![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/140D8CB1-A7CE-4999-864C-EABDD53CCFFD/2RB44W7.jpg)
An old engraving of a shearing machine used in the textile mills of the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. Shearing where the fabric is enhanced by cutting the loops or raised surface pile to a uniform height. This machine usually has a rotating spiral cylinder blade similar to a lawn mower – the raw cloth is fed into the belt-driven shearer (right). Shearing was most commonly used to make woollen, worsted, moleskin and velvet fabrics. Often called gigging, napping or cropping, a smooth feel was produced by a gradual lowering of the nap (‘dry shearing’).
An old engraving of a shearing machine used in the production of textiles in the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. Shearing where the fabric is enhanced by cutting the loops or raised surface pile to a uniform and even height. This machine usually has a rotating spiral cylinder blade similar to a lawn mower – here the raw cloth is fed into the belt-driven shearer (right). Shearing was most commonly used to make woollen and worsted fabrics. Often called gigging, napping or cropping, the process improved the appearance of the fabric. A silky and smooth feel was produced by the gradual lowering of the nap, known as ‘dry shearing’. Moleskin and velvet are also shorn materials.
Size: 3543px × 3203px
Location:
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1800s, 1890s, 19th, black, century, cloth, cropping, cut, cutting, cylinder, drawing, dry, engineering, engraving, equipment, fabric, factory, historical, illustration, industrial, line, machine, machinery, material, mechanical, mill, moleskin, nap, napping, nineteenth, pile, power, powered, reduce, reduction, revolution, roller, rollers, shear, shearing, textile, textiles, velvet, victorian, white, woolen, woollen, worsted