LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING 
 AND ROPE TRANSMISSION 
 
THE POWER HANDBOOKS 
 
 The best library for the engineer and the man who hopes 
 to be one. 
 
 This book is one of them. They are all good and 
 they cost 
 
 $1.00 postpaid per volume. (English price 4/6 postpaid.) 
 
 5 OLD SEPARATELY OR IN SETS 
 
 BY PROF. AUGUSTUS H. GILL 
 
 OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 
 
 ENGINE ROOM CHEMISTRY 
 
 BY HUBERT E. COLLINS 
 
 BOILERS KNOCKS AND KINKS 
 
 SHAFT GOVERNORS PUMPS 
 
 ERECTING WORK SHAFTING, PULLEYS AND 
 PIPES AND PIPING BELTING 
 
 BY F. E. MATTHEWS 
 REFRIGERATION. (In Preparation.) 
 
 HILL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 505 PEARL STREET, NEW YORK 
 
 6 BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E. C. 
 
THE POWER HANDBOOKS 
 
 Shafting, Pulleys, Belting 
 
 AND 
 
 Rope Transmission 
 
 COMPILED AND WRITTEN 
 BY 
 
 HUBERT E. COLLINS 
 4 
 
 Published by the 
 
 Me G raw -Hill B ook. Comp any 
 
 Ner 
 
 Successors to the BookDepartments of tKe 
 
 McGraw Publishing Company Hill Publishing Company 
 
 Publishers of Books for 
 
 Elec trical World The Engineering and Mining Journal 
 
 The Engineering Record Power and The Engineer 
 
 Electric Railway Journal American Machinist 
 
Copyright, 1908, BY THE HILL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 /c \ 
 
 All rights reserved ,X\ j 
 
 VA 
 
 Hill Publishing Company, New Tork, U.S.A. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THIS handbook is intended to furnish the reader 
 with practical help for the every-day handling of 
 shafting, pulleys and belting. These are allied in the 
 operation of plants and it is a pretty generally con- 
 ceded fact that all three are much neglected by many 
 operators. 
 
 A close perusal of these pages will enable the reader 
 to determine the best course to pursue in the most 
 common instances and in various troubles, and in all 
 articles there are suggestions for similar cases which 
 may arise. 
 
 For instance, the need of belt dressing as a pre- 
 servative, now generally conceded by most authorities, 
 is fully covered in Chapter XI and the result of a test 
 made by disinterested parties to find the degree of 
 efficiency of four of the best known dressings is given. 
 The results are of importance to all belt users. 
 
 A portion of the book is also given to rope trans- 
 mission which is in more general use to-day than ever 
 before, and in this connection some advice is offered 
 by experts as to the selection and care of the rope. 
 Rope splices and how to make them will also prove 
 valuable to many engineers. 
 
 The author wishes to make acknowledgment to 
 various contributors -to Power whose articles are used 
 
 196488 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 herein, and to some special contributors, from whose 
 articles small portions have been taken. Acknowl- 
 edgment is also made to Stanley H. Moore, the author 
 of "Mechanical Engineering and Machine Shop Prac- 
 tice" for the section on splicing. 
 
 HUBERT E. COLLINS. 
 
 NEW YORK, November, 1908. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I SHAFTING HINTS . i 
 
 II SHAFTING HINTS 21 
 
 III SHAFTING HINTS 32 
 
 IV TRUING UP LINE SHAFTING 49 
 
 V APPARATUS FOR LEVELING AND LINING SHAFTING . 54 
 
 VI SOME PRACTICAL KINKS 61 
 
 VII PRACTICAL METHODS OF LOOSENING PULLEYS . . 65 
 
 VIII SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 72 
 
 IX CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LEATHER BELTS . . 89 
 
 X BELTING ITS USE AND ABUSE 99 
 
 XI A COMPARATIVE TEST OF FOUR BELT DRESSINGS . 102 
 
 . XII BELT CREEP ' . 106 
 
 XIII ROPE DRIVES . . ..... t . . * 108 
 
 XIV A NEW SCHEME IN ROPE TRANSMISSION . . . 115 
 XV How TO ORDER TRANSMISSION ROPE .... 122 
 
 XVI A BELTING AND PULLEY CHART 129 
 
 XVII SPLICING ROPE 135 
 
 XVIII WIRE ROPE TRANSMISSION 143 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 SHAFTING HINTS 1 
 
 IN the installation, maintenance and repair of shaft- 
 ing, as in all other things, there is a right and a wrong 
 way; and though the wrong way ranges in its defects 
 from matters causing trivial inconvenience to absolute 
 danger, the right too often owing to lack of knowl- 
 edge or discernment finds but scant appreciation. 
 
 Where, as is often the case, the end of a shaft is 
 journaled to admit of the use of an odd, small-bore 
 pillow block or wall-box hanger, the journaled part 
 should equal in length twice the length of the hanger 
 bearing plus the length of the collar. The hanger can 
 thus readily be slid out of the wall box, and the neces- 
 sity of uncoupling this shaft length and removing it 
 before access to the bearing for purposes of cleaning 
 or repair is done away with. 
 
 A plank or board A (Fig. i), about J to J inch longer 
 than the distance from the bottom of the shaft to the 
 floor, can be used to good advantage at such times to 
 free the hanger of the shaft's weight, and to prevent 
 the shaft's springing from its own weight and the pulleys 
 it may be carrying. 
 
 Should it become necessary to place a pulley with 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Chas. Herrman. 
 
 I 
 
SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 half the hub on and half off the journaled part, this 
 can readily be done by the use of a split bushing, as 
 shown in sectional view of Fig. i . 
 
 FIG. i. 
 
 Very often a small-sized bearing is used and the shaft 
 journaled off to act as a collar. Of this procedure it 
 can only be said that if done with the idea of making a 
 "good job" it signally fails of its object; if of necessity 
 (a collar being insufficient), then the shaft is heavily 
 overloaded and serious trouble will result, because of it. 
 
 It is advisable to center punch, or otherwise mark, 
 the ends of both shafts held by a compression coupling 
 close up against the coupling, and both edges of the 
 coupling hub should have a punch mark just opposite 
 and close to the shaft punch marks. These marks will 
 serve at all times to show at a moment's glance any 
 end or circumferential slippage of the shafts within 
 the coupling. The same method can be resorted to 
 for proof of pulley slippage. 
 
 When a new line of shafting is put up, the foot posi- 
 tion of each hanger should be clearly marked out on 
 their respective timbers after the shaft has been brought 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 3 
 
 into alinement. Hangers can thus be easily put back 
 into their proper place should timber shrinkage or heavy 
 strains cause them to shift out of line. This idea can be 
 applied to good advantage on old lines also, but before 
 marking out the hanger positions the shaft should be 
 tried and brought into perfect alinement. 
 
 Hangers that do not allow of any vertical adjustment 
 should not be used in old buildings that are liable to 
 settle. Shafting so run pretty nearly always gets out 
 and keeps out of level. 
 
 In flanged bolt couplings (Fig. i) no part of the bolt 
 should project beyond the flanges. And where a belt 
 runs in close proximity to such a coupling, split wood 
 collars should be used to cover in the exposed coupling 
 flanges, bolt heads and nuts. Countershafts have been 
 torn out of place times innumerable by belts getting 
 caught and winding up on the main line. 
 
 Whenever possible a space of 8 to 10 inches should 
 be left between the end of a shaft line and the wall. 
 A solid pulley or a new coupling can thus readily be 
 put on by simply uncoupling and pushing the two 
 shaft lengths apart without taking either down. Ten 
 inches does not represent the full scope of pulleys 
 admissible, for so long as the pulley hub does not ex- 
 ceed a m-inch length the pulley face (the more readily 
 in proportion to the larger pulley diameter) can be 
 edged in between the shafts. 
 
 Fig. 2 is an instance of bad judgment in locating the 
 bearings. In one case this bearing overheated; the 
 remedy is either to re-babbitt the old box or replace 
 it with a new one. 
 
4 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 Both pulleys were solid and the keys headless 
 ones had been driven home to stay. The rims of 
 both pulleys almost touched the wall, and the cir- 
 cumferential position on the shaft of both these pulleys 
 was such as to preclude the possibility (owing to an 
 arm of a being in a direct line with key B l and arm 
 of b with key a 1 ) of using anything but a side offset 
 key starting drift. 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
 An effort was made to loosen b (which was farthest 
 from the wall) by sledge-driving it toward the wall, 
 hoping that the pulley might move off the key. The 
 key, as was afterward found out, not having been oiled 
 when originally driven home had rusted in place badly; 
 though the pulley was moved by sledging, the key, 
 secure in the pulley hub, remained there. 
 
 Ultimately one of us had to get into pulley b, and, 
 removing cap c, hold the improvised side offset, long, 
 starting drift D in place against B 1 at b 2 while the other 
 swung the hand sledge at a. The entering end of the 
 key, not having been file chamfered off, as it should 
 have been (see E), our starting drift burred it up; so, 
 after having started it, we had the pleasure of getting 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 5 
 
 into b to file the key end b 2 into shape so as to admit 
 of getting it out. 
 
 The solid pulley b has since been replaced with a 
 split pulley. 
 
 By the arrangement, as shown in Fig. 3, of the rim- 
 friction clutch on the driven main shaft B and the 
 driving pulley on the engine-connected driving main 
 shaft A, no matter whether B shaft is in use or not 
 i.e., whether the clutch be in or out of engagement 
 so long as A shaft is in motion the belt C is work- 
 ing. 
 
 FIG. 3. 
 
 Main line belts come high, and the more they are 
 used the sooner will they wear out. By changing the 
 clutch from shaft B to A and the pulley D from A to B, 
 belt C will be at rest whenever B is not in use. Where, 
 however, these shafts are each in a separate room or 
 on a different floor (the belt running through the wall 
 or floor and ceiling, as the case may be) the clutch, 
 despite belt wear, should be placed directly on the 
 
6 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 driven shaft (as B), so as to provide a ready means 
 for shutting off the power in cases of emergency. 
 
 Figs. 4, 5 and 6 represent a dangerous mode, much 
 in vogue, of driving an overhead floor. An extremely 
 slack belt connects the driving shaft A and the driven 
 shaft B; when it is desired to impart motion to the 
 driven shaft the belt tightener C is let down and belt 
 contact is thus secured. 
 
 FIG. 4. 
 
 FIG. . 
 
 FIG. 6 
 
 This tightener system is called dangerous advisedly, 
 for few are the shops employing it but that some em- 
 ployee has good cause to remember it. Unlike a clutch 
 - where control of the power is positive, instantaneous 
 and simple the tightener cannot be handled, as in 
 emergency cases it has to be. 
 
 In any but straight up and down drives with the 
 driven pulley equal to or larger (diametrically) than 
 the driver, unless the belt have special leading idlers 
 there is more or less of a constant belt contact with its 
 resultant liability to start the driven shaft up unex- 
 pectedly. When the tightener is completely off, the 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 7 
 
 belt, owing to heat, weight or belt fault, may at any 
 time continue to cling and transmit power for a short 
 space, despite this fact. 
 
 These tighteners are usually pretty heavy in fact, 
 much heavier than the unfamiliar imagines when on 
 the spur of emergency he grapples them, and trouble 
 results. 
 
 Tightener (in Fig. 5) A is held in place by two 
 threaded rods B as shown by slot a in A 1 and 
 regulated and tightened by ring-nuts C working along 
 the threaded portion of B. C (of Fig. 4) is also a 
 poor arrangement. Fig. 6 is the best of them all. 
 
 Apropos of clutches, great care must be exercised 
 in tightening them up while the shafting is in motion, 
 for if the least bit overdone the clutch may start up 
 or, on being locked for trial (according to the clutches' 
 structure), continue running without possibility of 
 release until the main source of power be cut off. 
 Nothing can exceed the danger of a clutch on a sprung 
 shaft. 
 
 Heavily loaded shafting runs to much better advan- 
 tage when center driven than when end driven, and 
 what often constitutes an overload for an end drive 
 is but a full load for a center drive. To illustrate, 
 here is one case of many: The main shaft end driven 
 was so overloaded that it could be alined and 
 leveled one week and be found out one way or the 
 other, frequently both ways, the next week. Being 
 tired of the ceaseless tinkering that the condition under 
 which that shaft was working necessitated, the pro- 
 prietors were given the ultimatum: A heavier line of 
 
SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 shafting which would be sure to work, or a try of the 
 center drive which, owing to the extreme severity of 
 this case, might or might not work. 
 
 A center drive, being the cheapest, was decided upon. 
 Pulley A, Fig. 7, which happened to be a solid, set- 
 screw and key-held pulley, was removed from the end 
 of the shaft. The split, tight-clamping-fit pulley B, 
 Fig. 8, was put in the middle of the shaft length; the 
 
 ENGINE DRIVEN 
 
 J rf 
 
 FIG. 7. 
 
 c 
 
 
 C 
 
 I 
 
 [XI 
 
 (XI i 
 
 
 2 
 
 ENGINE DRIVEN 
 
 FIG. 8. 
 
 gas engine was shifted to accommodate the new drive, 
 and hanger C 1 was put up as a reinforcement to hanger 
 C and as a preventive of shaft springing. After these 
 changes the shaft gave no trouble, so that, as had been 
 '. hoped, the torsional strain that had formerly all been 
 at point i must evidently have been divided up between 
 points 2 and 3. 
 
 When a main shaft is belted to the engine and to a 
 countershaft, as shown in Fig. 9, the pulley A 1 gets all 
 the load of main and countershafts. In the arrange- 
 ment shown in Fig. 10 point i gets A's load and 2 gets 
 '5 load and is the better arrangement. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 9 
 
 Where a machine is situated close to one of the 
 columns or timber uprights of the building it is very 
 
 FIG. 9. 
 
 FIG. 10. 
 
 customary to carry the belt shifter device upon the 
 column, as in Fig. n. The sudden stoppage of a 
 machine seldom does any damage, whereas an unex- 
 
 IF SHIFTED AGAINST UPRIGHT 
 WILL-SHUT OFF POWER 
 
 FIG. ii. 
 
 pected starting may cause irreparable damage and 
 often even endanger the limb and life of the machine 
 operative. 
 
10 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 To avoid the possibility of some passing person 
 brushing up against the shifting lever and thus starting 
 the machine, the tight and loose pulleys of the counter- 
 shaft should be so placed that when A is exposed 
 that is, away from the column its accidental shifting 
 shall stop the machine. Fig 12 makes this point clear. 
 
 ^ LOOSE PULLEY 
 
 FlG. 12. 
 
 This arrangement is often used to save a collar (at 
 A). The oil runs out between the loose pulley and the 
 bearing, especially if the latter be a split bearing; the 
 loose pulley, instead of being totally free when the belt 
 is on the tight pulley, acts more or less, in proportion to 
 the end play of the shaft, as a buffer between the tight 
 pulley and the bearing; finally, the tight pulley is 
 deprived of the support (which, when under load, it 
 can use to good advantage) a nearer proximity to the 
 hanger would give it. 
 
 The shafts of light-working counters should not be 
 needlessly marred with spotting or flats for collar set- 
 screws, nor should cup or pointed set-screws (which 
 mar a shaft) be used. If the collar be sharply tapped 
 with a hammer, diametrically opposite the set-screw, 
 while it is being tightened up, all slack is taken out of 
 the collar; and the hold is such that, without resource 
 
SHAFTING HINTS II 
 
 to the same expedient when loosening the collar, a 
 screwdriver will scarcely avail against a slotted set- 
 screw. 
 
 When required to sink the head of a bolt into a 
 timber to admit of the timbers lying snug in or against 
 some spot, if allowable, the bolt's future turning can 
 be guarded against by cutting the hole square to fit 
 the bolt head. But where a washer must be used, the 
 only positive and practical way to prevent the bolt 
 from turning is to drive a nail (as shown) into A (Fig. 
 13) far enough for the nail head to flush B; now bend 
 
 SECTION ON X-X 
 
 FIG. 13. 
 
 the head down behind the bolt toward c. It is evident 
 that if the bolt tries to turn in the direction of 3 the nail 
 end (wood held) will prevent it; if toward 4, the nail 
 head will be forced against the wood and catch hold 
 of the bolt head. 
 
 Large belts of engines, dynamos, motors, etc., when 
 in need of taking-up are usually attended to when the 
 plant is shut down; that is, nights, Sundays or legal 
 holidays. At such times power is not to be had; and 
 if the spliced part of the belt, which must be opened, 
 shortened, scraped, re-cemented and hammered, hap- 
 pens to be resting against the face of one of the pulleys, 
 is up between some beams or down in a pit, the chances 
 of the job, if done at all, being any good are very slim. 
 
 The spliced part of a large belt should be clearly 
 
12 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 marked in some permanent and easily recognizable 
 way (a rivet, or where the belt is rivet-held at all its 
 joints some odd arrangement of rivets is as good a way 
 as any). This marking will minimize the possibility of 
 mistake and enable the engineer to place the belt splice 
 in the position most favorable for the belt-maker's 
 taking-up. 
 
 In wire-lacing a belt, very often, despite all efforts 
 and care, the edges of the belt (A, B) get out of line, as 
 shown in Fig. 14, and make the best of jobs look poor. 
 By securing the belt in proper position by two small 
 pieces of wire passed through and fastened at 1,2,3 
 and 4, Fig. 15, the lacing can be more conveniently 
 
 7 
 
 FIG. 14. FIG. 15. 
 
 accomplished and the edge projection is avoided. When 
 the lacing has progressed far enough to necessitate the 
 removal of wires c d, the lacing already in place will 
 keep the belt in its original position. 
 
 A wire lacing under certain conditions will run a 
 certain length of time to a day. On expensive ma- 
 chinery whose time really is money it pays to renew the 
 lacing at regular intervals so as to avoid the loss of 
 time occasioned by a sudden giving out of the lace. 
 
 Never throw a belt on to a rim-friction or other kind 
 of clutch while the shaft is in full motion. Belts, when 
 being thrown on, have a knack, peculiarly their own, 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 13 
 
 of jumping off on the other side of the pulley. And 
 should a belt jump over and off on the wrong side and 
 get caught in the clutch mechanism, as the saying 
 goes, " there will be something doing" and the show 
 usually comes high. It pays to slow down. 
 
 A mule belt (transmitting in the neighborhood of 
 or considerably over 25 horse-power) that runs amuck 
 through the breaking down of the mule can make 
 enough trouble in a short time to keep the most able 
 repairing for a long while. 
 
 FIG. i 6. 
 
 No matter what the pulley shafts holding arrange- 
 ment and adjusting contrivance may be, all of the 
 strain due to belt weight, tension, and the power 
 transmitted falls mainly at points A, A*, Fig. 16; and 
 it is here that, sooner or later, a pin, set-screw or bolt 
 gives way and the belt either gets badly torn up, rips 
 
SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 something out of place, or a fold of it sweeping to the 
 floor slams things around generally until the power 
 is shut off. 
 
 The remedy is obvious : Reinforce A, A' by securing 
 B, B f to the supporting shaft c at c 1 , c 2 . The yoke x 
 is a reliable and practical means to this end. Straps a 
 held by the nuts b hold the yoke securely on the sup- 
 porting shaft c, while the pulley-shaft ends B, B' are 
 held in the U of the yoke at w' at any desired distance 
 from c by means of the adjustment provided by the 
 nuts b. 
 
 SIDE VIEW 
 
 FIG. 17. 
 
 The end of a hanger bearing was badly worn (Fig. 
 17). The cap could be lifted out by removing bridge 
 A, but the shaft interfered with the lifting of the bottom 
 out, owing to its being held in the hanger slides. It 
 had to be removed and we were called upon to put it 
 into shape by re-babbitting. 
 
 Being a newspaper plant, money was no object; 
 the time limit, however, was three hours, or hands off. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 15 
 
 Opening the 3o-inch engine belt and removing the 
 interfering shaft length was out of the question in so 
 short a time. So the job was done as follows : The shaft 
 was braced against down sag and engine pull along the 
 line B C by a piece of timber at A, and against pull on 
 B D by timber arrangement X; timber y's points y 1 
 
 y 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 </ 2 
 
 TIMBER ARRANGEMENT X 
 
 I 
 
 Z 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 and f resting against the uprights at i and 2, timber 
 I wedged in between y at y 3 and the shaft at 4, thus 
 acting as the stay along line B D. The nuts and 
 washers a, a were removed; the bolts driven back out 
 of the bracket ; the end of a rope was thrown over the 
 shaft at b, passed through the pulley and tied to the 
 bracket and hanger which, as one piece, were then 
 slid endways off the shaft and lowered to the floor. 
 The bearing was cleaned, re-babbitted and scraped, 
 everything put back, stays removed and the shaft 
 running on time with a half-hour to the good. 
 
