WINDING-MACHINE. 



load for a horfe to work eight hours in a day is 22,000 lbs. 

 aToirdupois, to be raifed one foot in a minute, or any fmaller 

 weight to be drawn quicker in proportion ; hence the weight 

 of 644 lbs. may be drawn by two horfes at the rate of 7 1 

 feet per minute, or the whole depth of 45 fathoms in 3 J mi- 

 nutes. The horfes will then walk in their circle rather more 

 than three miles /><>/• hour ; but 25 miles is the beft pace. 

 Horfes are frequently loaded much more than this, and in- 

 deed one ftrong horfe may work this machine ; but as he 

 could only work a (hort time each day, it is better to em- 

 ploy two. 



When mines were funk to very great depths, the drawing 

 of the ore by horfe-gins became too expeniive, particu- 

 larly for coal-mines, and more efFeftive winding-machines 

 •were introduced. The water-gin was the firft of thefe. 

 The moil fimple of thefe is called a whimfey, and confifts 

 of a bucket, which is let down full of water, and by its 

 defcending force, draws up a loaded bafl<et or corve from 

 the bottom of the pit. ( See Whimsey. ) This machine 

 requires a very confiderable fall of water, and it can rarely 

 be lefs than one-fourth or fixth of the whole depth from 

 which the coal or ore is to be drawn. 



In cafes where the fall is fmaller, an over-fliot water- 

 wheel is employed ; and in order to make the wheel turn at 

 pleafure either way round, fo as to wind up or let down, 

 the wheel is made double ; that is, with two rows of buckets, 

 one row adapted to receive the water from a fpout, which 

 will caufe it to turn round in one direftion, and the other 

 row of buckets is fupplied with water from a different 

 fpout, and will turn the wheel in the oppofite direftion. 

 Each fpout is provided with valves to flop the ftream at 

 pleafure, and when one is open the other muft be fhut, and 

 thus the wheel may be made to turn either way round. 

 This is a very old invention, and is fully defcribed by Agri- 

 cola in his De Re MetaUica, 162 1. It was at one time in 

 very common ufe in the coUieries, and they raifed up the 

 fupply of water for it by a pump applied to the- beam 

 of the great tleam-engine, or fometimes by an engine on 

 purpofe. 



Mr. Smcaton made a machine, in 1774, for drawing coals 

 \ at Griff, in Warwickfhire, by a water-wheel, in which the 

 I motion of the wheel is always continued in the fame dlrec- 

 1 tion ; and by a change in the communication of the wheel- 

 : work, the barrel is made either to draw up or to let down. 

 I In 1777 Mr. Smeaton made a larger machine for Long 

 ■ Benton colliery, at Newcaftle, which is worked by the 

 , water raifed by a fteam-engine on Newcomen's principle. 

 The water-wheel and machinery are reprefented in Plate 

 'Winding-Engine, in feveral different elevations. X is the 

 1 OTcr-ihot water-wheel, which is jo feet in diameter : it is 

 mounted on a caft-iron axis, which is clearly reprefented in 

 I the drawing. The water is delivered upon the wheel by a 

 i fpout from a trough or ciftern, which is fupplied by the 

 I pump of the fteam-engine. This trough is fupported on tall 

 ! piers of mafonry, one of which is (hewn in the fl<etch. 

 I Upon the axis of the water-wheel are fixed two cog-wheels, 

 !U V, of 88 cogs each, and the cogs are turned towards each 

 lother ;. W is a trundle, which is fituated between the two 

 Iwheels, and is turned round by either of them, according as 

 [it is placed ; but it is fmaller in diameter than the fpace be- 

 |tween the two wheels, fo that it cannot engage wdth both 

 Iwheels at the fame time. The trundle is fixed at the extre- 

 •jmity of a long {haft, as fhewn in the plan. Jig. i ; and the 

 I oppofite end of this (haft is connefted with the barrel on 

 Iwhich the ropes are wound : this barrel is compofed of two 

 jcones, joined together at their bafes. The ropes from the 

 (barrel are condufted over pulleys at the top of the pit, as 

 Vol. XXXVIII. 



