Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SAILCLOTH

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 1010 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

SAILCLOTH , now more commonly called See also:

canvas (q.v.). usually a See also:double warp, single weft fabric of the same structure as See also:bagging (q.v.), although it is sometimes made with single threads of warp. See also:Hemp and See also:ramie are occasionally used in the manufacture of this See also:cloth, but See also:flax and See also:cotton are the See also:chief See also:fibres employed. Many of the sails of fishing smacks and similar vessels are made entirely of cotton—the fabric sometimesreta,ining its natural See also:colour, but more often dyed or stained tan. Since most of the larger vessels are now driven by See also:steam, the quantity of cloth used for sails is comparatively small. A large quantity of cloth, however, is used on steamships for covers, and for See also:coal bags, sailcloth buckets, &c. The very best See also:kind of sailcloth is made from See also:long flax, as this fibre possesses flexibility, lightness and strength combined. The number of threads per See also:inch of warp varies from 14 double threads to 48 double threads, and from 12 to 36 shots per inch of weft, while the usual widths are 18, 24, 30 and 36 in. Cotton canvas has for its limits about 26 to 5.4 threads of warp per inch, and 15 to 46 shots per inch; the warp See also:yarn for cottons may be 2, 3 or several ply. See also:Great care has to be exercised in the manufacture of canvas for the See also:British See also:Admiralty. The yarns must be made wholly from long flax, well and evenly spun, and properly See also:twisted. They must also be See also:free from blacks, and be twice boiled in See also:order to remove all injurious See also:matter. From the See also:grey See also:state to the cleaned state the yarns must lose to% of See also:weight, and no deleterious substance whatever must be used in any See also:stage.

The See also:

mill washing and first boiling reduce the weight about 8%, while about 2%. is removed during the second boiling. Finally, the yarn is thoroughly ;washed to remove all traces of See also:alkali. The successive processes which the yarn is subjected to remove all impurities, and leave the yarn in the best See also:condition for See also:weaving. Canvas is made in sixteen different qualities: the heaviest is No. 0000, then follow Nos. 000, oo, o, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II and 12. Of these sixteen varieties Nos. 1 to 8 are mostly in use. Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 are used for royal See also:navy canvas, and Nos. 4 and 6 for the See also:merchant navy. The canvas for the Admiralty is 24 in. wide, and the pieces, termed bolts, should be as nearly as practicable 40 yds. of legal measure in length, and to be completely manufactured—particular See also:attention being given to the weaving; the selvages to be evenly and well manufactured, the thrum to be See also:left on each end of the See also:bolt, and to be made as nearly as possible in the proportion of weights given below.

The breaking tests for red and grey canvas are 5 % below those for See also:

white canvas. Sailmaking is a very See also:ancient See also:industry, but it is, naturally, much less important than It was before the introduction of steamships. The operations of the sailmaker may be stated as follows. The dimensions of See also:mast and yards and See also:sail See also:plan being supplied, the See also:master sailmaker is enabled to determine the dimensions of each sail—after due See also:allowance for stretching—in terms of cloths and See also:depth in yards—if a square sail, the number of cloths in the See also:head, number in the See also:foot and the depth in yards; if a fore-and-aft sail (triangular), the number of cloths, in the foot and the depth in yards of the luff or stay and of See also:leech or after-leech;if a fore-and-aft sail (trapezium See also:form), the number of cloths in the head, number in foot, and the depth of mast or luff and of after-leech. These particulars obtained, there is got out what is technically termed a " casting," which simply means the shape, length, &c., of each individual cloth in the sail. These figures are given to the cutter, who proceeds to cut out the sail cloth by cloth in consecutive order, numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4, &c.; the See also:series of cloths thus cut out are handed over to the workman, who joins them together by care-fully made double See also:flat seams, sewn with twine specially prepared for the purpose, with about 120 stitches in a yard. In the heavy sails the seam is about 12 in. in width, and in the British navy See also:stuck or stitched in the See also:middle of the seam to give additional strength; the seams in the lighter sails are about I in. wide. The whole of the cloths are then brought together, and spread out, and the tabling (or hemming, so to speak) is turned in and finished off with about 72 Canvas Weight Weight Length No. of Breaking Breaking Dimensions Number. of Warp. of Bolt. of Bolt. See also:Reed. Threads. Test for Test for of Testing Warp. Weft.

