Things to remember While Spreading
1. Mark the Splice Zone on the Spreading Table
Spreading is an operation in which bolts of fabrics are unrolled on a table in such a way in order to produce a multi-layer stack, so as to facilitate cutting.
Fabrics usually contain many defects. The defects in pieces which are cut into patterns are highly undesirable. To avoid this, the spreading operator must identify and cut out defects as the material is being spread on the table. However, if the material is cut in the mid of the pattern, it will lead to more material wastage.
To avoid this, zones are defined called splice zones, where cuts can be made by the spreading operator. Also it is also required to decide about the overlap of the next section of cloth. Thus there are two lines in a splice zone: One line shows how far the previous piece of cloth must extend, and one line shows where the next piece of the cloth must begin, ie how much overlap is needed.
Thus when a flaw is encountered, the spreader is stopped, the operator moves back to the nearest splice point, cuts the flaw out and moves the spreader back to overlap the cut line with the required overlap.
Apart from cutting out defects, splices are also used to achieve proper shade matching when starting a new roll of cloth.
Thus the splicing points are marked by means of a chalk or paint.
2. Use Paper for the first ply in case the table surface is rough or when fine fabrics are being spread
3. Identify the defects noticed in the fabric by means of stickers
4. Use lubricated paper for separating layers
a. To prevent scorching in the natural fibers ( coarse fabrics)
b. To prevent fusing in the synthetic fabrics
5. Ensure that decided number of ply count and height of the spread is achieved.
6. How to spread
a. Mount the bolt on the machine
b. Pull the fabric to far end position
c. Position the fabric at the far end ( with our without weight or pins)
d. Align the ply ( width on one side)
e. Cut the ply after each lay
f. Repeat this process from b-e until the entire bolt is spread.
g. Check ply count
h. Repeat a and then b to g till the decided number of ply are spread
i. Mark the remnants of the bolts with length in meters and bolt number and stack separately at the given place.
7. How to Splice
a. When the ends of the patterns in a marker are joined on both sides by straight line then use the single line splicing. Make sure that overlapping at this point should be about 2”
b. When the ends of the patterns in a marker interlock at a common vertical line across the width then use two line marking with a diagonal indicating common area that must be overlapped when patterns in a marker interlock at a common vertical line across the width.
8. When the required height of lay is achieved, place the marker on the spread and secure it by means of brass pins on each pattern section.
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Additional Reading: Indian Textile Journal
