369 
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fibres of hemp, laid side by side, and connected at each end, 
form a stronger line, than when they are twisted together. 
The entanglement of the fibres is therefore only necessary to 
give them union and length; and every twist carried furthei 
than is necessary for these purposes is improper. 
The first process in the art of rope-making is hatcheUmg 
the hemp. This is the combing or clearing the hemp, 
and so preparing it ready for the spinner. In this process 
particular attention must be paid by the hatchellers that they 
do not use too great a quantity of oil, as in such case it will 
prevent the yarn from imbibing its proper proportion ot tar, 
and thereby prove a serious injury. . 
The second and principal process to be attended to m the 
manufacturing of cordage, is spinning the yarn. It is 
done in a manner analogous to that of ordinary spinning. 
The spinner carries a bundle of dressed hemp round his waist. 
The two ends of the bundle unite in front. Having drawn 
out a proper number of fibres with his hand, he twists them 
with his fingers, and fixing this twisted part to the hook of 
a whirl, which is driven by a wheel put in motion by an 
assistaht, he walks backward down the rope-walk, the 
twisted part always drawing out of the bundle round his 
waist more fibres, as in the common spinning wheel. The 
spinner takes care that these fibres are properly supplied, and 
that they always enter the twisted part with their ends, and 
never by their middle. As soon as he has reached the end 
of the walk, another spinner takes the yarn off the whirl, 
and gives it to another person to put upon a reel, while he 
himself attaches his own hemp to the whirl-hook, and pro¬ 
ceeds down the walk. When the person at the reel begins 
to turn, the first spinner who has completed his yarn holds 
it firmly at the end, and advances slowly up the walk while 
the reel is turning, keeping it equally tight all the way, till 
he reaches the reel, where he waits fill the second spinner 
takes his yam off the wheel hook, and joins it to the end of 
that of the first spinner, in order that it may follow it on 
the reel. 
The common size of rope-yarns is from one-twelfth ot an 
inch in diameter, to a little more than one-ninth of an inch, 
about 160 fathoms of them weighing from two and a half to 
four pounds, as in the following table; the first column 
shewing the sizes of the yarns. 
Sizes. 
lbs. 
ozs. 
drs. 
Sizes. 
lbs. 
OZS. 
drs. 
16 
4 
0 
0 
21 
3 
0 
4 
17 
3 
12 
4 
22 
2 
14 
7 
18 
3 
8 
14 
23 
2 
12 
8 
19 
3 
5 
14 
24 
2 
10 
10 
20 
3 
3 
3 
25 
2 
8 
15 
The third process to be attended to in the manufacturing 
of cordage, is warping the yarn. This consists in 
stretching the yarns, previously to their being tarred, all to 
one given length, which in full length rope grounds, is two 
hundred fathoms, and putting a slight turn or twist into it. 
The usual method is to warp the yarn either in whole or half 
hawls, which is done by putting the number of threads you 
mean to draw down at once in a bite, into a block with one 
sheave, (the one end of the bite of yarn being fast at the 
upper end,) which being drawn down and fixed over the end 
of a hook made fast to a post at one hundred fathoms dis¬ 
tance from the warping post, forms, when opened, a length 
of two hundred fathoms, as above mentioned. The number 
of half bites, or blocks of yarn, contained in a whole or half 
hawl, is to be governed, in a great meausure, by the size of 
the yarn to be warped,—as, for instance,' 16 to 19-thread yarn 
is warped three hundred and thirty-six threads in a hawl, 20 
to 25-thread yam is warped four hundred threads in a hawl. 
In winding the yams on the winches after they are spun, it 
is most usual to wind them on in companies of four in a 
company; but as that method cannot always be pursued, it 
frequently happens that whole or half hawls of yarn are 
obliged to be warped in half bites of an odd number. 
The fourth process in ropemaking is the tarring of the 
yarn. Sometimes the yarns are made to wind off one reel, 
Vol. XXII. No. 1508. 
R O P 
and having passed through a vessel of hot tar, are wound up 
on another, the superfluous tar being removed by causing the 
arn to pass through a hole surrounded with spongy oakum; 
ut the general method is to tar it in skains or hanks which 
are drawn by a capstan with a uniform motion through the 
tar kettle. In this process great care must be taken that the 
tar is boiling neither too fast nor too slow, for if too hot it 
will injure, and if too cold it will not penetrate the yam. 
Yarn for cables requires more tar than for hawser laid ropes, 
and for standing and running rigging it requires only to be 
well covered. Tarred cordage has been found to be weaker 
than what is untarred, but this is very much prevented by 
boiling the tar so long in water, as to deprive it of its acid, 
and boiling it so long per se as to evaporate its essential 
oil, remembering to add sufficient suet, fixed oil or other 
matter, to remedy the tenacity produced in the tar by this 
process. 
The last part of the process of ropemaking is to lay the 
cordage. For this purpose two or more yarns are attached 
at one end to a hook. The hook is then turned the con¬ 
trary way from the twist of the individual yam, and thus 
formed what is called a strand. Three strands, sometimes 
four, besides a central one, are then stretched at length, and 
attached at one end to three contiguous but separate hooks, 
and at the other end to a single hook, and the process of 
combining them together, which is effected by turning the 
single hook in a direction contrary to that of the other 
three, consists in so regulating the progress of the twists of 
the strands round their common axis, that the three strands 
receive separately at their opposite ends just as much twist as 
is taken out of them by their twisting the contrary way in 
the process of combination. In this way is formed what is 
technically called a shroud laid rope. But cables, or large 
ropes which are said to be cable laid, are formed by the 
combination of lesser ropes twisted around their common 
axis, in the same manner as a shroud laid rope is formed by 
the combination of strands twisted round their common 
axis. Cables of water ropes are formed on this principle, 
even when their size is not very great, as they are thus made 
more hard and compact, which makes them resist the easy 
admission of water. 
This succinct account may serve to give our readers an 
idea of the principles of ropemaking; but the manner in 
which the process is managed differs very materially; ma¬ 
chinery is now almost every where taking the place of 
manual labour, and a multitude of patents have been taken 
out, having for their ends, the saving of room (which in the 
old method is very considerable), the diminution of human 
labour, and lastly the improvement of cordage both in 
strength and durability. Ourplanbyno meanss allows our 
entering into any of these details, which can of course only be 
of use to the artificer. Such as may wish for this particular 
sort of information, will find the whole history of rope¬ 
making fully detailed in Mr. Chapman’s “ Treatise On the 
progressive endeavours to improve the Manufacture and 
duration of Cordage.” 
We may be permitted to remark that the great problem to 
be solved in this art, is how to approximate all the fibres 
of a rope to an equal strain. 
RO'PERY, s. Rogue’s tricks. SeeRoPETRiCK. —What 
saucy merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery ? 
Shakspeare. —Place where ropes are made.—The new 
ropery , and the forges where they put fresh touchholes into 
old cannon, are established upon an extensive plan; but 
there is little activity in either. Swinburne. 
ROTETRICK, s. Probably a rogue’s trick; a trick 
that deserves the halter.—She may perhaps call him half a 
score knaves, or so: an’ he begin once, he’ll rail in his 
ropetricks. Shakspeare. 
RO'PEWALK, s. Walk or place where ropes are made. 
RO'PINESS, s. Viscosity; glutinousness. 
ROPITZ, a village of Austrian Silesia, in the circle of 
Teschen, with 500 inhabitants. 
ROPLEY, a township of England in Southamptonshire ; 
4 miles east-by-south of New Arlesford. Population 533. 
5 B ROPSCH, 
