Page 108 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Manual cutting of textile materials 95

Fig. 7.15 Fabric-drilling machine.

Drill marks are made in bundles of cut components using a special drill machine
(see Fig. 7.15). The drilling may be done with either a heated or unheated steel nee-
dle. A heated needle is used to drill fabrics made from natural fibres. The heat burns
the fibres and prevents the displacement of fabric plies during the drilling process.
Unheated needles are used to drill fabrics made from synthetic fibres as heat can fuse
the fibres, causing them stick to the needle or, after cooling, may glue several plies
together. Drilling may be performed with different diameter needles according to the
size of holes required (see Section 8.6).

7.4 Accuracy problems in the manual cutting process

Perfect cutting accuracy could not be achieved by manual cutting methods. The cutting
quality is influenced by several factors: the displacement of fabric plies in a spread, the
shape of a cutting device, the movement of the cutting blade, and the ease of move-
ment of a cutting machine or parts of a spread during the cutting process.

7.4.1 Displacement of fabric plies
A spread is formed from many separate fabric plies that may be displaced during the
movement, cutting, or other manipulation with the spread (see Fig. 7.16). Friction and