WARNING
Before doing any work on this machine, turn off the power source and lock out the control panel main power level. Place a DO NOT START tag on the master control. Also disconnect the air supply (if applicable). Personnel should stand clear of machinery at all times of operation and stop the machine prior to any guards being removed. Always wait until the machinery has come to a complete stop before operating gates, removing guards, cleaning or maintaining machinery.
Gauges
Standard Garnett gauges are strips of clock spring steel generally about twelve inches long and two inches wide with the end rounded off. They vary in thickness and are labeled in thousands of an inch.
These are slipped between the cylinders being gauged to each other, then slid sideways across the machine as a feeler gauge. Generally, one cylinder is dropped against the other until the gauge is bound at the end, then it is elevated until the gauge slides freely but not loosely.
Gauging can be done in a much shorter time when a pair of men work together, one at each end. A man working by himself has to keep walking around the machine to check the gauging on each end. Also, if one end is far out of gauge, when it is pulled down, the other end becomes too tight and has to be elevated.
No two men will have the same feel in gauging, and their work will vary accordingly.
Main Cylinders
The Main cylinders are set in position and remain there B square to the frame. Sometimes it is advisable to check the center distance of the shafts of the Main cylinders to make sure they are absolutely parallel, as all subsequent gauging will be thrown out if your Mains are not parallel with each other.
NOTE: This pertains to Double Main machines. However, measuring cylinder center distance from shaft to shaft on both sides of the machine is advisable to make certain all cylinders are parallel.
Always to be kept in mind should be the fact the Garnett rolls should never be in actual contact with another cylinder. Any time cylinders are allowed to run in contact with each other, severe damage will occur.
After cylinders are gauged, each one should be turned by hand and readjusted so that no sound of rubbing is heard. After drives are applied, the machine should be started by degrees in a quiet room and any sounds of rubbing should be traced down and eliminated before the machine is run.
Doffer Cylinders
Doffer cylinders generally are the first to be gauged to the Main cylinders. Finish Doffers should be close enough to the Main cylinders so that the Main cylinder is clean when it leaves the Finish Doffer, and is ready for a new load of fiber. On a Double Doffer, the bottom should be set .012" or closer. Top should be .050" - .060".
Lickerin - Feed Rolls
The Lickerin should be set close enough to the Main cylinder so that the Main takes the stock from it. If a machine is being fed too heavily, or teeth on the Main cylinder are too damaged, the Main cylinder may not be able to accept all the stock brought to it by the Lickerin. This surplus stock will then be dropped on the floor or pass over the top of the Lickerin and back to the Feed Rolls.
Feeds Rolls should be close enough to the Lickerin so that stock is broken up by the teeth of the Lickerin. The Feed Roll cleaner should be close enough so that the majority of stock is removed from it and the bottom Feed Roll works with teeth exposed to the passing stock rather than presenting a smooth surface to stock passing it.
Fancy Cylinders
Fancy cylinders will be found mounted on Poppets or on shelves cast into the Arches. The process known as Asquaring the Fancy must be done when reassembling Fancies mounted on Poppets. When Fancy bearings are on a shelf this is already accomplished.
Squaring the Fancy means setting the side adjustment of the Fancy so that it is absolutely parallel to the Main cylinder. All Strippers and Workers are then gauged from the Fancy and will automatically be parallel to the Main cylinder. A cylinder that is not square with the Main will gauge tight in the middle and loosen at the ends.
To square a Poppet mounted Fancy - Plumb bobs or weights on a string should be hung from the Fancy cylinder shafts. After they stop swinging, the distance between the string and the shaft of the Main cylinder should be measured and the Poppets adjusted sideways so that the distance is equal on each end. When this is accomplished the sideways adjusting screws should be locked in place and not disturbed. All Gauging of Fancy to Main should then be done with the up and down adjustment on the Fancy Poppets.
NOTE: Depending on the type of Poppet, one of the sideways adjusting screws may need to be cracked loose in order to accomplish vertical gauging of the Fancy to the Main, then re-tightened.
After the Fancy is gauged to the Main, all hardware should be locked in place. The hardware elevating the Fancy should be snug (not as they would be when lowering the Fancy). Then Fancy Strippers, Workers and Worker Strippers should be gauged outward from the Fancy to keep all cylinders parallel to the Main and Fancy.
Fancy Strippers
A Fancy Stripper cylinder's main function is to receive stock delivered to it by the Fancy cylinder by centrifugal force and return it to the Main cylinder. It should be close enough to the Main cylinder so that all stock is removed from it by the Main. Some mechanics feel there is a certain amount of Avaluable tooth to tooth carding to be obtained if the Fancy Stripper is gauged close to the Fancy.
Workers - Worker Strippers
These cylinders work in pairs or in sets of three (one Stripper between and stripping two Workers) and should be considered in this relation. Carding is only done at the point where a Worker is tangent to the Main cylinder. The only work that a Worker Stripper can do is to clean the stock from the Worker and return it to the Main. No real Carding is done by these Stripper cylinders as their teeth work against the back of the teeth of a Worker to remove the stock. Then the teeth of Main, coming against the back of the teeth of the Stripper, cleans the Stripper.
Doffer Comb
The Doffer Comb needs to be adjusted to remove the web from the finish Doffer cylinder. Adjustment is somewhat by trial and error, also influenced by the condition of teeth of the Doffer cylinder. The Comb itself should be set in an arc, the top of which slightly tops the point of tangency and pulls away from the cylinder at the bottom of the stroke. The Comb should be set so that at its upper limit it tops the web on the cylinder itself; otherwise, it will be driving the web into the cylinder. At the bottom of its stroke, the comb should pull away from the cylinder as much as possible.
Doffer Comb blades are made of softer material than the teeth on the cylinders and slight contact between a comb blade and cylinder will result in wear on the comb blade rather than damage to the cylinder. However, more than slight contact can result in the bending down of teeth on the cylinder, a damage which can only be rectified by reclothing.
As a matter of habit the procedure in gauging should involve first pulling cylinders together then jacking them apart with the adjusting screws.
Any threaded mechanism has built into it a certain amount of play. If no tolerance existed it would be impossible to turn a screw. By finishing the adjustment as separating the cylinders, the adjusting screw becomes a support. If there is slack in the adjusting hardware and vibration loosens the locking mechanism (see description of Poppets) the cylinder can drop a little and rub a matching cylinder which will result in damage.