HARDWOOD RECORD 



it descends promptly, but the iuipotus givou 

 the spool by this additional weight causes 

 it to wind n|i the chain again with its own 

 momentum, making the nigger jump, and the 

 effect of this is sometimes a broken bead 

 block. Thus it is evident this simple bit of 

 •sawmill mechanism is really not as simple 

 as it looks, if anything like success is to be 

 had with it. By this time it is probably 

 realized thoroughly that tlie best plan in the 

 operation of a friction nigger is to have the 

 -ipool set up at the base of the nigger and 

 belt to this local friction jack from the most 

 .•on\enient point, beca\isc this does .ivvay 

 with the heavy line of chain and iron rods 

 and gives both action and strength without 

 much waste of time. This, however, is not 

 always practit'able, and since there nuist l)e a 

 few of the old tyi)es with a long revuli of 

 chain and rods between tlie nigger and the 

 power, it is necessary to study wa.\s and 

 means to get the best possible service out 

 of them. One thing more before passing: 

 This line should not be made longer than 

 from the nigger to the engine shaft, ^^ome- 

 times a line shaft is put back of the engine 

 to drive an edger or cutoff saw and the 

 nigger spool is carried on back In that. 

 This is a mistake. It would l)c betti'i to set 

 up a jack shaft and belt from tlie lini' sliatt 

 forward again, even though it is neiessarv 

 to stop somewhere in the neighborliood or 

 the engine. 



One of the best tilings to do witii the 

 ilriving gear of an old tyjjc nigger, if there 

 is any possible way of accomplishing it, is 

 to reverse the order of things with the t'ri.- 

 tion and instead of having an iron pulley i.ii 

 the end of the engine shaft, get a paper 

 friction there and put a heavy rimmeil iron 

 pulley on the winding spool, liy this means 

 the weight of the spool pulley can be ma- 

 terially retliiced from wliat it ordinarily 

 is when made up solid of either wood "i 

 paper between heavy cast flanges, for an iron 

 rim pulley with arms may be usi'd. Witli 

 this change it will not take so mmh weight 

 ill the nigger bar to enable it tu recede 

 Ipromiitly and there will not be so much nm 

 mentum froni unwinding to jump it up again. 

 When this change is made and the action of 

 the spool lightened u[) as much as jiossihli- 

 consistent with strength and positive action. 

 attention may be turned to the connection 

 between the spool and the nigger. This is 

 generally made up of a section of chain at 

 the nigger end to work over the shelve in 

 hoisting and another section at the other 

 end to wind on the spool, with an interven- 

 ing space made up of rods of iron in sections 

 of from four to eight feet connected to- 

 gether by turning eyes or hooks. The cyi'if 

 are better and the shorter lengths are better, 

 and where there are hooks it is generally 

 necessary to protect them by fitting the links 

 over the hook to keep them from opening 

 out. <.'ounect the line up as short as pos- 

 sible, because every inch of slack means lost 

 time, and then after it has been eoupleil a 

 support should be put under it in the form 

 of a box trongh to carrj* its weight and keep 



it from sagging. This may seem a trixiiil 

 matter, and beciiuse of its apparent insig- 

 nificance many people neglect it, and yet it 

 is one of the most important features in 

 connection with the successful operation of 

 a friction nigger driven from the engine 

 shaft. It is a little ilitlicult to point out in 

 detail just how it imjiroves the situation to 

 have the lino of rods and chain supported in 

 a trough, but the past experience of the 

 writer has demonstrated its importance. 

 Niggers that had never given a fair degree of 

 satisfaction have, by careful attentidii tu 

 this point, been brought to tlu' jMiint of I'x 

 cellencc. 



