The mountings which have been given are of two descriptions—the Norwich, with the straight harness, and the London or twisted harness, with the cards hanging to either side of the loom, as the machine can be turned either way to suit. For the Norwich ties the cards are supposed to hang to the back of the loom, but it often happens that there is not space between the looms to admit of all the cards being hung at the back, and it is usual for one loom to have the cards to the back and the next one to the front. When the cards hang to the front of the loom the mounting is tied up so that when finished it will be the same as if mounted for the cards to hang at the back; and afterwards turned round so that the back will be at the front. In case the back left-hand corner twine is the first cord of the harness with the cards at the back, the front right-hand twine would be the first if the cards are at the front, and the drawing in of the yarn must begin at it. If the loom is mounted in this way, and the yarn drawn in from the opposite side, as if the cards were to hang at the back, the result will be a toothed or broken-up appearance round the edges of the pattern. The same cards will do for either mounting, but the pattern and twill will be reversed on the cloth—that is, they will run from left to right on the one, and from right to left on the other. The effect produced on letters was mentioned when speaking of them.

It was mentioned that jacquards are usually made with 51 rows of hooks or needles, of 8, 10, or 12 in the row, being for 4⁰⁰, 5⁰⁰, and 6⁰⁰ machines respectively, which are those most used; 2⁰⁰ and 3⁰⁰ machines are used for small mountings, but they may be considered as half 4⁰⁰ and 6⁰⁰ machines. Sometimes the machines are made of any size required—that is, with any desired number of rows of holes in the needle boards. The objection to this is that the cards cannot be copied on the ordinary repeating machines; but piano card-cutting machines can be made with the index to suit for cutting any length of card. When using 4⁰⁰, 5⁰⁰, or 6⁰⁰ machines, or the double sizes, 8⁰⁰, 10⁰⁰, or 12⁰⁰, and more than one is required for the mounting, a second must be used, such as an 8 and a 4, or a 12 and a 6; a 12 and a 5 would not do so well, as the 12 has 12 needles in the row and a 5 has but 10. It would be better to use a 12 and a 6 and leave 100 hooks idle, if only 1700 are required. If a 12 and a 5 is to be used it may be done by having the cumber board made 12 in the row, but made finer in the proportion of 12 to 10; then, where the 12-row harness is to pass through it, every sixth row of holes can be left empty, and it will be all right for the 10-row harness from the 5⁰⁰ machine.

Designs are painted upon the point paper for the purpose of enabling them to be transferred to the cards, which act on the needles of the jacquard, and cause the proper warp threads to be raised. The pattern is put upon the cards by punching holes in them, one hole being punched for each check on the design paper that is filled in with colour, or it may be the reverse of this, or otherwise, according to circumstances. The common method is to cut the red, and leave the ground or unpainted portion, and the black, which stands for ground. There is a card for each line of the design paper for damask patterns; the holes in the cards represent the dots on these lines, if each line was cut off and cut into separate designs or larger squares, then these squares set up lengthways and laid together. Take the pattern, Fig. 70, and cut the first line from left to right. The card is shown at Fig. 89 at A. Turn the pattern upside down and examine the first line to the right-hand side. The two first checks are empty; two holes in the card or two punches of the piano machine are passed over; the next three checks are painted, for these three holes are cut in the card, and the remaining three checks in the design being empty are passed over. The next design has the second and seventh checks filled and these are cut on the card, and so on with the others. The two small holes at each end of the card are for the lacing twine, and the large one at each end for the peg on the cylinder of the jacquard. The intersections of the fine lines on the card show where the holes fall when required to be cut.

This card would be for a 200 machine, the empty or unused needles being left at the first half of the card; 26 rows of 8 needles to the card. The card B given in this figure is the first of the heavy cutting, No. 17 on the pattern. Reading from the pattern as before, pass 2, cut 2, pass one which is black, cut 3, and so on, cutting the red and passing the black or twilling dots whether they be white, black, blue, yellow, or green; they are only there for convenience, to avoid the trouble of leaving the spaces empty when painting the pattern at first, it being simpler to dot them over afterwards.

