From these bobbins the silk is reeled into hanks of definite length for the market.
These bobbins are then in general taken to the first spinning frame, and there the single strands receive their first twist, which rounds them, and prevents the compound fibre from splitting up and separating when, by the subsequent scouring operations, the gum is removed which presently binds them into one.
Bobbins to the number of strands which are to be twisted into one are mounted in a creel on the doubling frame, and the strands are passed over smooth rods of glass or metal through a reciprocating guide to the bobbin on which they are wound.
The spinning or throwing which follows is done on a frame with upright spindles and flyers, the yarn as it is twisted being drawn forward through guides and wound on revolving bobbins with a reciprocating motion.
The machine is fitted with 20 to 40 of these bobbins placed side by side, and its product is known as " slubbing roving," it being now a soft, thick thread of silk, measuring usually either 840 or 1260 yds.
