Shearing and cropping

After inspection and mending, small projected yarns may remain on the surface of the fabric, which
obstruct adsorption of dyes on the fabric surface during dyeing and printing processes. They may also be entangled
with machine parts causing damage of the materials. These projected yarns are removed by a process called shearing
and cropping, during which the projected fibres or yarns are cut from the fabric surface. In shearing operation, dry or
occasionally slightly dampened fabric is drawn between a shearing table and the shearing device, which consists of a
shearing cylinder and a ledger blade. The action is similar to that of a lawn mower. The shearing machine may have
two or four cutting heads. The various components of a shearing machine are shown in Fig. below.

The shearing cylinder (1) is a thick-walled hollow cylinder with a bearing journal firmly inserted at both
ends. The speed of the cylinder during shearing is between 500 and 2000 rpm depending on the fabric to be sheared.
Depending on the particular design, the cylinder has 10–24 or, in the case of a carpet shearing machine 40 spiral
blades (2) mounted securely around its circumference. In a conventional shearing cylinder the shearing spirals are
fitted onto the cylinder at equal distances regardless of the number of spirals used. In modern shearing machines as
in Multi-cut MC-5, the spirals are arranged asymmetrically to avoid periodic variation of pile length. The ledger
blade (3) is a 10–12 cm wide knife blade, 3–6 mm thick, corresponding in length to the width of the shearing
machine. This is ground on its underside for approximately 3 cm towards the cutting edge. An absolutely uniform
contact surface between the cutting edge of the ledger blade and the fabric is ensured. The opposite side of the blade
is screwed or clamped to the support beam. The cutting angle of the blade should be small in order to obtain the
cleanest possible shear. During shearing the fabric (4) is passed over a shearing table (5) which may be hollow or
pointed. Seams must not be allowed to pass under the shearing device; otherwise they will be cut open. Seam-joint
sensors (6) lift the shearing rolls away from the fabric surface or the shearing bed is lowered, whenever a seam-joint
reaches the shearing point. Rotating brushes are installed both in front of, as well as behind, the shearing device to
align the fibres correctly for shearing and to remove cut ends after shearing, respectively.
Shearing has assumed great importance recently in view of its potential for improving fabric quality. In the
case of polyester blended fabrics, in particular, shearing has proved to be of great value in reducing the incidence of
micro beads for dyed fabrics. In the case of cotton fabrics, in particular, care should be taken to see that the shearing
blades do not scratch the surface of the fabric, which otherwise may cause dyeing defects during subsequent dyeing.