It is in nrder before lc;i\*iiig this sulijcrl 

 to remark that there is room for the steam 

 nigger to play an important part in the 

 equipment of small and medium size mills. 

 and the future will pndiably see the ic 

 ])lacing III' iii.-inv friction niggers willi a 

 simple fiiiMi iif steam nigger. it is not 

 likely tlia' the mills of this class will ever 

 take tu two-cylinder stea:ii niggers very ex- 

 tensively, but there are already some single- 



cylinder niggers nn the market that otter 

 po-ssibilities biith in sim|ilicity .and efticiencv 

 for use instead of friction niggers. The 

 steam nigger is the ideal thing if it ,:ui be 

 simplified and adapted to the needs of the 

 smaller mill men, and tin re is room for 

 those of an inventive^ tiun of mind among 

 the trade to get in some useful work along 

 this line. The single-cylinder with the fric- 

 tion type or heeled nigger mounted on top 

 promises to fill a certain part of the want, 

 and jirobaiily a very large part, but their 

 will be felt a need for other types, especially 

 where mills are either directly on the ground 

 or only lifted a few feet, as is frequently 

 I he case ill hillside settings, if the length 

 could be reduced in some way by putting the 

 cylinder on the same footing as the nigger, 

 or by ]iiitting it in any ])08ition in the vicin- 

 ity of the nigger, connecting it by chain .-Hid 

 shelve, it would help out consideral)ly in the 

 equipment of the ''ground hog" mill, and 

 it is along the line of devising ways am' 

 means for this purpose that there is room 

 for the work of an inventive genius. 



Hardwood Wheels. 



Although this is an age of iron and steel, 

 the hardwood wheel is an important factor 

 in the transmission of power in industrial 

 establishments. Not so very many years 

 ago hardwood wheels were constructed from 

 miscellaneous, poorly-seasoned stock, entire- 

 ly lacking the principles of design needed 

 to meet the requirements of high speed and 

 heavy strain of modern machinery. They 

 were built by inexperienced workincii, the 



surfacc^s were often uneven and belts were 

 kept in place only by means of side guides; 

 cracks and depressions in the wheel sur- 

 faces destroyed the belting quickly, and 

 they were thus very unsatisfactory. The 

 modern system of constructing hardwood 

 wheels is very different. Practically all the 

 hardwoods which possess toughness of 

 fiber, even grain and elasticity are used. 

 In foreign countries boxwood, lignum vitae 

 and mahogany coni|irise the list most fre- 

 quently employed. In America not only 

 these woods, but locust, ash, birch, elm, 

 hickory, etc., ari' used. Some Kiiropean 



manufacturers use crab-tree wood :in.| horn 

 beam with good results. 



In the shops in this country there are 

 several different processes of constructing 

 wood wheels in use. The wheel built up in 

 sections, with the parts evenly and neatly 

 glued or fastened together hy means of 

 pegs, is the most popular. Occasionally 

 wheels are cut from the solid logs, as in 

 Fig. 1, the disk being cut off at the arrow 

 A. It is then bored, as shown in Fig. "2. 

 and the whole piece is turned to form. 

 Were it possible to season a log of wood 

 thoroughly, this plan would be an excellent 

 one. As it is wheels thus made arc not 

 extensively used as they warji badly in 

 time. 



llanlwooil wheels are often made in quar 

 ters, as in l''ig. 3, the sections fastened to- 

 gether by- means of strong bolts. Fig. 4 

 shows another design of wood wheel fre- 

 quently employed. The rims may be made 

 in sections or in a solid piece as desired, 

 and the spokes accurately fitted into the 

 hub of wood, the plan being very similar 

 to the design of the common form of wheel. 

 Of course, almost all wood wheels are made 

 with the idea of clamping them to shaft- 

 ing, and they are exceedingly convenient. 

 Since the successtul introduction of wood 

 wheels in recent years practically all man- 

 ufacfiiring establishments carry an assort- 

 ment of them in their "extras" depart- 

 ment, so as to have wood pulleys of differ- 

 ent sizes to quickly elamii uiion a shaft in 

 cases of emergency. This saves uncoup- 

 ling the shafting to adjust a wheel. 



Pig. .5 illustrates the disk method of 

 constructing a wood wheel. The process is 

 used in some shops when a wood face is re- 

 quired for an iron flange combination for 

 the sh.'ift. The metal flanges are arranged 



