HEALDS, or HEDDLES, AND HEALD MACHINES. In weaving, the threads of the warp are so arranged, that at each passage of the shuttle backwards and forwards, a certain number of the warp threads are raised up, and the remainder drawn down; this is done either with vertical threads, or lines, with a small loop in the middle, through which the warp thread is passed, there being one of the vertical threads for each horizontal or warp thread. The vertical threads are called healds; and as there is continual wear upon them, it is necessary they should be of considerable strength. They also require to be particularly smooth and round, in order that they may not, by their friction in moving up and down, chafe the threads of the warp. Hence the manufacture of heald yarns is a peculiar one, and employs the chief attention of several manufacturers, par ticularly in the neighborhood of Bradford, in Yorkshire, where they have been brought to great perfection by Messrs. Townend Brothers and others. For some purposes, the
healds are made of metal, and this class of healds isalso a special manufacture. Machines have been invented for the purpose of making thread healds without knots, as the knot made by the loop is a great impediment to the free action of the heald. Such a machine was invented'by Mr. Judkins of Manchester. It is so constructed as to double and twist' the single yarn, and at certain points braid and plait the yarn forming the eye or loop of the heald without knot of any kind. By this machine a series of healds can be made in a continuous cord, only requiring to be cut into lengths for use. The same inventor also produced a machine which fits metallic eyes or loops in the heald.