 When desirable to keep a shaft from turning while 
 chipping and filing flats, spotting in set screws or 
 moving pulleys on it, it can be done by inserting a 
 narrow strip of cardboard, soft wood or several thick- 
 nesses of paper between the bearing cap and the top 
 of the shaft and then tightening the cap down. 
 
 The packing, 1-16 to 3-16 inch thick and about as 
 
i6 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 long as the bearing, must be narrow; otherwise, as 
 may be deduced from Fig. 18 (which shows the right 
 way), by the use of a wide strip in the cap the shaft 
 is turned into a wedge, endangering the safety of the 
 cap when forced down. At point 3 packing does no 
 harm, but at i and 2 there is just enough space to allow 
 the shaft diameter to fit exactly, with no room to spare, 
 into the cap bore diameter. 
 
 SOFT WOOD PACKING 
 
 FIG. i 8. 
 
 As a very little clamping will do a good deal of 
 holding the clamping need not be overdone. A shaft 
 can also be held from turning, or turned as may be 
 desired, by holding it with a screw (monkey) wrench 
 at any flat or keyway, as shown in sectional view, 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 When a shaft breaks it is either owing to torsional 
 strain caused by overload, springing through lack of 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 17 
 
 hanger support at the proper interval of shaft length, 
 the strain of imperfect alinement or level, or a flaw. 
 
 An immediate temporary repair may be effected 
 by taking some split pulley that can best be spared 
 from another part of the shaft and clamping it over the 
 broken part of the shaft, thus converting it, as it were, 
 into a compression coupling. The longer the pulley 
 hub the better the hold; spotting the set-screws 
 that is, chipping out about J-inch holes for their accom- 
 modation into the shaft is also a great help. 
 
 FIG. 19. 
 
 If when the shaft breaks it has not been sprung by 
 the sudden dropping of itself and the pulleys that were 
 on it, a permanent repair can be effected, after correct- 
 ing the cause of the break, by the use of a regular key- 
 less compression coupling. 
 
 If it has been sprung, a new length comes cheapest 
 in the wind-up ; and if overload was the original cause 
 of the trouble, only a heavier shaft or a considerable 
 lightening of the load will prevent a repetition. 
 
 In Fig. 20 A shows how to drive to make belt weight 
 count in securing extra contact. In B this weight 
 causes a loss of contact. Bearing in mind that B is 
 not only a loss from the normal contact but also a loss 
 of the extra contact that A gives, it will readily be seen 
 how important a power-saving factor the right sort of 
 
i8 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 a drive is especially on high-speed small-pulley ma- 
 chines, such as dynamos, motors, fans, blowers, etc. 
 
 EXAGGERATED FOR 
 CLEARNESS 
 
 FlG. 20. 
 
 A good many electrical concerns mount some of their 
 styles of dynamos and motors (especially the light 
 duty, small size) upon two K-shaped rails, Fig. 21 
 (the bottom of the motor or dynamo base being V- 
 grooved for the purpose). The machine's weight and 
 
 SECTION ON 
 
 x-x 
 
 FIG. 21. 
 
 the screws A are counted on to keep it in place. If 
 the machine be properly mounted on these rails, as 
 regards screws A in relation to its drive, the screws 
 reinforce the machine's weight in holding it down and 
 also permit a surer adjustment through this steady 
 holding of the machine. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 19 
 
 Fig. 22 shows the machine properly mounted. The 
 belt tension and pull tend to draw B corner of the 
 machine toward the shaft C; and screw B 1 is there to 
 resist this pull. Owing to this resistance and the pull 
 along line D, E tends to lift and slew around in E 1 
 direction; screw E 2 is, however, in a position to over- 
 come both these tendencies. If the screws are both 
 in front, there is nothing but the machine's weight 
 to keep the back ,of it from tilting up. The absurdity 
 of placing the screws at F and G, though even this is 
 thoughtlessly done, needs no demonstration. 
 
 SIDE 
 ELEVATION 
 
 E 
 G 
 
 F 
 B 
 
 FIG. 22. 
 
 When putting a new belt on a motor or dynamo, 
 both the driver and the driven are often needlessly 
 strained by the use of belt-clamps, in the attempt to 
 take as much stretch out of the belt as possible. On 
 being loosely endlessed it soon requires taking up; and 
 if only laced, when the time for endlessing comes the 
 belt is botched by the splicing in of the piece which, 
 owing to the insufficiency of the original belt length, 
 must now be added to supply enough belt to go around, 
 plus the splice. 
 
 ' 
 
20 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 The proper mode of procedure is: Place the motor 
 on its rails or slides 5 inches away from its nearest 
 possible approach to the driven shaft or machine and 
 wire-lace it (wire-lacing is a very close second to an 
 endless belt). Let it run for a few days, moving the 
 motor back from the driven shaft as the belt stretches. 
 When all reasonable stretch is out, move the motor 
 back as close to the driven shaft as possible. 
 
 The 5 inches forward motion will give 10 inches of 
 belting, which will be amply sufficient for a good splice; 
 and, further, the machine will be in position to allow of 
 tightening the belt up, by simply forcing the motor 
 back, for probably the belt's lifetime. 
 
II 
 
 SHAFTING HINTS 1 
 
 THE bolts, set-screws, pulleys, bearings, shafting and 
 clutches of a plant, although among the foremost 
 factors in its efficiency, are very often neglected until 
 they reach the stage where their condition absolutely 
 compels attention. 
 
 Very often this lack of proper attention is due to 
 surrounding difficulties of an almost insurmountable 
 and most discouraging nature. At other times it is 
 due to a lack of proper appreciation of the damage 
 resultant from seemingly insignificant neglects. How 
 to overcome some of these difficulties is the object of 
 this chapter. 
 
 Fig. 23 shows a case of a turning bolt. The head is 
 inaccessible and the bolt's turning with the nut, owing 
 to burrs or rust, prevents either the tightening or the 
 loosening of the nut. One to three fair-sized nails 
 driven through the timber as at C, hard up against, or, 
 better still, forced into a tangent with the bolt, will 
 often suffice to hold it while the nut is being turned. In 
 iron girders, beams, etc., the nail method being im- 
 possible, a slot E can easily be cut with a hack-saw 
 through the lower end of both the nut and bolt, so 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Chas. Herrman. 
 21 
 
22 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 that the bolt may be held by a screwdriver while the 
 nut is turned with a wrench. 
 
 Where an extra strong screwdriver must be used, 
 the use of two blades at the same time in the hack-saw 
 frame will give a slot of the requisite width. Where 
 the bolt's end projects beyond the nut and it is desired 
 to tighten the nut, a Stillson wrench is often, though 
 inadvisedly, called into service. This tends to spoil the 
 lower threads of the bolt and thus prevents any future 
 loosening, except by the cutting off of the projecting end. 
 
 0= 
 c 
 
 3E 
 
 
 
 
 h- M 1 
 
 i 
 
 l! 
 
 FIG. 
 
 As the alinement and level of shafting depend on the 
 power of their hold, bolts, lag-bolts and set-screws 
 should, when they are tightened, be so in fact and not 
 in fancy. 
 
 The proper way to use a wrench, especially a screw 
 wrench, so as to avail yourself of every ounce of power, 
 not of your biceps only but of your whole body, is as 
 follows : Place your shoulders on a level with the object 
 to be tightened, secure the wrench jaws well upon it, 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 23 
 
 grasp the jaws with the left hand and the wrench handle 
 with the right, holding both arms straight and tense; 
 swing the upper part of the body to the right from the 
 hip, backing the force of your swing up with the full 
 force of your legs, steadying yourself the while with 
 your left-hand grip on the wrench jaws, which are the 
 center of your swing. Several such half turns, at 
 the wind-up, will cause an extremely hard jam with 
 comparative ease. 
 
 In tightening up a split-pulley, the expedient of 
 hammering the bolts tight, by means of an open-ended 
 bolt-wrench and a small sledge, is often resorted to. 
 If the head of the bolt be lightly tapped while the nut 
 is being tightened, even a light hammering, except 
 in the extremest cases, becomes unnecessary. 
 
 Split-pulleys are invariably better held in place by 
 a good clamping fit than by set-screws. It must also 
 be borne in mind that, for good holding, set-screws must 
 be spotted into the shaft, and this defaces and often 
 materially weakens the shaft. Split-pulleys, like solid 
 ones, are sometimes subject to stoppage, owing to 
 excessive strain. Set-screws, at such times, cut a shaft 
 up pretty badly; whereas, if clamped, only a few slight 
 scratches would result. 
 
 Where packing with paper, cardboard, emery cloth 
 or tin becomes necessary to secure a good clamping fit, 
 care should be taken to put an equal thickness of pack- 
 ing into both halves of the pulley; otherwise it will 
 wabble and jump when running. 
 
 Emery cloth, on account of its grittiness, is pre- 
 ferable for packing where the duty done by the pulley 
 
24 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 is light. When the duty done is extra heavy, emery 
 cloth, despite its grittiness, will not do; tin or sheet 
 iron, owing to body, must be used. 
 
 The following is the most practical way of packing a 
 split-pulley to a good clamping fit, assuming that emery 
 cloth is to be used: 
 
 The thickness of the emery cloth to be used, and 
 whether to use one or more folds, can readily be ascer- 
 tained by calipering the shaft diameter and pulley 
 bore, or by trial-clamping the pulley by hand. In both 
 of these instances, however, due allowance must be 
 made for the compressiveness of the packing used. 
 If the packing be too thin, the pulley will not clamp 
 strongly enough ; if too thick, the chances of breaking 
 the lugs when drawing the bolts up are to be appre- 
 hended. 
 
 Having determined the proper thickness of emery 
 cloth to be used, place the pulley on the shaft, as shown 
 in Fig. 24. Into the lower half C, in space A, which is 
 out of contact with the shaft, place a sheet of emery 
 with the emery side toward the hub and the smooth 
 side toward the shaft. The width of the emery should 
 be a little less than half of the shaft's circumference, 
 and it should be long enough to project about one-half 
 of an inch to an inch on each side of the hub. 
 
 Now turn the pulley on the shaft so that the position 
 of the halves shall become reversed (Fig. 25), C on top, 
 B on bottom. See that the emery cloth remains in its 
 proper position in half-hub, the smooth side being 
 toward the shaft; the projecting length beyond the 
 pulley hub will help you to do this. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 25 
 
 Into half-hub B (space D) insert a similar sized piece 
 of emery cloth, smooth side toward the hub and the 
 emery side toward the shaft. Draw up on your bolts to 
 clamp the pulley into position. Be sure, however, 
 that no emery cloth gets in between the half-hubs or 
 lugs at points i and 2, Fig. 25, as this would prevent 
 their coming properly together; the width of the emery 
 being less than half of the shaft's circumference will 
 be a help to this end. 
 
 FIG. 24. 
 
 It often happens, owing to downright neglect or 
 unwitting neglect, through the oil hole or oiler being 
 blocked up, that a loose pulley, running unlubricated, 
 cuts, heats, and finally, through heat expansion, seizes. 
 It then becomes necessary to take the countershaft 
 
26 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 down, force the loose pulley off and file and polish the 
 shaft up before it can be put back into place. 
 
 c 
 
 FIG. 25. 
 
 The following method avoids the taking down and 
 putting back, provides an easy means for loosening up 
 the pulley that has seized, and improvises, as it were, 
 a lathe for filing and polishing the shaft. 
 
 n * 
 
 FIG. 26. 
 In Fig. 26, A is the loose pulley that has seized. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 27 
 
 Throw off both the belt that leads from the main shaft 
 to pulleys A, B and the belt that leads to the driven 
 machine from the driving pulley C. Tie, or get some- 
 body to hold, an iron bar in pulley A at side a, as shown 
 in Fig. 27, over an arm of the pulley, under the shaft, 
 
 FIG. 27. 
 
 and resting against the timber, ceiling, wall or floor, 
 in such a way as to prevent the pulley from turning in 
 one direction, as shown in Fig. 27. Now, with another 
 bar, of a sufficient length to give you a good leverage, 
 take the grip under a pulley arm and over the shaft 
 in the tight pulley B at b, which will enable you to work 
 against the resistance of the bar in the loose pulley A. 
 With enough leverage, this kind of persuasion will 
 loosen the worst of cases. Take the bars out and move 
 B sufficiently to the right to allow A to take B's former 
 position. Secure B by means of its set-screws in its 
 new position and, by means of a piece of cord, fasten 
 
28 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 an arm of A to one of B's. It is evident that by throw- 
 ing the main-shaft belt on to A it will, through As 
 cord connection with B, which is screwed to the shaft, 
 cause the shaft to revolve, thus enabling you to file 
 up and polish that portion of it formerly occupied by 
 A. To prevent the countershaft from side-slipping out 
 of hanger-bearing D 1 , get somebody to hold something 
 against hanger-bearing D 2 at E; or fasten a piece of 
 wire or cord on the countershaft at F and the hanger 
 D 1 , so as to prevent side-slipping while not interfering 
 with revolution. 
 
 Filing, polishing, a cleaning out of the oil hole or 
 oiler, and the taking of proper precaution against 
 future failure of lubrication will put everything into 
 first-class order. When the loose pulley is, as it is best 
 for it to be, farthest away from the bearing, held in its 
 place by the tight pulley and a collar, not only is the 
 tight pulley better adapted for carrying its load, owing 
 to additional support resultant from its proximity 
 to the bearing, but such matters of small repair as 
 come up are much simplified. 
 
 Fig. 28 in some degree, aside from the cutting up and 
 
 TL 
 
 FIG. 28. 
 
 heating of the bearings, illustrates the breaking strain, 
 in addition to the usual torsional strain, which becomes 
 enhanced in direct proportion with the increase of 
 breaking strain, to which an out-of-line or out-of-level 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 29 
 
 shaft is subject. The bends are exaggerated for 
 illustration. 
 
 In this instance, the fact of one hanger-bearing being 
 out of line or level subjects the shaft to a severe break- 
 ing strain. The shaft being both out of line and level 
 does not, if both at the same point, aggravate matters, 
 as might at first be supposed. 
 
 It is true that the full torsional strength of a shaft 
 is only equal to the weakest portion of it, so that three 
 weak spots more or less can, theoretically, make no 
 difference one way or the other. But, practically, 
 there is the undue strain and wear of the bearings at 
 these points, and if a pulley transmitting any consid- 
 erable amount of power is situated anywhere along the 
 length A B it is sure to be unpleasantly in evidence at 
 all times. 
 
 Only an eighth or a quarter out, but oh, what shaft- 
 breaking stones that fraction could tell ! 
 
 The following is a simple method for testing the aline- 
 ment and level of a line of shafting that is already up. 
 
 As in Fig. 29, stretch a line C so that it is exactly 
 
 UNE C 
 
 FIG. 29. 
 
 opposite the shafting. Set it equidistant from the 
 shaft end centers G and F and free from all contact 
 along its entire length except at its retaining ends A and 
 
30 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 B. Now, it is self-evident, as line C is straight and set 
 equidistant from the shaft end centers G and F, that 
 if you set the entire center line of the shafting at the 
 same distance from line C, as G and F, you are bound 
 to get your shafting into perfect alinement. 
 
 In leveling a line of shafting that is already up, 
 you can, by the use of a level and perseverance, get it 
 right. 
 
 Placing the level at A, you are just as likely to raise 
 the first hanger as to lower the middle one. Look 
 before you jump, even if compelled to climb to the top 
 of the fence to do so. When you find a length of shaft- 
 ing out of level, try the two adjacent lengths before 
 acting, and your action will be the more intelligent 
 for it. 
 
 On exceptionally long lines of shafting the following 
 method, in which the level and a line constitute a check 
 upon and a guide for each other, can be used to great 
 advantage. Stretch a line so that it is exactly above, 
 or, if more convenient, below the shafting to be leveled. 
 With the level find a length of shafting that is level 
 and adjust your line exactly parallel with this length. 
 Your line now, free of contact except at its retaining 
 ends, and level owing to its parallelism to the level shaft 
 length, constitutes a safe bight level guide while the 
 level itself can serve to verify the accuracy of the 
 finished job. 
 
 In lining, whether for level or alinement, unless the 
 shafting line consists of the same diameter of shafting 
 throughout its entire length, though of necessity meas- 
 uring from the shaft circumference to the line, always 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 31 
 
 base your calculations on the shaft centers. The 
 figures in Fig. 29 will make this point clear. 
 
 The manner of securing the ends of the line under 
 different circumstances must be left to individual 
 ingenuity. Only be sure that the line is so placed that 
 the shafting adjustment shall not affect its original 
 position with reference to the end shaft centers. 
 
 Coupling clutches, i.e., those joining two lengths of 
 shafting into one at option, will fail, utterly or partially, 
 if the respective shafts which bear them are out of line 
 or level with each other. Such a condition should not 
 be tolerated on account of the danger entailed by the 
 inability to shut off the power in cases of emergency. 
 
 As a general rule, it is most advisable to set a clutch 
 to take as hard a grip as it can without interfering with 
 its releasing power. Where a clutch grips weakly, 
 it is subject to undue wear owing to slippage, whereas 
 a strongly regulated clutch absolutely prevents slip- 
 page wear. 
 
Ill 
 
 SHAFTING HINTS 1 
 
 ENGINEERS, machinists and general mechanics 
 are often called upon to turn their hands to a shafting 
 job. We recognize that all of the following cannot 
 prove new or even suggestive to most of our readers; 
 still, some of it for all, and, mayhap, all for some, may 
 not come amiss. 
 
 We all know that to have belting run rightly on 
 pulleys located upon parallel lines of shafting the 
 shafting must be in absolutely correct parallel. The 
 slightest deviation, even to a 1-16 inch, often imparts 
 a marring effect, through poorly running belts, to an 
 otherwise faultless job. 
 
 Fig. 30 shows how to line a countershaft as regards 
 
 A 
 
 FIG. 30. 
 
 parallelism with the driving shaft when the counter- 
 shaft's end-centers are availably situated for thus 
 measuring. A is the countershaft, B the main shaft, 
 C is a stick of proper length about i J inches in thickness 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Chas. Herrman. 
 32 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 33 
 
 and width, D a heavy nail about 2openny will do 
 driven into C far enough from its end E to allow of 
 Cs resting squarely upon the top of the shaft B. 
 
 Rest the measuring rod upon the main shaft, keeping 
 the nail in touch with the shaft, so that when the F 
 end is in contact with the end of the countershaft the 
 stick shall be at right angles to the main shaft, and then 
 mark the exact location a of the countershaft's end- 
 center on the stick. Do the same at the other end of the 
 countershaft. If both marks come at the same spot, 
 your counter is parallel; if not, space between these 
 two marks will show you how much and which way the 
 counter is out. 
 
 It may only be necessary to shift one end in or out 
 a little; and then, again, it may be that to get into line 
 you will have to throw one end all the way in one direc- 
 tion and the other all or some in the opposite direction. 
 But, whichever it be, do not rest content until you have 
 verified the correctness of your adjustment by a re- 
 measurement. 
 
 The nail should be well driven into C, so that its 
 position will not readily change, and it should, pre- 
 ferably, be slant driven (as shown in Fig. 30), as it thus 
 helps to keep the stick down in contact with the shaft. 
 
 Where an end-center is not available or where there 
 is no clear space on the main shaft, opposite a center, 
 the method shown in Fig. 3 1 can generally be used. 
 
 Rest C on top of both shafts and at right angles to 
 the driving shaft B. With D pressed against B, place 
 a square on stick C, as shown (stock in full contact with 
 the top of the rod, and the tongue running down the 
 
34 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 side of it). Slide along C toward A until the side of 
 the tongue touches the shaft the other side of A. Now 
 mark a line on the stick down tongue. Do the same 
 at the other end of your countershaft and the two 
 resultant marks will be your parallel adjustment guides. 
 
 c 
 
 FIG. 31. 
 
 It often happens that a counter, or even line shaft, 
 is end driven from the extreme end of the main or jack 
 driving shaft with its other end running beyond the 
 reach of the driving shaft, as shown in Fig. 32. 
 
 DrtTinjS 
 
 FIG. 32. 
 
 It is evident that neither method i nor 2 can here 
 be applied to solve the alinement problem. If the 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 35 
 
 driving pulley B and the driven pulley A are both in 
 place, the following method can be used to advantage. 
 
 Fasten, or let somebody hold, one end of a line against 
 pulley B's rim at B 1 ; carry the line over to A at A 2 ; 
 now sweep the loose A 2 end of the line toward pulley A 
 until the line just touches pulley B's rim at B 2 . When 
 the line so touches and it must just barely touch or 
 the measurement is worthless A 1 and A 2 of pulley A 
 must be just touched by or (if B and A are not of a like 
 face width, as in Fig. 32) equidistant from the line. 
 
