THE
ELEMENTS AND PRACTICE OF ROPE-MAKING.

The subject of Rope-making having never hitherto been fully treated on, every attention has been bestowed to render the following explanations clear and explicit. And it is hoped that a reference to the Plates, connected with, the descriptive Practice of Rigging, and the other parts of this treatise, will afford a satisfactory, distinct, and accurate, account of the several operations.

AN ALPHABETICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOOLS AND EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS USED IN ROPE MAKING.

BACK-FRAME WHEEL for laying cordage, from a six-thread ratline to a two-inch rope, is about four or five feet in diameter, and is hung between two uprights, fixed by tenons on a truck, and supported by a knee of wood. Over its top is a semi-circular frame, called the head, to contain three whirls (that turn on the brasses) with iron spindles, secured by a hasp and pin. They are worked by means of a leather band encircling the whirls and wheel. Three of the whirls are turned when hardening the strands, and one only when closing the rope, the strands being hung together on it. The truck, on which the back-frame wheel is fixed, runs on four wheels, and is made of three-inch oak plank, about nine feet long and thirteen inches broad, at one end, and eleven inches broad at the other.

BACK-HOOKS, large strong iron hooks, to close ropes and cables, fixed in the breast-board of the sledge.

BANDS, to encircle the wheels and whirls, are of leather, large line, or catgut. The leather is for the spinning and back-frame wheels, the line for the table-wheel, and the catgut for line and twine wheels.

BLOCKS, single, double, or treble, are strapped with a hook and thimble, and reeved with a rope, called the tackle-fall, which is used to stretch the yarn to its full extent, (before the press is put on,) by a capstern, or crab, at the lower-end of the rope-walk. The sail is then belayed, until every yarn is hove through the strands and brought down, so that the rope may not exceed the circumference intended.

BOLTS for whirls are large iron pins with round heads driven in the board over the crank-wheel for the whirls to run on.

BRASSES, set into the heads of laying or spinning wheels, are about four inches long and two broad. In the middle of the upper-end is a hole for the spindle of the whirls to work in.

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CLOSING of ropes, see LAYING.

COUCH. To couch well is to lay close and even.

COIL. A rope turned in form of a ring, one turn upon another, for easy stowage, and that it may run out free.

CRAB, a sort of small capstern, fixed in a frame of wood at the lower-end of the ground, used to stretch the yarn, by giving power to the tackle.

CRANK-WHEEL, for spinning of lines, box-cord, &c. is fixed on an iron spindle or axis with a handle to turn it by: It hangs between two posts; the after one is six feet high, one foot broad, and five inches thick; in its upper part, above the wheel, is let in a semi-circular board, two feet six inches long, two feet broad, and five inches thick, to receive three sets of whirl-bolts, with whirls on them, for the spinners to hang their threads on: at the front side of the wheel is a short post supported by a knee of oak for the spindle to rest on.

DRAGS are formed like the after part of the sledge, to which they are fastened by ropes, and are lined with a board on the upper side. They contain weight, as a press, when the rope requires more than the sledge can carry to keep the strands of a proper stretch, and prevent their kinking, as they get hard, and as the rope is brought to its intended size.

FIDS, to make eyes, splices, &c. in large ropes, are round lignum-vitae pins, thick at one end and tapering to a point. They are from eight to twenty inches long.

FOREGANGER, a short piece of rope, one quarter of an inch in circumference, (larger than a whale-line,) to fix on the harpoon when they strike a whale.

FORE-LOCK-HOOKS are made of iron, with a long neck and handle; they have an eye at the end of the neck for the fore-lock to go through, and are to hang the yarn on, to harden and close ropes, from two-inches and a quarter and upwards.

GROUND-TOW, the loose hemp that comes from the sides of the hatchellers and spinners.

A HATCHELL, to clear the ends of the hemp, by drawing it through, has forty sharp-pointed iron teeth, one foot long, fixed in wood.

HAULED ABOUT is a term used in making a short cable-laid rope, when one strand is made long enough to make three; or, for a four strand rope, long enough to make two, and form an eye at the lower end for a stay.

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KNITTING, the tying together certain quantities of yarn, when warping into hauls to be tarred.

LAYING, the closing of the strands together to compose the rope.

LAYING-HOOK, the hook on which the strands are all hung together for laying or closing.

LOPER, used to lay lines, has two iron swivel-hooks (that run round in a brass or iron box) at each end, for the line to hang on, and work, by the power of the fore turn, from the wheel at the upper end.

