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HARDWOOD RECORD 



Hardwood 'Belt Shifters. 



The accompanying diagrams 

 are sketches from different 

 forms of hardwood belt-shifters 

 observed in shops and mills. 

 Hardwood shifters may be 

 found in use in some of the 

 best industrial establishments 

 in this country. Usually they 

 are used for shifting belts 

 which run from one wheel to an- 

 other on the level of the wall or 

 ceiling shafting. However, 

 hardwood shifters are often 

 found in use on the tight and 

 loose wheels at the floor level. 

 There are opportunities to uti- 

 lize them on belting extending 

 down from overhead shafting 

 to some machine below. In 

 fact, the hardwood belt-shifter 

 can be used almost anywhere. 

 It is made according to numer- 

 ous patterns, and a wide va- 

 riety of wood is used in its 

 construction. Often queer ideas 

 are introduced in its manufac- 

 ture. For illustration, the 

 writer noticed that in a certain 

 factory the frame-work of the 

 mechanism was made of hard- 

 wood, well finished and accu- 

 rately put together, but the 

 shifting sticks were soft wood, 

 and were cracked as repre- 

 sented at A and B, Fig. 1. The 

 reason for this was that it was 

 thought best to have soft wood 



r,sr& 



sticks at this point because they would be 

 easier on the belting than hardwood. The 

 device was operated in a peculiar manner. 

 There was the usual shifting piece, C, which 

 slides in slots in the supporting arms. Then 

 two cast iron angles D, D, were adjusted to 

 the sticks as shown, and also arranged on a 

 bolt in the lower end of the piece forming 

 part of the frame. Thus, these iron levers 

 conld be used to shift the piece C by the 

 operatiofl of the hand rbpes E, E. These 

 ropes were long enough to reach to the floor 

 where the workmen could handle them readily. 



One of the curious combinations in another 

 establishment is sketched in Fig. 2. This is 

 arranged to carry two belts on three wheels. 

 Therefore, there are three shifter prongs in- 

 stead of two. These prongs are adjusted to 

 the sliding piece F. Then, there is a T- 

 shaped metallic device G, arranged as shown. 

 Instead of using ropes in the lower device 

 for manipulating the belts on the wheels, there 

 are two iron rods H, H, adjusted so as to 

 reach to a convenient distance from the floor. 

 By working these rods properly, the person 

 shifting the belts can transpose them from 

 tight to loose and loose to tight wheels at 

 will. 



Not infrequently the shifting mechanism is 



arranged to work above the run 

 of the belt instead of below it, 

 as illustrated in Fig. 3. The 

 supporting arms are put up in 

 the usual manner and the pieces 

 arc slotted above the wheel line. 

 The sliding piece is then fitted 

 with the dropping studs or 

 prongs, as at I, and the belt is 

 enclosed between as shown. 

 Manipulation is effected by 

 means of the metal arm J. 

 These various types of shifting 

 arms may usually be picked up 

 about the shop. There are al- 

 ways extra parts of woodwork- 

 ing and other kinds of machin- 

 ery scattered about, and an 

 ingenious workman has little 

 trouble in finding a suitable 

 lever. It is sometimes neces- 

 sary, however, to alter the plan 

 of the shifter to conform to 

 the available lever. In this com- 

 bination the shifting lever, 

 designated J, is worked by the 

 rod K. The rod is cut with 

 necessary threads at the upper 

 end which is inserted through 

 a hole bored in the end of the 

 arm, and a nut on each side 

 serves to lock the device se- 

 curely. But sometimes a metal 

 arm cannot be found and then 

 the workman must use his gen- 

 ius and devise some scheme of 

 his own, such as is illustrated 

 in Fig. 4. The shifting portion of this device 

 is constructed on the usual lines, with hard- 

 wood pieces evenly adjusted. Lacking metal 

 pieces for the mechanism for operating the 

 shifter, the workman made the device from 

 hardwood. First he turned down a wood disk, 

 about fifteen inches in diameter and two 

 inches in thickness. This was bored through 

 the center and put on a hardwood stud and 

 the stud mortised into the frame. This 

 disk is marked L. Then a wood lever M was 

 screwed to the wheel as shown, and the upper 

 end bored for a hardwood pin extending into 

 the end of the " sliding piece carrying the 

 shifter prongs. Next a wood lever was se- 

 cured to the w^heel, extending at the angle 

 shown, for union with the floor rod N. This 

 device operated the belt perfectly. 