 A single, two-hanger-supported length of shafting 
 thus lined is bound to be in parallel; but where the so 
 adjusted shaft line consists of two or more coupling- 
 joined lengths supported by more than two hangers, 
 only pulley A's supporting portion of the shaft between 
 its immediate supporting hangers I and 2 is sure to be 
 lined; the rest may be more or less out. 
 
 To make a perfect job, fix a string in parallel with 
 shaft length I and 2, stretching along the entire length 
 of the adjusted shaft, and aline the rest of the shaft 
 length to it. 
 
 When there are no pulleys in place to go by, or when, 
 as occasionally happens, the wabbly motion of pulley 
 B (when running) indicates that, having been inaccu- 
 rately bored or bushed, or being located on a sprung 
 shaft length, its rim line is not at right angles to the 
 shaft line, the method shown in Fig. 33 can be re- 
 sorted to. 
 
 Instead of the nail used in methods i and 2, use a 
 board about 8 to 12 inches long and of a width equal 
 to considerably more than half of shaft B's diameter. 
 
36 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 By nailing this board x to the measuring rod c at any 
 suitable angle, you will be enabled to reach from the 
 end a Well into the shaft B, as at b, and from b' well into 
 A, as a'. By keeping the board x along its entire length 
 in full contact with the shaft B at both i and 2, the 
 angular position of rod C is bound to be the same in 
 both instances, and you will thus (by the use of a square, 
 as in Fig. 31) be enabled to aline A parallel with B. 
 
 \ 
 
 FIG. 33. 
 
 In all instances of parallel adjustment here cited it 
 is assumed that both the alined and the alined-to 
 shafts have been, as to secure accuracy of result they 
 must be, properly leveled before starting to aline. 
 
 The above methods apply to cases where the shafting 
 is already in place. Where, however, shafting is being 
 newly installed before the work can be proceeded with, 
 it is necessary, after determining on the location for the 
 shafting, to get a line on the ceiling in parallel with the 
 driving shaft to which to work to. Mark that point A 
 which you intend to be the center line for the proposed 
 shafting upon the ceiling (Fig. 34). 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 37 
 
 Rest your measuring rod upon the driving shaft and 
 at right angles to it, with the nail against it. Hold your 
 square with the stock below and the tongue against the 
 side of the measuring stick, so that its tongue extremity 
 touches the ceiling mark A, and then mark a line on the 
 rod along the tongue side A. Move your rod along 
 the driving shaft to the point where the other end of 
 the proposed shafting line is to be, and, squaring your 
 stick to the driving shaft with the tongue side A on the 
 marked line of the stick, mark your section point on the 
 ceiling. Draw a line or stretch a string between these 
 points, and you have a true parallel to work to. 
 
 FIG. 34. 
 
 Owing to the supporting timber B's interference, a 
 square had to be used; but where the ceiling is clear 
 the rod can be cut to proper length or the nail be so 
 located as to allow of using the stick extremity C for a 
 marking point. 
 
 When a pulley is handily situated on the driving 
 shaft, the method shown in Fig. 35 can be used to 
 advantage. 
 
 Let somebody hold one end of a line at I, and when 
 you have got its other end so located on the ceiling 
 that the line just touches the pulley rim at 2, mark that 
 ceiling point (we will call it 3). In the same way get 
 your marks 4 and 5, each farther back than the other 
 
38 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 and, for the better assurance of accuracy, as to just 
 touching at 2, remove and readjust the line separately 
 each time. If now a straight line from 3 to 5 cuts 4, 
 your line 3,4, 5 is at right angles to the driving shaft and 
 a line at right angles to this will be parallel to the shaft. 
 
 FIG. 35. 
 
 The plumb-bob method is so familiar and, where not 
 familiar, so easily thought out in its various applica- 
 tions, that we deem it useless to touch upon it. 
 
 The stringers or supporting timbers of drop hangers 
 should be equal in thickness to about one-fifth of the 
 hanger drop. 
 
 Where the stringers run with the hangers and cross- 
 wise of the shaft, both feet of a hanger base are bolted to 
 the same stringer, and this should be from 1} to ij 
 times the width of the widest portion of the hanger base. 
 As the hanger is securely bolted to its stringer, this 
 extra width is in effect an enlargement of the hanger 
 base, and thus enables it the better to assist the shaft's 
 end motion. 
 
 Where the stringers run with the shaft and cross- 
 wise of the hangers, the two feet of the hanger base are 
 each fastened to a separate timber, and these should 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 39 
 
 be equal in width to the length of one hanger foot, plus 
 twice the amount of adjustment (if there be any) the 
 hanger's supporting bolt slots will allow it. In reckon- 
 ing hanger adjustment, be sure to figure in the bolt's 
 diameter and to bear in mind that to get the utmost 
 adjustment for the countershaft the bolts should 
 originally be centered in the slot; thus a ^f X ij-inch 
 slot, as it calls for a f-inch bolt, leaves a |-inch play, 
 
 FIG. 36. 
 
 and this play, with the bolt in the center of the slot, 
 allows of f-inch adjustment either way. Without this 
 extra width addition any lateral adjustment of the 
 hanger would result in leaving a part of the hanger's 
 feet without stringer support. Such jobs look poorly, 
 and often run still more poorly. Fig. 36, in its two 
 views, will make the above points clear. 
 
 In the stringing of countershafts whose hangers 
 have no adjustment it often happens, despite all care 
 
40 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 in the laying out, that they come J to \ inch out of paral- 
 lel. A very common and likewise very dangerous prac- 
 tice at such times is to substitute a smaller diameter 
 supporting bolt instead of the larger size for which the 
 hanger foot is cored or drilled, and to make use of the 
 play so gained for adjustment. 
 
 That shafting so carried does not come down oftener 
 than it does is due solely to the foresight of the hanger 
 manufacturers. They, in figuring the supporting bolt's 
 diameter as against the strain and load to be sustained, 
 are careful to provide an ample safety margin for over- 
 load, thus enabling the bolt substituted to just barely 
 come within the safety limit under easy working con- 
 ditions. 
 
 The largest-sized bolt that a hanger will easily admit 
 should invariably be used, and for alinement purposes 
 either of the following slower but safer methods should 
 be used. 
 
 Rebore the hanger-supporting bolt holes in the 
 stringers to a larger size, and use the play so gained for 
 adjustment. It is not advisable, however, to rebore 
 these holes any larger than to one and three-quarter 
 times the diameter of the bolt to be used; and the 
 diameter of the washers to be used on top of the 
 stringers should be diametrically equal to at least 
 twice the size of the rebored holes. That the washers 
 used, under such conditions, must be of a good pro- 
 portionate thickness goes without saying. 
 
 When the reboring method cannot be used as 
 when the hangers are carried by lag screws, lag-bolts, 
 bolts screwed directly into supporting iron girders, 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 etc. it is evident that hanger adjustment can be 
 secured by packing down one foot of the hanger base, 
 as shown in Fig. 37. 
 
 HANGER 1 
 (exaggerated) 
 
 FIG. 37. 
 
 The piece of packing (necessarily wedge-shaped) 
 between the hanger foot B and the stringer A tilts 
 the bottom of the hanger forward. The size of the 
 wedge regulates the amount of adjustment. Wedge- 
 shaped space D, at foot C, should also be packed out 
 so as to avoid throwing undue strain upon C's ex- 
 tremity^ c. If now, the foot c of the countershaft's 
 other supporting hanger (No. 2) be similarly and equally 
 packed, as B of No. i hanger, the shaft will have been 
 thrown forward at one end and back at the other, and 
 thus into line. The equal division of the adjusting 
 wedge packing between the opposite feet of the two 
 hangers enables a limited packing to do considerable 
 adjusting without any undue marring effect; and, 
 further, insures the shaft's remaining level, which evi- 
 
42 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 dently would not be the case if only one hanger were 
 packed down. 
 
 After so adjusting, be sure to get your hangers 
 squarely crosswise of the shaft as readjusted, so that 
 the hanger bearings will lie in a true line with the shaft 
 and not bind it. At all times be sure to have your 
 hangers hang or stand plumb up and down; as, if the 
 bearings are not so pivoted as to be horizontally self- 
 adjusting, excessive friction will be the lot of one end 
 of the bearing with not even contact for the rest of it. 
 The bearing being self-adjusting all ways, square 
 crossing of the shaft line by the hanger line and plumb 
 still remain eminently desirable for appearance's sake. 
 
 Before a countershaft can be put up on a ceiling 
 whose supporting timbers are boarded over, or in a 
 modern fireproof structure whose girders and beams 
 are so bricked and plastered in as not to show, it is 
 necessary to positively locate those of them which 
 are to carry the stringers. 
 
 It is in the earnest endeavor to properly locate these 
 that the unaccustomed hand turns a wood ceiling into 
 a sieve and a brick one into a wreck. To avoid kitchen 
 and house razing effects, try the following recipe : 
 
 We will assume that line A B, Fig. 38, laid out by 
 one of the methods previously described, is the center 
 line of the proposed countershaft. The hanger's base 
 length, lateral adjustment and individual foot length 
 call for stringers 4! inches wide, placed 5^ inches apart 
 or 14! inches outside (as per sketch). The floor position 
 of the machine to be driven, or the driving point of the 
 main shaft, is so located with reference to the counter- 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 43 
 
 shaft that one of the supporting hangers must go at or 
 very near C, and the countershaft's length brings the 
 other hanger at or very near D. 
 
 Now between points C D and with due reference to 
 the center line A B, lay out the position which your 
 stringers are to occupy. It is self-evident that by 
 confining your beam prospecting to the stringer 
 spaces E and F t ultimately, when the countershaft is 
 in place, all the cut-up portions of the ceiling will be 
 hidden from view. 
 
 I 
 
 " 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
 
 \ 
 
 E 
 
 E i 
 
 H 
 
 
 ..C 
 
 1 "|= ' 
 
 r:f= 
 
 1 
 
 F 
 
 c 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 PLAN 
 LOOKING UP 
 
 1 
 
 ' 
 
 
 -B 
 
 FIG. 38. 
 
 Generally the necessary supporting beams will not 
 all be found within the shaft's length distance C D; 
 in such cases continue your cutting in the same parallel 
 line to A B, as at E or F, going from C D outwardly 
 until you strike the sought-for beams. Having located 
 beams, say i and 2, we find by measurement that they 
 are 5 feet apart, and, as beams are generally uniformly 
 spaced, we may start 4 feet 6 inches (go 4 feet 6 inches 
 and not 5 feet, to make sure not to skip beam 3 and 
 
44 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 thus make a cut that will not be covered by the string- 
 ers) from i to cut outwardly for the location of beam 3. 
 Where the building's beams run parallel to the 
 shaft, Fig. 39, mark the counter's-center line A B, and 
 then mark the spaces as determined by the counter- 
 shaft length, floor position of the driven machine or the 
 driving point on the main shaft to be occupied by 
 the stringers C D, and, starting from the center line 
 A B, cut outwardly each way to the desired beams 
 I and 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 PLAN 
 LOOKING UP 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIG. 39. 
 
 Where the center line as laid out (before the position 
 of the ceiling beams was known) brings it close to or 
 directly under a supporting beam, it is generally 
 advisable where possible to step the counter back or 
 forward to a central position between the beams. 
 
 Where shafting is already in place in a building, no 
 matter on what floor, valuable measurements as to 
 beam location can thus be had from the plainly in sight 
 and the reasonably deducible. Lacking in-place-shaft- 
 ing to go by, the walls, columns and main girders always 
 clearly indicate the crosswise or parallel run of the 
 ceiling beams to the proposed shafting line. 
 
SHAFTING HINTS 
 
 45 
 
 In the usual method of locating the timbers of a 
 boarded-over ceiling, a brace and bit, or a nail, can be 
 used for the purpose. If shy of an awl, and in preference 
 the other two ways, force or drive a chisel (cold chisel 
 or wood) in between a tongue and groove of the ceiling 
 boards in stringer space (Fig. 38) E or F, and thus 
 spring the boards sufficiently apart to insert a compass 
 saw. With the extremity of a 1 2-inch saw a very little 
 cutting (along the tongue and groove, as this shows 
 least) will enable you to locate a beam, since they 
 generally run 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and 30 inches apart. 
 
 Always, on locating your beam, run the point of 
 your compass saw down the whole of the timber's 
 width, so that any nailed-on pieces will not lead you 
 into a false estimate of the beam's thickness. 
 
 FIG. 40. 
 
 FIG. 41. 
 
 Figs. 40 and 41 make this point and its object clear. 
 The saw, in Fig. 40, being stopped by A, naturally 
 leads to the inference that A B is the timber's thickness. 
 By running down the timber, as in Fig. 41, the saw's 
 point sticking at a acts as a sure detector. This pre- 
 caution should be taken on both sides (B and A] of 
 the timber, and then, when the lags are screwed in, 
 
SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 they can be sent home safe and true in the center of the 
 timber. 
 
 It often happens that in boring for the lag screws 
 the bit strikes a nail and further progress at that point 
 seems out of the question. When so situated, take your 
 bit out, and running the lag screw up as far as it will go, 
 by sheer force swing it three or four turns up further 
 than the point where your bit struck. Removing the 
 lag and replacing the bit, it will be found that the nail 
 has been forced aside and the way is now clear. 
 
 ELEVATION 
 
 PLAN 
 
 FIG. 42. 
 
 Hook bolts (Fig. 42) or as our a cross-t he-sea 
 cousins call them "elbow bolts," despite all asser- 
 tions to the contrary, are an easy, safe and economical 
 stringer fastener or suspending device. 
 
 Figs. 43 and 44 illustrate two very common abuses 
 of the hook bolt. In the one (Fig. 43), instead of the 
 bolt proper lying snug up against the beam flange with 
 the whole of its hook resting squarely upon the beam's 
 flange, its supporting countershaft is turned into a 
 menace to limb and life by this "chance it" kind of 
 
I UNIVERSITY ) 
 
 HINTS 
 
 47 
 
 erection. In the other (Fig. 44), though the bolts 
 do lie snug against the flange, the hook being out of 
 sight and no means being provided for telling whether 
 
 FIG. 43. 
 
 the hook lies, as it should, at right angles to the Web 
 of the beam, even if properly placed at installation, 
 timber shrinkage, vibration or a slight turn of the bolt 
 
 
 t , ^-V 1 1 1 ^ [ , J 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 1 1 t 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 s 
 
 i^r 
 
 2 
 
 LJ_ \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 > ! 
 
 
 FIG. 44. 
 
 when tightening the nut, all constitute dangerous 
 factors tending to loosen or entirely loosen the hook's 
 grip upon the beam flange. 
 
 Fig. 43 suggests its own remedy. As to Fig. 44, a 
 screwdriver slot (made by a hacksaw) at the nut end 
 of the hook bolt and running in the same direction as 
 
48 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 the hook, Fig. 45, will at all times serve to indicate the 
 hook's position and, allowing as it does of a combined 
 use of screwdriver and wrench, it can be used to pre- 
 vent the bolt's turning when being tightened. 
 
 Pins 
 
 Hooks 
 
 Plate 
 
 Beam 
 
 rueam 
 Flange 
 
 e 
 
 Plate 
 
 FIG. 45- 
 
 -FiG. 46. 
 
 Where two or more hook bolts are placed close to- 
 gether on the same beam flange, a plate, preferably 
 wrought iron with properly spaced confining pins for 
 the hooks, may be placed between the beam flange and 
 the hooks as in Fig. 46. Its benefits are obvious and 
 so likewise is the use of a small, square, wrought-iron 
 plate with a bolt hole through its center instead of 
 hook bolts. 
 
 The various styles of beam clamps carried by x the 
 hardware and supply trade all have their good points, 
 and though the C of their cost may seem to loom large, 
 it is not a whit more emphatic, taken all in all, than 
 the W of their worth. 
 
IV 
 
 TRUING UP LINE SHAFTING 
 
 IT is assumed, for the purposes of this description, 
 that the modern style of shafting, increasing in diameter 
 by the i inch, is used, and that all pulleys and belts 
 are in place. We will take a line composed of sizes 
 ranging between 3}! and 2 T 7 ^ inches. This gives us 
 four sizes, 3!!, 3 T V, 2}| and 2/ F inches in the line. 
 
 We will first consider the plumb-bob. The accom- 
 panying sketch, Fig. 47, illustrates a good one. 
 
 The ball is i J inches diameter, and the large end of 
 the tapered stem J inch in diameter, turned parallel 
 for a short distance at the lower end. The two thin 
 sheet-steel disks, i and 2 inches in diameter, are drilled 
 to fit snugly when pushed on to the J-inch part of the 
 stem, and stay there until pulled off. These disks 
 are turned true. This arrangement of plumb-bob and 
 disks enables us to deal with five sizes on one line, and 
 there are not many lines that contain more. 
 
 Now having our plumb-bob ready, we will stretch 
 the line. The stretchers should be set horizontally 
 by nailing a strip of wood, say i X ii X 12 inches, with 
 a piece at each end to form a space between it and 
 the wall, or place of location in line with the edge of the 
 shaft, as in Fig. 48. The top of this stretcher should 
 
 49 
 
50 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 be low enough to clear the largest pulley, and high 
 enough to clear the hat of your tallest man. You 
 would perhaps find it convenient to go between the 
 spokes of a large pulley. 
 
 FIG. 47. 
 
 Now having located your stretcher, find approxi- 
 mately the position of your line, and drive a nail a 
 foot or more below it in a vertical line, and another nail 
 anywhere for convenient winding. The advantage 
 of this plan is that the line can be easily adjusted as it 
 
TRUING UP LINE SHAFTING 51 
 
 merely passes over the stretcher, and is free to respond 
 to movement either way; then when the final adjust- 
 ment is made, and is ready for its final stretch, it is 
 only necessary to pinch the line to the nail with one 
 hand, while the other is at liberty to unwind, stretch 
 and rewind the line without fear of its shifting. 
 
 U 
 
 FIG. 48. 
 
 The line being adjusted over the stretchers, we will 
 now proceed to set it. Begin at the 2 T Vinch end, by 
 throwing your plumb line over the shaft and setting 
 your line at that end, right with the center point of your 
 bob. Having done so, go to the other or 3^? end of 
 your line, and set the line so that the edge of the ball 
 of your bob just touches it. Now go back to the 2 T 7 ^ 
 end and see that the necessary adjustment did not alter 
 it. Having proved this, give your line the final stretch 
 and try if it is right at both ends. You now have a 
 center line (though the edge instead of the center of the 
 
52 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 shaft is used) that may remain up for days if necessary 
 without fear of disturbance. 
 
 It is best to go over the whole line first, before dis- 
 turbing anything; so starting at the first hanger at the 
 2 T Vinch end, throw your plumb line over the shaft, 
 and record on the floor in chalk beneath it whether it 
 is O. K. or wants to go either way, and how much; 
 then go to the next hanger, and so on to the end. A 
 short study of the conditions enables one to correct 
 the faults, with a knowledge of the requirements, and 
 consequently in the least time and with the least 
 trouble. 
 
 Now suppose we start at the 2 T Vinch end to inspect 
 the line, we use the center point of the bob on the line 
 so long as we are testing 2 T 7 ^ inches. 
 
 When we get to the 2||-inch part, which is J inch 
 larger, we use the half diameter of the stem, the edge 
 of which should just touch the line. 
 
 When we come to the 3^-inch part, i inch larger 
 than 2/3-, we use the i-inch disk, slip it on to the stem, 
 and when it just touches the line with its edge it is 
 O. K. 
 
 The 3|f -inch, being i J inches larger than the2^-inch, 
 will be right when the ball of the bob is in light contact 
 with the line. 
 
 The 2-inch disk would be suitable for the next size, 
 and other disks or modifications of the bob proper 
 might be made to suit circumstances. 
 
 Now having straightened the line, the next process 
 is to level it. As in some cases your pulleys will be 
 too close to place your level where you want, make a 
 
TRUING UP LINE SHAFTING 
 
 53 
 
 light iron frame as per Fig. 49, making the suspending 
 members of sufficient length to admit of your reading 
 the level conveniently when standing on the floor. 
 Hang your frame on the shaft, and put your level on 
 the straight-edge below; in this way travel along the 
 shaft, placing your frame where convenient. Be sure 
 that one end of your frame does not rest on a shaft 
 of different diameter, a key, keyseat, or anything to 
 distort the reading. 
 
 H IN. SQUARE 
 
 STRAIGHT EDGE 
 
 FIG. 49. 
 
 Never be content with trying your level, especially 
 an adjusting level, one way; always reverse it and try 
 again ; for if it is out of truth at the start, you might 
 want to go through the roof or down cellar at the finish. 
 Get into a habit of reversing your level, and so prove 
 your work as you proceed. 
 
APPARATUS FOR LEVELING AND 
 LINING SHAFTING 
 
 THE first apparatus explained in this chapter was 
 designed by the late Chas. A. Bauer, and is a highly 
 perfected instrument. 
 