The cards are numbered at the selvage end, which goes to the sneck side of the jacquard when working. The design may be read from left to right, but the usual method is to turn it upside down, and read from right to left, which comes to the same thing, beginning to cut from the numbered end of the card. Some begin to cut at the other end of the card, and read from right to left on the design without turning it, which is still the same. If the loom is mounted or the yarn drawn in, beginning with the front row of the harness instead of with the back row to the left-hand side, the cards should be read the reverse way from the design paper; or, what would be the same, turn them over after cutting them. This changes the top row of holes in the cards to the bottom, or from the back to the front of the cumber board. In case of the loom being mounted from back to front, and the yarn being drawn into the harness beginning with the front row in the cumber board, the cards, if cut in the ordinary way, would give the pattern a broken or toothed appearance. Turning the cards upside down would remedy this, but would only answer if each part of the mounting consisted of full rows of needles, for, if any part began or ended on a broken row, turning the card would take the holes in it for this part row away from the needles: that is, say if the harness was connected with four needles at the top of the row and the card cut for these, the holes would fall on the four needles at the bottom of the row, if the card was turned upside down. The cards should be numbered on the side which is uppermost when they are being cut, and this side should come against the needles if the work is properly carried out.

The old method of cutting cards was for one to take the pattern and call out the holes to be punched, and they were punched out by a second person, a perforated plate over the card being sometimes used as a guide to place the holes in their correct positions. A better method was found in the punching plates shown in Fig. 90. A and B are two plates hinged together. B No. 2 shows the full upper plate. The card is placed on the lower plate, and the upper one closed down on it. Punches are then filled by hand into the holes in the upper plate according as the pattern is read from the design; then the plates are passed through a roller press, which pushes the punches through the card. With small machines this suited very well; but the filling in of the punches was tedious for larger machines, and shortly after the introduction of the jacquard by Mr. S. Wilson, in 1821, he introduced a method for filling the plate with punches to correspond with each line of the design paper, as follows:—Over, or in front of, the design a set of upright cords is placed, as in reading the patterns on the simple of the draw-loom. On these cords the pattern is picked, and weft threads drawn in, one for each line of the design paper, for plain damask. When all the design is finished the threads compose one repeat of the pattern in a loosely-woven cloth. The upright cords or leashes pass through eyes in a set of needles, arranged like those in a jacquard machine and each weft thread put in, when picking the pattern, shows which of the leashes are to be drawn. As each set of leashes is drawn the needles connected with them come into contact with a set of punches arranged in a frame or plate, and push them into a punching plate, which is then placed over the card, as in Fig. 90, and passed through a roller press. This method of picking the pattern for card-cutting is still in use, and an improved method of using the plates and rollers is still found very convenient for many purposes, such as copying cards and small patterns, &c. (See Copying Machines.)

Card cutting is now almost entirely done by ‘piano machines.’ They take the name of piano from the pins or keys which are arranged for the cutter’s fingers, and to distinguish them from an older machine, which is similar in make, but in it the pins or keys which act as locks on the punches are wrought with cords instead of by the fingers. The cord machine is similar in make to the piano machine; but the cutter usually sits at one side, and has the board or stand for the pattern facing him. The treadles are also turned sideways; but the cord is put in at the end, as in the piano machine. Fig. 91 shows how the cords are arranged. AA are the cords, 12 in number, which the cutter draws. BB are another set from the former ones to the keys, passing under pulleys at C. D is the punch-box. The keys have springs on them, which press them in over the heads of the punches; but at the top of the cords are indiarubber springs, fastened to the crossbar E on the frame which supports the cords, and these springs are strong enough to draw out the keys. When any of the cords AA are drawn down the cords BB connected with them are slackened, and the keys spring in over the punches, locking them, and punching holes when the treadle is pressed down.

The cords BB can be connected from the right-hand side of AA to the right-hand side of the punch keys, and run from right to left, or they may be the reverse of this, according to the way the cutter reads the pattern. Sometimes piano machines are fitted to work with cords to suit the cutter. In this case there is only one set of cords, as AA, set behind the punch block, and the cutter sits at the end of the machine. Instead of springs, weighted levers, or tumblers, may be used at the top of the cords on the bar E. When springs are used the bar should be lowered when the cutter is not working, by slackening the set screws at GG, so as to relieve the strain on the springs. When working the cord machine the cutter uses only one hand to draw the cords; but on the piano machine he uses both hands, and can proceed quicker with the cutting.