See also:

Strip. lb. lb. yds. See also:Score. Double. lb. lb. in. 1 26 46 39 16a 66o 340 48o 24 XI 2 24 43 39 16a 66o 320 46o 24 XI 3 22 40 39 16 + 66o 300 440 24 X I 4 21 36 39 17 68o 28o 400 24 XI 5 19 33 39 17 68o 260 370 24 XI 6 18 30 39 17 68o 250 350 24 XI 7 15 27 40 20 800 single 330 390 24X1+ 8 14 23 40 20 800 „ 310 38o 24X1+ stitches to a yard. Strengthening pieces or "linings " are affixed where considered necessary, in courses and See also:top-sails such pieces as See also:reef-bands, middle-bands, foot-bands, leech-linings, bunt-See also:line cloths; in top-sails (only) a top-lining or brim; in other and lighter sails such pieces as mast-lining clew and head, tack and corner pieces; holes, such as head, reef, stay (luff), mast, cringle, bunt-line, &c., are also made where required, a grommet of line of suitable See also:size being worked in them to prevent their being cut through. The next thing to be done is to secure the edges of the sail. Bolt-rope, a comparatively soft laid rope made from the finer hemp yarn (See also:Italian) is used for this purpose; in the British navy it ranges from i in. (increasing in size by See also:quarter inches) up to 8 in. inclusive; it is then neatly sewn on with roping twine specially prepared, the See also:needle and twine passing between and clear of every two strands of the rope in roping. Where slack sail has to be taken in, it is the practice to leave it to the See also:judgment of the sail-maker; but where possible it is better to set up the rope by means of a tackle to a See also:strain approximate to what it will have to hear when in use, and whilst on the stretch See also:mark it off in yards, as also the edge of the sail in yards, so that by bringing the marks together in roping the sail will stand flat. In the British navy the largest size of rope sewn on to a sail is 6 in; sizes above this are used for foot and clew See also:ropes of top-sails and courses, being first wormed, parcelled (that is, See also:wound See also:round with strips of worn canvas), tarred and served over with spun yarn; the foot of the sail is then secured to it by being marled in. Where two sizes of bolt-rope used in roping a sail have to be connected, it is effected by a tapered splice.

Cringles (similar to the handle of a maund) formed by a strand of bolt-rope, mostly having a galvanized See also:

iron See also:thimble in them as a See also:protection, are then stuck where necessary, as at the corners, sides or leeches, mast or luff; they are required either for making stationary or hauling " taut " by tackle or otherwise certain parts of the sail when in use. Fore-and-aft sails, such as spankers, gaff-sails and See also:storm try-sails, are reduced in size by reef-points made of stout line (4 to 20 lb), See also:crow-footed in the middle, a hole being pierced through every seam; one-See also:half of the point is passed through and the crowfoot sewn firmly to the sail; the number of reefs depends upon the size of the sail, and the reefs are placed parallel to the foot. The sails—now finished in respect of making—have to be fitted, that is, such ropes have to be attached to each of them as are necessary for proper use; such ropes may be summarily stated as follows: head-earings, robands, reef-earings, reef-lines, spilling and slab lines, reef-tackle See also:pendant, reef-points, See also:bow-line bridles, bunt-line toggles, bunt-See also:becket, leech-line strops and toggles, toggles in clews, See also:sheet ropes, down-haul, lacings, head and stay, tack-rope (gaff top-sail), tack lashing, bending strops, See also:matting and gaskets. The tools and appliances of a sailmaker are not very numerous: a See also:bench about 7 ft. long and 15 in. high, upon which he sits; palms for seaming and roping to See also:fit the See also:hand, made of hide lined with See also:leather, a See also:plate properly tempered being fixed in it having See also:chambers to catch the head of the needle, thus acting as a thimble ; needles of various sizes, that for seaming being the smallest ; and fids, splicing, serving and stretching See also:knife, See also:rubber, sail - See also:hook, bobbin for twine, and sundry small articles. (T.

End of Article: SAILCLOTH

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SAIL 		[next]
SAINFOIN

Site © 2006 - Net Industries