 For those who have lined and leveled shafting with 
 an engineer's transit and level it is unnecessary to 
 say anything of the advantages of that method over 
 the cruder methods usually employed. It is not only 
 done much more rapidly and economically; but the 
 greater accuracy with which the work is done goes on 
 paying dividends in decreased friction and loss of power 
 and in lessening of wear. 
 
 The apparatus we now illustrate (Fig. 50) has at 
 the top a hook, which is passed over the shaft, as in- 
 dicated; on the straight portion of this hook are two 
 sliding jaws which are so set that the shaft will just 
 pass between them. Set into the face of this hook is 
 a commercial 6-inch steel rule which facilitates the 
 setting of the jaws, and they are of course so set that 
 the tubular portion of the hook or leveling rod is cen- 
 tered vertically under the shaft. Within the outer tube, 
 which is about i inch outside diameter and nicely 
 japanned, is another tube, and inside this a third tube, 
 
 54 
 
LEVELING AND LINING SHAFTING 
 
 55 
 
 FIG. 50. 
 
56 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 these being arranged a la telescope slide, and clamps 
 being provided so that the length or distance from the 
 shafting to the target may be anything desired from 
 4 to about 10 feet. At the lower end of the third or 
 inner tube is a swiveling head to which the target is 
 attached, and nurled nuts at this point give means of 
 adjusting the sighting point of the target to the exact 
 hight of the transit or level sighting line. 
 
 The target is a brass plate 5% inches diameter, on the 
 face of which is a recess milled for the reception of a 
 second commercial steel rule, which in this case is 
 vertical and can be moved vertically and clamped in 
 any desired position with reference to a line drawn upon 
 the target. At the center of this scale is a very small 
 hole through which the light of a hand flash lamp may 
 shine to form the sighting point. The slot through the 
 target at the right of the scale is provided with a single 
 thickness of white cloth, which permits enough light 
 to pass through it to help in finding the target in the 
 field of the telescope. 
 
 The object of providing a vertical adjustment for 
 the rule on the target is so that when passing from one 
 diameter of shafting to another in the same line, as 
 sometimes happens, the scale can be moved up or down 
 just half the difference of diameter and the sighting 
 point thus be kept at a constant hight. 
 
 The target is readily detached from the rod, and may 
 then be placed upon the small standard (Fig. 51) which 
 has at its base a V adapted to go over the shaft. The 
 standard is tubular and the wire (about J inch diameter) 
 may be adjusted and clamped at the desired hight. The 
 
LEVELING AND LINING SHAFTING 
 
 57 
 
 
 I 
 
 FIG. 51. 
 
58 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 
 
 target fits over the wire as shown (rear view of target) 
 for leveling lines of shafting that may be near the floor, 
 or, with the target removed, the V and wire form 
 a sort of length gage or caliper with which the shaft 
 may be made parallel to a line or wire stretched at the 
 side of it. Two different lengths of wire are provided 
 for this purpose. 
 
 The plumb-bob shown is part of the equipment and 
 is a very superior article. A new feature it possesses 
 is in having its larger portion hexagonal instead of 
 round, so when laid down upon a plank or scaffolding 
 it will lie there instead of promptly rolling off and 
 falling to the floor. The entire apparatus is, we think, 
 very well designed for its purpose. 
 
 TOOL FOR LEVELING SHAFTING 
 
 The instrument shown in Fig. 52 is a good one for use 
 in leveling up shafting. It can be made to fit several 
 sizes of shaft, or all the sizes ordinarily found in a factory. 
 
 When the instrument is placed on any piece of shaft 
 and leveled up with the attached level, the plumb 
 line will hang exactly the same distance from the 
 shaft center every time. In this case the distance 
 of line from center is 6 inches. 
 
 A handy apparatus for use in leveling up long lines 
 of shaft can be made as follows. 
 
 Take two pieces of finished material, fasten together 
 as in Fig. 53 and cut out as shown at A and B in Fig. 
 54. The opening A is made so that the piece can be 
 hung over the shaft, and the opening B is made for 
 the reception of a wooden straight-edge. 
 
LEVELING AND LINING SHAFTING 59 
 
 FIG. 52. 
 
 FIG. 53. FIG. 54. 
 
6o 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 Make the straight-edge out of i^-inch stuff. Be 
 sure that the edges are parallel, the width just enough 
 less than the width of opening B, Fig. 55, to enter it, 
 
 Lei 
 
 Straightedge 
 
 u 
 
 iJ 
 
 FIG. 55. 
 
 and the length 6 or 8 feet, to suit convenience. Use 
 the apparatus with a level, as in Fig. 55, taking care 
 that the suspension pieces are always on the same size 
 shaft. 
 
VI 
 
 SOME PRACTICAL KINKS 1 
 
 A PULLEY on one of the motors at a certain plant 
 had been giving some trouble by becoming loose and 
 working its way along the shaft toward the motor 
 bearing. Each time the pulley became loose, the set- 
 screw was loosened, the pulley put back in position, 
 the set-screw made tight and the motor started. After 
 a few trials it was found that this would not prevent 
 the pulley from working its way along the shaft. In 
 order to overcome this difficulty the pulley was placed 
 
 FIG. 56. 
 
 in its proper position, a line was drawn around the 
 shaft close to the hub and, after the line was scribed, 
 the pulley was removed and the shaft was burred upon 
 the line as shown at B, Fig. 56. The pulley was then 
 put back and driven close up to the burred line, the 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Wm. Kavanagh. 
 61 
 
62 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 set-screw made tight and the pulley is now running 
 without any apparent tendency to travel from its 
 proper position. It will be seen that the position of the 
 set-screw as indicated by the line at A is a poor one 
 and calculated to give plenty of trouble at the most 
 inopportune time. 
 
 Not long ago a cast-iron pulley had to move along a 
 countershaft in order to make room for a pulley of 
 another diameter. The pulley had not been on the 
 shaft long, so it was thought that little work would be 
 required to move it. A heavy bar was placed against 
 the hub and a sledge hammer was used to strike the 
 bar. After an hour and a. half of heavy work the pulley 
 was not moved over i inch (it had to be moved 16 
 inches), so it was suggested that a Bunsen burner be 
 attached to a gas pipe by means of a hose and placed 
 beneath the hub. The plan was immediately adopted. 
 The burner was placed beneath the hub, the gas lit 
 and allowed to heat the hub. After about twenty-five 
 minutes it was found that a blow from the bar was suffi- 
 cient to move the pulley. The pulley was moved the 
 1 6 inches inside of twenty minutes. 
 
 FIG. 57. 
 
 A very handy arrangement for moving pulleys is 
 a bolt and nut. Fig. 57 shows the bolt and nut with 
 
SOME PRACTICAL KINKS 
 
 a piece of pipe attached. A piece of pipe can be cut to 
 suit the distance between the nut and hub of one pulley 
 while the bolt head is against the other hub. The nut 
 is screwed back upon the bolt as far as possible. A 
 washer is then placed against the nut, and a piece of 
 pipe cut to suit. Of course, the pipe must be large 
 enough in diameter to fit over the bolt. If we screw 
 back upon the nut, a powerful strain can be brought 
 to bear between the hubs and in all probability the 
 pulley will move. 
 
 FIG. 58. 
 
 In taking down solid pulleys from main or counter 
 shafting it sometimes happens that a hanger must be 
 removed to permit the pulley to be taken off. A first- 
 rate plan is to make a couple of long bolts hooked at 
 the end as shown in Fig 58; pass the hook around the 
 shaft and the threaded end through a hole in the 
 stringer. By screwing up the nut as shown, the shaft 
 
64 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 and remaining pulleys can be kept in position, obviating 
 the use of tackle, not to mention the labor required to 
 hoist back the shaft into position. The application 
 of this contrivance is especially valuable where heavy 
 cone pulleys are required to be lowered or changed. 
 It will be seen that if we employ a pipe thread we will 
 be enabled to suit almost any condition of length that 
 may arise between the shaft and stringer. 
 
VII 
 
 PRACTICAL METHODS OF LOOSENING 
 PULLEYS 
 
 WHEN a solid pulley is to be removed from a piece 
 of shaft for any reason, it is not good policy to use 
 sledge hammers on the spokes or hub to do it. Cast 
 iron in pulleys is too liable to break or crack under 
 repeated blows. 
 
 In Fig. 59 one ready method is illustrated by which 
 the pulley may be removed. When a place between 
 two walls can be found that will admit of this arrange- 
 ment, proceed as shown to force the shaft through 
 the pulley, substituting longer pieces of pipe as the 
 shaft is forced through farther. 
 
 In one case where a large pulley was stuck on a y-inch 
 shaft and its removal was imperative, the shaft was 
 sawed off (with large hack-saws) close up to the pulley 
 hub and two f-inch holes were drilled into the shaft 
 parallel to its axis, as shown in Fig. 60. These holes 
 were drilled so that they were 90 degrees apart and 
 came within -^ inch of the hub of the pulley. The 
 hub was 14 inches through and these holes were 8 inches 
 deep; but that was enough to loosen up the shaft 
 so that when the pulley was laid over on beams with 
 
 65 
 
66 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
METHODS OF LOOSENING PULLEYS 67 
 
 the shaft hanging through, a sledge hammer applied 
 on the shaft end soon drove it out. 
 
 Another way to remove a pulley is shown in Fig. 61, 
 where a ram is used. The ram is another piece of 
 old shaft. To prevent its damaging the pulley hub 
 and also to have its force applied most advantageously, 
 it should be used in a direct line with the direction 
 of removal. To do this, the method shown in Fig. 61 
 is self-explanatory. 
 
 FIG. 60. 
 
 Another good method of removing an obdurate 
 pulley is illustrated in Fig. 62, where the bolts W ', W 
 must have long threads and the work is done by pulling 
 up on the nuts A, A. This method can be used only 
 when the end of the shaft can be reached and used as 
 shown. In using this method, care must be exercised 
 
68 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
METHODS OF LOOSENING PULLEYS 69 
 
 1 
 
 BU 
 
 m & x 
 
yo SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 in the pulling up on the bolts W , W ', keeping the strain 
 equally divided between the two by pulling a little 
 at a time on each. 
 
 If the pulley comes extra hard, it can be assisted 
 when the strain is on the bolts by striking at X with 
 a sledge. 
 
 A good device for removing motor and generator 
 pulleys that are near the shaft end is shown in Fig. 63. 
 The arms Z, Z are adjustable to take hold of hub or 
 arms, and the screw applied to the shaft center will do 
 the rest. 
 
 To run a pulley off a shaft without injury to the 
 hands, use a monkey wrench on the rim of each pulley, 
 as shown in Fig. 64. One pulley on the shaft can be 
 selected for a hold-back; one monkey wrench there 
 will hold the shaft from turning, while the other will 
 turn around the shaft the pulley which it is intended 
 to remove. 
 
METHODS OF LOOSENING PULLEYS 71 
 
 FIG. 63. 
 
 I 
 
 FIG. 64. 
 
VIII 
 
 SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 1 
 
 THE first thing is the tools for the different kinds of 
 work. These may be usually changed somewhat to 
 suit the taste of the user, but in the main the style 
 and kind herein shown in attached drawings cannot 
 be very much improved upon. 
 
 Figs. 65 and 66 show a splice opener for heavy belts. 
 It is made of J-inch tool steel with the point spread out 
 about 2 inches wide and well tempered, after which it 
 is ground to a good sharp edge, and then an oil stone 
 run over the edge until it has been dulled so that it will 
 not cut. The right kind of an edge can only be secured 
 by trying; it is one of the tools that is very hard to 
 get just right. You will notice that the manner in 
 which this splitter is built may seem to be rather too 
 much work to bestow on such a simple tool, but the 
 reasons for so doing are as follows: in opening a 36- 
 inch belt an old splice opener that was driven into 
 the handle like an ordinary file was used and the 
 handle split; that sharp point came back through the 
 handle, and when it finally stopped it had gone about 
 2 inches into the palm of the operator's hand. Some 
 J-inch hexagon steel was turned down 6 inches, just 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Walter E. Dixon, M. E. 
 72 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 
 
 73 
 
74 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 enough to round it up; then a solid brass washer was 
 turned out ij inches in diameter and i inch thick, 
 a hole bored through it that was a driving fit on the 
 piece of steel and was driven down to the shoulder. 
 Washers were cut out of old pieces of belt and put on 
 with a liberal coat of glue on both sides; when the 
 handle was filled, a steel washer which was | inch 
 thick was screwed down hard on the leather washers, 
 and when it had dried well the whole was turned down 
 to size shown in the sketch. Two of these tools were 
 made, 'one for belts up to 1 8 inches, and another that 
 will reach through a 4O-inch belt. The tool shown in 
 
 FIG. 67. 
 
 Fig. 67 is an ordinary heavy screwdriver with the point 
 rounded nicely, and it is used to raise the thin points 
 that the larger tool will sometimes tear. 
 
 Fig. 68 shows a handle made almost like the one in 
 
 FIG. 68. 
 
 Fig. 65, with the exception that the brass washer 
 referred to in Fig. 65 is here turned down to f inch, 
 commencing J inch from the large end, which is i inch 
 in diameter. The leather washers are slipped on over 
 the small part until it is filled, and then a washer is 
 screwed on the small end and the whole turned as shown 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 
 
 75 
 
 in the sketch. A hole that will tap out f inch is bored 
 in the large end of the brass center, and then tools 
 made with threaded ends on them that will fit into it. 
 These tools are made of f-inch tool steel with scraping 
 ends, as shown. These scrapers are used only for 
 removing glue that is too hard and too thick to be 
 removed by the scraper shown in Fig. 69. 
 
 Figs. 69, 6^a and 6()b show views of the only tool 
 
 FIG. 69. 
 
 FIG. 69 a. 
 
 FIG. 69 b. 
 
 that is hardly worth being referred to as a leather-cut- 
 ting tool. It is made of a thin piece of steel, about 18 
 gage, or any old hand-saw will make the very best 
 scrapers that can be secured. They should be about 
 4 inches square, perhaps a little smaller, and fixed in a 
 hardwood handle (usually of hard maple), simply by 
 sawing about i\ inches into the handle and then driving 
 the blade in. The saw cut should be just a trifle thinner 
 than the piece of steel. Should they get loose from use, 
 a piece of paper folded over the back of the blade and 
 forced back into the handle with the blade will usually 
 tighten it all right. 
 
 This is the tool that will ordinarily worry the novice 
 more than all the rest to keep in proper condition. 
 Fig. 70 shows an exaggerated view of how the blade 
 
7 6 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 should look when properly finished. It should be 
 hooked considerably. 
 
 FIG. 70. 
 
 Fig. 71 shows a small steel for sharpening the scraper 
 after it is turned, and it should be absolutely smooth. 
 
 FIG. 71. 
 
 Fig. 72 shows the equipment for turning the edge 
 of the scrapers. A large three-cornered file, about 12 
 
 .72-a 
 
 FIG. 72. 
 
 inches long, which has all the teeth ground carefully 
 off of it and then nicely polished, is fastened to a piece 
 of good clean belt leather by means of the staples 
 shown. 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 77 
 
 Fig. 73 shows the method employed in turning the 
 edge of the scraper, which is as follows: After the blade 
 has been set firmly in the handle, grind the edge round- 
 ing, as is shown in Fig. 69; then grind sharp with a good 
 long taper of about |, and grind from both sides just as 
 you would an ordinary axe. After you have a good 
 smooth edge on it, put it on an oil or water stone and 
 put as fine an edge as possible on it, then put on a 
 smooth piece of leather and hone it down until it 
 would shave you. You will then have a tool that will 
 do a world of work for you, "if you will turn it right." 
 
 FIG. 73. 
 
 The method shown in Fig. 73, if properly carried out, 
 will do the trick for you; the thing to be remembered 
 is that at no time in the turning of the scraper must 
 the cutting edge bear on the smooth file. The first 
 position is not shown right; the handle should be 
 allowed to touch the file the first few times it is passed 
 over, and then gradually raise the handle and keep on 
 passing the blade from side to side, as is shown in Fig. 
 74; allowing it to slip off on the leather every time 
 you cross the file; this is to keep the corners in proper 
 shape. Another thing to remember is to bear down on 
 the blade as it is passed over the file; you can't bear 
 too hard; the only thing to look out for is not to raise 
 
78 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 the handle too fast. An ordinary blade can be turned 
 in about fifty strokes across the file. The edge turned 
 over should be at least T V inch long and should be 
 well hooked, as is shown in Fig. 73. 
 
 i "" " > 
 
 \ \ 74-c +* 
 
 FIG. 74. 
 
 It is well to keep on hand about six of these scrapers, 
 and as they get too dull to cut leather use them on glue. 
 With one good scraper that is not too sharp all the glue 
 can be cleaned off of both points of a 36-inch belt in 
 from five to ten minutes. When the edge gets a trifle 
 dull, use the small steel on both sides of the edge; first 
 wet the steel with the lips, it makes a much better edge. 
 For the benefit of beginners who may attempt to splice 
 a belt for the first time, do not use a glue that will not 
 allow you to remove the clamps and put on the full 
 load in forty-five minutes after the glue has been 
 applied and well rubbed down. The time given here 
 applies only to clean belts that are absolutely free 
 from all oils, and does not include old oil-soaked leather 
 that no glue will ever dry on. 
 
 Fig. 75 shows the equipment necessary to do a good, 
 quick job on a belt, and most of them are required 
 to be done quickly and well. With such an outfit and 
 half-dozen sharp scrapers a joint in a 36-inch belt can 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 
 
 79 
 
 be made and run again in four hours after the engine is 
 stopped. This includes all the time consumed in put- 
 ting on and taking off the clamps, etc. 
 
 / Showing Splicing Board 
 / Suspended from Belt 
 ' Screws by Four Hooks. 
 
 jfj7 
 
 78-c 
 76-U iCS2ar v 76 
 
 FIG. 75. 
 
 The top of the platform, j6d, is level with the bottom 
 of the belt and is held in position by the hooks, j6b, 
 which are shown in Figs. 75 and 76. These hooks slip 
 over the 2X4~inch pieces that project outside the plat- 
 form to which they are attached, and should be made 
 of three-quarter iron and not too long, or some diffi- 
 culty may be experienced in getting them on the two- 
 by-fours. 
 
 FIG. 76. 
 
 The rods should be long enough to take care of the 
 longest possible splice and still give plenty of room to 
 work. There should be about 2j feet between the 
 
8o 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 inside ends of the threads and the threaded end should 
 be 3 feet long. This will make the rod 8 feet 6 inches 
 long, and it will be none too long at that. For instance, 
 in removing the glue from the splice, if the last end 
 point is very close to the clamp, there will be great 
 difficulty in cleaning it and also in fitting the leather 
 after the belt has been shortened. What is meant by 
 
 FIG. 77. 
 
 the head end splice is the one that is on the pulley 
 first the arrows in Figs. 77 and 78 will make this 
 clear: they indicate the direction in which the belt 
 should run; therefore that end of the piece of leather 
 
 O A 
 
 FIG. 78. 
 
 that is on the pulley first is the head end (or first end) 
 and the end that leaves the pulley last is the last end. 
 If the two belts shown in the sketch were reversed, 
 the points would be turned up by everything that 
 touched them; whereas, running in the direction that 
 they do, everything that touches them has a tendency 
 to rub them down. 
 
 We will suppose that the belt shown in Fig. 75 had 
 a "first end" point that opened on the top of the belt 
 instead of the bottom as this one does (see left-hand end 
 of belt between the clamps, on the lower side); one 
 can easily see how hard it would be to work if the clamp 
 were near the point. There should always be enough 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 
 
 81 
 
 room between the clamps to allow the splicer to take 
 the last end (which is always the forked end), carry 
 it entirely over the clamp toward the left in Fig. 75, 
 lay it down on that part of the belt that is outside the 
 clamp and slip an extra splicing board under it. Fasten 
 the two belts and splicing board all together by means 
 of a couple of 8-inch hand-screws (of which every belt 
 splicer should have at least six or eight); then clean 
 and shape it to suit the other end. It can be passed 
 back over the clamp from time to time and tried for a 
 fit. 
 
 3"x 4^"Hard Maple 
 
 -1K-* 
 
 FIG. 79. 
 
 The proper mode of procedure in splicing a belt on 
 the pulleys is as follows: Decide on where the belt is 
 to be opened, and always open it in the worst place 
 in the belt for that is the place you certainly want to 
 fix. Pay no attention whatever to any former splicing 
 place that may be in the belt, but take it apart at any 
 place where you are sure repairs are actually necessary. 
 First put in the most convenient place possible the 
 point that you have decided to open and then put the 
 
82 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 clamps in position. If you are sure that it is going to 
 require very hard pulling to get it as tight as you wish, 
 take a damp cloth, moisten the inside of the clamps 
 and then sprinkle powdered resin on both upper and 
 lower clamp. Put the " first end" clamp on first, as 
 this is always the easiest point to clean and fit; decide 
 how much you will have to take out, or as near as 
 possible, measure off this amount on the belt and place 
 the clamp this distance plus about 10 inches from the 
 " first end" point. This extra 10 inches will give 
 you plenty of room to clean the glue off and also to 
 shorten up the belt the right amount, for all the shorten- 
 ing must be done on the "first end" point on account 
 of the ease with which the new scarf can be made. 
 
