wool combing

The act or proce of combing wool, generally of the long stapled kind, for the purpose of worsted manufacture. The wool-combing machine separates the long from the short fibers of the wool. The long fibers are also laid in regular order, so that they can be readily spun into yarn. Lister's apparatus clears the long fibers by drawing them through a series of teeth by means of a nipper. A pair of jaws seizes a mouthful of wool, and conveys it into a carrier, which, in its turn, deposits upon the comb a brush, pre ing it down on the teeth to a proper depth. Having cleared one end of the staple, it transfers the uncleared end to the rotating comb, from which it is extracted by drawing-rollers. The noils are removed from the comb by another set of rollers. The long, cleared wool is delivered in a continuous sliver from the machine at one point, the noil being pa ed away at another. *wool-driver, s. One who buys wool and carries it to market.