Fiber

Spinning Fibers into Yarns

Man first began spinning fibers into yarns several thousand years ago, but the first spinning wheel was only invented around the year 1300. It was the increase in weaving production rates over the period from the mid 1700s to the early 1800s that created the high demand for spun yarn and hence the mechanization of spinning. The spinning mills of New England are long famous for their role not only in the development of the textile trade but also in the broader industrial revolution. Maine had its share of fiber processing plants with several hundred mills of one type or another in production at its peak. The shift to lower labor costs in the southern United States and eventually offshore has left many decaying mill buildings throughout the state. By 1990 there were only around 20 operating woolen mills in Maine and in 2003 less than a handful of the large mills remain.

Like most other industries, what is left of the spinning trade in the United States is the processing of small-scale or specialty products for niche markets. Some companies and cooperatives have refurbished older equipment from the 1800s and early 20th century. While others have chosen to use the recently developed miniature sized spinning mill, which was designed to handle small lots of fiber from local producers who want their clip processed and returned to their farms for personal use or resale. These small scale mills have increased around the state of Maine and today there are a dozen or so operating in former buildings of the old mill towns, on farms with specialty breed fiber animals and even in downtown Portland. In a sense, the state of the industry in Maine has returned to that of its homespun past where carders, spinning wheels and handlooms were placed in homes and production was on a small scale. This return to small-scale production has brought the artistry and craftsmanship back to fiber processing and the high technology developed over the years is allowing the fiber processors to create end products well beyond their homespun past.

Today's small-scale fiber processing mills must accomplish the same steps as the larger high technology mills found throughout the world. These processes include:

• Washing: Shorn fleeces are skirted of debris, scoured in detergent, rinsed and air dried.

• Opening: Using a picker machine, the washed clumps of dry fiber are separated and then conditioned with water-soluble oils to restore flexibility and control static electricity.

• Carding: This process separates the fibers from each other and aligns them parallel to one other into a stream of approximately even size throughout its entire length. There are two products from cardingbatts and rovings. Batts are used for felt making, duvets and in hand spinning. Rovings are drawn out to thinner slivers to make ready for spinning.

• Spinning: Many small mills use ring spinning machines with two main partsthe drafting zone and the spinning zone. The drafting zone reduces the sliver to the size required for the particular yarn being created. The spinning zone inserts the twist into the yarn and is a function of the bobbin speed in relation to the delivery speed from the drafting zone.

• The yarns are then plied and steam set. The final product of the mill is a cone of yarn or a skein, which is produced on a winding reel.

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