 Should you try to shorten up from the "last end" 
 point, by referring to Fig. 78, you can easily see the 
 amount of work you would be in for. There would be 
 two thin ends to scarf, and outside ends at that; where- 
 as if you shorten up from the "first end" you make only 
 one thin end and that one in the inside of the belt. 
 
 The first clamp, with the center mark of the clamp 
 coinciding with the center of the belt, should be very 
 tight; for should it slip when the load is put on, it will 
 very probably slip in the middle of the belt and may 
 not slip on the edges at all. Should you glue it in this 
 condition, the chances are very much in favor of the 
 outside edges giving away on a heavy load, due to the 
 middle being too long. After the first clamp is in 
 position and tightened, put on the second one and 
 leave the bolts loose, so that it can be slipped easily. 
 Then put the belt rods in position with just a "full 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 83 
 
 nut" on each end and tighten the clamp. Tighten the 
 rods enough to take most of the load, then get the large 
 splitter shown in Figs. 65 and 66 and open the joint. 
 The place to commence is between X X in Fig. 75; 
 this inclined point is about 4 inches long and must be 
 opened at both ends of the splice before the middle is 
 touched. 
 
 The tool should be entered at O, in Fig. 78, and 
 worked gradually toward A; when the point is raised 
 to A clear across the belt, open on down to C. After 
 both ends of the splice have been opened up in this way, 
 proceed to open the middle, which is now an easy task, 
 there being no thin stock that a separating tool will 
 pass through easily. After the belt is entirely apart 
 tighten up on the rods until the belt is the proper 
 tension and hang the hooks (76b, Fig. 75) on the belt 
 rods. Throw the two ends of the belt back over the 
 clamp and put the splicing board in position. After 
 this is in place, throw the two ends of the belt back on 
 the board and proceed to lay off the scarfs. To do 
 this, first take a square and get the two thin points 
 perfectly square, then put the "first end" point in 
 between them. This is shown very clearly in Fig. 77, 
 the shaded end being the last end. Of course the "first 
 end" point at C, Fig. 77, will have to be cut of? before 
 the belt will lie down properly; the amount to cut off 
 of this end will be just as much as you have shortened 
 the distance between the clamps. After the point has 
 been cut to the right length, take the square and make 
 a mark across the belt, using the end of the thin point 
 as your measure for length; then without moving the 
 
84 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 belt make a mark on the edge of the belt, showing just 
 where the lower thin point came on the bottom. 
 Throw the "last end" over the left-hand clamp out of 
 the way and scarf down the top of the "first end" 
 point, letting the scarf be about 4 inches long. Be 
 careful not to gouge a hole in the belt where the scarf 
 is started, but try to make the inclined plane from X 
 to X perfect; try to keep the whole surface of this 
 incline true and straight. After the short 4-inch scarf 
 is finished, clean the glue off of the inside of the "first 
 end"; lap up to where it enters the " last end"; then 
 turn it over by bringing it over the right-hand clamp, 
 place a scarfing board under it and make the scarf 
 shown at T, Fig. 75. Now clean all glue off the "last 
 end" lap and take a sharp scraper like the one shown 
 in Fig. 69 or 6^,b, place a piece of glass under the 
 points that have been previously squared up, and 
 scarf them down to a knife-edge. 
 
 After the thin points are properly scarfed, lay the 
 whole splice back on the splicing board just as it will 
 be when it is glued, and do any fitting that may be 
 necessary. Be very careful to get it thin enough, or it 
 will make a hammering noise when going over the pul- 
 leys. When scarfing down the thin points with the 
 scrapers, be sure that they are very sharp; if not, 
 they will tear the point off when it gets down to an 
 edge; also give the blade a drawing motion in order 
 to facilitate cutting. It may seem to the novice that 
 to use a piece of glass to scarf on, when one is using a 
 tool with a razor edge, is a trifle inconsistent, but it is 
 not so in the least ; if the blade is held well back at the 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 85 
 
 top and a considerable pressure applied to it, there will 
 be no danger in the edge actually touching the glass; 
 the edge is turned past a right-angular position, or 
 hooked, and the heel is all that touches the glass. A 
 good piece of plate glass about 12X18 inches is large 
 enough for any width of belt, although a piece much 
 smaller will do all right. Do not attempt to do any 
 scarfing on the board y6d, for if you do it will be so full 
 of holes that have been gouged by the scraper that it 
 will be ruined for any purpose. 
 
 This board must be kept smooth in order to be able 
 to do a good job of rubbing down when gluing. Never 
 hammer a glue joint in order to set it; it is just that 
 much unnecessary work and does absolutely no good; 
 simply get a smooth block of wood 2X6x8 inches and 
 rub hard and fast as soon as the glue is applied. Do 
 not try to glue more than 6 inches in length at one time. 
 Use a heavy brush a high-priced paint brush is the 
 best; the regular glue brush is about the only thing in 
 existence that will not put on any glue at all about 
 a 3-inch brush is the thing; have the glue just as hot 
 as it is possible to get it. Keep the brush in the pot all 
 the time the glue is heating; also have a strong stick 
 made somewhat like a three-cornered file, only larger, 
 in the glue this last is used to scrape off the brush 
 all the glue that it is possible to get off without allowing 
 the glue to get too cold. When you take the brush out 
 of the pot, work fast; get all the glue possible off the 
 brush and get the rest on the belt at once. Make two 
 or three fast strokes across the belt and close down the 
 splice and rub for dear life. After the first brushful 
 
86 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 has been applied (and rubbed for about two minutes), 
 have an assistant raise the point up until you can see 
 the glue breaking all across the whole width of the belt. 
 Then have a second brush ready and repeat the former 
 process, with the exception that you need not apply 
 the glue to both sides of the leather as in the first case; 
 for if you will keep the brush down in the fork between 
 the two laps you will give both sides a coat, and in 
 addition to the time saved by using this method you 
 will get the joint closed while the glue is hot. As fast 
 as you go across the belt with the brush, have the 
 assistant roll the belt together after you; when you 
 have used all the glue out of the brush, the joint is 
 closed and ready to rub. You will keep the glue much 
 hotter by immediately closing the splice after the 
 brush, and there is nothing else so important as using 
 hot glue; as soon as it commences to get shiny on the 
 surface the thing is all off and it will not hold anything. 
 You cannot do any quick work with water in your 
 glue that is,, unless it is old and has been heated up 
 several times. If this is the case, it will have to be 
 thinned with water. The proper consistency is about 
 that of a very heavy grade of cylinder oil ; if it is too 
 thin, it will not dry in any reasonable time and it will 
 also cause pockets in the splice by opening up after the 
 joint has been rubbed, and the air in the pockets will 
 open the whole splice. In important work never use a 
 glue that will not stick so tightly between every ap- 
 plication belt that after rubbing down you can give it 
 a good, hard pull without its opening up. In all state- 
 ments regarding the time necessary for the joint to dry, 
 
SPLICING LEATHER BELTS 87 
 
 the belts are considered absolutely clean, dry and free 
 from all oils. 
 
 The most disagreeable portion ot the belt repairer's 
 work is the splicing and repairing of oil-soaked belts. 
 It is a well-known fact that the action of oil and that 
 of glue are in direct opposition to each other: the oil 
 prevents sticking and the glue sticks, if it has a chance. 
 Such being the case, the first thing to do is to eliminate 
 the oil completely, and the efficiency of your joint will 
 be in direct proportion to your success in getting rid 
 of the oil. To this end secure a large gasoline blow 
 torch, such as painters use to burn off old paint. If 
 you are not used to it, be very careful; at all events, 
 have a bucket of dry sand to use in case of trouble. 
 Just throw the sand on the fire and the fire will go out 
 - that is, if you can get the sand in the right place. 
 
 The torch is to be used after the splice has been all 
 completed except the thin points. The flame will burn 
 them if finished, so leave them tolerably thick until 
 after the oil has been removed; then finish them as 
 directed before. When the scarfs have been made and 
 the old glue has been removed, turn the flame (which 
 should be an almost invisible blue if the torch is work- 
 ing properly) directly on the leather and move it 
 over all the surface of the splice until the leather has 
 become thoroughly heated; never allow the flame 
 to remain directed at any point long enough to make 
 the oil in the leather boil. If you do, the belt is burned. 
 Continue to move the flame over the surface of the belt 
 until the leather is so hot that the hand can scarcely 
 be held on it. With one of the scrapers shown in Figs. 
 
88 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 69 and (k)b (6cjb preferred) scrape the oil off as the 
 heat raises it up. Turn the cutting edge of the scraper 
 up and wipe the oil off after every stroke; keep the 
 scraping process going right on after the torch; never 
 allow the leather to cool off until you can get practi- 
 cally no oil and the leather begins to turn brown. By 
 heating the leather and bringing the oil to the surface 
 you do just what the glue does when you put it on an 
 oil-soaked belt without removing the oil. By means of 
 the heat contained in it, it brings up all the oil near 
 the surface to which it is applied and in consequence 
 does not take any hold on the leather. 
 
 It will take two men with all the necessary tools and 
 appliances at least six hours of good hard work to 
 remove the oil from a well-soaked 36-inch belt that 
 is, to remove it to an extent sufficient to warrant the 
 gluing of it. 
 
 In case of overflows in which the wheel pits are liable 
 to be filled with water, pour cylinder oil on all belts 
 that are liable to get wet and then remove them from 
 pulleys if they will be covered for more than twenty- 
 four hours, clean them with gasoline and they will be 
 found to be all right and dry. 
 
 Hold a clean piece of waste against all belts at least 
 twice every twenty hours, and wipe them clean. 
 
IX 
 
 THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF 
 LEATHER BELTS 1 
 
 OUTSIDE of the direct care and management of high- 
 pressure boilers and the steam lines pertaining thereto, 
 there is no other part of a power or lighting plant, mill 
 or factory in which a large number of indirect connected 
 machines are used that is of such vital importance as 
 leather belting and rope drives. The subject under dis- 
 cussion in this chapter will be the former, and the selec- 
 tion, care and management thereof. 
 
 The first thing in order will be the selection of a 
 leather belt, and when we consider that all makers make 
 good belts, that there are no particular secrets in the 
 belt-making business, and that in order to get the very 
 best we must take every advantage of all small details 
 in construction, it stands every engineer and belt user 
 in hand to get all the information available; for we 
 must remember that the percentage of good hides 
 does not run very high, that all that are bought go into 
 belt stock of some kind or other, and that some one 
 must buy the goods that are not quite up to the 
 standard of belt excellence. It is very evident that no 
 man wants anything but the best when he is paying 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Walter E. Dixon, M. E. 
 89 
 
9 o SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 for the best, and it is also evident that no maker is 
 going to say that he makes inferior goods; so therefore 
 .we must read the quality by what is in sight, and in 
 the judging of leather that is already made up, the 
 proposition resolves itself into a very hard one. 
 
 The two principal things left for an opinion to be 
 based upon as to quality are the relation the pieces 
 that constitute the laps bear to the hide from which 
 they were cut. They should, in belts running from 
 1 8 to 36 inches, be cut from the center of the hides, or 
 should be what is known as "center stock." Of course 
 all belts should be "center stock," but where they are 
 very narrow or so wide that one hide will not be wide 
 enough to make a lap, then there is always a lot of 
 narrow stock worked in that cannot always be strictly 
 center. The next thing to look out for is brands that 
 are so deep that they destroy the life of the leather and 
 will cause it to break after being used. Then look out 
 for the length of lap. If this is too long, you will know 
 that it runs into the neck, for about all that it is possible 
 to get out of average hides and still leave nothing in 
 that is not first class is 54 or 56 inches. Ordinarily, 
 you can tell if a lap is "center stock" by the marks that 
 run down either side of the back bone; they will be 
 usually a little darker than the rest of the belt. These 
 marks or streaks should be in the center of the belt. 
 The principal objection to neck leather is that it is 
 liable to stretch excessively, and on this account it will 
 put too much load on the piece immediately opposite 
 it in a double-ply belt; for the point of one side is in the 
 middle of the lap on the other side. Next look out for 
 
MANAGEMENT OF LEATHER BELTS 91 
 
 holes, which will usually be found so nicely plugged 
 as to escape detection unless subjected to the most care- 
 ful examination. 
 
 Next in importance is to buy a belt that has already 
 been filled with some good waterproof dressing. It is 
 quite likely that to buy a belt that has been filled means 
 to buy one that perhaps has some bad leather in it that 
 would be seen in a dry oak tan belt, and also that the 
 adhesive power of the filled belt is not quite equal to 
 the dry one; but the points that the filled one possesses 
 over the one not filled are, first and mainly, "it is filled 
 when you buy it with a preparation that does not 
 injure the leather in the least," and the preparation 
 you will fill it with, for it will be filled, will be engine 
 oil and water, a combination that will ruin any belt 
 made and also get it in six months into a condition 
 that will make a permanent repair with glue impossible, 
 for machine oil and moisture are strangers to glue and 
 will ever be. More good belts are ruined by being 
 soaked with engine oil until the points come loose and 
 then pulled out of shape than from any other cause. Of 
 course you may be able to keep a main engine belt that 
 runs through a damp wheel pit and basement, and 
 through a long damp tunnel to a main driven pulley 
 that has two big boxes that are just as close to the 
 pulley as a first-class machine designer could put them, 
 and never get a drop of oil or water on it. But this is 
 not likely. 
 
 One very common cause of trouble with engine belts 
 is the fact that such belts usually run under the floor, 
 where there is considerable moisture. Then the oil 
 
92 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 table under the average large Corliss engine will leak 
 around dash-pots and rocker-arm shafts, and some oil 
 will fly from the eccentric oil cups, get into the wheel, 
 run around the rim and get to the belt; if the belt is 
 not filled a very few drops of oil will make a large spot 
 on it. Then, if an engine does not run the whole 
 twenty-four hours, while it is off, watch. A few drops 
 of water from a leaky valve stem whose bonnet drain is 
 stopped up, as it will sometimes be, has a way of getting 
 through the floor and falling on to the belt and running 
 down the inclined inside of it until it finally comes 
 to the flywheel, which, with the assistance of its crown- 
 ing face, very kindly makes a nice pocket for said water 
 and proceeds to drink it up. Result: the glue is 
 loosened and the belt may come apart in consequence. 
 Should there chance to be a point just at the bottom 
 of this pocket, it will get the glue soft enough to slip 
 but may not open up, which is much worse than if it 
 did open up; for it may slip away from the shoulder 
 of the splice for half an inch, and when the engine 
 is put to work it may close down by running under the 
 wheel and stick. IIP it does, the result is that at no 
 very distant day you will find a break at that particular 
 place, right across the face of the belt. The reason is 
 that the load was all taken off the inside half of the 
 belt by point slipping, thereby making the inside of the 
 belt too long and putting all the load on the outside. 
 The outside will continue to do all the work until it 
 stretches enough to bring the inside back into service 
 again. During this week or month you have been 
 pulling your load with a single belt, not a double one, 
 
MANAGEMENT OF LEATHER BELTS 93 
 
 and after a short time you will find the break referred 
 to above in the shape of a clean, well-defined crack 
 extending across the belt parallel with the points of 
 the laps. Now of course you are going to send for the 
 man who sold you the belt and ask him to fix it. If he 
 is a wise man and understands his business, he won't 
 do a thing but show you right under that crack a point 
 that does not come up to where it should come. Then 
 the thing for you to do is to say to him that the belt is 
 examined every time it is put into service and that you 
 have noticed that the points he refers to all come loose 
 during a "run," that anyone knows that a few drops 
 of water would not take any belt to pieces while it 
 was running, and if it was water, why did it not take 
 it apart everywhere, etc? And finally crush him com- 
 pletely by telling him that your men have no time to put 
 a pair of clamps on a belt in order to pull back into its 
 proper position every point that comes loose; that if 
 theyclid do it they would have no time for anything else, 
 especially in the present case, and that if his people 
 had made the belt right the glue would have held, any- 
 way. 
 
 After he has given you a new belt or repaired your 
 old one, just take my advice and box that flywheel up 
 above the top of the eccentric oil cup, at least 12 inches, 
 and get some good, heavy tin or zinc and put a tight 
 roof over the belt, under the floor. 
 
 First put in a ridge pole out of i^-inch pipe, starting 
 at the face of the wheel and running in the direction of 
 the main driven pulley, holding it firmly in place at 
 each end with a strong iron clamp. Then solder into 
 
94 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 each edge of the strip of tin, which should be long 
 enough to reach beyond any possible leak through the 
 floor or oil table, a piece of ^-inch pipe, and put the tin 
 over the ridge pole with a piece of small pipe on either 
 side. Ordinarily the belt goes out past the cylinder; 
 if it runs through a bricked-up runway on its route 
 to the main driven pulley, just fasten the two pieces 
 of ^-inch pipe to either wall and have the ridge about 6 
 inches higher than the outside ones. Then every drop 
 of oil or water that comes through the floor will fall 
 on to the roof and run down to the walls and be carried 
 down to the floor of the pit and have no chance to 
 touch the belt. 
 
 One of the most difficult things in the operation of 
 large stations where a large number of belts are used is 
 to keep them thoroughly clean and free from moisture 
 and machine oil, the latter especially. One very hard 
 problem that confronts all designers of machinery is 
 the prevention of oil leakage from boxes. In several 
 plants with as many as six dynamos of the same kind 
 and the same design, at least four of the six have leaked 
 oil every time they were run. The others did not leak 
 as a usual thing, and all were equipped with the most 
 modern methods of holding oil. 
 
 Now we come to the building of the belt, and we will 
 notice only such points as interest the engineer or buyer. 
 The first thing is to see that the laps are of uniform 
 thickness, so that the belt will run quietly; and it 
 should be absolutely straight when unrolled on the floor. 
 If it has a long, graceful curve in it, look out; for it will 
 not run straight on the pulleys until it has stretched 
 
MANAGEMENT OF LEATHER BELTS 95 
 
 straight, and by that time one of its edges may be 
 ruined by coming in contact with the floor or some 
 other obstacle. Next notice how long the leather is 
 from which it is made. It should not show more than 
 52 inches, and then there will be 4 inches hidden by 
 the point that is out of sight. Then see that the joints 
 are broken properly. For instance, find the center of 
 any piece of leather on one side of the belt, and then 
 look on the opposite side and see if the joint is right 
 under your center mark. It should be by all means, 
 for right here lies the most important thing about the 
 construction of leather belts. A belt whose laps are 
 all the same length, and which has all its joints broken 
 correctly, will put the same load on the glue through- 
 out, and that is what must be done in order to get 
 the best results. See Fig. 80. Here we have a belt 
 
 FIG. 80. 
 
 that is 36 inches in width and a double ply. Now 
 suppose there is a draft of 9360 pounds on this belt, 
 that from point A to point B is 26 inches, and that 
 the points are 4 inches long. Now we have 26 inches 
 plus 4 inches plus 4 inches times 36 inches for the 
 number of square inches in the glued joint. This 
 equals 1224 square inches; the total pull on the belt 
 divided by 1224 will equal the load on each square 
 inch of glued joint, and will equal in this case 7.65 
 
96 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 pounds. Now instead of assuming distance A B 
 in Fig. 80 to be 26 inches, let the lower joint get out 
 of step with the upper ones, and conditions get vastly 
 different. We will suppose that the dimensions are as 
 given in Fig. 81, as was the case with a new belt that 
 was measured less than one month before the observa- 
 tion was made and we have the following: Joint A B 
 is now only 10 inches, and we have 10 inches plus 4 
 inches plus 4 inches times 36 inches which equals 648 
 square inches, and the lead on the joint is now 14.44 
 pounds. You will readily perceive what an important 
 
 FIG. Si. 
 
 part in the life of the belt, and the life of everything 
 around the belt as far as that goes, the proper breaking 
 of the upper and lower joints is. Of course the belt 
 maker will tell you that his glue is just as strong as the 
 leather itself, and he is about right as long as you keep 
 the belt free from oil and water; but when the belt be- 
 comes filled with oil the glue rots and loses its strength 
 much faster than does the leather. 
 
