Manufactory Chronic
In these articles, we present the most important and interesting events in the history of the manufactory.
December 2022 – A pattern for the large brocade loom No. 2
The geometry on the punch cards for the large brocade loom is somewhat complicated. In total, there are 1320 hole positions per card strip. There are 84 rows. Of these, 12 rows have only 14 holes, while the other 72 rows have 16 holes. In the 84th row, the last 12 holes or plates in the mechanism cannot be used because a few needles are missing. The 8 holes or plates in front of them are reserved for weaving the edge, which is always woven in a 2:2 twill weave. In addition, there are two rows completely without holes, where a blank row must be stepped when punching the punch cards. All this information must be taken into account when planning a new pattern and somehow also visualised in the cartridge drawing. This is giving me a bit of a headache at the moment, but an idea for implementation is maturing. In any case, this loom is a lot more complicated than the other two.
December 2022 – A pattern for the large brocade loom No. 1
The third Jacquard loom in our workshop is equipped for brocade weaving. It has a Jacquard machine that can control 1,326 threads individually and weave a pattern without repetition over a width of 60 cm. It is supplemented by a small Jacquard machine that can operate 8 shafts for a basic weave. In the past, patterning and basic weaves were often separated, but when setting up this loom, we made sure that the large Jacquard machine could also handle the weave, as it is intended exclusively for producing damask fabrics.
A new pattern for this loom is a huge amount of work, which needs to be carefully considered in advance. After quite some time, the idea of producing a new series of home textiles there has matured. The design for the pattern has now also been finalised.
December 2022 – New parts for the 400 Jacquard machine
The two new parts for the 400 Jacquard loom were delivered in the summer of 2022. These are the needle board, through which the needles are guided and held in the correct position, and the Jacquard cylinder, which forms the counterpart. Both parts were newly manufactured using a CNC machine so that they now fit the card format exactly.
In order to install the needle board, all needles had to be removed from the Jacquard mechanism and then reinserted row by row and guided through the needle board at the front. Each needle was checked to ensure that it moved back and forth smoothly. Where this was not the case, the needles were straightened or the small hook at the end was modified so that it did not jam.
The cylinder can be easily inserted into its holders. However, its position then had to be realigned so that the 400 needles fit exactly into the holes in the cylinder. This is a little game of patience, as you cannot see directly how the cylinder is positioned in relation to the needles.
Afterwards, extensive checks were carried out to ensure that flawless fabric could now be produced. The position of the cylinder was further adjusted, as were the transport pins used to hold the punch card strips in position on the cylinder.
Now the mechanism seems to be reading the information on the punch cards correctly. A single needle still got stuck from time to time, causing the thread to remain permanently raised. But even that could be remedied with a few delicate adjustments.
March 2022 – A loom that doesn't do what it's supposed to do
Last week, we suffered a disappointing setback. The medium-sized Jacquard loom, or rather just the Jacquard attachment, is still not working properly. Many hours have already been spent on reworking it, but it still causes errors in the fabric. The crux of the matter is that the punch cards we make on our punching machine do not quite match the grid of the loom. In 2020, we obtained a quote for the manufacture of a new cylinder and needle board. Given the cost involved, we decided to remake and rework the needle board and cylinder ourselves by hand. However, as it now turns out, we were unable to do this with the required precision. The cylinder, punch card and needles cannot be adjusted in such a way that all needles always hit their intended holes.
So, back to square one: the two components have to be remade in a carpentry workshop with professional tools, with the 2040 holes preferably drilled using a CNC machine.
