Page 64 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Manual spreading of textile materials 51

Fig. 5.7 Fabric cutting by shears.

Fabric
Knife

Fig. 5.8 Fabric cutting by a knife.

In the zig-zag spreading mode (face to face in both directions), the fabric plies are
not cut off. The material is folded, and spreading process continues in the opposite
direction (see Section 4.3.5).

5.2.2.2 The length of a spread
It is not efficient to lay short spreads due to the time taken in fixing and cutting the
ends of the spread. Short markers may be joined and laid as one spread, forming ei-
ther a traditional or a step spread (see Section 4.4.3). If the spreads are too long, the
fabric laying process is difficult. The optimal length of a manually performed spread
is 4–7 m.

5.2.2.3 The number of fabric plies in a spread

The number of fabric plies in a spread depends on the size of the order, the fabric prop-
erties (thickness, slickness, friction between the fabric and a cutting device, etc.), and
the technical limits of the manual cutting machines (the stroke size, shape of the blade,
etc.) (see Chapter 8). If the cutting process is carried out by straight- and band-knife
machines, the number of plies in a spread may be as follows: coat fabrics 5–20 plies;
suit fabrics 25–30 plies; cotton dress fabrics 100–150 plies; and polyester, viscose, and
silk dress fabrics 100–200 plies.