 No good belt needs any posts along the sides to make 
 it run straight and stay on the pulleys. If the pulleys 
 are in line and the belt straight, it will run straight. 
 All belts should be made to run perfectly straight on 
 pulleys, first on account of the local advertisement 
 that it gives to the man who has charge of them; 
 
MANAGEMENT OF LEATHER BELTS 97 
 
 second, if they do not run true, they will be on the floor 
 or wrapped around the shaft in a very few minutes, 
 should they ever slip. Another very important thing in 
 the care of belts that carry heavy loads is that if any of 
 the points do come loose so far back that they will not 
 return to place without putting on the clamps, put them 
 on by all means; as the restoring of this point to place 
 means that you will still retain in service all of your 
 belt, as you will not do if you glue it down where it is 
 and thereby cut one side completely out of service. 
 
 How TO CLEAN BELTING 
 
 We submit the following as the best and proper way 
 of cleaning a leather belt. It may seem simple, but it 
 is safe and effective, as has been proved by many people 
 who have thus restored old and dirty belting which 
 had become almost or quite unfit for use. 
 
 Coil the belt loosely and place it on edge in a tank 
 in which it may be covered with naphtha ; a half barrel 
 makes a good receptacle, but something with a tight 
 cover would save the loss by evaporation. Put in 
 enough naphtha to cover the belt completely and allow 
 it to remain for ten or twelve hours; then turn the belt 
 over, standing it upon the other edge. The vertical 
 position of the belt surfaces allows the dirt to settle 
 to the bottom of the receptacle as it is washed out, 
 and permits naphtha to get at all the parts. 
 
 After the belt has remained in the naphtha another 
 ten or twelve hours, or until sufficiently clean, raise it 
 and allow the naphtha to drip back into the tank. Then 
 lay the belt flat, stretching or shaking it until almost 
 
98 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 dry. You will find that the naphtha will not affect the 
 leather nor the cement in the center of the belt, but may 
 open the joints at the edges; in which case the old 
 cement should be scraped off and the edges recemented. 
 Your belt man will know how to do this. The belt will 
 now be somewhat hard, and should be treated with a 
 reliable belt dressing before being replaced on the 
 pulleys. 
 
BELTING, ITS USE AND ABUSE 1 
 
 THERE is no class of appliances so little understood 
 by the ordinary steam engineer and steam user as belts, 
 which may be seen by the quantity of belting sold an- 
 nually. Where one can point to a belt that has been in 
 continuous use for twenty years, you can find hundreds 
 that do not last one-fourth as long. Why? Not always 
 because the buyer has tried to get something for noth- 
 ing, but as a rule, when they do, they get nothing for 
 something. 
 
 The average belt is a poor one, and the average 
 buyer will not find it out till he has used it for some 
 time. If you weigh the belt dealer up as a man who 
 is trying to rob you, beat him down in price, then get 
 him to give from 5 to 40 per cent, off, he will enter 
 a protest, and, after some explanation, will come to 
 some terms with you. Have you gained anything by 
 your cleverness? Well, hardly. Belt dealers and 
 makers, like almost all other dealers in supplies, aim 
 to get nothing but first-class goods; but second and 
 third, and even fourth-class goods, are made, and you 
 get the quality you pay for. In the second place, belts 
 wear out quickly because they do not get proper care. 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Wm. H. McBarnes. 
 99 
 
100 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 To let a belt run one moment after it gets too slack 
 is bad practice, for it is apt to slip and burn all the 
 staying qualities out of it. Another good reason why 
 it should not be run slack is that the engineer or belt 
 man, to save work, would be tempted to put on a dress- 
 ing or, worse yet, put on resin to make it pull, and, in 
 the language of Rex, "the man who will put resin on 
 his belts is either a fool or a knave/' for it is sure to 
 spoil his belt if continued for any length of time. 
 
 In an emergency, as when some unforeseen substance 
 has found its way to the belt, it may be necessary, to 
 keep from shutting down between hours, to use some 
 of the so-called dressing. We know from experience 
 that engineers will go to almost any extreme to get out 
 of a tight place circumstances sometimes make it 
 necessary to keep a belt running when it should not 
 but this should not be allowed to any extent. To allow 
 a belt to run too tight is just as bad, for it will make 
 short life for the belt, hot boxes and scored shafting. 
 There is not one in twenty who takes the time or can 
 splice a belt properly; it is generally done in a hurry, 
 any way to make it hold together, with the understand- 
 ing that it cannot talk; but it does. How often we see 
 boards nailed up or rims tacked on to keep belts from 
 getting off the pulleys. All of this is good for the belt 
 dealers. 
 
 This is not all the fault of the engineer or the belt 
 manufacturer. Often belts are made uneven, and soon 
 get out of shape, even with the best of care. We some- 
 times find a belt that ordinarily runs easy on the pulleys 
 and does its work with ease suddenly inclined to run 
 
BELTING ITS USE AND ABUSE IQI 
 
 to either one side or the other of the driven pulley. 
 This is caused by one of two things either the belt 
 has been too slack, or the load increased for want of 
 lubrication, or other causes. In either case it will run 
 off if you insist on applying the power. The remedy 
 would be to take up the belt, thoroughly oil the journals, 
 or take off the extra load maybe a combination of 
 all. Still a little extra work making the belt tighter 
 will enable it to run well and do the extra work just as 
 long as the extra tension can be maintained. Then it 
 may appear perplexing and run" to one side of the driven 
 pulley when the driven shaft gets out of line with the 
 driving shaft. In a case of this kind the belt does not 
 run to what is called the high side of the pulley, but 
 to the low side. Another peculiar indication: If two 
 shafts are parallel and there is a high place on the 
 pulley, then a belt will run to the high place; but if 
 the shafts are out of line, or, in other words, are not 
 parallel, and the face of the pulley straight, then the 
 belt will run to the low side or that closest to the 
 driving shaft. The remedy would be to line up your 
 shafting. 
 
 The object of this chapter is not to say how belts 
 are made, but to impress upon the minds of belt users 
 that to get the best results, belts, like all good servants, 
 must be well cared for, and all responsibility should 
 rest with one man, just as with your engine or any 
 high-priced machine. 
 
XI 
 
 A COMPARATIVE TEST OF FOUR BELT 
 DRESSINGS 1 
 
 DURING January, 1905, a comparative test of the 
 working efficiency of four belt dressings and preserva- 
 tives was made by T. Farmer, Jr., and the writer. The 
 test was made on the regular belt-testing machine of 
 Sibley College, Cornell University, a full description of 
 which appeared on pages 705-707 of Vol. 12, Trans. 
 A. S. M. E. This machine tests the belt under actual 
 running conditions, though our belts were in somewhat 
 better than average condition. The four belts were 
 new 4-inch Alexander No. I oak-tanned single-ply, 
 and were 30 feet long. Particular care was taken to 
 keep them free from oil and dirt. The belts were first 
 tested as received from the manufacturer, after which 
 each belt was treated with one of the dressings and 
 again tested. 
 
 The dressings were two semi-solids, designated No. i 
 and No. 2; a bar, No. 3, and neatsfoot oil, No. 4. 
 As the first three are proprietary articles, it was not 
 thought best to give their names, though any one 
 familiar with the actions of belt dressings will readily 
 recognize No. i from its peculiar curve. In applying 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by William Evans. 
 I O2 
 
TEST OF FOUR BELT DRESSINGS 
 
 103 
 
 the dressings, we followed directions carefully, and in 
 the case of Nos. 2 and 3 exceeded them. The belt was 
 given a five-hour run, during which two or three appli- 
 cations of the dressing were given, and then it was set 
 aside in a warm place to allow it to absorb the applied 
 dressing. After thus "soaking" for at least forty-eight 
 hours, the belt was again run, this time for three hours, 
 with one more application of the dressing. As No. 3 
 was a bar of sticky dressing, it will readily be seen that 
 this precaution was not really necessary. No. 4, the 
 neatsfoot oil, was not applied during the last run, as 
 we were afraid of getting too much oil in the belt. As 
 this oil is so extensively used by engineers for dressing 
 belts, special care was taken to get the best possible 
 results with it. 
 
 I 
 
 Neatsfoot Oil Belt 
 
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 XJ 
 
 
 
 
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 Fi 
 
 
 
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 (0 
 
 
 
 In Fig. 82, the result of the test with the neatsfoot 
 oil is shown graphically. This curve is platted to show 
 the relation between initial tension per inch of width 
 and horse-power per inch of width. One reason for the 
 drop in horse-power in the treated belt is that the slip 
 
104 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 was materially increased; in the lowest tension at which 
 any power at all was transmitted, about 15 pounds 
 per inch of width, the slip ran up as high as 25 per cent. 
 
 Summation Sheet 
 
 FIG. 83. 
 
 In Fig. 83, which shows the comparative value of the 
 four dressings, the highest horse-power delivered to the 
 belt was taken as the standard. The horse-power 
 delivered by the belt was divided by this standard, 
 and the result, expressed in percentage, was used as the 
 percentage of available horse-power transmitted. This 
 comparison shows the great superiority of dressing No. 
 i at all times, and especially at low tensions. In look- 
 ing at this chart, it is well to remember that No. 3 is a 
 sticky dressing. 
 
 As the time of the test was so short, we were unable 
 to determine the ultimate effect of the dressings on the 
 leather of the belts. We could only approximate this 
 by a chemical test and a close examination of the belts 
 at the end of each test. The chemical analysis showed 
 
TEST OF FOUR BELT DRESSINGS 105 
 
 no ammonia or rosin in any of the dressings; No. 2 had 
 a trace of mineral acid, and all had oleic acid as 
 follows: No. i, 0.27 per cent; No. 2, 29.85 per cent; 
 No. 3, 3.5 per cent; No. 4, 0.7 per cent. 
 
 The practical test showed no ill effects except from 
 No. 3, the sticky dressing, which ripped and tore the 
 surface of the belt. The high initial tensions caused 
 overheating of the journals, even though we kept them 
 flooded with oil. On the low initial tensions there was 
 no tendency to heat, even when the maximum horse- 
 power was being transmitted by dressing No. i. In 
 the latter case we oiled the bearings once in every two 
 or three runs (a "run" comprised all the readings for 
 one initial tension), while in the former we oiled the 
 bearings after each reading and sometimes between 
 them; even then we were afraid that the babbitt would 
 get hot enough to run. The readings for each run 
 varied in number from two to a dozen, but only the 
 one giving the maximum horse-power was used in draw- 
 ing the curves. The belt speeds during the tests varied 
 between 2000 and 2500 feet per minute, most of the 
 tests being made at about 2200 feet per minute. 
 
XII 
 
 BELT CREEP 
 
 THE question of the minimum amount of slip of a belt 
 in transmitting power from one pulley to another 
 reduces itself to a qestion of creep, for it is possible to 
 have belts large enough so that with proper tensions 
 there will be no regular slip. With a difference in ten- 
 sion on the two sides and of elasticity in the belt, creep, 
 however, is bound to take place. What does it amount 
 to and what allowance should be made for it? asks 
 Prof. Wm. W. Bird of the Worcester Polytechnic 
 Institute in his paper under the above title. 
 
 FIG. 84, 
 
 In Fig. 84 let A be the driver and B the driven, T l 
 the tension in the tight side of the belt and T 2 in the 
 slack side, the pulleys and belt running in the direction 
 indicated. One inch of slack belt goes on to the 
 pulley B at o; at or before the point p it feels the effect 
 of increased tension and stretches to i + 5 inches. 
 
 1 06 
 
BELT CREEP 107 
 
 It now travels from p to m and goes on to pulley A 
 while stretched. At or before reaching the point n, 
 as the tension decreases, it contracts to one inch and 
 so completes the cycle. 
 
 With a light load the belt creeps ahead of the pulley 
 B at or near the point p. If the load is heavy, the creep 
 works towards the point o and the belt may slip; this 
 also takes place when the belt tensions are too light 
 even with small loads. 
 
 The point may be easily appreciated by imagining 
 the belt to be of elastic rubber. Professor Bird gives 
 formulas for calculating the creep, and tests made at the 
 Polytechnic to determine the modulus of elasticity. 
 He concludes that the answer to his opening question 
 is that for the common leather belt running under ordi- 
 nary conditions the creep should not exceed one per 
 cent. While this is sometimes called legitimate slip, 
 it is an actual loss of power and cannot be avoided by 
 belt tighteners or patent pulley coverings. 
 
 The smooth or finished side should go next to the 
 pulley because the actual area of contact is greater than 
 when the rough side is in contact; consequently, the 
 adhesion due to friction is greater. Moreover, the 
 smooth side has less tensile strength than the rough side, 
 so that any wear on that side will weaken the belt less 
 than wear on the other side would. 
 
XIII 
 
 ROPE DRIVES 1 
 
 THERE seems to be considerable difference in opinion 
 regarding the various ways of applying rope to the 
 sheaves in rope driving, viz., multiple- or separate-rope 
 system, continuous-wrap or single-rope system with the 
 rope from one of the grooves running on a traveling 
 take-up device, continuous-wrap or single-rope system 
 with the take-up working directly on all the wraps. 
 
 FIG. 85. 
 
 The multiple- or separate-rope system on a horizontal 
 drive where the distance between centers is great 
 enough so that the weight of the rope will give the 
 required tension, having the tight or pulling part on 
 the lower side and the sheaves of the same diameter, as 
 in Fig. 85, should be very satisfactory, as old or worn 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by R. Hoyt. 
 1 08 
 
ROPE DRIVES 
 
 109 
 
 ropes may be replaced by new ones of larger diameter, 
 or some of the ropes may be tighter than others and still 
 not alter the efficiency of the drive. It will be noticed 
 in this case that a larger rope does not alter the pro- 
 portional pitch diameters of the rope on the driving and 
 driven sheaves ; but if one of the sheaves is larger than 
 the other, as in Figs. 86 and 87, and a new or larger 
 
 FIG. 86. 
 
 FIG. 87. 
 
 rope is substituted for a worn or smaller one, or if some 
 of the ropes are a great deal tighter than others, a 
 differential action will be produced on the ropes owing 
 to the fact that the larger or slack rope will not go as 
 deeply into its grooves as the smaller or tight one. 
 
HO SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC- 
 
 Consequently the proportionate pitch diameter on the 
 rope on the driver and driven sheave will be changed. 
 The action will depend upon whether the large or the 
 small sheave is the driver. If the driver is the larger, 
 and of course assuming that the slack or large rope is 
 weaker than the combined tight or smaller ones, then 
 it will have less strain on the pulling side; but if the 
 driver is smaller, then the new or large rope will have 
 greater strain on the pulling side. Whether the driver 
 is larger or smaller, a large or slack rope affects the 
 action oppositely to a small or tight rope. Fig. 87 
 shows how the action is reversed from Fig. 86. 
 
 For clearness we will exaggerate the differences in 
 diameter in the sketches and figure the speeds that 
 the different size ropes would produce. We will take 
 A as normal, B i inch farther out of the groove, pro- 
 ducing a difference in diameter of 2 inches; C i inch 
 deeper in the groove, producing a difference in diameter 
 of 2 inches. In Fig. 85 assume for the normal diameter 
 of driver and driven 40 inches, 42 inches for B and 
 38 inches for C, with a speed of 200 revolutions per 
 minute for the driver. Either A, B or C will give 
 200 revolutions per minute for the driven sheave, 
 omitting slippage, of course. In Fig. 86 say the normal 
 diameter of the driver for rope A is 60 inches and of the 
 driven 30 inches, a speed of the driver of 200 revolutions 
 per minute will give the driven sheave a speed of 400 
 revolutions per minute; B, with the driver 62 inches 
 and the driven sheave 32 inches diameter, will give 
 the latter a velocity of 387! revolutions per minute. 
 With C the driver is 58 inches, the driven 28 inches, and 
 
ROPE DRIVES in 
 
 the speed given the latter 414! revolutions per minute. 
 In Fig. 87, the normal diameter of the driving sheave 
 being 30 inches and the driven 60 inches, a speed of the 
 driver of 200 revolutions per minute will give a speed 
 of the driven member of 100 revolutions per minute. 
 With B, if the driver is 32 and the driven 62 inches, 
 the driven sheave will have a speed of io3/ T revolutions 
 per minute; C, with the driver 28 inches and the driven 
 sheave 58 inches, will give the latter a speed of 96^! 
 revolutions per minute. So it will be readily seen what 
 effect a large or a small rope would have. 
 
 There are some who claim that slack ropes will trans- 
 mit more power owing to more wrap on the sheaves, 
 while others claim that tight ropes are better. If a 
 drive with all the ropes slack gave trouble by the ropes 
 slipping, the first remedy tried would be tightening the 
 ropes. But if the conditions were like Fig. 87, it would 
 not be particularly harmful to have some of the ropes 
 
 FIG. 
 
 longer than others; in fact, it might be well, as the 
 longer ropes would not make a complete circuit as 
 quickly as the shorter ones; consequently the position 
 of the splices would be continually changing. However, 
 it seems more natural to have about the same pull on 
 all the ropes, that is, not have them as shown in Fig. 88. 
 
112 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 In conclusion for the system, it should be noted that 
 it has no means of tightening the ropes except by re- 
 splicing; it is not as well adapted to various condi- 
 tions as the other forms; it is the cheapest form to 
 install and in some cases should give excellent satis- 
 faction. 
 
 With the continuous-wrap system having the rope 
 from one of the grooves pass over a traveling take-up, 
 the latter has a tendency to produce an unequal strain 
 in the rope. In taking up, or letting out, the rope must 
 either slide around the grooves, or the strands having 
 the greatest pull will wedge themselves deeper into the 
 grooves, producing a smaller pitch diameter than the 
 ones having less pull, making a differential action on 
 the ropes. It is therefore probable that it is the differ- 
 ential action that takes up or lets out the ropes, the 
 take-up merely acting in a sense as an automatic 
 adjustable idler. In tightening, when the rope stretches 
 or dries out, or even in running normal, the greatest 
 pull will be near the take-up, but if the drive is exposed 
 to moisture, and the rope shortens, it will be farthest 
 from the take-up, depending proportionately on the 
 number of grooves the take-up controls; so in large 
 drives it is best to have more than one take-up. 
 
 If one should use an unyieldable substance, as, for 
 experiment, a plain wire on two drums wrapped a 
 number of times around and also over a take-up, and 
 the drums were moved together or apart, he would find 
 that the wire would have to slide around the drum; 
 but, of course, with a rope in a groove it is different. 
 The rope will yield some. It will also go deeper into 
 
ROPE DRIVES 113 
 
 the groove. This system costs more than the preceding 
 form, owing to extra expense for the traveling take-up, 
 but may be applied readily to different conditions and 
 will be quite satisfactory in general, if properly de- 
 signed and installed. 
 
 The continuous-wrap system with a take-up or tight- 
 ener acting directly on all the wraps has practically 
 none of the objectionable features mentioned in the 
 other two forms, and is quick in action, making it 
 applicable where power is suddenly thrown on or off. 
 If the tightener is made automatic, it may be controlled 
 in numerous ways, as with a weight or weight and lever 
 or tackle blocks and weight, etc. It also may be fitted 
 with a cylinder and piston, with a valve to prevent too 
 quick action if power is suddenly thrown off or on. 
 There is ordinarily practically no unequal strain on the 
 rope. This system may be applied to different condi- 
 tions as readily as the preceding form. Its cost is more 
 than that of either of the others, as the tightener must 
 have as many grooves as there are wraps. It must also 
 have a winder to return the last wrap to the first groove, 
 and to give its highest efficiency it must be properly 
 designed and installed. 
 
 In either of the continuous-wrap systems, if a portion 
 of larger rope is used, it will produce a greater strain 
 directly behind the large rope, owing to its traveling 
 around the sheave quicker. In angle work there is al- 
 ways extra wear on the rope in the side of the groove, 
 as only the center or one rope may be accurately lined ; 
 so it is not advisable to crowd the centers in angular 
 drives, as the shorter the centers and wider the sheaves 
 
II 4 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 the greater the wearing angle. It must be remem- 
 bered that the foregoing applies to ordinary simple 
 drives as shown in the sketches; where the drive is 
 complicated, it may be necessary to make other al- 
 lowances. 
 
XIV 
 
 A NEW SCHEME IN ROPE TRANS- 
 MISSION 1 
 
 THE use of manila rope for transmitting power is 
 becoming so common as to attract no comment, and it 
 possesses so many advantages in its own field over any 
 other method of conveying power that some objections 
 really existing are overlooked. When a rope drive is 
 installed according to modern practice, it is generally so 
 successful and furnishes such an agreeable and smooth 
 running drive that any possible objection is silenced by 
 the many good qualities it evidently has. But, as a 
 matter of fact, the American continuous method of 
 installing a rope drive has a few serious drawbacks. 
 
