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Doc
Keeper of the Scrolls
2010 Posts
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 Posted -
28/05/2004
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LANCASHIRE TEXTILE PROJECT
TAPE 78/AI/09 (Side one)
THIS TAPE HAS BEEN RECORDED ON MAY 1ST 1979 AT 13 AVON DRIVE BARNOLDSWICK. THE INFORMANT IS STANLEY GRAHAM WHO WAS THE ENGINEER AT BANCROFT MILL AND WHO HAS BEEN THE INTERVIEWER ON MOST OF THE TAPES..
We are carrying on with the description of the folio of pictures on taping.
Picture number 21. Negative number 7720504.
What we are going to describe now is the process of starting a tape up, from the end of one production run to the beginning of the next. In other words to when the first warp comes off the new set, from then on it is repetition, the warps come off in sequence. It's only a matter of watching the machine, and making sure that all is running properly, taking full warps off as necessary until the back beams run out and the whole process starts again.
The two people working together here are Joe Nutter the taper, and Jim Pollard the weaving manager. This is a good indication of the way Bancroft ran. I should explain that really, in a tape room with two tapes or even with one tape in, there ought to be a taper and a tape labourer. The tape labourer's function is to keep everything tidy and to give the taper a hand whenever he wants it. Many of the jobs on a tape, especially in setting up, which we are going to describe now, are two handed jobs. Bancroft hasn't had a tape labourer for some considerable number of years because what happened was that when there were two tapers and they used to labour for each other. It was very seldom both tapes were out at once; and if they were it was no great matter, it meant one stood for a bit while they got them both ready. The tapers got paid extra for this but it saved a full wage.
When we got to the stage where we only had one taper, Joe, it meant that somebody had to go in from outside to help and of course this was always the old stand-by, good old Jim who used to do every job in the mill. He was capable of doing every job in the mill. So in this sequence of photographs, Jim has the white shirt on with rolled up sleeves and Joe has a knitted shirt with short sleeves.
Picture 21. When a set of back beams runs out they’re never exactly the same length and one beam always runs out before the others so there is a certain amount of waste left on most of the beams. The first thing to do is to cut this off and the easiest thing to do is cut it off while it's in the creel. The method is to run a sharp knife down the beam and the waste all comes off as short lengths. Jim’s cutting a beam out here. This process is what is known as cutting a set out. Jim used to save this unsized waste cut into short lengths for me to use on the engine for wiping down. It is worth mentioning here that if you have read the spinning tapes you will remember that one of the processes in conditioning the fibres for spinning is to impregnate it with a small amount of oil and water to make it more elastic. This meant that the soft waste used in the engine house was no good for polishing because of the oil content. It also explains why cotton waste helped preserve the polished finish on the steel, it always left a minute quantity of oil on a surface that had been wiped down. Another point is that this is also one of the reasons why size penetrated the yarn in the sow box better if it was boiling furiously.
[This is a good place to alert you to the fact that when I was doing a series of pictures describing a process they are all shot on one roll of film. This was necessary to preserve continuity. In case you’re wondering how I could leave the engine for so long, I had a good firebeater who would sit with the engine and watch the oils while I was away doing the pictures. I would pop back down occasionally to make sure he was alright but we always had all our bases covered.]
Picture number 22. Negative number 7720508.
When he's cut all the waste off the beams Jim cuts the sheet about 2ft below where it goes into the sow box and leaves those ends dangling in two bunches. These bunches are used for tying the fresh sheet on when it goes through the machine.
Picture number 23. Negative number 7720507.
While this in going on Joe is sorting his beams out and getting the block and tackle, and the spreader ready to lift the beams in or lift them out as the case may be. Some beams are relatively light and are lifted out by hand when they are empty but in this case, these are fairly heavy beams being Manor and solid wood and so they are being lifted out with the gantry.
Picture number 24. Negative number 7720511.
Joe's lifting the empty beams out while Jim wheels full beams to a position where it will be fairly easy to get hold of them with the block and tackle to lift them in.
Picture number 25. Negative number 7720514.