In another shop a hardwood shipping ar- 

 rangement adjusted as shown in Fig. .5 caused 

 much annoyance. The mechanical operation 

 of the shifter was not at fault. The trouble 

 was in the method of slotting the belt shifting 

 attachment, calculating that the wabbling belt 

 would run as readily in the slot as if it had 

 the freedom of the open prongs. The prongs 

 were substituted by a piece of board, slotted 

 and attached as at O. The edges of the belt 

 wore constantly catching on the edges of the 



slot. The flopping of the belt caused much 

 unnecessary grinding, ripping and tearing. 

 Fortunately, the belt ran at low speed, other- 

 wise the device would have been torn down. 

 This shifter was worked by the rope E, at- 

 tached to the lever P. A spiral spring ar- 

 rangement was attached to the back part of 

 the sliding piece to draw it back whenever 

 the strain on the rope ceased. 



Another combination for shifting a belt is 

 exhibited in Fig. 6. No metal work is used, 

 hardwood being employed for the mechanical 

 parts. There are two hardwood pins in- 

 serted into the sliding piece as at T, T. 

 A rope is fastened on the ends of each and 

 passes down and over the grooved wood wheels 

 S, S, down, U, U, to the floor. It is an easy 

 matter for the workman to control the shifter 

 by means of these ropes. 



A properly designed wood shifter will give 

 good service for years. The trouble in most 

 cases is defecti\'e stock and poor workman- 

 ship. Nails are often used too freely, instead 

 of screws or bolts. The wood shifter is 

 usually considered as simply an emergency 

 device and is built with this idea in view, al- 

 though some made for only a few weeks' use 

 have been kept in service for years. 



Purchase English Oak. 



In one largo louiu at the I'ullmau works, Pull- 

 man, 111., may be I'ound thin slices of wood that 

 are valued almost at their weight in gold. This 

 wood was obtained in no ordinary way, as Its 

 purchase involves a story. A few weeks ago 

 the heads of llie rullman Company and the 

 artist-craftsmen were made liappy by the an- 

 nouncement that a large quantity of old Kngllsb 

 oak had been .secured. The trees were on the 

 extensive grounds of Kocldngham Castle, one of 

 the oldest estates in Northamptonshire. 



Tlie former owner of these grounds died with- 

 out male issue, and the property went to a dis- 

 tant relative, a devout minister. He never had 

 accumulated money or property, and suddenly 

 found himself in possession of a vast estate with 

 no funds to keep it up, and no income from the 

 parks. Kamily pride would not permit him to 

 sell the castle to Americau or Australian mil- 

 lionaires, who were in the market for just such 

 a place, and what business instinct he had told 

 him not to mortgage his property. 



The offer of the American wood buyer, ai- 

 iliough at first spurned, came at an opportune 

 lime, as the minister's affairs were becoming so 

 1 angled that he needed ready money badly. 

 Twenty-seven of the trees finally were purchased, 

 the price being approximately ?,'?0,000, 



Tbe great giants were felled, trimmed and 

 shipped to New York. There they were made 

 into veneer. In this operation numerous relics 

 of Knglish history were found. Imbedded In the 

 great trunks were slugs and pieces of arrow 

 points, recalling the days of England's great 

 crossbow .soldiers. In one trunk were found 

 gate hooks which must have been there at least 

 a thousand years. 



It was impossible to estimate the age of the 

 trees by the rings of growth because of their 

 density, but experts claimed that they had stood 

 i'i>r almost 1,500 years. 



C. II. and W. A. Kexford of tialeton, Pa., 

 have purrhnsed two valuable tracts of virgin 

 hardwood timber lands. Kach of tbe properties 

 rontalns about i;i,000 acres, one In Swain and 

 ■ iraham counties. North Carolina, the other bor- 

 ilerlng on the South Carolina line adioinlng other 

 property belonging to the Messrs. Hexford. The 

 limber on the two tracts Is valued at $1,750,(100. 

 They will be developed by the new owners. 



