R O P 



R O P 



the methods of fpirming, granted to Mr. William Chapman 

 on the 8th day of November, 1 798. 



The remaining parts of their invention confift chiefly in 

 the giving, from a ftationary power, internal motion to a 

 locomotive machine, viz. to the roper's (ledge, on which 

 the Itrands and the rope itfelf are twitted, by which con- 

 trivance they are enabled to apply a water-wheel, or lteam- 

 engine, to the whole procefs of making ropes of all kinds 

 whatever. 



Mr. Jofeph Huddart of Iflington obtained a patent in 

 Auguft of the fame year for an improved method of regif- 

 tering or forming the Itrands in the machinery for the 

 manufacture of cordage. Having previoufly taken out a 

 patent for this purpofe, he contrived to effett it by the fol- 

 lowing means : 



1. By keeping the yarns feparate from each other, and 

 drawing them from bobbins, which revolve, to keep up the 

 twift whilit the itrand is forming. 



2. By palling them through a regilter, which divides 

 them by circular (hells of holes ; the number in each (hell 

 being agreeable to the diftance from the centre of the 

 ftrand, and the angle which the yarns make with a line 

 parallel to it, a. id which gives them a proper poiition to 

 eater. 



3. A cylindrical tube, which compreffes the ftrand, and 

 maintains a cylindrical figure to its furface. 



4. A gauge to determine the angle which the yarns in 

 the outfide fhell make with a line parallel to the centre of 

 the Itrand when regiftering ; and, according to the angle 

 made by the yarns in this fhell, the length of all the yarns 

 in the ftrand will be determined. 



5. By hardening up the ftrand, and thereby increafing 

 the angle in the outfide fhell, which compenfates for the 

 ftretching of the yarns, and the compreflion of the ftrand. 



The patent which Mr. Huddart took out in Auguft re- 

 lates to the invention of a machine that may be worked 

 by men, or any other power, and by means of which the 

 regiltering may be commodioufly and effectually carried on. 

 But figures are necefTary for defcribing intelligibly his pecu- 

 liar contrivance. Mr. Huddart, in the following year, 

 took out a patent for improvements in the method of turn- 

 ing cordage in the manufacture of it. But our limits 

 forbid our enlarging on this article. The fpecilications of 

 the patents for regiftering, as well as fattening, may be 

 confulted by thole who are concerned in this manufadt :re. 



Rope Walk, or Rope-houfe Ground, i6 the place where 

 ropes are manufactured. This fhould be 400 yards long, and 

 about 10 broad. At the upper end are fixed the fpinning- 

 wheels, over which is the hatchelling-loft, alfo the back- 

 frame wheels, tackle-boards, and polts, winches for winding 

 the yarn on as it is fpun, and reels on which to reel the 

 ropes. On each fide are ftake-pofts ; in the middle is fixed 

 the warping-poft, and at the lower end, the capftern and 

 reaching-poit. Back frame wheels for fmall, and fledges 

 and drags for large ropes, are ufed towards the lower end ; 

 the back-frame wheel, for laying cordage from a fix-thread 

 ratline to a two-inch rope, is about four or five feet in 

 diameter, and is hung between two uprights, fixrd by 

 tenons on a truck, and fupported by a knee of wood. 

 Over its top is a femicireular frame, called the head, to 

 contain three whirls that turns on the braffes) with iron 

 fpindles, fecured by a halp and pin. They are worked 

 by means of a leather band encircling the whirls and the 

 wheel. Three of the whirls are turned when hardening the 

 itrands, and one only when doling the rope, the ftrands 

 being hung together upon it. The truck, on which the 

 back-frame wheel is fixed, runs on four wheels, and is 

 9 



made of three-inch oak plank, about nine feet long and 

 thirteen inches broad at one end, and eleven inches broad 

 at the other. The capftern, about eight feet high, and 

 fourteen inches in diameter, is turned either by men or 

 horfes ; its ufe is to draw the yarn, when tarring, out of 

 the copper, through the nipper, to be coiled away in the 

 yarn-houfe, and there properly hardened before it is ufed ; 

 otherwife it will kink, ;. e. twift or curl, by being twifted 

 too hard in doling. Another capftern, or crab, is fixed 

 at the lower end of the walk, for ftretching the yarn to its 

 fulleft extent, before it is worked into ftrands, by means of 

 the tackle -fall, led from the Jledge to the capftern ; thefe 

 being about eighteen yards diltant from each other. The 

 crank-wheel, which is ufed for fpinning of lines, box-cord, 

 &c. is fixed on an iron fpindle or axis, with a handle by 

 which to turn it. It hangs between two polls, and in its 

 upper part, above the wheel, is let in a femicireular board 

 to receive three fets of whirl-bolts, with wheels upon them, 

 on which the fpinners hang their threads : at the front 

 fide of the wheel is a (hort pott, fupported by a knee of oak, 

 on which the fpindle relts. The drags refemble the hinder 

 part of the fledge, to which they are fattened by ropes, and 

 they are lined with a board on the upper fide : their weight 

 ferves as a prefs, when the rope requires more than the 

 fledge can carry properly to ftretch the itrands, and prevent 

 their kinking. The hatchel ferves to clear the ends of the 

 hemp, by drawing it through, having forty (harp-pointed 

 iron-teeth, fimilar to the hatchel in the clearer, which has 

 finer teeth. Iron-jacks are fometimes ufed inltead of the 

 table-wheel or back-frame wheel, and differ from the latter 

 by having an iron-wheel with cogs, which work in the 

 whirls, that have likewife iron-cogs. The loper, which is 

 ufed to lay lines, has two iron fwivel-hooks (running round 

 in a brafs or iron box) at each end, for the line to hang on 

 and work, by the power of the fore -turn, from the wheel 

 at the upper end. The nipper is formed of two fteel-plates, 

 with a femi-oval hole in each, which, by the motion of the 

 upper plate, enlarges or contrafts as the tarring of the yarn 

 requires. It is thus fixed : a poft is placed between 

 the kettle and the capftern, with a mortife cut eighteen 

 inches long from the kettle's furface, and five inches wide. 

 The under plate is turned up on each fide, to form two 

 grooves, and is let into the front fide of the poft from the 

 lower part of the mortife. The upper plate has a dove-tail 

 on the back., that flides up and down in a groove into the 

 grooves of the lower plate ; and by a ftaff, made fait to its 

 front, it is raifed or lowered, and regulated by a weight 

 fufpended at the other end, fo that the yarn receives no more 

 tar than is required, and that which is fqueezed out drops into 

 a trough, and returns into the kettle. Prefs-barreh are old 

 tar-barrels filled with clay, and laid on the fledge or drag 

 to add weight when the rope is clofing. The reaching-pqfl 

 is a poft in the ground at the lower end of the walk ; ufed in 

 ftretching the yarn by means of a tackle, one of the blocks 

 of which is hooked to a ftrap round the poft, the other 

 block to a pendant at the fledge, being about eighteen 

 yards diftant from each other. Sledges are frames made of 

 flrong oak, clamped with iron in different parts ; the two 

 fides are the length of the fledge, made of oak, and tied in 

 with oak bars at each end ; near the front are two uprights, 

 let into the fides, and fupported by two flanting pieces from 

 the upper end. A breaft-board is fattened with iron pins 

 to the uprights, and contains holes for the hooks to pafs 

 through, on which the hooks are hung ; which, being turned 

 by men, is twifted into rope, and fo clofed or finifhed. 

 Thefe (ledges are loaded as the occafion of making the rope 

 requires. The fpinning-iuheel is hung between two pofts 



fixed 