This is a picture of them both at work lifting empty beams out.
Picture number 26. Negative number 7720515.
This shows them dropping the empties on the floor from where they’re carried away by hand or wheeled away on the truck, and then disposed of afterwards. One of our big troubles was that our transport men, the people who did our transport for us, were always a lot happier when fetching full beams in than taking empty beams out and we used to finish up with a lot of empty beams around which got under our feet and didn't help the spinners either because of course they wanted them back as soon as possible. There was a good reason for this from the drivers point of view. He wanted a full load of empties for one mill as this was the most efficient way of taking empties back. Notice that all the beams are wrapped with brown papery and a band of corrugated paper at the end. On this picture you can see the reason for that on the first two beams nearest to us. When the beams are stacked on the wagon obviously the flanges are going to rest on the cotton in some places and if there's a layer of corrugated paper like that it means that the flange isn't going to have any damaging effect on the warp underneath. You can see the marks the flanges have made on the paper protecting the yarn.
Picture number 27. Negative number 7720401.
Here they have picked a full beam up. Jim is winding it up to get it high enough to pass over the stanchions in the creel and Joe is stripping the brown paper off and throwing it on the floor behind him where it will remain for some period of time.
Picture number 28. Negative number 772040A.
Very similar. Jim’s nearly got it up to the top now.
Picture number 29. Negative number 7720402.
The paper's off and he is still lifting that beam up and he has nearly got it to the top. This in all hand work of course which is the reason why that chain on that block and tackle was so highly polished.
Pictures number 30/36. Negatives number 7720403/10.
This series of pictures follows them in to the creel, lowering the beam in to position and returning for the next beam. This process is repeated until the
requisite number of back beams in that set are in place in the creel. They're
all put in in a special way with their ends facing each other so that they
can be knotted up together to be drawn through.
Picture number 37. Negative number 7719105.
They take the ends and divide them into two bunches and knot them together on adjoining warps. You'll notice that those two warps wind off facing each other. This applies to the first two in the set nearest the sow box, the next two back and so on
right the way back. If there's going to be an odd one as there is in this case it's the one at the back. Having knotted them all together like this, light steel rods are taken and dropped on the joined sheets between each pair of mating beams. These are used to drag the ends forward for joining to the old sheet, we’ll see this in a minute.
Pictures 38 and 39. Negative numbers 7719106/07.
This shows Jim and Joe dealing with the odd beam at the back by passing the rod through the web on the back beam. Notice the beamer’s marks on the surface of the yarn; 44IW/343/20000. This means that the yarn is 44s count. IW is the type and quality code, 343 is the number of ends on the beam and 20,000 is the length in yards.
Pictures 40/41/42. Negative numbers 7719108/09/12.
These pictures show them using the light steel rods to pass the sheet round the back roller of the creel and bring it forward under the beams gathering all the ends up as they go until they have passed the complete sheet under the front roller of the creel. In the last picture they are drawing sufficient length up at the front to accomplish the next step.
Pictures 43/44. Negative numbers 7719113/16.
Here you can see the next stage. All the ends are gathered together, pulled up, cut off level and then tied into a knot. Then this knot, this bunch of ends is tied on to the bunch of ends of the old sheet which is hanging through over the wooden roller at the front of the sow box. You will see that they have split each side into two ends giving four small knots rather than two large ones.
At this point the ‘gaiting’ of the tape departed from normal practice. Normally nothing needs to be done to the squeeze roller but in this case the tapers flannel which covered the squeeze roller was getting a bit worn at the end and Joe decided that he was going to draw it back, make it square at the end and get it on the roller more evenly.
Picture number 45. Negative number 7719121.
Here you can see that some of the flannel has been dragged off that squeeze roller and is lying a lump on the front of the sow box. All the ends are knotted together ready to go in. Joe is turning the steam on there which will start boiling the size up in the sow box. You can see how dirty everything is at that end, it was really terrible. It takes a while for that sow box to boil up and while that was happening Joe and Jim dealt with the flannel.
Picture number 46. Negative number 7719123.