Fig. 92 is a view of Devoge’s piano cutting machine. In these machines one cross row of the card is punched at each tread; the cutter sits in front of the machine, with the design fastened on the frame before him, as shown in the figure. The straight-edge, or ruler, across the design is for the purpose of guiding the cutter’s eye along the line of the design paper that he is cutting from, and he screws it up or down a line, as the case may be, for every card he cuts. He keeps one foot on each treadle and his fingers on the keys in the punch block, the arrangement of which is shown in Fig. 93, and presses in a key to correspond with each dot on the line of the design paper on one design, or large square, for each tramp.

The numbered end of the card is put into the clip on the index carriage, and the guide for the card set to suit the width of the card used, so that the punch will cut the holes in the centre of the card. The lacing and cylinder peg holes are first cut, by pressing in the keys E for the peg hole, and for the lacing 2 and 7 for an 8-row card, 1 and 8 for a 10-row, and a and c for a 12-row. Any blank designs, or rows of the card, are now passed over, by running back the index carriage, if the design does not occupy the full length of the card, it being the usual custom to leave all empty rows to the selvage or numbered end of the card, though it may in some cases be advisable to be otherwise. The selvage, if any, is usually cut first, and then the pattern.

Pressing down the right foot treadle, when any of the keys are pushed in, punches holes in the card with the punches locked, and the left foot treadle, which works alternately with the other, is for moving the index carriage, which shifts the card from one row of holes that have been punched to the next one, so as to place it in position for the punches. In Fig. 93 the black dots represent the heads of the punches, 12 in number. The keys 1 to 8 are used for cutting an 8-row card; when any key is pressed in it passes over the head of its corresponding punch, and locks it, so that when the cutter presses down the treadle and the punch block is brought down on the card, the locked punch is pressed through it, while those not locked rise up. The keys a and c added to the 8 suit for cutting 10-row cards, and b and d added to these suit for 12-row cards. The four keys a b and c d can be pressed in with the two thumbs. E is the key for the peg hole.

A good cutter can cut from 100 to 150 cards per hour, but this is laborious for constant work. Sometimes the cutting machines are driven by power, but as yet (1894) this is not general.

Messrs. Devoge & Co. can attach an arrangement to their machines so that they can be driven with a belt. The punch block is wrought by a lever driven by an eccentric, and is kept constantly rising and falling; the cutter fingers the pins so as to keep time with the punch block, and should he wish to stop, or should anything go wrong, he can stop the card at once by raising one treadle and pressing down the other, which throws the motion for shifting the index carriage out of gear, and the card stands stationary, and although the punch block continues to work it takes no effect when the punches are not locked by the keys. The machine works very smoothly, with very little noise, and with a little practice any boy or girl accustomed to card cutting can easily become acquainted with working it. The index of the piano machine is generally made for 51 rows of holes in the cards, 400, 500, and 600 machines being those generally employed: 51 rows of 8 = 408 needles; 51 rows of 10 = 510 needles; and 51 rows of 12 = 612 needles, which, with a few odd needles on the 25-row side, represent the number of needles in a 4⁰⁰, 5⁰⁰, and 6⁰⁰ machine. If larger machines with longer cords are required, the index of the cutting machine must be altered to suit them.

Card paper should be of such a quality as will not be easily affected by the atmosphere. When cards are for small machines, and are only required to work for a short time, an inferior paper will do for them, and save expense; but for large patterns which are intended to work for years it will come cheaper in the end to get a good quality of paper—in fact, the best that can be made. Specially prepared oil-saturated paper is made for the purpose of preventing the atmosphere taking too much effect on it. For hand looms, sometimes the cards are painted with red lead, and sometimes with shellac varnish, or shellac (best red) dissolved in methylated spirits.

Cards are made of different weights of paper; some prefer them thin, and others thick. A moderately thin, tough paper is the best. About 16 to 18 cards to 1 lb., for 400 cards, is a good medium weight.