MARKING-YARN, a white thread, untarred, laid in rope for the king’s or East-India company’s mark. That for the king’s is spun the contrary way.

MARLINE-SPIKES, to make eyes, splices, &c. in small ropes, are long iron pins, in shape of a fid, from eight to sixteen inches long.

MAIL, to rub off the loose hemp that remains on white cordage, is a kind of steel chain-work, flat, and fastened upon leather, about nine-inches long and seven-inches broad.

NIBBED-HOOKS are of iron, used to hang the yarn on to harden the strands, and lay ropes from two inches and a quarter to three inches and a quarter.

A NIPPER is formed of two steel plates, eight inches square and half an inch thick, with a semi-oval hole in each four inches wide, which, by the upper plate moving, enlarges or contracts as the tarring of the yarn requires. It is thus fixed. A post, twelve inches square, is placed between the kettle and capstern, with a mortise cut eighteen inches long from the kettle’s surface and five inches wide. The under-plate is turned up on each side, to form two grooves, and is set into the front-side of the post from the lower part of the mortise: the upper-plate has a dove-tail on the back, that slides up and down in a groove into the grooves of the lower plate, and, by a staff, made fast to its front, it is highered or lowered, and regulated by a weight suspended at the other end, so that the yarn receives no more tar than is required, and what is squeezed out drops in a trough and returns into the kettle.

PENDANTS, short pieces of rope, doubled, with a large eye spliced at each end, and a thimble seized in the bight, used to hook the tackles where wanted.

POSTS AND RAILS, along the whole length of the walk. The posts are eight feet high, exactly opposite to each other, and support, on the head, the rails that cross the ground, in which are iron hooks for the spinner to hang his yarn on as he spins it.

PRESS-BARRELS are old tar-barrels filled with clay, and laid on the sledge or drag to add weight when the rope is closing.

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ROUNDING is giving the rope an additional turn after being closed.

SERVING-MALLET has a round head, about twelve inches long, to serve round the parcelling and spunyarn, which is woolded round the rope, to work the worming into the cuntline of the rope.

SERVING of ropes is binding them round with rope-yarn.

SHIVERS. The foul particles taken from the hemp when hatchelling.

SHORT-LAID, implies short-twisted.

SHORT-HAULS, hauls of yarn for rope short of the common length.

SHORTS. The toppings and tailings of the hemp, which are dressed for bolt-ropes and whale-lines. Shorts, also, implies the distinction between the long hemp used in making staple-ropes, and inferior hemp.

SLACK-LAID means slack-twisted.

SLEDGES are frames made of strong oak, clamped with iron in different parts. They are from three feet wide and eight or twelve feet long to five feet wide and fifteen feet long, according to the size of the rope. The two sides are the length of the sledge, made of oak, five by seven inches thick, and tied in with oak bars at each end: near the front are two uprights, five feet high, set into the sides, and supported by two slanting pieces from the upper-end. A breast-board, nine inches wide and from two to three inches thick, is fastened with iron pins to the uprights, and contains holes for the hooks to go through on which the yarn is hung, which, being turned by men, is twisted into rope, and so closed or finished. These sledges are loaded to such a degree as the rope in making requires.

SPINNING-WHEEL, for twelve spinners, to spin yarn at the same time, is about five feet in diameter, and is hung between two posts fixed in the ground: over its top is fixed a semi-circular

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STEP, OR TONGUE, for the tar-kettle, is made of three-inch oak plank, five feet long and thirteen inches broad, which tapers to nine inches at the bottom, and is put into the kettle through a mortise in the bridge. Within four inches of the lower-end of the step is a round hole five inches diameter, for the yarn to pass through. The step is suspended and regulated by a tackle.

STOVING is placing of white rope in an iron stove or oven, to which heat is communicated by means of a flue, which makes the rope more limber and pliant to receive the tar.

STRAND, one of the twists or divisions of which a rope is composed.

STRAP, a number of yarns platted together with an eye at one end, to put a stick through: it is bound round the end of the tails to twist them tight when the rope is to be laid hard. Some have a hook at the other end, to hook the strands in laying: others are made of the same sized rope as the pendants, with an eye spliced in each end.

STRAPS, pieces of rope spliced to surround blocks, or fasten large ropes, &c.

TABLE-WHEEL, to lay ropes, from a six-thread ratline to a two-inch and half rope, is fixed in the wheel-house, at the upper-end of the rope-walk, in a frame fixed in the ground, with two sliding cheeks, and bands to work the whirls, which go separately over each whirl, and round the turning-wheel. (Some have six sets of whirls, of different sizes, with iron spindles, and nibbed or forelock-hooks at the outer-end.) A tackle-board, twelve inches broad and three inches thick, with six holes for the hooks to go through, is fixed above the cheeks upon cleats.