 Were it possible to install a drive of say thirty ropes 
 in such a manner that each one of the ropes had exactly 
 the same strain on it that each other rope had, and this 
 under varying conditions of speed and load, it is evident 
 that the thirty ropes would work exactly as a belt of 
 proper width to carry the load would, that the ropes 
 would be running with exactly the same tension clear 
 across the width of the drive, like the belt. But accord- 
 ing to the best authorities on rope transmission, this 
 ideal condition is impossible to obtain. 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by Geo. F. Willis. 
 US 
 
n6 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 It is given as desirable, by writers on rope trans- 
 mission problems, to use a take-up sheave for every 
 twelve ropes, while ten is considered even better. 
 The best results have been secured by using a take-up 
 sheave for not more than eight ropes. But in any case 
 the evil of differential driving still exists. 
 
 In truth, the only drive in which perfect conditions 
 can exist, according to present practice, is one using 
 but a single rope. 
 
 It is evident that when the load comes on the ropes, 
 the entire number of ropes in use are only able to 
 ultimately reach the same tension from the elasticity 
 of the ropes themselves, as slipping in the grooves rarely 
 occurs. But there is a continued and uneven strain 
 on the ropes until the load becomes divided between 
 them, and where ropes are used to drive a varying load, 
 this strain must and does reduce the life of the ropes 
 materially. 
 
 Many rope transmissions have been unsatisfactory 
 because of this, and when these drives have been so 
 badly designed as to use one take-up sheave for more 
 than ten ropes, they are apt to be more expensive and 
 troublesome than could have been anticipated. 
 
 One rope drive is known where thirty ropes are used, 
 with only one take-up sheave. It has been a source of 
 continual trouble and expense, and has been replaced 
 by the English system of multiple ropes. The inherent 
 troubles of this system have made the changed drive 
 even worse than the original. It will now be replaced 
 by the system here illustrated. 
 
 In Fig. 89 is shown a plan view of the tighteners for 
 
A NEW SCHEME IN ROPE TRANSMISSION 
 
 117 
 
 a thirty-one rope drive. As the ropes shown are ij 
 inches in diameter the main tightener sheave is shown 
 60 inches in diameter or forty times the diameter 
 of the rope used. Mounted above the thirty-two groove 
 sheave, and in the same frame, is a single groove sheave 
 
 FIG. 89. 
 
 of the right diameter to reach the two outside ropes 
 as shown, in this case 86 inches in diameter. Further 
 details are shown in the end elevation, Fig. 90, and in 
 the side elevation, Fig. 91. Allowing a working strain 
 of say 250 pounds to each strand of the thirty-one 
 ropes, we have a total weight of 15,500 pounds which 
 
n8 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 these two idler sheaves should weigh, including the 
 frame holding them. 
 
 These sheaves and the frame are mounted directly 
 upon the ropes, on the slack side of course, and just 
 as a tightener is mounted on a belt. The first rope 
 passes around the thirty-two-groove sheave, on up 
 over the single-groove sheave, and back under the 
 multiple-groove sheave again, and is thus crossed over. 
 
 FIG. 90. 
 
 It is evident that a rope threaded on this drive 
 would, by the time it had run ten minutes or so, have 
 every strand in exactly the same tension every other 
 strand was in, and that the ropes would remain in this 
 condition in spite of variation of load and speed, as 
 long as they lasted. 
 
 The initial expense, including the erection, would 
 probably be no more than that for the necessary six 
 
A NEW SCHEME IN ROPE TRANSMISSION 119 
 
 or eight single-groove idlers, with their shafts and 
 boxes, tracks, etc., which would be necessary according 
 
 FIG. 91. 
 
 to established practice. The room taken up would 
 evidently be much less. 
 
 In Fig. 92 an assembled drive of this character is 
 
120 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 shown. In Fig. 93 is shown a reverse drive, common in 
 sawmill practice, where the two sheaves described 
 would preferably be mounted on a car, with the proper 
 weight to give the desired tension. 
 
 1 Groove Idler 
 
 FIG. 92. 
 
 In a recent design is shown a cylinder with about 
 6 feet of piston travel, provided with a reducing valve, 
 so that the steam pressure would remain constant at 
 about 40 pounds. The cylinder is bolted to the mill 
 
 FIG. 93. 
 
 frame, while the piston rod is connected to the car 
 carrying the tightener sheaves. The cylinder is of the 
 proper area, when furnished with steam at 40 pounds 
 
A NEW SCHEME IN ROPE TRANSMISSION 121 
 
 pressure, to put the correct strain on the ropes. A 
 small steam trap is part of the equipment. This should 
 give a very elastic tension, and so long as steam 
 pressure was at 40 pounds or over, the tension would 
 remain constant. With 6 feet piston travel, it is evident 
 that 372 feet of stretch could be taken out of the 
 rope, an amount entirely out of the question. A dog, 
 or buffer, can be so located as to prevent excessive 
 back travel of the piston and car when steam pressure 
 is taken off. 
 
 It is evident that this method can be applied to a 
 drive using any number of ropes. 
 
XV 
 
 HOW TO ORDER TRANSMISSION ROPE 1 
 
 IT is probable that more different and erroneous 
 terms are used by purchasing agents and engineers 
 when writing orders for transmission rope than are used 
 to describe any other article needed about a mill. 
 A knowledge of how to order clearly just the kind 
 of rope wanted would prevent delays and expense to 
 many plants. Manufacturers of transmission rope 
 constantly receive orders so peculiar in their wording 
 that they dare not venture an immediate shipment, 
 but must first resort to the mails, telegraph or telephone 
 to find out what is really desired, and, of course, these 
 mistakes, following the law of "the general cussedness 
 of things," usually occur after a breakdown at the 
 very time when every minute's delay means a consider- 
 able sum of money lost. 
 
 There are in this country two manufacturers of 
 cordage who make a specialty of transmission rope, 
 and the names under which their rope is sold are fairly 
 well known to all users of rope drives. In addition to 
 these two concerns, there are, perhaps, three or four 
 other cordage mills which make this grade of rope to 
 some extent. From this comparatively small source 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by F. S. Greene. 
 122 
 
HOW TO ORDER TRANSMISSION ROPE 123 
 
 many different brands have sprung which, rechristened, 
 find their way to the market under a variety of names, 
 both poetic and classic. These many names lead to 
 frequent delays in ordering. The man who does the 
 splicing at the mill has, at one time or another, heard 
 of a rope glorying in the possession of some fancy title. 
 It is more than probable that some salesman has told 
 him most wonderful stories of what this particular rope 
 can do; consequently when the time comes for a new 
 rope, the splicer goes to the office and asks that so 
 many feet of such and such a rope be ordered. The 
 purchasing agent makes out the order, using this name, 
 and sends it to the manufacturer, who in all proba- 
 bility has never heard of the rope and knows for a fact 
 that it is not the brand under which any of his fellow 
 manufacturers are selling rope. Before the order can 
 be filled, two or more letters or telegrams must be 
 sent and received. 
 
 It frequently occurs that manufacturers receive 
 orders specifying brands which never had existence 
 at all, so far as their knowledge goes. One firm recently 
 found in the same mail requests for "Fern," "Juno," 
 and "Elephant" transmission rope, though no such 
 brands have ever been on the market. 
 
 Another familiar mistake is the ordering of a certain 
 color yarn in the rope, as if this decoration possessed 
 some peculiar virtue. These colored yarns are simply 
 a question of dye, and the rope in all probability would 
 be better and stronger were they left out. 
 
 Then again, we find peculiar wording as to the 
 lubrication of a rope. Some people insist that the rope 
 
124 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 shall be "tallow inlaid"; others call for an "absolutely 
 dry" rope or for a "water-laid" rope. All transmission 
 rope, to be of any service whatsoever, must be lubricated 
 and such a thing as a "dry" transmission rope or a 
 "water-laid" one, whatever that term might mean, 
 would be of but small service to the user. Each manu- 
 facturer has his own method or formula for lubricating, 
 and if this be a plumbago or graphite-laid rope, and he 
 is asked for an old-fashioned tallow-laid rope, he cannot 
 fill orders directly from stock. 
 
 It is unnecessary to name the number of strands, 
 unless you wish a three- or six-strand rope, for a four- 
 strand transmission rope is always sent, unless other- 
 wise specified. It is also unnecessary to say anything 
 about the core, as the rope is always supplied with one, 
 and generally it is lubricated. Frequently five-strand 
 rope is ordered. This is very confusing, as there is 
 such a thing as a five-strand rope, but it is very rarely 
 made. Ordering a five-strand rope is usually brought 
 about through the error of considering the core as a 
 fifth strand. 
 
 It is better, though not necessary, to order by the 
 diameter instead of the circumference, as transmission 
 rope is made and usually sold upon diameter specifi- 
 cation. 
 
 By far the most frequent specifications received call 
 for "long-fiber, four-strand rope with core," and having 
 done this, the purchaser considers he has named all 
 necessary requirements. At the present price of manila 
 hemp, which varies from 7 cents per pound for the 
 poorer grades to 12^ cents per pound for the best, he 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 TRANSMISSION ROPE 125 
 
 may be quoted for such a rope, with entire honesty, 
 anywhere from 1 1 to 17 cents per pound. To procure 
 long-fiber manila hemp, and twist it into four strands 
 about a core, does not make a proper transmission rope. 
 As the rope will probably be required to run at a speed 
 of from 3000 to 5000 feet per minute and be subjected 
 to rapid and constant bending throughout its entire 
 length, the fiber should not only be long, but the rope 
 should be soft and pliable. Further than this, as the 
 fiber, yarns and strands must slip one upon another 
 during the bending, the rope should be so lubricated as 
 to reduce to a minimum the frictional wear from such 
 slipping and rubbing, which is a much larger factor 
 than is generally supposed. Again, the unusual 
 strength of manila fiber is shown only when subjected 
 to a longitudinal strain. Transversely, owing to the 
 cellular formation, the fiber is relatively weak; there- 
 fore, in manufacturing transmission rope, the greatest 
 care is necessary to secure such proportion of twist in 
 both yarns and strand as to render the rope least 
 vulnerable to crosswise strain. Nor will the term 
 "long fiber" insure the purchaser obtaining the proper 
 material in his rope, for the longest manila fiber, con- 
 trary to general belief, is not always the best from 
 which to make a transmission rope. Some of the ex- 
 tremely long variety is coarse and brittle. The best 
 fiber for transmission rope is a particular grade of manila 
 hemp known as Zebu, Fig. 94, which is light in color, 
 silky to the touch and exceedingly strong and flexible. 
 The accompanying illustratio'n, Fig. 95, shows a close 
 view of two grades of hemp, that on the left being 
 
126 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 FIG. 94. 
 
 FIG. 95. 
 
HOW TO ORDER TRANSMISSION ROPE 
 
 127 
 
 known in the trade as ''Superior 2ds," while the fiber 
 to the right of the cut is ''Zebu/' Fig. 96 shows 
 
 FIG. 96. 
 
 a more distant view of the same two "heads" of hemp, 
 and the reader will see that in both the fiber is exceed- 
 
128 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 ing long, and if anything, that of the Superior 2<ds 
 is longer than in the Zebu. A transmission rope made 
 from the latter, however, will cost the manufacturer 
 from 3i to 4 cents more per pound than if he had used 
 Superior 2ds, and will outlast two ropes made from 
 the longer though coarser fiber. 
 
 The reader, if he has perused this chapter to the pres- 
 ent point, is doubtless now asking himself: "How shall 
 I word my order when I want a first-class driving 
 rope?" The safest road to follow is to write to some 
 manufacturer or firm whom you know to be reliable, 
 and ask for so many feet of their transmission rope, 
 giving the name, if you are certain on that point, and, 
 of course, being sure to mention the diameter. In 
 case you do not know the name of his rope, word your 
 order as simply and briefly as possible; for example: 
 "One thousand feet ij inches diameter first quality 
 manila transmission rope," and if the concern to which 
 you write is a reputable one, you will receive a four- 
 strand rope, made from Zebu manila hemp, put to- 
 gether with proper twist and lay for the service 
 required. 
 
XVI 
 
 A BELTING AND PULLEY CHART 1 
 
 RULE i . Pulley Speed. When the diameter of 
 both pulleys and the speed of one is given, to find the 
 speed of the other: Place the points of spacing dividers 
 upon the two given diameters in inches upon the scale 
 (Fig. 97); then raise the dividers, keeping the space 
 obtained, and place one point on the given speed and 
 the other above it for speed of S, or below it for speed 
 of L (S and L meaning smaller and larger pulley, re- 
 spectively). This point will fall upon the required 
 speed. 
 
 Example: If the two pulley diameters are 10 and 
 25 inches and speed of larger pulley is 120 revolutions 
 per minute, what is speed of small pulley? 
 
 Place the points of dividers on 10 and 25 on scale A, 
 then lift the dividers and place one point on 120 and 
 the other above it upon the scale ; the other point now 
 rests on 300 as the speed of S. If the speed of S had 
 been given, one point would have been placed at 300 
 and the other below it, falling upon 120, the required 
 speed of L. 
 
 Note. In applying this rule, if the speed comes 
 beyond the range of scale A, the result may be read 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by A. G. Holman, M. E. 
 129 
 
130 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 FIG. 97. 
 
A BELTING AND PULLEY CHART 131 
 
 by carrying the space to the revolution scale on scale 
 B, and proceeding in the same way. 
 
 Example: Diameter of pulleys 12 and 36 inches 
 and speed of L 500, what is speed of S? Place points 
 of dividers on 12 and 36. Now, if dividers are raised 
 and one point placed on 500 and the other above it 
 on scale A, it will come beyond the top of the scale. 
 Hence go to scale B, placing lower point on revolution 
 scale at 500 and the other point above, which will fall 
 upon 1500, the answer. 
 
 RULE 2. Pulley Diameters. When the speed of 
 both pulleys and the diameter of one is given, to find 
 diameter of the other: Place points of dividers on the 
 two speeds on scale A or revolution scale B. Then 
 place one point of dividers on given diameter and the 
 other above it to find diameter of L, or below it for 
 diameter of S. The figure thus indicated is the re- 
 quired diameter. 
 
 Example: Speeds 180 and 450 and diameter of 
 smaller pulley 20. What must be diameter of L? 
 
 Place points of dividers on 180 and 450 on scale A. 
 Then place one point on 20 (the given diameter). The 
 other point falls at 50, the required diameter of L. 
 
 If the point falls between two graduations in any 
 problem, the result can be closely judged by the rela- 
 tive position. 
 
 The other and more labor-saving use for this chart 
 is its application to belting problems. It is generally 
 conceded that there is no subject of more general inter- 
 est in practical mechanics and none on which there is a 
 greater difference of opinion than the proper allowance 
 
132 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 to be made in the selection of belt sizes for given re- 
 quirements. The general formula for the horse-power 
 transmitted by belting is 
 
 WS 
 HP = ^- in which HP = horse-power, 
 
 W = width of belt in inches, 5 = speed of belt in 
 feet per minute, and C = constant. 
 
 The proper values of this constant, or the feet per 
 minute that each inch of width must run to transmit 
 a horse-power, under certain conditions, is the point 
 in question. 
 
 On the right-hand side of line A on the chart is a 
 series of lines representing different values for this 
 constant. The lower one, marked 4, represents 400 
 feet belt speed per minute, the next above is for 500, 
 and so on. Against some of these values are sugges- 
 tions as to belts often recommended in connection with 
 these constants. For instance, 2 to 6 5 suggests the 
 constant 1 100 to be used for 2- to 6-inch single leather 
 belt, 1000 for 6^- to lo-inch single, 600 for 2- to 6-inch 
 double, etc. 
 
 These suggestions practically agree with the advice 
 of the Geo. V. Cresson Company's catalog and the 
 deductions of Kent's Handbook. 
 
 More power may be transmitted than these sugges- 
 tions will allow, by increasing the tension, but this is 
 accompanied by the disadvantage of requiring extra 
 attention and undue pressure upon bearings. 
 
 The use of the chart for horse-power and width of 
 belting is explained by the following rules: 
 
A BELTING AND PULLEY CHART 133 
 
 RULE 3. Horse-power of Belting. To find the 
 horse-power that can be transmitted when diameter 
 and speed of pulley and width of belt are given : Place 
 one point of dividers on scale A at the width of belt 
 in inches and the other point at the bottom of the 
 line (at i). Next add this space to the hight repre- 
 senting diameter of pulley by placing lower point of 
 dividers upon the given diameter and allowing the other 
 point to rest upon the scale above. Then holding the 
 upper point stationary, open or close dividers until the 
 other point falls upon the proper constant on the scale 
 at right-hand side of line A. Now transfer this space 
 last obtained to the scale B by raising the dividers, 
 carrying them square across to B and placing the point 
 that was on the constant upon the given speed on the 
 revolution scale. Note the location of the other point 
 of dividers upon the horse-power scale, which indicates 
 the horse-power that can be transmitted under the 
 given conditions. 
 
 Example: What horse-power can be transmitted 
 by an 8-inch double belt running on a 4O-inch pulley 
 at 500 feet per minute? Place one point of dividers 
 on line A at 8 (width of belt) and the other point at 
 bottom of line. Next raise dividers and place lower 
 point on 40 (diameter of pulley) and let the other point 
 fall above upon the scale. Then close dividers until 
 lower point comes to the constant for 6j to 10 double. 
 Carry this space to scale B with lower point on 500 on 
 revolution scale. Under point now falls upon 84 on 
 horse-power scale, which is the required horse-power. 
 
 RULE 4. Width of Belting. To find the necessary 
 
134 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 width of belting when size and speed of pulley and the 
 horse-power are given: Place one point of dividers 
 on scale B upon the horse-power and the other point 
 upon the revolutions. Next transfer this space to scale 
 A by raising the dividers, carrying them square across 
 and placing the point that was on revolutions upon the 
 constant. Then holding the other point stationary, 
 raise the point that was on the constant and open 
 dividers until this point falls upon the given diameter. 
 Now lift the dividers and carry the lower point down 
 to bottom of line (the point i). The upper point will 
 now indicate the required width of belt. 
 
 Note. If, in finding width of belt, there is doubt 
 about the proper constant to take, a medium value, 
 say 6, may be assumed and a hasty "cut and try" 
 will show in what classification the required belt will 
 come. 
 
 Example: What width of belt for 100 horse-power 
 with 4O-inch pulley at 500 revolutions? 
 
 Place point of dividers on scale B upon 100 on horse- 
 power scale and the other upon 500 on the revolution 
 scale. Then carry the space to scale A with lower 
 point on constant 5. Then resting dividers upon 
 upper point open them until lower point is at 40 (di- 
 ameter). Finally, raise dividers and place lower point 
 at bottom of line. Upper point is now at 94, indicating 
 the nearest even width 10 as the answer. 
 
 A little practice will make one familiar with these 
 rules, and it will be seen that in the belting rules the 
 four motions perform two multiplications and a division. 
 
XVII 
 
 SPLICING ROPE 
 
 THE splicing of a transmission rope is an important 
 matter; the points on which the success of the splice, 
 and incidentally the drive, depend being the length 
 of the splice, which in turn depends upon the diameter 
 of the rope and which is given in the table (Fig. 973); 
 DATA RELATIVE TO MANILA TRANSMISSION ROPE AND SHEAVES 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i. 
 
 ll 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 LENGTH OF SPLICE 
 IN FEET 
 
 s 
 
 n 
 ji 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
 * 
 
 j 
 
 O ~ 
 
 
 
 
 c *5 
 
 
 g 
 
 5 
 g 
 
 1- 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 fig 
 
 
 
 
 S'i 
 
 3 
 
 ll 
 
 
 Jl 
 
 ll 
 
 || 
 
 "S 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ^1 
 
 ill 
 
 Is 
 
 1 
 
 aS, 
 
 Jl 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 = a 
 I" 
 
 l-sli 
 
 3 
 
 * 
 
 < 
 
 05 
 
 ^ 
 
 ** 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 2 5 
 
 .12 
 
 1750 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 1060 
 
 1 
 
 .2906 
 
 .16 
 
 2730 
 
 80 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 970 
 
 f 
 
 5625 
 
 .20 
 
 3950 
 
 112 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 27 
 
 760 
 
 | 
 
 .7656 
 
 .26 
 
 5400 
 
 153 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 3 2 
 
 650 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 34 
 
 7OOO 
 
 2OO 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 36 
 
 570 
 
 i| 
 
 1.2656 
 
 43 
 
 8900 
 
 253 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 40 
 
 510 
 
 if 
 
 1.5625 
 
 63 
 
 IO,9OO 
 
 312 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 45 
 
 460 
 
 i| 
 
 2.25 
 
 77 
 
 15,700 
 
 45 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 54 
 
 380 
 
 if 
 
 3.0625 
 
 1.04 
 
 2I,40O 
 
 612 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 63 
 
 330 
 
 2 
 
 4- 
 
 1.36 
 
 28,000 
 
 800 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 72 
 
 290 
 
 2? 
 
 5- 62 5 
 
 i-73 
 
 354QO 
 
 IOI2 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 2O 
 
 81 
 
 255 
 
 2| 
 
 6.25 
 
 2.13 
 
 43.700 
 
 1250 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 90 
 
 230 
 
 FIG. 97 a. . 
 
