page_title: Bradford Industrial Museum
section_title: Power looms
hierarchical_section_title: Bradford Industrial Museum / First floor textile galleries / Weaving gallery / Power looms
caption_attribution_description: Part of loom at Bradford Industrial Museum, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. 53.48'.40".N; 1.43'.16".W.
context_page_description: Bradford Industrial Museum, established 1974 in Moorside Mills, Eccleshill, Bradford, United Kingdom, specializes in relics of local industry, especially printing and textile machinery, kept in working condition for regular demonstrations to the public. There is a Horse Emporium in the old canteen block plus a shop in the mill, and entry is free of charge.
context_section_description: The Hattersley 6 x 1 revolving skip box: this dress goods loom, used for the weaving of suiting fabrics etc., is fitted with a negative V or angle dobby, a development of the original invented by Hattersley's in 1867. Known throughout the textile industry as the Keighley dobby, it has since been copied, modified and manufactured in a variety of different forms. Hattersley also invented, in 1868, the skip box: a development of the circular or revolving box. This allowed the shuttle box to bypass or skip the next compartment along and pick out the shuttle of the following one.
  The Dobcross H.K. box loom was manufactured in ca.1950 by Hutchinson, Hollingworth & Co. Ltd of Dobcross, Oldham. This loom was claimed by its makers to be one of the most widely used power looms in the woollen and worsted industries. It was used, with minor adaptations, for weaving goods as varied as light tropical suiting, costume cloths, overcoatings, army and police uniform cloths and heavy blankets. The main feature of this loom is the dobby (located top right of the loom with the hand wheel) which is known as the Knowles, American or positive wheel dobby. This device lifts and lowers the wooden shafts through which the warp ends are threaded, separating the warp threads to produce the shed. The loom has four rising or drop boxes at each side, which can be moved independently, and can weave up to seven shuttles, each with a different colour.
  The Sowden worsted coating loom: as in all mechanical devices, there is drive to improve efficiency, and this loom has several patent innovations. For example, the 28 shaft negative square dobby is similar in construction to Hattersley's Keighley dobby. However, to allow the shuttle more time to pass through the shed the dobby has special curved slots that allow the shafts to dwell or remain open for longer. In addition, the pattern chain or lags controlling the shafts can be set to control all 28 shafts, or set to operate the first sixteen shafts to weave the cloth and the remaining twelve shafts to produce a name list or selvedge. The word selvedge is derived from self-edge, the edge of the cloth where the weft is turned back as it returns through the shed. The selvedge would often have a brand name or the country of origin woven into it. On the left side of the loom is the patent four-shuttle drop box motion incorporating a foot pedal. This is part of an escape mechanism in case the shuttle becomes trapped.
caption: Hattersley 6 x 1 revolving skip box
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