TACKLE-FALL, the rope that connects the blocks together. The whole assemblage is called a tackle, and is used for stretching the yarn, &c.

TAR, a liquid gum of blackish hue, which distils from pines, or fir-trees: when prepared by boiling, it is used in tarring ropes. Stockholm tar is the best for this purpose, and no other is allowed in the royal navy.

TAR-KETTLE is made of copper, and holds from ten to twenty barrels of tar. It is set in strong brick-work, and over it is fastened, from side to side, in the direction of the nipper, a bridge made of three-inch oak plank, thirteen inches broad, through the middle of which is a mortise for the step to go through to keep the yarn down when drawing through the kettle. On that side of the kettle next the capstern is an upright post, twelve inches square, in which is fixed a nipper, to press

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TOPPING AND TAILING is the clearing both ends of the hemp with the hatchell.

TRUCK-BARROWS are of different sizes, have three wheels, and are used to take hauls of yarn from the yarn-house, and remnants of yarn, coils of rope, &c. from the ground to the rope-house.

TRUSSELS have four legs braced together with stout pins: they are used at the upper-end of a rope, or put under ropes of a short length, when the strands cannot be put on the stake-heads.

WARPED INTO JUNKS is yarn warped into short lengths for spunyarn.

WARPING is running the yarn off the winches into hauls to be tarred.

WARPING-POST, a post, fourteen or sixteen inches diameter, fixed in the middle of the ground for warping the yarn into hauls.

WARPING-BLOCKS are used to warp the yarn into hauls for tarring. The tops and bottoms are made to separate, to let in the sheaves and screw down.

WARPING-HOOK, for hanging the yarn on, when warping into hauls for tarring, is a large iron hook hung occasionally to the warping-posts.

WHIRLS are of beech or ash, five inches long, cylindrically formed, and fixed on iron spindles in the heads of wheels, with a hook at one end for the spinner to hang his hemp on. They are like-wise used to hang the yarn on for hardening, and laying ropes, from a six-thread ratline to a two and a half inch rope. Those for twines and lines are made of box wood, with a hole through the middle, and two or more grooves round them, one to hold the catgut which encircles the wheel, and the other to hold a small cap, made of catgut, to which the thread is fastened in spinning or laying. The whirls for large work are four inches in diameter, with three or four grooves and an iron cap.

WINCH (a) is, to wind the yarn on as it is spun, and consists of eight spokes, to form the body, and eight blades, four at each end, to contain the spokes, and an iron bolt with a round head to turn it on.

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THE PRACTICE OF ROPE-MAKING.

TO explain what ropes are seems to be unnecessary. Their utility on-board of ships, will be fully discussed in that part of this work which relates to the rigging. Under the present head, we shall develope the art of making the various ropes, not only those useful in nautical concerns, but shall extend our directions from the cable to the smallest line.

HEMP for making cordage. RIGA RHINE HEMP is the best; the next in quality is PETERSBURGH BRAAK HEMP; and of these cordage for shipping is generally made: but some Druana, Koningsberg, and Archangel, hemp, is equal to any except the Riga rhine. Memel hemp is inferior.

Riga out-shot and Petersburgh out-shot hemp is little inferior to the Petersburgh braak hemp; and ropes made from them are with difficulty distinguished from those made of braak hemp.

Chucking is a long, stout, coarse, hemp, rather foul, and used for making inferior rope. Short chucking is the foul hemp from the ends of the long chucking.

Half-clean hemp is short, very foul, and full of shivers. Cordage made from it is consequently foul, and easily distinguished from that of the braak hemp. It is, however, fit for spunyarn.

Codilla is a short hemp taken from the root-end of Petersburgh.

The inferior hemps are chiefly used for ordinary white ropes for exportation.

Italian hemp is of a fine, white, soft, texture, six or seven feet long, and is chiefly used in England for seaming-twine or fine fishing-lines.

The bands, which the bales of hemp are bound with, are of the same quality with the hemp they bind, and are made into spunyarn; but, if very good and spun smartly, they will warp for packing-ropes and other cordage.

Ropes should be made of nothing inferior to Riga or the best Petersburgh hemp, well hatchelled, to clear the ends, which else, in spinning, would run in with the long hemp. One pint or more of oil, according to the quality of the hemp, should be used to every hundred weight, to oil the ends, (which is done with a wad of hemp,) that they may pass free in hatchelling, and from the sides of the spinner when spinning.

