[fototag id=”Jenny”]
The spinning jenny – the world’s first industrial spinning frame – worked by connecting multiple spindles and multiple rovings (a long, narrow bundle of fibre) to the end of a fixed wooden frame. Onto these spindles numerous rove threads were affixed, extended down its length and clamped between two movable horizontal bars that when drawn towards the spinner extended the thread in straight lines. This motion was partnered with a twisting motion generated by turning a wheel attached to the frame, revolving the spindles and spinning the thread into yarn. Individual thread streams were separated by a vertical wire system referred to as a faller, which dropped down between the lines and ensured they remained unconnected. At the culmination of the drawing out of the thread and the rotation of the wheel, the clasp bars returned to their original position and the yarn was deposited onto the spindles.