While the sow box is boiling up, Joe and Jim draw the flannel forward and cut it off to a square edge with a knife, starting in the middle. The damaged end is thrown away.
Picture number 47. Negative number 7719124.
They have cut that end off, they've got a straight edge left there hung over the front of the sow box. The back of the tape, the sow box end is ready now for starting up but before this can happen Joe has to prepare the headstock.
Picture number 48. Negative number 7719125.
Joe goes round to the front and takes out the weavers beam which was the end of the last production run. It’s there hung up behind him on the two leather straps. He has put on a waste beam which is a big beam with no flanges. He puts that in and wraps the lap of the old warp sheet round it. Now you must understand that all the cotton that is left in the tape, and everything that is on the new sheet until they have got it settled down and running is waste. It's a big waste of yarn but it's something that nobody has ever solved. Joe's putting the lap of the waste on to this plain roller at the front and that is going to draw everything through the machine when he sets it on. The sheet will come through and all the waste will wind on to this plain wooden beam. The first length of sheet that comes through has been sized and is hard and stiff but then the soft waste starts to come through. Joe balls that off when he empties the waste beam and saves it for me. This is the waste I use in the engine house for making the rope that lines the gutter round the engine beds.
Picture number 49. Negative number 7719128.
We’re round at the back and Joe has set the tape on but very slowly. As the squeeze roller turns it draws the flannel on to the squeeze roller. The warp sheet is being drawn in at the same time.
Picture number 50/51. Negative number 7719130/32.
Here we see that the flannel is completely wrapped round the squeeze roller and Jim and Joe have reached up for a couple of ends from the creel above them and are wrapping thread round the outside of the flannel. This is simply to stop the loose end flapping. Notice that the warp sheet has sorted itself out now into an even sheet over the whole of the roller in front of the sow box. Notice that the immersion roller has been dropped and the sheet is passing through the size. This wouldn’t normally be done at this stage but it has been dropped to give clear access to the squeeze roller.
Picture number 52. Negative number 7719203.
Here Joe has gone to the headstock at the front of the tape and is making one or two adjustments to the width of the comb so that it winds evenly on to the waste beam, but also takes up its correct position across the whole width of the bed of the tape ready for the next stage.
Picture number 53. Negative number 7719122.
On his way back to the creel end of the tape Joe has just popped across to the size beck to make sure that everything is all right there. He checks that the size is mixing, is the correct temperature and is being pumped over properly.
Picture number 54. Negative number 7719136.
Bear in mind that during all these pictures the tape is running very slowly. What Joe and Jim are doing here is throwing in the splitting bands. The purpose of these will become clearer later but for the moment recognise that during the sizing process the sheet of warp is glued together into what is effectively a wide tape. This is where the taping machine gets its name from. At some point these individual threads have to be separated. The splitting bands give a guide as to where the rods that will do this splitting have to be inserted. Hence the name ‘splitting bands’.
Picture number 55. Negative number 7719226.
Jim has raised the immersion roller so that the splitting bands can pass through the tape without being immersed in the size. The last of the splitting bands is climbing into the tape and I’m not quite sure what Jim’s doing on this picture. He seems to be resting his left hand on the trunking and his right hand is on the lever that controls the cam which lowers the squeeze roller. Joe is bent down making an adjustment to his steam supply to the sow box I think. As soon as the last splitting band has passed the squeeze roller Joe and Jim will operate the cams that drop the squeeze roller on to the warp sheet.
Picture number 56/57. Negative number 7719227/29.
Joe is about ready to drop the immersion roller. The squeeze roller's down and the immersion roller, that's the big copper roller at the front, is just going to be dropped into the sheet to force it down into the size. In picture 57 Joe has completely dropped the immersion roller and the sheet is now running through the size as it will do for the rest of this production run. Notice the steam rising through the sheet and being drawn up the trunking. The size in the sow box is now up to temperature and boiling well.
Picture number 58. Negative number 7719232.