After the hemp is properly cleaned by the hatchell, it is spun into yarn. In spinning, the spinner must be careful to hold his hand close; otherwise the yarn will be neither round nor smooth. The spinning-wheel must be kept turning a constant regular pace, that the yarn may be spun with a regular turn or twist; for, if slack-spun, it will break in warping or straining up.

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Before the turn is put in, the yarn should be stretched to its full extent by means of the tackle fixed from the sledge to the capstern, at twenty yards asunder, at the lower-end of the ground; and, when stretched to two hundred fathoms, the press is put on the sledge and drag, before the tackle-fall is cast off; for, if the yarn be not properly stretched before the tackle-fall is cast off, the rope will not be of its size nor well made.

When twisted sufficiently hard, the strands are hung on one hook in the breast-board of the sledge, but remain separate on the three hooks at the other end. The top is placed in at the sledge, and the rope twisted by turning the hooks at both ends one way, and, as the rope closes, the top moves toward the upper end. [See top.]

The strength of the men at the hooks being greatly inadequate to the force required for twisting of cables, woolders are used, according to the size of the cable, at equal distances, along the whole length.

The strands should have a good hardening before the top is put in to lay the rope, and the layer should see that the heavers at the upper-end keep the same hardness that the strands had before the top set off, nor should he begin to lay the rope until the sledge or wheel is moved by the power of the twist from the upper-end.

When the top is put in, some of the weight should be taken off the sledge or drag; for, if laid with as much weight as is used in the hardening, it would be too stiff, but, by removing a part of the weight, the strands will couch better.

Cables should be rounded by the lower hook after they are laid, to throw the turn well up. They are generally thought to wear best when slack-laid; but some think when short-laid.

Thirty fathoms of yarn, warped for each strand, will make twenty fathoms of hawser-laid rope; it being as three to two. [See table of yarn]

*Or is slightly, twisted.

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For hawser-laid ropes, the bigness in the yarn should be as 2 and 3/4 is to 3; so that, to make a rope of 3 inches, take as many threads of yarn as measure 2 inches and 3/4 and so in proportion.

It has been proved that a cable of 10 inches and a half in circumference, made from very fine spun yarn, is equal in strength and duration to a common cable of 14 inches.

CABLETS, used for tow-lines or hawsers, require the strands to be laid shorter than cable-strands, but not so short-laid in closing; for, being used in water, they would become stiff, hard, unhandy to coil away, and liable to break in cold weather.

Yarn, for ropes of this sort, should be finer than for cables, and spun to run from 18 to 20 threads to 3 inches circumference. It should not be much tarred, (the yarn being pressed in making the strands, and again in closing,) as the tar would ooze out and the strands kink.

STAY-ROPES have four strands, with a heart running through the middle, which keeps the rope true; and, when hawser-laid, as a rope, prevents it from stretching, and the strands have each their proper bearing. The stays are made of fine yarn, spun from the best topt hemp. Twenty threads a-hook make a rope 3 inches in circumference, and so in proportion for any size. The yarn is warped to the length and size for the stay wanted. The strands are warped long enough for one strand to make two, when hauled about and hung upon the back-hook. By this an eye is left for the upper-end of the stay to go through and form a collar to go over the mast-head.

For stays of 9 inches in circumference, each strand should be 3 inches and a half, and so in proportion. The heart must be near the size of the strand, or the rope will not lie round and true.

Particular attention should be paid in making the stays, as on them the safety of the mast, &c. greatly depends.

Main, fore, and mizen, topmast, and some topgallant-mast, stays are cable-laid.

TACKS, main and fore, are cable-laid, and regularly tapered from about 10 yards from the knot to the end; when finished they should be half the circumference at the end as at the knot; they are tapered by cutting away two threads from each strand in every two yards, (or more, according to the length,) from the beginning of the taper to the end. Twelve fathoms and one foot of yarn, when warped, are allowed for each strand in a tack 8 fathoms long, and so in proportion for any length. The single foot is allowed for the knot at the head.

HEMP for BOLT-ROPE yarn and worming should be well topt, and tailed; that is, both ends cleared by the hatchell, or it will not make good thread. A thread of 180 fathoms weighs 2 pounds, and 15 ounces; and 28 fathoms and a half of yarn make 20 fathoms of rope, and so in porportion.

BOLT-ROPE is slack-laid, made white, and stoved and tarred by the sail-maker when used. For the merchant-service, it is generally tarred in hauls, as other rope, but sometimes as for the navy.