After the cards are cut they have to be laced into a chain to revolve round the jacquard cylinder on the loom. The usual method of lacing is to have a frame with pegs or studs set in it at a distance apart to suit the size of the jacquard cylinder. The cards are spread on this frame as shown at A, Fig. 94, and laced with a steel needle, thicker in the centre than at the ends; it is about 2-1/2 in. long, and has an eye in the centre, through which a piece of fine twine is tied in a loop, and the lacing tape can easily be drawn through this. The cards at A are numbered 1, 3, 5, but all the numbers would follow in rotation if the jacquard had only one cylinder; if a double-cylinder machine, half the cards would be laced forward, as at A, and the other half (the even numbers) backward, as at B. The odd numbers usually go to the back of the loom, and the even ones to the front.

Several kinds of cord and tape are used for lacing cards, but two plies of round cotton cord, well soaped or waxed, is usually the most satisfactory for wear.

When lacing cards, the lacings should be crossed over, each one passing from left to right of the other in turn, at each hole and between the cards. This is important, to keep the cards straight.

The cards should be tightly laced, as the lacing is almost certain to stretch a little; so that they are better for being rather tight for the cylinder at first, otherwise they are liable to become too slack after a little wear, and if such is the case they will not fall properly on the cylinder pegs. This and other causes—such as irregular expansion or contraction of the cards, badly cut cards, and a long draw on the cards—occasion considerable wear on the peg holes, and now eyelets are being tried in them to avoid the breaking-up of the holes; but it is probable that good paper and careful work will prove a more suitable remedy. The card should not be deeper than the face of the cylinder; better a trifle less, to allow for the lacing to pass between them, and then if laced as tightly as possible they will still be pliable and work freely. Cards are usually numbered with pen and ink, but the numbers may be stamped on with an indiarubber stamping machine similar to that used for paging books.

Lacing Machines.—The Singer Sewing Machine Company brought out a machine some years ago for lacing cards, and it performs its work very well, though many object to it, as it stitches a lacing tape along the cards, instead of lacing them in the usual way. The machine is a 3-or 4-head sewing machine, according as three or four rows of lacing are to be used on the cards. The lacing is a tape; one tape is laid below the cards at each row of lacing, and another above, and both are stitched together through the cards.

Another machine was invented by Count Sparre more recently which laced or sewed the cards through the ordinary lacing holes, much in the same manner as hand lacing, except that the lacings are looped on each other through the holes instead of passing up and down through alternate holes.

A still later one, by Messrs. Reid & Fisher, of Dunfermline, and Mr. Parkinson, of Bradford, has further improvements; this machine is now working very satisfactorily. Other machines have since followed.

Copying or Repeating Machines.—There are several varieties of machines for copying or repeating a set of cards after they have been cut by the piano machine, and it often happens that this is required in case of several looms being put on the same pattern; or it may be that a set of cards for one loom is made up of two or three parts repeated several times.

One of the simplest of the repeaters is a small treadle machine in which the card is repeated by rows, the holes of the cut card acting upon needles that push in the pins above the punches, which are similar to those in the piano machine; and each row is punched by depressing a treadle. This is a slow method of repeating, but suits for small factories where it is not worth while having a more expensive machine. Any boy or girl can repeat the cards, instead of requiring a card-cutter to read them.

A more useful machine is the railway press repeater; it is taken from the old method of cutting described on page 142. The cards to be repeated are placed on a cylinder the same as that used in the jacquard, and pass down over the ends of long needles similar to the jacquard needles, but arranged in a box, and with long helical springs on them. In a thick plate, or box, in front of the needles is a set of punches, and the stamping plate rests in front of the punch box, close up against it. By means of a treadle the needle box can be drawn forward, and where there are holes in the card to be copied the needles pass through them, and, pressing on the punches, push them from the box into the stamping plate. The punches have heads on them that will not pass through the stamping plate, but will go into the holes in the box or frame, and when they are pushed into the plate it can be drawn away and turned over so as to prevent them from falling out. The plate is then placed on a box-plate made to hold the card to be cut, and somewhat similar to that shown in Fig 90. The box or hinged plates are set on a slide frame with rollers to travel on, and at the end of the frame is a strong roller press. The plates can easily be run forward to the press, and the card punched by running them under the roller; it may then be taken out, and as many impressions from the plate cut as are required. When finished, the stamping plate is taken back to the punch box and placed against it as before; then, with a comb, or block of wood, set with pins, all the needles are pushed out of the plate into the punch box. Another card can be brought before the needles, and the plate filled as before.