Both Jim and Joe go round to the front now. Notice that a rod has been operated to lift the sheet clear of the comb at the front of the sheet. Jim has dropped a striking comb through the sheet up against the trunking. This ensures that the sheet is evenly spread over the bed and will be carried forwards by the sheet as it slowly advances. If you look carefully here you’ll see that there's a band coming through there. This band's there to denote the place where they started sizing and where they started on the run.
Picture number 59/60. Negative number 7719233/34.
Here you can see this comb coming down. It's a very fine comb and the reason for letting it come down like that is that the comb has made sure that, as near as possible, those threads are all evenly spread out across the tape. When they get almost up to the set of combs at the front that will split it while the machine is running, Joe drops the sheet on to the comb. If you look very carefully indeed, just in front of Jim's hand you'll see where a couple of the threads, and in fact another single one further on, have lodged on top of the teeth and haven’t quite dropped yet. They’ve just this minute done it, but they will drop of course. So now we have got the tape running and sized warp sheet is coming through but it hasn't been split, it's coming through in a sheet.
Pictures 61/64. Negative numbers 7719204/05/06/07.
This series of pictures shows Jim and Joe using the splitting bands to guide the polished cast iron splitting rods through the sheet. These rods are lodged in the cast iron housings on the side of the frame and as the sheet passes them they separate one set of threads from the rest. This process is repeated for every splitting band that was inserted on the creel. The effect is that by the time the sheet has passed all those rods every thread in the sheet has been separated from all the other threads.
Pictures number 65/67. Negative numbers 7719238/7719330/7719342.
The tape is still running to waste. In these three pictures Joe is making his final adjustments to the distribution of the threads in the comb. In some mills the individual threads were counted into the dents or gaps in the comb but Joe always did it by eye. When he is satisfied that all these threads are correct he’ll flick the cut marker down so that it marks the sheet. He then sets the cut clock and cuts the waste roller out and replaces it with the first weaver’s beam. He adjusts the comb to make sure the warp is full right to the flange and makes sure that the press roller under the beam is running right up to the flange. The tape has now started on its production run for this set.
Picture number 68. Negative number 7720938.
This is a picture of the sow box while the tape is running. It shows the steam coming up through the sheet and being dragged away up the trunking, the squeeze roller's plainly to be seen, as are also the threads which are distributed over the top to hold the flannel on to it. Notice that the creel's being used, evidently they wanted some more ends in this. There are six ends being put in at each side, that's an extra twelve ends going into that beam. And you can see how even that sheet is as it runs into the tape. It’s very even and running nicely.
Picture number 69. Negative number 7720937.
This is a closer look at the sow box. You can see the immersion roller forcing the yarn down into the size. The sheet emerges from the size and the excess size is forced out as the sheet passes between the lower copper roller and the flannel covered squeeze roller on top.
Picture number 70. Negative number 7720941.
This is a look through the side of the trunking at the cylinder and the sheet of yarn as it's going over the cylinders with the tape running. Remember that one of the disadvantages of this type of taping machine was that the drums were driven by the actual pull of the yarn going over them which means that some of the elasticity is taken out of the warps and makes it harder to weave.
Picture number 71. Negative number 7720902.
This is a picture of the tape running and the first warp is full. Notice how Joe has narrowed the sheet in to build up the warp and get an extra cut on it. He can see from the cut clock that the last piece mark is about to go in and has just put the tape into slow motion. His hand is just leaving the large upright handle on the end of the flat bar which is the lever which puts the tape into slow motion.
It’s worth noting on this picture the chain which you can see at the bottom of the picture, wrapped round the end of the spindle assembly on the end of the beam. The end of this chain is a ring which is on the peg you can see on the end of the shaft nearest to the camera. This shaft is driven by a slipping clutch and drives the weaver’s beam round to drag the sheet through the tape.
Picture number 72. Negative number 772090.
The tape is running slowly, the press rollers have been dropped under the weaver’s beam and Joe is resetting the cut clock for the next warp. The cut clock controls the length of the cut, that is when the cut marker strikes. It also counts the number of cuts on the beam. There appears to be a stick laid across the splitting rods on the tape bed. This is the striking comb which Joe is going to use in the next stage of doffing the warp. He has laid it there so it is handy because all the following operations are done very quickly. Remember the tape is running all the time. The reason the tape isn’t stopped is that if it were there would be a danger of scorching the yarn on the hot drying cylinders. These tend to heat up as the tape is running slow because they are not being cooled by the evaporation of the water in the sized yarn on the drum.