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TWICE-LAID CORDAGE is made of cast rigging, as shrouds, stays, mooring and other cables, which, if not much worn, will make good ropes for wetting ships sides, worming and woolding for cables, spun-yarn for seizing, worming for large stays, seizing for strops of blocks, small cable-laid ropes for warping ships, ratlines, scaffolding-ropes for dock yards, &c.

When the yarn of this old stuff is overhauled, a little thin tar should be poured on it, which will make it pliable and lie better. The yarn unfit for knotting will pick into oakum for caulking.

To open a cable, for making it into small ropes, hang the strands upon 3 hooks in the tackle-hoard, stretch it out tight upon the hooks in the sledge, and heave till they are untwisted; then draw out the yarn.

The process of making small ropes is similar to making large ones; except the twisting and closing, which are done by a back-frame wheel or a table-wheel.

In all cable-laid ropes, the proportion of the circumference is to the length of the strand in one round as 11 to 15; that is, if the circumference be 14 inches and a half, the length of the strand in one circumference is 19 inches and 7/8. In all hawser-laid rope the proportion is as 12 to 16; that is, if the circumference be 7 inches, the length of the strand in one circumference is near 9 inches and 3/8. The strength of ropes depends on the hardening or well manufacturing, and not on the bare strength of the hemp; for it strengthens through every stage. Viz. When first spun into yarn, it is little better than hemp extended; when twisted into strands, it shortens and strengthens, and encreases in the same manner when laid into rope.

Where the diameter and circumference of one rope to another is as 2 to 1, that is, where one rope is twice as big as another, the square of the diameter is as 4 to 1; which shews, that one rope has 4 times as much yarn in it as the other, and consequently is 4 times as strong, according to the different magnitudes. [See Table of the Proportional Strength of Ropes.]

Cable-laid ropes shorten as 5 to 3, and hawser-laid ropes as 3 to 2; consequently, the length of the yarn and strength will be accordingly; that is, the strength will be in the yarn, after it is laid in the rope, as much as if the rope-maker, in spinning, had allowed the

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Here A B C shews the length of the strand in one round. A B the angle the strands make in laying; A C the progressive length that the strands make by one circumference; and A D the diameter of the rope.

Were the strands single, without being twisted one about another, the strength would then be only in proportion as the area of each particular strand is in itself; but, if the strands could possibly be twisted so as to be directly perpendicular to the base, the strength would then be found, by multiplying the diameter of the strands and the diameter of the whole rope one into the other, and the half of the product would be the strength of the laid strands; but more particularly take the area of the single strand and area of the whole cable, and add them together, and the half of that will shew the strength of each strand when they are well twisted together.

But as it may be observed the strands lie at a certain angle between a perpendicular and the base, so that, as the angle of incidence is to radius so is the relative to the absolute strength.

LINES, TWINE, &c.

BOLT-ROPE Twine, used in sewing the sail to the bolt-rope, is made from the bar of the long hemp, or from the long rough hemp unbeat. It contains two or three threads, is twisted slack, and wound into half-pound skains containing 200 yards. Eight threads are spun out of half a pound of hemp, each 50 yards long.

Cod-lines of 18 threads are used on the banks of Newfoundland. The thread is spun 100 yards, having 6 threads to a strand, 3 strands to the line, and standing 40 fathoms, which weigh 3 pounds.

Cod-lines of 15 threads, 5 in a strand, smartly laid, spun 90 yards, stand 35 fathoms, which weigh 2 pounds and a half.

Cod-lines of 12 threads, 4 in a strand, are spun 80 yards. They are smartly laid, and stand 30 fathoms, weighing 2 pounds.

Cod-lines for home use have 12 threads, 4 in a strand. Thirty-five fathoms weigh one pound and a quarter.

Cod-lines of 9 threads, 3 in a strand, spun 80 yards, stand 30 fathoms, which weigh one pound and a half.

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Drum-lines, for drums, have 16 threads, 2 in a strand; they are laid with a heart, spun 60 yards, and stand 20 fathoms, which weigh 2 pounds and a half.

Drum-fish-line has 9 threads, 3 in a strand, is spun 65 yards, stands 25 fathoms, which weigh one pound.

Foregaugers. Yarn for foregaugers is made of the best dressed long hemp, each thread of 80 fathoms long, weighing half a pound. It has 3 strands, 48 threads in each, and is warped to the number of foregaugers wanted.

Hambro’-lines are chiefly used by sail-makers for holes-holes. The 12-thread lines have 4 threads in a strand, spun 70 yards, and stand 25 fathoms, which weigh 4 pounds.

