The New Student's Reference Work/Ropes

Ropes are usually made of vegetable fibers, and differ from twine only in their greater thickness. The fiber in most constant use is hemp, though ropes are also made of manilla or wild plantain and of wire. Coir fiber from the husk of the cocoanut is another important rope-making material, which has the advantage of being lighter than either hemp or manilla. Sisal hemp from South America is also used to a considerable extent, especially for ropes of small size, and for many purposes cotton-ropes are also employed. Notwithstanding the extensive use of machinery in the manufacture of ropes, the old process of rope-walk spinning is still practiced on a considerable scale. The successive stages in this process are (1) hackling the fiber; (2) spinning the yarn; (3) tarring in "hauls," consisting of about 300 yarns; (4), winding the yarn on bobbins and mounting these on bobbin-frames; (5) forming the strands; and (6) laying the strands into a rope. As life and property depend to so great an extent on the efficiency of ropes, great care and ingenuity have been exercised in the manufacture, causing many improvements to be devised for increasing their strength. Among these is the introduction of wire-ropes, which are extensively used in rigging ships and for other purposes These are generally made of iron wire, sometimes but not always galvanized. The twisting is done in the same way in which the strands of a hempen rope are laid together.