 135 
 
136 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 the diameter of the splice, which should be the same 
 as the diameter of the rope; the securing of the ends 
 of the strands of the splice, which must be so fastened 
 that they will not wear or whip out or cause the over- 
 lying strands to wear unduly; and the workmanship 
 of the splice, which should be the best it is possible to 
 secure. When splicing an old and a new piece of 
 rope, the new piece should be thoroughly stretched, 
 for, at best, it is an exceedingly difficult task on 
 account of the stretch and difference in diameter of 
 the rope. 
 
 The illustrations and instructions for making stand- 
 ard rope splices are taken, by the courtesy of the 
 American Manufacturing Company, from their ''Blue 
 Book of Rope Transmission/' 
 
 There are many different splices now in use, but the 
 one that experience has proved best is what is known 
 as the English transmission splice. In describing this 
 we take for our example a four-strand rope, if inches 
 in diameter, as spliced on sheaves in the multiple 
 system. The rope is first placed around sheaves, and, 
 with a tackle, stretched and hauled taut; the ends 
 should pass each other from six to seven feet, the pass- 
 ing point being marked with twine on each rope. 
 The rope is then slipped from the sheaves and allowed 
 to rest on shafts, to give sufficient slack for making 
 the splice. , 
 
 Unlay the strands in pairs as far back as the twines 
 M, M' ', crotch the four pairs of strands thus opened 
 (Fig. 98), cores having been drawn out together on 
 the upper side. Then, having removed marking 
 
SPLICING ROPE 
 
 twine M, unlay the two strands 6 and 8, still in pairs, 
 back a distance of two feet, to A', the strands i and 3, 
 
 also in pairs, being carefully laid in their place. Next 
 unlay the strands 5 and 7 in pairs, to A f , replacing 
 them as before with 2 and 4. The rope is now as 
 
138 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 shown in Fig. 99. The pair of strands 6 and 8 are 
 now separated, and 8 unlaid four feet back to B, a 
 distance of six feet from center, strand 6 being left at 
 
 A. The pair of strands i and 3 having been separated, 
 3 is left at A, as companion for 6, strand i being care- 
 fully laid in place of strand 8 until they meet at point 
 
SPLICING ROPE 139 
 
 B. The two pairs of strands 2-4 and 5-7 are now 
 separated and laid in the same manner, every care 
 being taken, while thus putting the rope together, 
 that original twist and lay of strand is maintained. 
 The protruding cores are now cut off so that the ends, 
 when pushed back in rope, butt together. 
 
 The rope now appears as shown in Fig. 100, and 
 after the eight strands have been cut to convenient 
 working lengths (about two feet), the companion 
 strands are ready to be fastened together and 
 "tucked"; this operation is described for strands 2 
 and 7, the method being identical for the other three 
 pairs. Unlay 2 and 7 for about twelve to fourteen 
 inches, divide each strand in half by removing its 
 cover yarns (see Fig. 101), whip with twine the ends 
 of interior yarns 2' and 7'; then, leaving cover 2, relay 
 2' until near 7 and 7', here join with simple knot 2' 
 and 7', Fig. 102. Divide cover yarns 7, and pass 2' 
 through them, continuing on through the rope under 
 the two adjacent strands, avoiding the core, thus 
 locking 2', Fig. 103. In no event pass 2' over these or 
 any other strands. Half-strand 7' must now be taken 
 care of; at the right of the knot made with 2' and 7', 
 2' is slightly raised with a marlin spike, and 7' passed 
 or tucked around it two or three times, these two 
 half-strands forming in this way a whole strand. 
 Half-strand 7' is tucked until cover 2 is reached, 
 whose yarns are divided and 7' passed through them 
 and drawn under the two adjacent strands, forming 
 again the lock. The strand ends at both locks are 
 now cut off, leaving about two inches, so that the 
 
140 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 
 "3C- 
 
 
 
 \tt 
 
SPLICING ROPE 
 
 141 
 
 FIG. 102. 
 
 
 FIG. 103. 
 
142 
 
 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 yarns may draw slightly without unlocking. This 
 completes the joining of one pair of strands, Fig. 104. 
 The three remaining pairs of strands are joined in the 
 same manner. 
 
 FIG. 104. 
 
 After the rope has been in service a few days, the 
 projecting ends at locks wear away, and if tucks have 
 been carefully made, and the original twist of yarns 
 preserved, the diameter of the rope will not be in- 
 creased, nor can the splice be located when the rope 
 is in motion. 
 
XVIII 
 
 WIRE ROPE TRANSMISSION 1 
 
 WIRE ropes are extensively and successfully used 
 in the horizontal and inclined transmission of great 
 power of unlimited amount, the advantages over hemp 
 rope belting being: driving at very long distances, 
 comparatively small loss through slipping and the 
 possibility of driving in the open air. 
 
 Vertical transmission of power, on account of the 
 weight of the rope, is excluded. 
 
 Formerly the material used in the manufacture 
 of the wires was best charcoal iron, but now almost 
 exclusively tough crucible-steel wires are used, as steel 
 wire ropes are stronger, do not stretch as much, and last 
 longer than iron ropes. 
 
 The wire ropes consist of six strands of from six to 
 twenty wires each, and the strands to form the rope 
 are woven in the opposite direction to the wires in the 
 strand. In the center of each strand and in the center 
 of the rope a cotton core is placed. These cores are of 
 the greatest importance, for by reducing the friction 
 of the wires against each other, they serve to increase 
 the lifetime of the rope, which, according to the strain 
 
 1 Contributed to Power by C. Boysen, M.. E, 
 
 14.3 
 
144 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 on the rope and the size of the smallest pulley, is from 
 one to three years. 
 
 To prevent rusting, the wire ropes receive a coat 
 of boiled linseed oil, or a hot mixture consisting of 
 three parts of drip oil and one part of resin is applied. 
 This latter mixture at the same time improves the ad- 
 hesion between the rope and the lining placed in the 
 bottom of the pulleys, thus reducing the loss caused by 
 slipping of the rope. Wire ropes used for the trans- 
 mission of power should never be galvanized. 
 
 The ends of the rope are spliced together, from 10 
 to 20 feet being necessary for a good splice; great care 
 should be taken that the splice is made by experienced 
 men, and that the rope is made long enough. A rope 
 stretches constantly from the time when placed on the 
 pulleys, the more so when placed on the pulleys tightly. 
 Therefore it has to be made long enough to transmit 
 power without undue tension, and for this reason the 
 distance between the two pulleys has to be long enough 
 and the working strain per square inch of section low 
 enough to allow sufficient deflection in the rope. As 
 a guidance to the amount of deflection necessary, be 
 it said that even in a short drive the deflection of the 
 rope, when not running, should not be less than 2 feet ; 
 and for a distance of 400 feet between pulley centers, 
 the deflection of the rope when running should be 5 feet 
 in the driving rope and 10 feet in the driven rope. 
 
 Either the top or the bottom rope may be the driving 
 one, the former being preferable ; but the ropes should 
 never be crossed. 
 
 Power can be transmited to a distance of 6000 feet 
 
WIRE ROPE TRANSMISSION 145 
 
 and more without great loss; but as two pulleys 
 should on no account be more than 500 feet apart, 
 intermediate stations are placed along the road. 
 
 Precautions should be taken against the possibility 
 of the rope swaying. This may be caused either by the 
 influence of the wind, by a bad splice, by the rope 
 wearing too much, by the pulleys not being balanced 
 well or by the pulleys not being in the same plane. It 
 is of importance that the pulleys be exactly in line, 
 and careful attention should be given to the construc- 
 tion and placing of the bearings. Although the bearings 
 are not strained excessively, the steps are usually 
 made long and movable. The connection between the 
 shaft and the pulley is best made by means of tangen- 
 tial keys. 
 
 Some engineers, when two ropes are found necessary 
 for the transmission of the power in question, use 
 pulleys containing two grooves each, and make the 
 same kind of pulleys for the intermediate stations of 
 long-distance driving; whereas others advise a separate 
 pulley for each rope, both being connected with each 
 other by a clutch. 
 
 The diameter of the smallest pulley has to be large 
 enough in comparison with the diameter of the rope 
 or the thickness of the single wires used to easily over- 
 come the stiffness in the rope. The larger the pulleys, 
 the longer the rope will last. 
 
 The rim of the pulley is V-shaped, and the bottom of 
 the groove is dovetailed to receive a lining of wood, rubber 
 or leather, on which the rope rests. The lining increases 
 the friction and reduces the loss caused by slipping of 
 
146 SHAFTING, PULLEYS, BELTING, ETC. 
 
 the rope. Leather is the best lining and lasts about 
 three years. Either old belt leather, well saturated 
 with oil, or new leather, boiled in fish oil, can be taken. 
 It is cut in pieces of the same size as the dovetailed 
 part of the groove, and then placed on and pressed to- 
 gether in the latter. The pressing is done by means 
 of a piece of wood. The last remaining small space in 
 the groove is filled with soft rubber. If the lining has 
 to consist of rubber, this is softened and hammered 
 into the groove. For wood lining, thin blocks of the 
 required size are placed into the groove through a hole 
 provided in the bottom of the rim. This slot is closed 
 by a plate and fastened to the bottom of the rim by 
 means of screws after all blocks have been inserted. 
 The lining has to be turned absolutely true, for which 
 reason the filling is done while the pulley is still in the 
 lathe. 
 
 Pulleys up to 3 feet in diameter are built with cast- 
 iron arms; whereas larger pulleys have wrought-iron 
 arms made of round iron, cast in the rim and boss. 
 Pulleys under 8 feet 6 inches in diameter are made in 
 one piece, if for other reasons it is not necessary to have 
 them in halves. 
 
 Guide pulleys are used for long ropes, especially 
 if there is not sufficient hight above the ground. The 
 guide pulleys are of the same construction as the main 
 pulleys, and for the driving rope they are also made of 
 the same diameter. The diameter of the guide pulleys 
 for the driven rope can be made from 20 to 25 per cent, 
 smaller. 
 
 The breaking strength of unannealed wires per square 
 
WIRE ROPE TRANSMISSION 147 
 
 inch of section and according to thickness and quality 
 is: For iron wires from 70,000 to 110,000 pounds, 
 and for steel wires from 110,000 to 130,000 pounds. 
 For thinner wires a higher value is taken than for thick 
 ones. 
 
 The diameter of the wires used for making ropes for 
 transmitting power is from 0.02 to o.i inch, and on 
 account of the stiffness, no wires above the latter size 
 should be used. A rope consisting of a greater number 
 of thin wires, besides being stronger is more pliable 
 and lasts longer than a rope of the same area consisting 
 of a less number of thicker wires. 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 A 
 
 American Mfg. Co 136 
 
 B 
 
 Bauer, Chas. A 54 
 
 Beams to carry stringers, finding '. 42 
 
 Bearings, locating 3 
 
 Belt, building 94 
 
 Belt creep 106 
 
 dressing 91, 100 
 
 comparative test 102 
 
 running off 101 
 
 shifter device upon column 9 
 
 sizes 132 
 
 Belt, leather, selection 89 
 
 marking spliced part 12 
 
 new, putting on 19, 20 
 
 slack 100 
 
 splicing on the pulleys 81 
 
 throwing on 12 
 
 tight 100 
 
 wire-lacing 12 
 
 Belt-clamps, use 19 
 
 Belting and pulley chart 129 
 
 Belting, cleaning 97 
 
 horse-power transmitted 132, 133 
 
 use and abuse 99 
 
 width 132 
 
 149 
 
150 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Belts, cleaning 88 
 
 keeping clean 94 
 
 leather, care and management 89 
 
 splicing 72 
 
 main line 5 
 
 taking-up 1 1 
 
 Bird, Prof. Wm. W. . .' 106, 107 
 
 Blue Book of Rope Transmission 136 
 
 Board for use in lining countershaft 35, 36 
 
 Boiled linseed oil in wire rope 144 
 
 Bolt and nut for moving pulleys 62 
 
 for hanger, size 40 
 
 Bolt, preventing turning 11,21 
 
 Boysen, C, M. E 143 
 
 Brands, effect on leather 90 
 
 Breaking strain on shaft 28 
 
 strength of unannealed wires 146 
 
 Bunsen burner, use in moving pulley 62 
 
 Bushing, split 2 
 
 C 
 
 Center drive for heavily loaded shaft 7 
 
 stock 90 
 
 Chart, belting and pulley 129 
 
 Cleaning belting 97 
 
 Clutch, rim-friction, arrangement 5 
 
 Clutches, coupling 31 
 
 tightening while shafting is in motion 7 
 
 Collars, split wood 3 
 
 Compass saw, use in locating beams 45 
 
 Contact, extra, securing 17 
 
 Continuous- wrap system of rope drive 112 
 
 -wrap system with direct-acting tightener 113 
 
 Core, cotton, of wire rope : 143 
 
 rope 124 
 
INDEX 151 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Countershaft, lining 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 
 
 Couplings, flanged bolt 3 
 
 Cresson Co., Geo. V., catalog 132 
 
 D 
 
 Deflection of rope 144 
 
 Diameter of splice 136 
 
 rope . 124, 135 
 
 of wires for transmission rope 147 
 
 Diameters, pulley 131 
 
 Differential action on ropes 109, 112, 116 
 
 Disks for plumb-bob 49 
 
 Distance of power transmission by wire rope 144 
 
 Dixon, Walter E., M. E. 72, 89 
 
 Dressing, waterproof, for belts 91 
 
 Driving an overhead floor 6 
 
 E 
 
 Elbow bolts 46 
 
 Emery cloth for packing 23, 24 
 
 End drive compared with center drive 7 
 
 English transmission splice 136 
 
 Evans, William 102 
 
 F 
 
 Farmer, T., Jr 102 
 
 Fastening strands of splice 136 
 
 Fiber, rope 124 
 
 Filled belts 91 
 
 Flanged bolt couplings 3 
 
 G 
 
 Gasoline blow torch, use in getting oil out of belt 88 
 
 Gluing a joint . 85 
 
152 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Greene, F. S 122 
 
 Guide pulleys 146 
 
 H 
 
 Hanger adjustment, securing 40, 41 
 
 bearing, repairing worn end 14 
 
 positions, marks 3 
 
 Hanger, removing to take off pulley 63 
 
 sliding out of wall box i 
 
 Hangers, crosswise of shaft 42 
 
 Hangers not allowing vertical adjustment ' 3 
 
 Heads of hemp 127 
 
 Hemp 125,127 
 
 Herrman, Chas i, 21, 32 
 
 Holman, A. G., M. E 1 29 
 
 Hook bolts 46 
 
 Horse-power transmitted by belting 132, 133 
 
 Hoyt, R 1 08 
 
 J 
 
 Joints in leather belt 95 
 
 Journaled end of shaft, proper length i 
 
 K 
 
 Kavanagh, Wm 61 
 
 Kent's Handbook 132 
 
 Kinks, practical 61 
 
 L 
 
 Lag screws, boring for 46 
 
 Laps of leather belt, length 90 
 
 of leather belt, thickness 94 
 
 Leather belts, care and management 89 
 
 selection . . 89 
 
INDEX 153 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Leather-cutting tool 75 
 
 Leather, length for belt 90, 95 
 
 Length of splice 135 
 
 Leveling shafting , 54, 58 
 
 Line, leveling 52 
 
 setting 51 
 
 Lining a countershaft 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 
 
 of pulley, wire rope transmission 145 
 
 shafting 30, 54 
 
 Loosening pulley that has seized 26 
 
 Lubrication of rope 123 
 
 M 
 
 McBarnes, Wm. H. 99 
 
 Main shaft belted to engine and to countershaft 8 
 
 Marks on ends of shafts. 2 
 
 to show hanger positions 3 
 
 Mounting dynamos and motors 18 
 
 Mule belt 13 
 
 Multiple-rope system 108 
 
 N 
 Neatsfoot oil as belt dressing 103 
 
 O 
 
 Oil, boiled linseed, on wire rope 144 
 
 effect on belt 92 
 
 getting out of belt 87 
 
 P 
 
 Packing to secure good clamping fit 23, 24 
 
 Plank to use in sliding hanger out of wall box. . i 
 
 Plumb-bob 49, 58 
 
 -bob method of lining countershaft 38 
 
154 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Point slipping 92 
 
 Power transmission by wire ropes, distance 144 
 
 Practical kinks 61 
 
 Pulley and belting chart 1 29 
 
 diameters 131, 145 
 
 lining, wire rope transmission .....' 145 
 
 shafts holding arrangement and adjusting contrivance .... 13 
 
 speed 1 29 
 
 Pulley, cast-iron, moving 62 
 
 driving, location 5 
 
 loose 61 
 
 seized, loosening 25, 26 
 
 Pulleys for wire rope transmission 145, 147 
 
 Pulleys, guide 146 
 
 loosening 65, 67, 70 
 
 moving : 62 
 
 removing 65, 67, 70 
 
 solid 4 
 
 split 5 
 
 R 
 
 Rope, core . .' : 1 24 
 
 diameter 124, 135 
 
 differential action 109, 112, 116 
 
 drives 108 
 
 fibers 1 24 
 
 lubrication 123 
 
 splicing 135 
 
 strands 124 
 
 transmission 135 
 
 new scheme 115 
 
 ordering 122 
 
 Ropes, slack in 
 
 tight. . in 
 
 Rusting of wire rope, preventing 144 
 
INDEX 
 
 155 
 
 Scrapers for removing glue 74, 75 
 
 Scrapers, turning edge 76, 77 
 
 Seizing of pulley 25 
 
 Separate-rope system 108 
 
 Set-screws, use 23 
 
 Shaft, breaking strain 28 
 
 causes of breaking 16 
 
 preventing turning 15, 16 
 
 repairing break '. 17 
 
 journaled off to act as collar 2 
 
 length of journaled part of end i 
 
 Shaft line, space between end and wall 3 
 
 Shafting, apparatus for leveling and lining 54 
 
 hints i, 21, 32 
 
 leveling 58 
 
 line, turning up 49 
 
 lining 30 
 
 testing alinement and level 29 
 
 Shafts of light- working counters, marring 10 
 
 Sheaves 135 
 
 Sheet iron for packing 24 
 
 Sizes of belts 132 
 
 of rope, effect no 
 
 Slack ropes in 
 
 Slip of belt, legitimate 107 
 
 Space between end of shaft line and wall 3 
 
 Speed, pulley 129 
 
 Splice, diameter 136 
 
 English transmission 136 
 
 fastening strands 136 
 
 length 135 
 
 Splice opener for heavy belts 72 
 
 Splice, wire rope 144 
 
 workmanship 136 
 
 Spliced part of belt, marking 12 
 
156 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Splicing belt on the pulleys . 81 
 
 board ?8, 79 
 
 leather belts 72 
 
 r P e 135 
 
 Split bushing 2 
 
 Split-pulley, tightening 23 
 
 Split wood collars 3 
 
 Steel for sharpening scraper 76 
 
 Stillson wrench, use 22 
 
 Strands of rope 124 
 
 Stretchers, position 49 
 
 Stringers, locating beams to carry 42 
 
 Stringers of drop hangers, thickness 38 
 
 Superior ads hemp 127 
 
 Swaying of rope, preventing 145 
 
 T 
 
 Take-up for rope drive 112 
 
 -up sheave for rope drive 1 16 
 
 Testing alinement and level of shafting 29 
 
 Tight ropes in 
 
 Tightener, automatic, for rope drive 113 
 
 Tightener for 3i-rope drive 117 
 
 system, dangerous 6 
 
 Tightening ropes 112 
 
 Timbers of boarded-over ceiling, locating 42, 45 
 
 Tin for packing 24 
 
 Tool for leveling shafting 58 
 
 Tools for splicing leather belts 72 
 
 Transmission rope 135 
 
 rope, ordering 122 
 
 Transmission, wire rope 143 
 
 rope, deflection of rope 144 
 
 Traveling take-up for rope drive 112 
 
 Tucking strands 139 
 
INDEX 
 
 157 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Turning edge of scrapers 76, 77 
 
 up line shafting 49 
 
 V 
 
 V-shaped rails, for mounting dynamos and motors 18 
 
 Vertical adjustment for hangers 3 
 
 W 
 
 Water, effect on belt 92 
 
 Width of belting 132, 133 
 
 Willis, Geo. F 115 
 
 Wire diameter, for transmission rope 147 
 
 Wire-lacing a belt 12 
 
 Wire rope, splice 144 
 
 transmission 143 
 
 Wrench, proper way to use 22 
 
 Zebu manila hemp 1 25, 1 27 
 

 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE lAgt DA _ E 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 WILL INC REASE TO SO c 
 DAY AND TO $1.00 Of 
 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 S EVENTH DAY 
 
YB 15839 
 
 
 196488