LACE-MAKING MACHINES It is uncertain who invented the first machine capable of making an openwork mesh, but it is generally conceded that an English Nottingham worker named Hammond was one of the earliest in the field and that in 1768 improvements made in the stocking knitting machine resulted in the production of a Lacey material resembling net. It was also in this year that the initial attempt to warp so-called "lace goods" was made by another Notting ham man named Crane, an invention likewise based on the stock ing machine. A few years later, between 1771-77, Robert Frost, from the same district, invented a machine for making a coarse square net such as was used by wig-makers, and a finer quality extensively used in ladies' mits. The next step in the development was the introduction of what was termed "point net," a somewhat oblong hexagonal meshed fabric that appeared about 1776.
Authorities differ as to the inventor; a patent was taken out by a man named Taylor in 1778 and the invention was finally ac quired by the Hayne firm of Nottingham, which firm is credited with having introduced tambour work described as "stitch split ting and net tambouring." In 1795 William Dawson invented an improvement in the warp machine with which warp edgings were made, an invention that was afterwards applied to lace machinery.
The invention of the Jacquard loom in 18o1 marked a new era in the world of machine-made fabrics, and in the early years of the 19th century, the development of power-driven machinery ad vanced rapidly. The outstanding figure of this period in the field of lace machinery is John Heathcoat, whose invention of the bobbin net machine in 1809 became the foundation of an enormous industry, the net produced on the perfected Heathcoat machine being a thread net of fine quality imitating the hand-made Brus sels fabric. Another important name in the development of lace machinery is that of John Levers, who in 1813 improved and modified the arrangement of the bobbins and carriages in the Heathcoat machine, an invention that is said to have added £3,000,000 yearly to the lace trade. The first factory for the manu
facture of machine net was set up at Tiverton, Devon, in 1815. In America the first lace factory was founded at Medway, Mass., in 1818, followed by a second at Ipswich, Mass., in 1824. In France the machine industry was established by the early years of the century by several Englishmen from Nottingham who set tled in the Calais district, using a modified type of the Heathcoat machine.
Modern machine lace is made on Levers looms built in Notting ham; these machines are used by American manufacturers in New York, Philadelphia, Bridgeport and Pawtucket ; they carry from 5,000 to 10,000 threads, and can produce from 40-18o sq.f t. of net or 4o-18 yd. of 4 in. lace, the quality of the product depend ing largely upon the genius of the designer and the commercial viewpoint of the producer. In Europe, where the cost of produc tion is less, laces of fine quality, close copies of old Mechlin, point de Paris and Valenciennes, are produced, but the use of mer cerized cotton reduces the durability of the fabric.
In recent years the introduction of chemicals in lace manu facture has made possible the reproduction of heavy Venetian point. In this method the design worked in cotton on a silk or wool foundation is subjected to the action of chemicals that de stroy the foundation leaving the cotton embroidery intact. This process has been developed with considerable success in the St. Gall district, Switzerland.
Another process employed in the manufacture of modern laces is one in which a cellulose paste is used in moulding the pattern. It is stated that in 1914 a Lyons factory was producing at the rate of 2,734 yd. of this type of "lace" in 24 hours.