Picture number 73. Negative number 7720901.
This is a picture of Joe reaching for the striking comb ready to insert it in the warp.
Picture number 74. Negative number 7720900.
On this picture Joe is checking his empty beam to make sure it is ready to use. He lays the correct length pieces of thrum on it so they are ready when he needs them. The striking comb is still laid ready on the tape.
Picture number 75. Negative number 7720903.
Here Joe is putting his striking comb into the warp as it's moving slowly on to the full weavers beam. This comb is put in to preserve the proper order of the ends in the sheet so that the loomer can get them right in the preparation department.
Picture number 76. Negative number 7720904.
You'll see that Joe has put a piece of wood behind the comb. This is a piece of wood with a slot in it and he is pulling it up with his finger and thumb at each end to make sure it’s fully engaged. This wood traps all the ends in the sheet in their proper order. Notice that as that as the warp quietly turns it has trapped both the comb and the backing piece under the sheet.
Picture number 77. Negative number 7720905.
As the comb quietly winds over the top of the warp Joe ties the comb and the backing wood together at each end with a piece of thrum. [I keep mentioning ‘thrums’. These are short lengths of thread which are used in multiples. The individual treads are not strong but ten or fifteen used together are as strong as string and of course far cheaper.]
Picture number 78. Negative number 7720906.
Joe is tying the comb at this end. You can get an idea of how fast he is working, notice that the comb has only moved about four inches while he is tying both ends.
Picture number 79. Negative number 7720619.
Here Joe is unhooking the chain which has been driving the full warp round. Notice the lever mechanism level with Joe’s head in this picture. Compare its position with the previous picture. You’ll notice that Joe has lifted this lever to the top of its travel before touching the chain. This lever mechanism controls the clutch mechanism in the drive to the beam. By lifting it to this position Joe has broken the drive to the beam. If he hadn’t done this he couldn’t have got the chain off. The warp is now free on the front of the headstock, it is no longer being driven. Once Joe has removed the driving chain there is nothing to prevent him lifting it out.
Picture number 80. Negative number 7720907.
Joe has got the drive chain off, you can see it laid on the floor by his left foot. He has reached behind him for one of the large metal hooks hung on leather straps from the roof and is hooking it round the end of the beam where the chain was attached. I should say that on each end of a weaver’s beam there is a small flange which looks like a pulley. This is used in the loom to accept the braking chains which are tensioned by the loom weights. These put a drag on the warp when it’s in the loom. We’ll see these in use later on when we describe weaving.
Picture number 81. Negative number 7720908.
Joe has got both hooks on the beam and by putting his knees into it and leaning back he lifts the full beam out of the drive sockets that the beam pikes have been resting in on the headstock. As he pulls it back the warp rotates towards the headstock allowing some of the sheet on the tape side of the comb to unwind. Remember that the tape is running slowly all the time.
Picture number 82. Negative number 7720909.
As the tape is slowly running the sheet of yarn droops down and Joe reaches for the pair of scissors that are kept in a leather holster on the right hand side of the headstock just below the setting on lever. He uses these to cut the far half of the warp
I once saw Joe working on the tape and at some point during the day he had an appointment with his bank manager so he was wearing a tie. As he leaned over the headstock while it was running in slow motion his tie dropped into one of the steel rollers. It started tightening round his neck but he reached for the scissors and cut it. If he hadn’t done this and couldn’t have reached the stop motion it would have killed him. He was a bit shaken by this and told me that more than one taper had been killed like this, it was the reason he never wore loose clothing.
Picture number 83. Negative number 7720623.
Joe cuts the other half of the sheet. Thus the full beam is completely detached from the tape and can be ignored while he fits the new, empty beam.
Picture number 84. Negative number 7720911.
