Cotton & Silk, Preparation Arkwright's original drawing frame (lantern frame) (machine pour l'egrenage des fibres),...

Cotton & Silk, Preparation Arkwright's original drawing frame (lantern frame) (machine pour l'egrenage des fibres), c 1775. Before spinning, fibres are put through two processes - carding and drawing. Drawing both strengthens and evens the fibres and adds some twist. The drawing frame invented by Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) in 1775 greatly improved this process. In this original machine, two 'slivers' of loose cotton fibres are fed between a pair of rollers. The slivers are then combined by passing through a second pair of faster rotating rollers. The resultant fibre, known as 'slubbing', is also imparted with a slight twist to hold the fibres together. The twisted slubbing is then coiled into a tall metal can before passing on to other stages of the spinning process. It is extracted by a side door, giving the can the appearance of a lantern, from which this machine was commonly known as a 'lantern frame'. ©SSPL/Science Museum