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HOW TO SPLICE A ROPE. To properly splice a rope or to tie a knot that will not slip, is a simple operation, and it would be supposed that almost any workman would be able to do either, but the difficulty of getting the splices put in a rope in manufacturing establishments has been a serious draw- back in introducing the use of rope for the transmission of power. There is but little information in technical literature, and some have such errors or deficiencies in the description of the illustration as to discourage an ordinary workman. The splice ina transmission rope isnot only the weakest part of the rope, but it is the first to fail when the rope is worn out. If the splice is not strong the rope will fail by breakage or pulling out of the splice. If the ropeis larger at the splice, the projecting parts will wear on the pulleys and the rope fail from the cutting off of the strands. It you wish to profit by the experience of others, do not put in a ‘‘short splice’’ or an ordinary ‘‘long splice,” or get an ‘‘old sailor” to do the work, but have a handy man follow implicitly the directions given below for a splice in a 4-strand rope. We have had accurate engravings made of each suc- cessive operation in splicing a 1}4-inch manila rope, and also engravings of the most common knots. Hach engraving was made from a full-size specimen and accurately shows the position of the parts. Tie a piece of twine 9 and 10 around the rope to be spliced about 6 feet from each end. Then unlay the strands of each end back to the twine. Butt the ropes to- gether and twist each corresponding pair of strands loose, to keep them from be- ing tangled, as shown in engraving No. 1327. The twine 101s now cut, and the strand 8 unlaid and strand 7 carefully laid in its place for a distance of 4% feet from the junction. The strand 6 is next unlaid about 1% feet and strand 5 laid in its place. The ends of the cores are now cut off so they just meet. Unlay strand 1 4% feet, laying strand 2 in its place. Unlay strand 3 1% feet, laying in strand 4, Cut all the strands off toalength of about 20 inches, for convenience in mani- pulation. The rope now assumes the form shown in Fig. 1308, with the meet- ing points of the strands 3 feet apart. Bach pair of strands is successively sub- jected to the following operation: From the point of meeting of the strands 8 and 7, unlay each one three turns; split both the strand 8 and the strand 7 in halves as far back as they are now unlaid and the end of each half strand ‘‘whipped’’ with a small piece of twine. The half of the strand 7 is now laid in three turns and the half of 8 also laid in three turns. The half strands now meet and are tied in a simple knot, 11 (engraving No, 1341) making the rope at this point its original size. The rope is now opened with a marlin spike and a halfstrand of 7 worked around the half strand of 8 by passing the end of the half strand 7 through the rope as shown in the engraving drawn taut and again worked around this half strand until it reaches the half strand 13 that was not laid in. This half strand 13is now split, and the half strand 7 drawn through the opening thus made, and then tucked under the two adjacent strands, as shown in cut No. 1342. The other half of the strand 8 is now wound around the other half strand 7 in the same manner. After each pair of strands has been treated in this manner, the ends are cut off at 12, leav- ing them about 4inches long. After a few days’ wear they will draw into the body of the rope or wear off, so that the locality of the splice can scarcely be detected. The stretch of atransmission rope during its life is no greater in amount than that of a leather belt, yet it is a material amount, and when several ropesrun side by side on a pair of pulleys, the different ropes are likely to wear unevenly, and some sag more than others, so much so, in some cases, as to materially in- crease not only the wear of the ropes themselves, but to increase the friction loss in the transmission. ‘The THE MARINE RECORD. gradual lengthening of the rope in service may de- crease the tension until-the rope slipson the pulley, making it necessary either ‘to resplice the rope or to use a take-up sheave, with a long range of motion. There is the san.e difference in the strength of various qualities of manila fibre as there is in oak timber or other woods. ‘The constrictor would select one quality of oak for wagon construction, another for mill work, and perhaps still another for sheet piling or temporary work; so should manila fibre be selected to stit the use it is to be put to. Rope used for hoisting or transmission of power is subjected to a very severe test. Ordinary rope chafes and grinds to powder in the center, while the exterior may look as though it wasa little worn. So difficult was it to get a satisfactory rope for these purposes that some years since we tried to ascertain the cause of the wear and find.a remedy for it. The fibres of manila rope are composed of very much elongated cells, that look under a microscope like a bundle of pipes. These are of very great strength in the direction of their length, but are weak