1. Ropes may be made of any vegetable substance which has a fibre
sufficiently flexible and tenacious. The Chinese and other orientals,
in making ropes, use the ligneous parts of certain bamboos and reeds,
the fibrous covering of the cocoa-nut, the filaments of the cotton
pod, and the leaves of certain grasses; but the bark of plants and
trees, is the most productive of fibrous matter suitable to this
manufacture. That of the linden-tree, the willow, and the bramble is
frequently used. In Europe and America, however, the fibres of hemp
and flax are more frequently employed, for this purpose, than any
other material.
2. The operations of rope-making are commonly performed in
_rope-walks_, which are sometimes more than a quarter of a mile in
length. These are usually covered with a slight shed, the nature and
appearance of which are well exhibited in the preceding picture.
3. The first part of the process consists in spinning the material
into yarn. The principle on which this is effected, is the same as
that by which cotton or wool is drawn out and twisted into threads,
although the machinery, and the mode of operating, are different.
4. The kind of wheel employed in spinning rope-yarn, is also exhibited
in the cut. A band passes around the periphery, and over the
semicircle above it, in which is placed a number of wheels, the pivots
of which terminate, on the other side, in a small hook.
5. The spinner, having a quantity of the material properly disposed
about the waist, attaches a number of fibres to one of the hooks,
which, being put in motion by the band passing over the whirl, twists
them rapidly into yarn. The part already twisted draws along with it
more fibres from the bundle, and, as the spinner is regulating their
uniform arrangement, he walks backward towards the other end of the
walk.
6. When the thread has been spun to the proposed length, the spinner
cries out to another, who immediately takes it off from the hook,
gives it to a third person, and, in turn, attaches his own fibres to
the same hook. In the meantime, the first spinner keeps fast hold of
the end of his yarn, to prevent it from untwisting or doubling; and,
as it is wound on the reel, proceeds up the walk, keeping the yarn of
an equal tension throughout.
7. The second part of the process consists in forming the yarn into
various kinds of ropes. The component parts of cordage are called
strands; and the operation of uniting them with a permanent twist, is
called _laying_, when applied to small ropes, and _closing_, when
applied to cables or other large ropes.
8. The simplest twist is formed of two strands. The thread used by
sail-makers, and pack-thread, furnish examples of this kind; but
cordage with two strands is not much used; that with three is the most
usual. Lines and cords less than one and a half inches in
circumference, are laid by means of the spinning-wheel. Preparatory to
this operation, the workman fastens the hither end of the yarns to
separate whirl-hooks, and the remote ends to the hook of a swivel,
called the _loper_.
9. The strands having been properly distended, the spinning-wheel is
turned in the same direction as when twisting the yarns. A further
twisting of the strands, during this part of the process, is prevented
by the motion of the loper, which gives way to the strain, and, at the
same time, causes the strands to entwine about each other, and form a
cord. To prevent them from entwining too rapidly, an instrument is
interposed, which, from its form, is called the _top_. It has two or
more notches, which terminate at the apex, and a handle, called a
_staff_. As the top is moved from the loper to the wheel, it regulates
the degree of twist which the cord or rope is to receive.
10. The principle on which large cordage is laid, or closed, is the
same, although some part of the machinery is different. The strands
for large ropes and cables are formed of many yarns, and require
considerable _hardening_. This cannot be done with whirls driven by a
wheel-band; it requires the power of a crank, turned by hand, or by
some other considerable force. The strands, also, when properly
hardened, become very stiff, and, when bent round the top, cannot
transmit force enough to close the unpliant rope: it is, therefore,
necessary that the loper, also, be moved by a crank.
11. Cordage, which is to be exposed to the alternate action of air and
water, is usually tarred. The application of this substance is made,
in most cases, while the material is in a state of yarn. In effecting
this object, the threads are drawn through boiling tar, and then
passed between rollers, or through holes surrounded with oakum, to
remove the superfluous tar. In like manner, ropes and cables are
superficially tarred.
12. Various improvements have been made in the machinery, for
performing the different operations of rope-making; but, these not
having been generally adopted, it is unnecessary to notice them more
particularly; especially, as they do not affect the general principles
of the art.
13. Within a few years, cotton-yarn has been employed in the
manufacture of ropes; but this material has not yet been sufficiently
tested, to determine its fitness for the purpose. A kind of vegetable
fibre, brought from Manilla, and hence called Manilla hemp, is very
extensively applied in making ropes, and, for some purposes, is
preferred to other materials.
14. The intestines of animals are composed of very powerful fibres,
and those of sheep and lambs are manufactured into what is called
_cat-gut_, for the use of musical instrument-makers, hatters,
watch-makers, and a variety of other artificers. Animal hair, as that
from the tail and mane of horses, is frequently employed as the
material for ropes; and such are durable, elastic, and impervious to
moisture. They, however, are not applicable in cases, where the rope
is subject to considerable friction.
15. Hemp is cultivated in various parts of the world, and especially
in Russia, whence it is exported to other countries in great
quantities. It is also produced, to a considerable extent, in the
state of Kentucky, and in many other parts of the United States. Flax
is still more generally cultivated than hemp; but its chief
application is to the manufacture of cloth, as it does not answer well
for any cordage larger than a bed-cord. The formation of cloth from
hemp is also very common; and, in this case, the yarn for the coarse
cloths is spun on the rope-maker's wheel in the manner already
described. The cloth is generally used for making bags,
sacking-bottoms for beds, and sails for vessels.
16. Rope-making is a manufacture of general utility, as cordage of
some kind is used more or less in every family in all civilized
communities; nor are there many trades capable of being carried on,
with convenience, without it. But the great utility of cordage, in all
its varieties, is most conspicuous in the rigging and equipment of
vessels; and the extensive demand for it, in this application, renders
rope-making one of the most important and extensive of the primitive
trades.
17. Nor does the utility of cordage end with its application to the
purposes for which it was originally designed. Old ropes are converted
into oakum by untwisting and picking them to pieces. The oakum thus
produced is driven into the seams of vessels, to render them
water-tight.
18. As regards the invention of this art, nothing can be gathered from
ancient records. We only know, in general, that cordage was in
considerable use among the nations of antiquity, especially among the
Greeks and Romans, who probably learned its application to rigging
vessels from the Phoenicians.
[Illustration: TAILOR.]