Here Joe has lifted the empty beam in and is dropping the free ends of the sheet coming from the tape onto the wooden centre of the beam. He tries to get them reasonably spread on the beam when he does this so as to give the new warp a good start.
Picture number 85. Negative number 7720912.
When Joe was readying the empty beam on picture 74 he fastened a piece of thrum on it ready for this stage. He is using this band to tie the first foot of the sheet in place on the weaver’s beam.
Picture number 86. Negative number 7720913.
In this picture Joe is rotating the weaver’s beam by hand to take up the slack in the sheet. Notice that the drive chain has vanished from the floor. Joe has re-attached it to the beam and when he has taken the slack up he will hook the ring in the end of the chain onto the peg on the flange which will be driven by the clutch. Notice that the lever mechanism controlling the clutch is still at the top, in the disengaged condition.
Picture number 87. Negative number 7720914.
Joe has now taken up the slack in the sheet, attached the drive chain and he is dropping the control lever to re-engage the clutch. The weaver’s warp is now firmly attached to the drive and is being driven in slow motion by the tape. His next move and one that isn’t in the picture, is to increase the speed of the tape slightly.
Picture number 88. Negative number 7720917.
Joe is almost ready to put the tape back to full speed but he has noticed a small fault, perhaps a crossed thread and he is adjusting that before he goes any further. You can see by the blur in the clutch shaft flange that the tape is moving faster and at the far end of the beam you can see the scissors hung in a leather holster ready for use.
Picture number 89. Negative number 7720915.
In this picture Joe has evidently decided all is well. He has adjusted the position and width of the sheet and he is ready to put the tape back on to full speed.
Picture number 90. negative number 7720916.
Here you can see Joe leaning back as he pulls the speed rod back to put the tape back on to full speed. He does this quite gently as he is putting a lot of strain on both the tape machine and the warp sheet. When he does this the belt squeals on the pulley as the weight of the drive comes on it. It takes a lot of power to accelerate the tape to full speed.
Picture number 91. Negative number 7720918.
In this picture you can see that Joe has lifted the press up underneath the warp and he is just pushing the front rollers out with his foot so that they run up against the flange at each side and keep the threads all nicely pressed down and even so they wind on evenly.
Picture number 92. Negative number 7720919.
This is Joe’s final check on the running of the sheet on to the new warp. As I mentioned earlier, the process of doffing a full warp means that the tape is in slow motion long enough to raise the temperature of the cylinders. Once the tape is running at full speed these factors soon even out again and the temperature of the cylinders drops to normal levels. This is a very common sight to see on an old tape with no sophisticated temperature control mechanisms on it. The only check that is applied is the taper’s skill. What Joe is doing here is letting a few threads run over his fingers as he puts slight tension on them. He is checking elasticity, quality of sizing and moisture content and all this by the feel of his hand. This level of skill was only gained by years of experience and is the reason why I believe that a modern taper would be lost on this machine until he had got a lot of experience. Jim Pollard told me that the quality of taping at Bancroft had never been a problem.
Picture number 93. Negative number 7720940.
This is a close-up of the mechanism at the end of the headstock which controls the clutch which drives the weaver’s warp. I never really understood this completely. I never had time to examine it closely and never saw it stripped down. It is a very sophisticated mechanism in that it puts enough drive through to the weaver’s beam to keep the tension between it and the drive roller in the headstock constant no matter what the effective diameter of the weaver’s beam is. This of course alters constantly as the warp winds on to it. Just below this mechanism you can see a cotton covered roller, this is the main drag roller which is actually pulling the sheet through the tape.
Picture number 94. Negative number 7720920.
As the tape is running Joe is making one or two adjustments to the number of threads passing through the comb. This is the position he was in when he got his tie caught in the drag roller.
Picture number 95. Negative number 7720939.
This is a picture of the warp running normally. This is a 56” warp and everything is running well. Note the arrangement of levers on the press roller under the beam. This is a clever little mechanism which exerts a constant pressure on the movable sections of the roller making sure that it always runs up to the flange. We saw Joe pushing the rollers out with his foot earlier, this is because the automatic mechanism is very slow and Joe wanted to make sure the rollers started up against the flange. You can clearly see the bosses on each end of the warp and the driving chain on the left hand boss. There is also a clear view of the cotton covered drag roller and the steel rollers which keep the sheet in intimate contact with it.