Hambro’ 9-thread lines, 3 threads in a strand, are spun 70 yards, and stand 25 fathoms, which weigh 3 pounds.

Hambro’ 6-thread lines have 3 strands, 2 threads in a strand, spun 60 yards, stand 20 fathoms, which weigh 2 pounds.

Hammock-lines of 3 threads, spun 100 yards, are slack-laid, stand 50 fathoms, and weigh 3 pounds.

Hand-lead-lines have 12 threads, 4 in a strand, spun 60 yards, smart-laid, stand 20 fathoms, which weigh 4 pounds.

House-line, of 3 threads laid together, used for seizing strops of blocks, is spun 60 yards, and stands 30 fathoms, which weigh one pound.

Jack-line is made of bar hemp, and has 9 threads, 3 in a strand; it is made to any given length.

Lead-rope, for nets and seans, is made as the sean-lines. Ten fathoms weigh 4 pounds.

Log-lines of 12 threads are made from fine long hemp, 4 threads twisted together. The strands are smartly laid, and 30 fathoms weigh one pound.

Log-lines of 9 threads are made from sound long hemp, three threads twisted together, spun 80 yards, smartly laid, and, when stretched 30 fathoms, weigh one pound.

Log-lines of 6 threads are made from the bar of the long hemp that was dressed for fine twine, &c. and spun 80 yards in length. Two threads are twisted together, and the strands smartly laid: when stretched, it is 30 fathoms, and weighs one pound.

Mackrel-line; 6 threads, 2 in a strand, spun 65 yards, hands 25 fathoms, which weigh half a pound.

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Sean-nets are made of 3-strand topt-twine to any given length or depth. The meshes or squares are from 2 inches in the bunt regular to 3 inches in the wings.

Seans used in the royal navy are made of 2-strand twine, 2 pounds and 1/4 to a ran, and 18 cords to a ran; 2 threads to a cord, or 900 yards of twine to 2 pounds and 1/4.

Spunyarn, for ordinary white ropes, is made of bands, which should be twice hatchelled through a hatchell with finer teeth than those used to hemp for cordage. A thread of 180 fathoms in length should weigh 5 pounds, and be wound upon winches in 2, 3, or 4, threads, then warped into junks to make 2, 3, or 4, yarn spunyarn, and wound on a reel into coils of various sizes.

Spunyarn should be well tarred, as it is used for serving round the shrouds and stays, to resist the wet and keep the rope from being chafed.

Store-twine, used by sail-makers for old work and on-board of ships, is made from good long hemp, well dressed. Fourteen threads are spun from half a pound; 2 threads are twisted together, and wound into half pound skeins of 350 yards.

Turtle-twine, for turtle-nets, is made of good bar hemp, spun 100 yards. Three threads are laid together, stand 90 yards, and weigh one pound.

Whale-lines are made of dressed hemp spun fine. Each thread of 160 fathoms should weigh 2 pounds. These lines were formerly made white, stoved, and then tarred, as bolt-ropes; but they are now warped and tarred as other cordage: warped 90 fathoms, which, when tarred and hauled about, make 180 fathoms, and the line to stand 120 fathoms, 2 inches and 1/4 circumference, 3 strands, 24 threads in each, and weigh about one hundred weight.

Whipping-twine. The same as bolt-rope twine.

Whiting-lines, of 6 threads, 2 in a strand, are spun 60 yards, and stand 20 fathoms, which weigh half a pound.

Worming is made of 2 or 3 strands. Two or more threads in a strand are warped into short hauls, and so knitted as to lay 2 threads together. It is tarred as other yarn for cordage. If it be made of 2 strands, it is laid with a stick, if of 3, with a top. It is used for seizing of ropes, and for worming the cuntlines of the shrouds and other standing rigging.

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A Table Shewing the Length of Yarn required for Cables, Hawsers, &c.

 For Stays, Tacks, Sheets, and Buoy-Ropes, which are Cable-laid, allow the same Length as is shewn for Yarn in the Tables for Cables, which shew how many Fathoms and Feet of Yarn will make a Fathom of Cable, from 1 to 120 Fathoms. – When you have the Sledge to the End of the Yarn, stretch it as tight as you can, and then lay as much Weight upon the Sledge as is convenient to keep the Work tight.

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CABLES AND CORDAGE FOR THE ROYAL NAVY.

GOVERNMENT are frequently supplied with cables and other cordage from the merchants yards; in which case, they find their own hemp; and stipulate that they shall be made in the following mode, and with the following proportions of materials.

