HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



PoWer Transmission for Woodworking Plants 



Power transmission is just as important 

 as power itself. After the power is obtained 

 the question that concerns the woodworking 

 plant is how best may it be transmitted. 

 There is a wide difference of opinion as to 

 the merits of the several ways of sending 

 power through a plant. 



First, there is the belt transmitter, which 

 is again subdivided into three kinds: Leather, 

 rubber and canvas. Second, there is the 

 rope drive; third, the friction drive; fourth, 

 transmission by chains and gear wheels. 



Some factories use nearly all these types, 

 and most factories employ more than one 

 kind. The chief difference lies in the kinds 

 of belts preferred, rather than in the specific 

 style of transmission; for example, there are 

 mill owners who will not allow anything in 

 their plant but a leather belt while there are 

 others who pin their faith to rubber or 

 canvas. As there are different types so are 

 there different points of merit. 



In the plant where all leather is used 

 ojierators are sticklers for an expensive belt. 

 For high speed machines and a medium short 

 belt, leather is regarded as preferable. In 

 fact, some miU owners argue that there is 

 no other belt but leather that will carry the 

 speed without slipping. 



There should be, in overhead work, a good 

 distance between shafts. On this kind of a 

 drive it is stated that it is a waste of money 

 to liuy a leather belt, because a rubber or 

 canvas belt will do all that is required witli- 

 out trouble. In a number of cases the belt 

 will have to be run in a half-twist and this 

 the leather belt will not carry without great 

 wear. A painted canvas belt will stand great 

 abuse, though they stretch easily. 



However, if the belt runs horizontally and 

 there is the proper distance between shafts 

 this stretching or sagging will not bother 

 much. It will in reality give more power. A 

 concern in Ohio ran a fourteen-ineh red 

 canvas belt from one motor to the line shaft, 

 transmitting some thirty horse-power. There 

 was a ten inch pulley on the motor and a 

 forty-two inch pulley on the line shaft and 

 the distance from center to center was only 

 twenty-one feet. 



There was a good deal of trouble with this 

 arrangement. The belt was not long enough 

 and the drive pulley was too small for the 

 load. The belt, however, stood the strain for 

 over a year. The concern next tried an end- 

 less double leather belt about fifteen feet 

 longer than the canvas belt and the motor 

 had to be moved back to accommodate it. 

 For the first few weeks there was much slip- 

 ping but later it became perfectly adjusted 

 and not since, some three years ago, has it 

 given any trouble. 



For overhead counter-shafting rubber belts 

 are found satisfactory, in most eases. After 

 a rubber belt begins to split it might as well 

 be thrown away, for it will not last long. 



Doulile leather lielts are very good but 

 they should not, according to many mill 

 owners, be used on pulleys under eight 

 inches. On smaller pulleys there is too much 

 slippage, more than is really noticed and 

 the belt wears " away on the under ply. 



Rope transmission is fast coming into use. 

 Its specific place in the factory is from the 

 engine or motor to the line shaft; and for 

 this purpose it is considered as just the 

 thing. The use of the tighteners does away 

 with slipping and the drive can be extended 

 almost to any distance and around all kinds 

 of obstructions. 



The friction di'ive for special purposes is 

 also coming into use. It is a positive drive, 

 ivith variable speed, and can be used on 

 several kinds of woodworking machinery. 



In the case of the quarter-turn belt there 

 is much dissatisfaction. Mill owners as a 

 rule do not J'avor it and have discarded it 

 wherever possible. 



The subject of belt dressings is one in 

 which ever}' mill owner is interested. It has 

 caused considerable trouble and probably 



will cause more. The dressing tends to rot 

 the belt, and with due regard to the firms 

 manufacturing these dressings, the fact re- 

 mains that the mill owners have usually 

 found them unsatisfactory. 



Canvas belts should be painted every two 

 or three weeks with red paint mixed with 

 oil. Rosin is best for rubber belts, though 

 this has many disadvantages and is shunned 

 by operators. , 



Summarizing things helpful and things 

 not, it may be stated that mill owners do 

 not favor belt tighteners Ijecause they ruin 

 the top side of the belt and stretch one side 

 as against another. A belt clamp should be 

 a part of the equipment of every shop. They 

 are made in sizes to fit almost any belt and 

 they add to the life of the belt if laced on 

 the pulleys. Machines should be built with 

 a sub-base so that it would be possible to 

 take up the slack without having to cut out 

 a piece of the belt. If equipped this way 

 endless belts could be used on pretty nearly 

 every piece of machinery besides lessening 

 half the belt troubles. 



Cutting Mahogany in 



Honduras 



British 



The mahogany industry in British Hon- 

 duras is one of the largest and most im- 

 portant in the colony. The wood from that 

 region is of large size, possesses a beautiful 

 figure and rich color, and is very highly 

 prized in all the markets of the world. 



As is generally well known among lum- 

 bermen such a thing as a mahogany forest 

 is unknown, as this grow'th thrives best 

 alone, separate from its kind. The trees 

 are always scattered, being found surround- 

 ed by the dense underbrush of the tropical 

 forest and a close growth of smaller trees. 

 A forest showing more than two or three 

 trees to an acre is unusual. 



Considering the habits of the mahogany 

 tree it is not strange that inexperienced 

 people consider the problem of cutting the 

 wood and getting it out of the forest an 

 almost insurmountable one. The expense 

 of putting in transportation facilities to 

 handle the very heavy and large logs to 

 marketing points, the cost of maintaining 

 camps in a dense tropical forest are matters 

 which wonld discourage any but the most 

 experienced operators. 



The first work in logging mahogany in 

 British Honduras is to mark the trees for 

 cutting, and a man is sent through the 

 forest for this purpose. Then the under- 

 growth must be cut away so that the trees 

 can be reached, and paths must be cleared 

 to the main roads. Then the trees may be 

 felled. They are next sawed into suitable 

 lengths and drawn by oxen to the railroad, 

 which conve^-s them to the river, where 



they are unloaded into the water. After 

 being made into rafts the logs are towed 

 to Belize, loaded on steamers and carried to 

 the various markets of the world. 



Ten years ago it is said that the mahogany 

 industry of Honduras was considered doomed, 

 as the expense attending its operation was 

 so heavy, the returns so small and the work 

 of getting out the trees so laborious. How 

 ever, American operators became interested 

 in the mahogany forests and pushed the 

 industry until it is at present one of the 

 most important of the country. The cutting 

 of Honduras mahogany is at present largelj' 

 in the hands of American interests, among 

 whom undoubtedly the foremost concern is 

 the C. C. Mengel & Brother Company of 

 Louisville, Ky., which operates a large camp 

 on the Hondo River, about forty miles from 

 Payo Obispo, a thriving new town. At this 

 point the company has a branch ofiice on 

 a site on which formerly stood a large estab- 

 lishment which was destroyed by fire some 

 time ago. 



In a recent issue of The Clarion, a publi- 

 cation issued at Belize in the interests of 

 British Honduras, appeared an account of a 

 visit made to Camp Mengel, which is the 

 result of observation right on the ground, 

 and a resume of it will undoubtedly prove of 

 interest to readers of the Record. 



Camp Mengel is in charge of Carlton 

 Dodd, an expert mahogany operator and a 

 man physically strong and mentally alert. 

 The camp is built on the side of a ridge of 

 considerable length. On the ridge are situ- 



