Translator: Cinder Translations
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Spinning and weaving can be said to be two of the oldest human skills. After humanity left its primitive state and civilization began to dawn, records of spinning and weaving began to appear.
The spinning process includes two distinct parts: twisting and drawing. The raw material is usually in the form of fibers that must be twisted together to increase strength and cohesion, and then drawn into threads.
In the most primitive techniques, spinners used a spindle and a spinning rod. The unspun fibers were placed on the spinning rod, and with one hand, the spinner would draw out the fibers. Once the length of thread was sufficient, the spinner would pick up the spindle and rotate the thread around the spindle, then repeat the process. This method of spinning was slow but had the advantage of being lightweight.
Hundreds of years ago, there was a major technological breakthrough in spinning – the hand-spinning wheel was invented. Compared to the simpler previous methods, the hand-spinning wheel was bulkier and more expensive, but it could spin thread ten times faster.
Over time, people made some improvements to the hand-spinning wheel, such as converting it from hand-cranked to foot-operated. The foot pedal that turned the large wheel increased the speed of the spinning wheel and freed the spinner's hands.
Later, the more creative "flywheel" was invented, once again advancing spinning technology, though it could only spin coarse thread due to the difficulty in achieving the right tension.
Now, it's time to once again redefine the ancient art of spinning.
On October 1, 1991, in the Holy Calendar, the long-awaited technology conference of the Alden Town Machinery Factory was held as scheduled. People from the three territories of Alden, Byerldine, and Emden gathered in Alden Town to witness the new inventions from the Machinery Factory. Among them were city merchants, rural landlords, nobles with titles, and even many ordinary people with dreams of wealth. The product launch was open to everyone – as long as they were from the three territories mentioned.
The conference was held in the square in front of the lord's mansion. Now, these people from different social classes and backgrounds were gathered around a machine, marveling at it.
The demonstrators from the machinery factory were operating an extremely creative piece of equipment. There was a main wooden frame with a row of spindles standing upright. Spanning the main frame were two parallel wooden rails, which could slide back and forth freely on the frame. The combed and wound cotton thread moved between the two rails. The demonstrator moved the frame back and forth with one hand while turning a crank with the other hand, which rotated a wheel that drove the spindles. A row of spindles, placed at specific angles, twisted the thread as the spindles rotated, then reversed and released at the top of the spindle. Finally, a metal wire dropped down to connect to the spun thread. The spindles continued to move forward, causing the twisted and drawn thread to retreat to the bottom of the spindle, and the process repeated.
Yes, this was the "Spinning Jenny" that played an important role in the 18th century. To honor its original inventor, Hargreaves, Paul kept the original name in this world after recreating it. Coincidentally, the head of the Ministry of Governance, Mr. Ford, had just welcomed the birth of his granddaughter, named Jenny, which saved a lot of unnecessary speculation from others. This made Mr. Ford quite grateful.
"Gentlemen!"
Guy Burns introduced the machine to the crowd with a proud expression.
"This is our Lord Grayman's idea – the Spinning Jenny. Oh, let me clarify, Jenny is the name of Mr. Ford's newborn granddaughter, so there's no need to read too much into it. Now, back to the topic. Look at how magical she is."
"This is just a simple model with one wheel and ten spindles, yet even this can match the workload of ten spinners. In theory, as long as there's enough power, the number of spindles it can drive is unlimited – 18, 30, even 80 spindles. Efficiency can increase dozens of times."
The crowd was in an uproar.
"Oh, Light of the Lord! What a miraculous invention."
"I can already foresee the arrival of a new era!"
Many people wanted to touch it, but there was a barrier around the spinning machine, and the armed inner guard soldiers' watchful gazes deterred anyone from getting too close. Clearly, the lord's mansion was keeping the manufacturing technology quite secret.
As for whether it was a fraud? The machine was spinning thread right there under the demonstrator's operation. People couldn't touch the machine, but the thread spun by it was taken out for everyone to examine.
There was a slight drawback, though: the machine couldn't spin thread as fine as hand-spun thread, seemingly only suitable for making warp threads (threads that extend lengthwise on a loom). Still, this was undeniably a major technological leap.
…
Listening to the audience's discussions and seeing the amazement on their faces, Guy Burns felt immense mental satisfaction. His pride was evident. He certainly had reason to be proud. Although the idea and general structure were proposed by Paul, the specific implementation was completed by him and his fellow machinists.
Knowledge and technology should benefit the majority of people, not become the toys of a few – this statement that Lord Grayman once summarized was absolutely correct. Guy Burns felt that he had taken another big step down this path.
"Haha, the surprises don't end here!"
Guy shouted loudly, "Gentlemen, have you ever thought about this? With the speed of our current looms, what use is producing so much thread? It would only pile up in warehouses and gather dust."
The crowd was shocked. Could it be… could it be…
"That's right! Alden Town Machinery Factory has also produced a new type of loom that matches the speed of the Spinning Jenny!"
With one sentence, the visitors' curiosity was piqued again.
Guy walked towards another exhibition area, and the crowd's eyes followed him, focusing on a machine covered with cloth.
With a dramatic pull, Guy removed the cloth covering the exhibit, revealing the machine inside.
It was clearly a loom with a wooden structure, about 2.5 meters long and 2 meters high, powered by a foot pedal. However, some parts of its structure differed from traditional looms, which could be seen at a glance.
For centuries, weavers had been passing the shuttle from one hand to the other, producing cloth as wide as their arms. To make the cloth wider, two weavers were needed, which greatly limited the width of the cloth and the speed of weaving.
Now, an invention called the "flying shuttle" solved both problems. It could both increase the width of the cloth and significantly speed up weaving.
"Ahem! Now, let me introduce the second new product from the machinery factory – the flying shuttle loom," Guy Burns continued to introduce with a proud expression.
(End of the Chapter)
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