This machine is very useful for copying damaged cards, even when a repeater as those about to be described is at hand. A damaged card can be held between the needles and punches, and the plate filled, same as when copying a set.

Figs. 95, 97, and 98 show the principle of working three of the best-known repeating machines, which will copy a set of cards at the rate of from 40 to 60 per minute. Fig. 95 shows the arrangement of the punches in Nuttall’s patent repeater. The punches are shown at A, and the stoppers or keys at B; the cards to be punched pass in between the blocks C and D. B¹ shows the shape of one of the stoppers which, when over a punch, locks it, and causes a hole to be cut in the card. The stoppers all stand over the punches when at rest; the cards to be copied are hung on a cylinder, and act on a set of horizontal needles, g (Fig. 96); these needles have upright wires, m, n, passing through eyes in them, and also through eyes in the stoppers b. The upright wires act as levers, working on centres, m; and when one of the horizontal needles g is pushed back by the card to be copied, the corresponding stopper b is drawn from above the punch a, which allows it to rise when the card to be cut is raised up against it by the block D (Fig. 95), between which and the punch block c the cards to be cut pass, so that no hole is punched in the card; but where there are holes in the card to be copied, the needles g are not pressed back, and the stoppers are allowed to remain over the punches, locking them, and causing holes to be cut in the card pressed up against them.

This machine has been superseded by one in which upright rods act as stays on the punches. These rods stand on the punches, which have concave tops on them; the upper ends of the rods rest under the bars of a grid, or rebated plate, shown in section at P (Fig. 95). When in this position the punches are all locked. A set of needles are connected with these rods, and when the card to be copied presses on them, those that are pushed back move the top of the rods connected with them from under the bars to the spaces between them, which allows the rods to rise up with the punches when the card to be cut is pressed up.

The principle of a repeating machine made by Mr. McMurdo, of Manchester, is shown in Fig. 97. The cards to be copied hang on the card frame of a jacquard, as shown at C. From the hooks of the jacquard to the punches A are wires in the form of a single harness. The blank cards D pass in over the block B, which is stationary. Enlarged front and side views of a punch are given at G and H. At 1, 2, and 3 are shown the notches cut in the punch, through which the slide bars E and F pass. These slides are also shown at E¹ and F¹. The bar E is stationary, acting as a stay for keeping the punches in the box, and the notches in them, at 1, are long enough to let them slide up and down on the bar. The slide F is drawn out before the jacquard is drawn, and pushed in again afterwards; if any of the punches are raised by the jacquard, the notch 3 will be raised to the position of the notch 2, and the slide bar will pass through the lower notch, thus holding the punch up, and when the punch block is pressed down, holes will be cut in the card where the punches are locked in the upper notch. When the punch block is being sunk to punch the cards, it is necessary to have a spring in the wires that connect the punches to the jacquard hooks, and this is effected by having the wires made with a sliding joint and a small spiral spring on them, as shown at L.

The principle of Devoge’s repeater is shown in Fig. 98. This is one of the oldest machines in the market, and there are various opinions as to whether it is excelled by any of the others, or not. It is somewhat on the principle of the French repeating machines, being wrought by a jacquard and harness, E, to which a second harness or set of cards, F, is attached, and passes over pulleys to the punches A. When the harness E is drawn by the jacquard, the cords F are slackened, allowing the punches to drop, and they are locked in the punch box by the slide bar, H. The cards to be copied are shown at D, and those to be cut pass through at C. The punch block is stationary, and the block B rises against the punches with the card on it.

The blank cards require to be laced to make them ready for the repeaters, and also to have the peg holes cut in them; blocks are provided for the purpose of cutting the lace and peg holes. An enlarged view of a punch is shown at P.