Part 7 (1/2)
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 fas.h.i.+oned 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._
WHAT KIND OF LOOM?
Questions are asked as to the production of cloths in an old-fas.h.i.+oned loom from handspun yarn. The experience in our school is, that a well-practised worker weaves on a pit-loom one yard cloth of 30 inches width and of fairly thick texture in one hour. Cloth of greater or smaller width varies in proportion. Our fly-shuttle pit-loom has not exceeded this figure in handspun yarn so far. When formerly we used mill-made yarn, it yielded about half as much cloth again as the old pit-loom. However in weaving _dhotiyans_ and _sadis_ from handspun as well as mill-made yarn the flyshuttle is very handy.
Then there is a question as to the necessity of beaming the yarn. We believe, that where there is no question of room, beaming should be dispensed with. Hand-loom weaving factories situated in thickly populated towns where rates of house-rent are very high, have reason to resort to beaming; but where s.p.a.ce allows stretching of the yarn as practised by the professional weavers, it is a time-saving method and is artistic as well. There is an argument in favour of beaming that it allows of the handling of warp as long as 200 or even 300 yards. But if such length of handspun yarn can be prepared, it is equally easy, if not easier, to stretch it in the old style.
SIZING HANDSPUN YARN
It is said, that the difficulty of sizing handspun yarn is a serious handicap from which the movement suffers. As a matter of fact, the method of sizing it should be no different from that of sizing mill-made yarn. It is slipshod spinning which is at the bottom of this difficulty.
The best way out of it is to organise and improve the production of handspun yarn. It is superst.i.tion to say that the yarn spun on the _charkha_ cannot be strong and even. Where proper care is taken, it does improve and even surpa.s.s mill-made yarn in some respects. Punjab and Marwad, where spinning has been carried on from past times, have also to improve their yarn. Not that the spinners there do not know their work, but they as well as the merchants who purchase their yarn are careless about the quality of the yarn turned out. Unless this work is taken up by men imbued with the true Swades.h.i.+ spirit, the condition is not likely to improve. The spinners should be visited at their work from time to time, and proper instructions as to the required twist and test to be given to the yarn should be imparted to them. The payment of a reasonably higher wage than the present is another way of improving the yarn. The wages we have arranged for our guidance are given below in the form of a table. Where living is cheaper than in Gujarat, they can be adjusted accordingly. The yarn having improved, the difficulty of sizing will disappear.
When a country weaver shows inability to weave hand-spun yarn, it means that he cannot weave it in the same reed s.p.a.ce as he uses for the mill-made yarn. This is quite evident. The hand-spun yarn not being even, it requires wider reed s.p.a.ce. The table given below also shows the number of ends of different counts to be drawn in an inch of a reed.
Then if the cloth to be woven is meant for s.h.i.+rting or coating and not for _dhotiyan_ or _sadi_, and if the yarn has a good test, two to four ends can be added to the number denoted in the table.
Column headings:
C: Count.
T: Approximate twist per inch.
R: Rounds on 4 feet hank frame.
+---+------+--------+----+-----+------------+------------+--------------+
Number of
Number of
Rates of
Wage
ends in an
double
weaving per
C
Test.
per
T
R
inch of
ends in an
square yard.
pound.
reed.
inch.
Rs. A. P.
+---+------+--------+----+-----+------------+------------+--------------+
6
Warp
0 4 0
10
96
24 to 28
18 to 22
0 4 0
6
Weft
0 3 0
8
”
...
...
...
9
Warp
0 6 0
12
144
26 to 32
20 to 24
0 4 6
9
Weft
0 4 6
10
”
...
...
...
12
Warp
0 10 0
14
192
30 to 34
22 to 26