A proper quantity of the best Petersburgh braak hemp, for the cables, &c. wanted, is furnished and delivered by government to the maker: each cable to be 100 fathoms long; cablets 120 fathoms; hawsers, down to 7 inches inclusive, 108 fathoms; hawsers, 6 inches and a half and under, 130 fathoms; and coils 130 fathoms in length: to be made of the hemp sent by government; which is to be dressed, spun, tarred, and laid, under the inspection of a person appointed.

All cables and cordage to be tarred with good Stockholm tar, without mixture of any other, except about one-third part, which may be of Russia tar; and to be made of the same sized yarn, and with the same number of threads tarred as dry; laid with as good a press, and hardened in the same manner, as in his majesty’s yards; and to be in every respect as good as any made by his majesty’s workmen.

A white thread, twisted the contrary way, is to be laid in all the strands of the cables and large cordage; and a twine in the small cordage for the king’s mark, so as to be seen on the outside of the strands.

In any of the strands, there is to be no greater number of threads at the ends of the cables or cordage than in the middle of them.

The tar is to be surveyed and approved of, by the person appointed to oversee the making, before it is used.

An oath is to be taken, by the master or foreman, that the cables, &c. delivered were made of his majesty’s hemp, and tarred as aforesaid, and the affidavit is to be produced at the place where the cordage is delivered.

With each parcel of cordage, a bill of parcels must be delivered, containing every particular; with the size, length, and weight, thereof: with a certificate from the overseer, that the particulars are made in all respects agreeably thereto, as to workmanship, size, and quality of tar. To each cable, &c. is to be fastened a tally, with the maker’s name, and weight and length of such cable, &c.

The work to be delivered at the place agreed on, free of expence to government.

The cordage is to be measured in the maker’s ground; and, should it exceed the following sizes, it is not to be received:

Cables of 10 inches and upwards, 3/4 of an inch.

Cables of 9 inches and a half to 4 inches, 1/2 an inch.

Hawsers of 12 inches to 7 inches and a half, 3/4 of an inch.

Hawsers of 7 inches to 4 inches, 1/2 an inch.

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CONTRACT FOR ROPES FOR THE ROYAL NAVY.

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Cables, Cablets, &c. ought to agree, in weight and measurement, with the foregoing table; but must not exceed in weight more than ten hundred weight in twenty tons, or in that proportion, although their actual measurements may happen to be encreased, as before mentioned.

If the weight of the cables and cordage exceed the weight specified, no allowance for making the same, or weight of hemp, to be allowed. Three pounds weight of bands is allowed to every hundred weight of cordage.

Three quarters of a hundred of spunyarn to be received for every ton of cordage.

Should the articles be found not conformable to these particulars, by his majesty’s officers, they are to be taken away at the maker’s expence, who is to deliver the like quantity in lieu thereof, made of his own hemp, equal in goodness to his majesty’s.

To be paid as per agreement at the rate of     per ton.

The price paid by government, in 1792, was 4l. 10s. per ton,

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CONTRACT FOR CORDAGE WITH THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, 1792.

THE cordage is to be made of the best Petersburgh braak hemp, without any hemp-bands; the hemp to be viewed before spun, and the yarn before tarred; each yarn must bear the weight of three quarters of a hundred suspended, or the cordage will be refused. To be tarred dry with Stockholm tar, and the cordage laid hard. The ropes must not exceed the size, nor contain a less number of threads, than expressed in the annexed Table, which is, for cable-laid, 18 threads, and for hawserlaid 21; with a white thread put in each coil, and delivered to the company’s craft, free of charge, and bound up with new twelve-thread ratline. The company to receive the bounty, and payment to be made four months after delivery.

THE duty on cordage, imported, tarred or untarred, is 8s. 6d. per cwt. and no drawback. Bounty on the exportation of cordage, manufactured in Great Britain, not less than 3 tons, 2s. 4d. 1/4 per cwt. Old ropes may be imported duty free.

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ABSTRACT OF THE ACTS OF PARLIAMENT RELATIVE TO THE MANUFACTORY OF, AND ALLOWING A BOUNTY ON, CORDAGE, &c.

THE only parliamentary regulations, relative to the manufactory of cordage, are contained in the following abstract of “An act for more effectually preventing deceits in the manufacturing of cordage for shipping, and to prevent the illicit importation of foreign-made cordage.” 25 Geo. 3. c. 56.

