is the slowest
working instrument but is the surest of all, and just as our old
spinning-wheel in spite of its being the slowest instrument is
absolutely capable of spinning out all the cotton that India produces
to-day, so the old pit-loom is perfectly capable of weaving out all the
yarn that India can produce by means of the spinning wheels and the
mills.
This is not the time to enter into the figures in support of my
statement. I shall only try to show the usefulness of the pit-loom. The
fly-shuttle loom has its place in the sphere of home industry as well as
of the factory, but the automatic looms have no room in this industry.
Its drawbacks can only be realized by a study of the facts and figures
regarding concerns which employ such looms. People who newly take up
this industry should beware of flashy advertisements. They should not be
misled by professed calculations of the working of such looms.
The fly-shuttle looms have varying adjustments. In the Muzzaffarpur
spinning and weaving exhibition held in May last, a party from this
school was present with its wheel and loom. Of all the fly-shuttle
looms exhibited, the one from this school was selected as the simplest
and lightest of all. It is all made of wood, with the exception of nails
and screws required for joining. The pickers are also made entirely of
wood. The shuttle and perns are home-made. Other looms had iron bars in
their boxes, were operated with foreign shuttles, and their perns were
unwieldy. Our loom is modelled upon a type of looms working in thousands
in the Madras Presidency. The whole loom with a wooden frame to fit on a
pit, with the exception of the shields and reed costs Rs. 45. These
latter things are not supplied, as there is no fixed standard of the
yarn to be used on it.
I wish some public spirited person or firm will come forward in Madras
or elsewhere in that presidency and undertake to supply the fly-shuttle
loom as described above promptly and at reasonable rates. Any one
desirous of taking up this work may correspond with the head of the
_Khadi_ Department, Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee Ahmedabad.
Thus far as regards the fly-shuttle looms. I suggest to new
manufacturers that they cannot do better than start with the old
fashioned pit-looms. It is our experience that on account of less
breakage of yarn, especially hand-spun yarn, the output of a pit-loom
almost equals and in some cases even exceeds that of the fly-shuttle
loom. In weaving broader width, however, the fly-shuttle is certainly
more convenient. And when the hand-spun yarn is of good test, it enjoys
a decided advantage over the old loom in point of swiftness. But we have
to remember that we have got to deal with hand-spun yarn which is not
likely to have a good test for some time to come. It is therefore that
the old loom is the safest and surest weaving instrument to go on with
for the present.
_Y. I.--25th Aug. 1921._