Picture number 96. Negative number 7720921.
Joe now turns his attention to the full warp which is still hung in the hooks from the beam above. He has slipped a card under the sheet on the warp which identifies the number of ends, the count of the yarn and any details he has of quality and eventual use.
Picture number 97/99. Negative numbers 7720922/7720637/7720634.
These three pictures show Joe tidying up the finished warp, tying the comb down and making sure that even if this warp sits around waiting to be loomed for a few weeks it will not have deteriorated.
Picture number 100. Negative number 7720824.
The finished warp is dropped on a beam truck and wheeled away. Notice the waste beam leaned against the wall waiting to be stripped off so that it can be used again.
Picture number 101. Negative number 7720825.
Joe is heading off up the side of the tape with the finished beam on his trolley.
Picture number 102. negative number 7718209A.
The finished warp lay outside the preparation department waiting to be taken in and loomed. Notice the warp card trapped under the sheet of yarn.
Basically, that is the process of taping a warp. Now of course there is a lot more to it than this. Things like mixing size and the different little tricks of the trade there are to make sure that one lot of size is of equal consistency with another. Obviously I can't tell you about these things because I don't know about them. It's only possible to do so much in a certain length of time. For more information go to the description of these pictures given by Horace Thornton in the 79/AD series.
Howard and Bullough of Accrington were the main manufacturers of this type of taping machine. There was another manufacturer, Butterworth and Dickinson of Burnley who made an almost identical machine.
The taper spent a lot of time just sitting down once a production run was got going. As long as there were no faults it was possible for a taper to take it very easy and many a time you'd go up there and find the tape running away and Joe dozing off quietly. It might have been the wrong way to do the job but I remember a fellow once telling me that if you have got two blokes doing a job, and one is always rushing round and the other one seems to be asleep half the time but they are both doing the job, he said if you are going to sack one, sack the one that's rushing round because the other fellow's doing the better job. I can sympathize with that point of view, I can see the sense in it. You'd never see Joe rushing but he was a very, very good taper. He might not have been the best man in the world with a brush and a shovel but by God he was a good taper. There's no doubt about it as you'll hear when you listen to Jim. You listen to Jim talking about what was going on. You can have the best warps in the world, you can have the best machinery, you can have the best looms and the best weavers but if your taping's no good your weaving's no good. Everybody in
the mill depended on everybody else. Everybody else in the mill could work their fingers to the bone but if Joe wasn't doing a good job they were wasting their time. It’s as simple as that.
This was common of every job in the mill, everybody depended upon everybody
Else. It’s a shame really that that sort of ethos is vanishing now. People don’t want to be responsible. I often think that's one of the reasons why steam engines went out. Nobody in their right mind wanted one man controlling the production of an entire factory because in most cases if the engine driver didn't turn up the engine didn't start. This was certainly what happened at Bancroft. If I didn't get up in the morning, if I was late, they didn't start, because nobody else knew how to start the engine.
In point of fact there were odd occasions when I did sleep in. The nearest I ever got to disaster was one morning when I woke up at ten to eight. I only lived about 300 yard from the mill. I woke up at ten to eight, dashed across to the mill and actually had the engine going by one minute past eight. The fact that I don’t think I had a single button done up and my boots were unlaced didn't matter, the engine was running. I always used to leave things in a condition where we had the least possible work to do in the morning to get going but that’s another story. We'll perhaps get on to some of the little anecdotes about things that could go wrong and things that did go wrong later in this series of tapes. For the moment we'll try and confine ourselves to facts. I don’t intend to start on the next series of pictures on this tape because this is actually a good place to finish because that is the end of the series of pictures on taping. So I shall finish this tape now and start a fresh subject on the next tape.
SCG/20 September 2003
6,724 words.
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Stanley Graham (Engineer & Researcher) Tape 14
