
The spinning frame is an
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
invention
An invention is a unique or novelty (patent), novel machine, device, Method_(patent), method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It m ...
for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century
Britain by
Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
and
John Kay.
Historical context
In 1760 England, yarn production from wool, flax and cotton was still a
cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
in which fibres were
carded and spun by hand using a
spinning wheel. As the
textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing.
Industry process
Cotton manufacturing
Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...
expanded its markets and adopted faster machines, yarn supplies became scarce especially due to innovations such as the doubling of the loom speed after the invention of the
flying shuttle. High demand for yarn spurred invention of the
spinning jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi- spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan ...
in 1764, followed closely by the invention of the spinning frame, later developed into the
water frame (patented in 1769). Mechanisms had increased production of yarn so dramatically that by 1830 the cottage yarn industry in England could no longer compete and all spinning was carried out in
factories
A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
.
Development
Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
employed
John Kay to produce a new spinning machine that Kay had worked on with (or possibly stolen from) another inventor named
Thomas Highs.
[
] With the help of other local craftsmen, including
Peter Atherton, the team developed the spinning frame, which produced a stronger thread than the
spinning jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi- spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan ...
invented by
James Hargreaves
James Hargreaves ( – 22 April 1778) was an English Weaver (occupation), weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764.
He was one of three men re ...
. The frame utilised the
draw rollers invented by
Lewis Paul to stretch, or attenuate, the
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...
.
The roller spinning process starts with a thick 'string' of loose fibres called a
roving, which is passed between three pairs of rollers, each pair rotating slightly faster than the previous one. In this way it is reduced in thickness and increased in length before a strengthening twist is added by a bobbin-and-flyer mechanism. The spacing of the rollers has to be slightly greater than the fiber length to prevent breakage. The nip of the roller pairs prevents the twist from backing up to the roving.
Too large to be operated by hand, the spinning frame needed a new source of power. Arkwright experimented with horses, but decided to employ the power of the
water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...
, which gave the invention the name '
water frame'.
For some time, the stronger yarn produced by the spinning frame was used in looms for the lengthwise
warp threads that bound cloth together, while hand powered jennies provided the weaker yarn used for the horizontal filler (
weft) threads. The jennies required skill but were inexpensive and could be used in a home. The spinning frames required capital but little skill.
In France,
Philippe Henri de Girard patented spinning frames for both the dry and wet spinning of
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
. His inventions were also patented in England in 1815, in the name of Horace Hall.
Little is known about Horace Hall, it is a possible pseudonym. Undoubtedly if he had taken out his patent in England in 1815, the year of the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
, in a French name there would not have been a lot of enthusiasm for it; possibly even suspicion.
In the British Isles, James Kay was initially credited with the invention of this device. On 2 December 1826 shortly after Kay's patent was awarded, Philippe Henri de Girard wrote to the Editor of ''
The Manchester Guardian'' complaining about and pointing out he had been the inventor. The following is an extract from his letter:
Kay's patent was invalidated, in 1839, on the grounds it was too similar to Horace Hall's; A decision upheld on appeal, in 1841.
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
Essayon Arkwright, showing his links with Kay and Highs.
{{Lancashire Cotton
Textile machinery
Spinning
English inventions
History of the textile industry
Industrial Revolution in England