Advancement Of The Spinning Wheel History Essay

Advancement Of The Spinning Wheel History Essay A spinning wheel is a machine utilized for the conversion of fiber into yarn or thread, which is then used to make cloths (McCloskey, 1981). Its main functions are to combine fibers into a thread or yarn and then gather it in a bobbin so that it may be used as thread for the loom. It works on the principle that if you hold a bunch of fibers together and you pull a few out, the few will separate from the rest. These are pulled while being twisted at the same time hence forming a thread (Redford, 1931). The spinning wheel was invented between 500 and 1000 AD. However, the years 1400- 1800 are the ones referred to us the era of the spinning wheel (Jefferson, 1972). Unfortunately, no real spinning wheels survive from medieval times hence the only reliable evidence comes from images and records written during that time (McCloskey, 1981; North, 1979). It improved from the spindle, which was barely a stick with some weight attached. However, somewhere between 500 and 1000 A.D., An inventor turned the spindle sideways and added a pulley, which he then connected to the drive wheel. With this, the spinning wheel was ready for the work a head. Unfortunately, the merchants vehemently opposed the wheel when it hit the Western Europe markets blaming it for producing lumpy and uneven thread hence lowering the quality (Redford, 1931). There still rages a controversy about the development of this invention with some arguing that it was made in China for silk and ramie spinning while others believe that it was made later in India in order to cater for its cotton industry (McCloskey, 1981). However, spinning technology had been around for quite sometime before majority of the people embraced it and this makes it very hard to pinpoint a specific year or time and claim that is when specific improvements were done to it (Hurt, 1954). Come the 18th century the industrial revolution brought about a very big shift in the spinning industry and the mechanization of the spinning wheel be gan (McCloskey, 1981). One of the highly acclaimed inventors of the spinning wheels is Mr. James Hargreaves. Noticing an overturned spinning wheel which continued turning while the spindle was vertical, gave him the idea that several spindles could be organized to function at the same time from that position (Jefferson, 1972). Later he developed a model, which had eight spindles hence leading to increased output by his family members. News of his inventions caused his house to be attacked by jealous spinners and in the process all his machines were destroyed. Later, Mr. Hargreaves named his invention the spinning Jenny and patented the device in 1770. The spinning wheel led to higher output per person. In thread making, output increased by a factor of more than 10. With that, the production of rags and subsequently cheap paper revolutionized the printing industry (Hayek, 1954). The faster rate of spinning led to increased demand for the spinning wheels and with this agriculture was well on the way to being mechanized (Ashton, 1957). Later, Richard Arkwright’s new invention, a water- frame spinning roller was out in the year 1968.Eleven years Later in 1979, Samuel Crompton came up with a ‘spinning mule’ which was a combination of Arkwright’s water frame and Hargreaves Jenny (Hayek, 1954).