Appropriate Technology

We visited Slater's Mill last Thursday and were able to see some old, but still working machines. I particularly enjoyed the demonstration of the carding machine at the Mill.

The carding machine uses mechanical power to replace the manual removal of seeds by cotton workers. It loosens up the cotton fibers and straightens them on drum carders so that they can be more easily spun into yarn. The drum carder we looked at in Slater’s Mill was hand cranked by factory workers. The cotton was placed against the machine on one side and fed into it bit by bit, then cranked through the carder until it became straight. The carding machine is a great example of how to optimize efficiency in a system. The rice straw I hope to use as a woven textile might be able to be separated with a machine that straightens it so that it becomes easier twist into rope.