(hewn in the elevation, ^_f. 2, and defcend into the fame. 

 The baflcets, or corves, in which the coals are brought up, 

 are hooked to the ends of the two ropes ; fo that by the 

 motion of the water-wheel one baflcet is drawn up whilft 

 another is let down. 



To regulate the motion of the machine, two brakes or 

 gripes are applied : one encompaffes the great cog-wheel IT, 

 which is fixed on the axis of the water-wheel, in the fame 

 manner as the brake of a wind-mill ; and in like manner, the 

 fixed circle or brake is provided with a lever, as fhewn in 

 Jig. 4, by means of which the brake can be drawn tight 

 round the wheel, and will then caufe fuch a fridtion as to 

 ftop the water-wheel and all the machine. 



The other brake-wheel DC [Jig. I.) is fixed near the 

 end of the long axis, and has clogs or pieces of wood ap- 

 plied at the top. This piece of wood is fupported by a 

 lever A B, as fhewn m Jig. 2, A being the centre ; and to 

 the other end, B, a box E is fufpended, and contains as much 

 weight as will prefs the clog upon the wheel, with the force 

 neceffary to retain the corve from defcending when it is full 

 loaded. To enable the man at the mouth of the pit to 

 lower down the corve, a cord is fattened to the lever A B, 

 and is condufted over the pulleys, g k and /, to the mouth 

 of the pit, where it hangs down in a knot, which the man 

 can always reach, and by pulling it, he raifes up the lever, 

 and releafes the wheel from the clog. To prevent acci- 

 dents, if the clog and lever A fhould fail to ftop the ma- 

 chine, another clog and lever F G are applied beneath the 

 wheel ; this lever is drawn upwards by a cord and a block 

 of pulleys O, which are attached to the lower part of the 

 weight for the upper lever. This cord is condufted to the 

 pit's mouth, and hangs down, fo that the man can always 

 reach it, and by pulling this, he compreffes both the upper 

 and lower clogs upon the wlieel at the fame time, which 

 will be certain to ftop it even if it be in a rapid motion ; 

 but he only reforts to this lower clog on occafion, as the 

 curb-rein is ufed for a horfe ; the weight of the upper lever, 

 like a horfe's bridle, being a fufScient check for common 

 ufe. 



To make the machine wind either up or down, the 

 trundle W muft be changed from one of the wheels, U or 

 V, to the oppofite one, and this v^ill caufe the barrel to 

 turn in an oppofite direftion. The pivot of the trundle W 

 is fupported by the long upright beam ftiewn in Jg. 3, 

 which is moveable on a centre at the lower end, fo that by 

 inclining it to the right or left, the trundle may be engaged 

 with either of the wheels U or V. The requifite motion is 

 given to the upright beam by two tackles of pulleys ap- 

 plied to the upper end of the beam, as (hewn wjg. 3. 



The ropes of both thefe tackles are fattened together, 

 and hang down in a loop in reach of a boy, who can pull it 

 either way, and make the trundle engage with either wheel, 

 fo as to wind up or let down the corves at pleafure. This 

 boy is always ftationed in a fmall room immediately over the 

 wheels U V, fo as to have the brake-lever, as well as the 

 upright lever, always at his command ; likewife the (huttle 

 of the water-wheel, which is fixed, as is (liewn injg. 3. A 

 lever is made to communicate with it, and from the oppo- 

 fite end of the lever a rod defcends into the room, fo that 

 the boy, by pulhng it, can open or (hut the (huttle at plea- 

 fure. This he muft do whenever the corve comes \up, or 

 rather before ; and notice of the proper time is given by a 

 large knot in the main rope. The water being then (hut 

 off, the wheel will continue to turn by its momentum until 

 the corve comes fully up, but by that time will have di- 

 miniihed its velocity, fo that the application of the brake 

 will ftop it without any flrain : the man at the mouth of 



3 S the 