transversely, as they are not strongly cemented together. To obtain yy *FIG.1328 fibres of suitable size for manufacturing rope, the stems are subdivided by machinery, which separates the cells from each other, and leaves the surface of each fibre rough and uneven, somewhat like the surface shown when pine wood is split. When made into rope, these rough fibres are compelled, in bending over the sheave, to slide on each other while under pressure from the load. This causes the internal chafing and wear which may be'seen in opening an old rope. In bending a rope over a sheave, the strands and the yarns of these strands slide a small distance upon each other, causing friction, and wear the rope internally. Open a worn-out rope by untwisting the strands, and a fine powder will be found, showing that, when the rope was bent over the sheave, the strands, in sliding on each other, ground some of the fibres to powder. To obviate this difficulty, we have our rope made by lubri- cating the fibres with plumbago, mixed with sufficient tallow to hold it in position. This lubricates the yarns of the rope, and prevents internal chafing and wear. It lodges in the hollows and: uneven places of the fibres, and lubricates the threads of the rope. The tallow wos makes this rope partially waterproof. After running a short time, the exterior of the rope gets compressed and coated with the lubricant, so that it looks, when running, like a rod of iron. In this condition it resists ordinary rains to a surprising extent. In manufacturing rope, the fibres are first spun into a yarn, this yarn being twisted in a direction called “right hand.’ From 20 to 80 of these yarns, depend- ing on the size of the rope are then put together, and twisted in the opposite direction, or ‘left hand,’’ intoa strand. Three of these strands, for a three-strand or four for a four-strand rope are then twisted together, the twist being again in the ‘‘right-hand’’ direction. It will be noticed that, when the strand is twisted, it untwists each of the threads, and, when the three strands are twisted together into rope, it untwists the strands, but again twists up the threads. It 1s this op- posite twist that keeps the rope in its proper form. When a weight is hung on the end of a rope, the ten- dency is for the rope to untwist, and become longer. In untwisting the rope it would twist the threads up, and the weight will revolve until the strain of the un- twisting strands just equals the strain of the threads twisted tighter. In making a rope: it is impossible to make these strains ex- actly balance each other. It is this fact that makes it necessary to take out the ‘turns’ in a new rope, that is, untwist it when it is put at work. The proper twist that should be put in the threads has been ascertained approximately by long experience. There is, however, a differ- ence in judgment among different makers as to the exact amount that should be used for any specific work. The greater the twist, the more hard and rigid the rope is, and the better it will keep its form, but it is not quite as strong, be- cause the fibres do not lie exactly in the direction of the center line of the rope, but at an angle with it, and the greater the twist the greater is that angle. The difference, however, is slight in practice. The amount of work that the rope will do varies greatly. It depends not only on the quality of the fibre and the method of laying up the rope, but also on the kind of weather when the rope is used, the blocks or sheaves over which it is run, and the strain in proportion to the strain put upon the rope. The principal wear comes in practice from defective or badly set sheaves, from excess of load and exposure to storms. The indications of excessive load will be the twist coming out of the rope, or — one of the strands slipping out of its proper position. A certain amount of twist comes out in using it the first day or two, but after that the rope should remain substantially the same. If it does not, the load is too great for the durability of the rope. If the rope wears on the outside, and is good on the inside, it shows that it has been chafed in run- ing over the pulleys or sheaves. If the blocks are very ~ small, it will increase the sliding of the strands and threads before spoken of, and result in a more rapid internal wear.—Catalogue C. W. Hunt Co. ——$—$— ————— ee —EeE PINTSCH PATENT UPHELD IN GERMANY. During the last few months incandescent gas lighting has been the subject of much litigation in the law courts, but what has taken place at home is comparatively small as compared with the litigation in Germany, — where the holders of the Welsbach patents are fighting the large number of competitors who have sprung up during the last year or so. A further step in the elucid- ation of the disputed patents has now been made, the “Nichtigkeitsabteilnag’’ of the German patent office having just given its decision in connection with the ap- plication of the Continental Gasgluhlicht Gesellschaft Meteor for the nullification of the Pintsch burner patent (No. 43,991) held by the German Incandescent Gas Light Company. The application was refused, the validity of the patent being upheld.