1. The first section of this act repeals the act of the 35. Eliz. c. 8.

2. From the 25th of July, 1785, no person shall use, in the manufacturing of cables, hawsers, or other ropes, for the use of shipping, or shall knowingly vend or sell any thereof, in the manufacturing of which there shall be used any hemp, usually known or distinguished by the respective names or descriptions of short chucking, half clean, whale-line, or other toppings, codilla, damaged hemp bought at public or other sales, or any hemp whatsoever, from which the staple part thereof than have been taken away by the manufacturer, under the following penalties; viz. every such person, being the manufacturer of such cable, hawser, or other rope, shall forfeit such cable, hawser, or other rope, and also a sum of money equal to treble the value thereof; and every person who shall knowingly vend or sell such cable, hawser, or rope, not being the manufacturer thereof, shall forfeit a sum of money equal to treble the value.

3. And, for the better distinguishing the quality of cables, hawsers, and other ropes for the use of shipping, it is enacted, that, whenever any cable, hawser, or rope, as aforesaid, shall be manufactured of any hemp, the use whereof is not prohibited by this act, and the staple and quality whereof shall be inferior to clean Petersburgh hemp, such cable, hawser, or rope, as aforesaid, shall be deemed inferior cordage, and the manufacturer shall distinguish such cable, hawser, or rope, by running into the same, from end to end of each cable, three tarred mark-yarns, spun with the turn contrary to that of rope-yarn, and also one like tarred yarn in every other rope, for the use of shipping, and by marking or writing on the tally thereof the word STAPLE or INFERIOR, as the case then be; and every manufacturer making default herein shall forfeit the sum of ten shillings for every hundred weight of such cable, hawser, or rope.

4. Whenever any new cable, hawser, or other rope for the use of shipping, shall be vended or sold by the manufacturer, there shall be affixed thereon a tally, containing his name, signed by himself or his attorney, together with the name of the place where the same was manufactured, under the penalty of forfeiting, for every such offence, the sum of ten shillings for every hundred weight.

5. If any rope-maker shall put his name, or permit it to be put, on the tally of any cable, hawser, or other rope for the use of shipping, not being his manufacturing; or if the vender or proprietor of any cable, hawser, or other rope as aforesaid, or any other person whomsoever, shall wilfully and knowingly put or mark, upon the tally to be affixed thereon, the name of any person, not being the manufacturer thereof, every person so offending shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of twenty pounds.

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ABSTRACT OF AN ACT FOR ALLOWING A BOUNTY ON THE EXPORTATION OF BRITISH-MADE CORDAGE; AND FOR DISCONTINUING THE DRAWBACKS UPON FOREIGN ROUGH HEMP EXPORTED. 6 GEO. 3. c. 45.

THERE shall be paid for every hundred weight, containing one hundred and twelve pounds avoirdupois, of cordage, wrought up and manufactured in Great-Britain from foreign rough hemp, or hemp of the growth of Great Britain, except hemp of the growth or produce of the British colonies or plantations in America, which shall be really and truly exported out of this kingdom to parts beyond the seas (except the Isle of Man) by way of merchandize, and so in proportion for any quantity of thereof, by way of bounty, the sum of two shillings and four pence three farthings; which bounty shall be paid to the person exporting the same, by the customer or collector of the customs, with the privity of the comptroller of the port from whence the same shall be exported, on a debenture to be made forth by the said customer or collector, according to the entry of the goods and the shipping thereof, verified by the searcher: and oath is to be made, by the exporter or manufacturer thereof, on the entry or debenture before the customer, collector, or comptroller, of such port, that the said cordage is of British manufacture, and made of hemp imported from foreign parts, or from hemp of the growth of Great Britain, and not from hemp of the growth or produce of the British colonies or plantations in America; and exported, or intended to be exported, to parts beyond the seas, and not relanded, or intended to be relanded, in any part of Great-Britain or the Isle of Man.

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The preceding act would have expired but for the following one, which revived it for four years, and amended it.

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Abstract of an Act to revive, continue, and amend, so much of an Act, made in the sixth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intitled “AN ACT FOR ALLOWING A BOUNTY ON THE EXPORTATION OF BRITISH-MADE CORDAGE, AND FOR DISCONTINUING THE DRAWBACKS UPON FOREIGN ROUGH HEMP EXPORTED,” as relates to allowing a Bounty on the Exportation of British-made Cordage. 26. Geo. 3. c. 85.

Such part of the preceding act as relates to allowing a bounty upon the exportation of British-made cordage shall be revived for the term of four years, and thence to the end of the then next session of parliament, subject to the several amendments, alterations, regulations, and restrictions, herein after provided and expressed.

No bounty shall be allowed or paid upon the exportation of cordage wrought up and manufactured in Great-Britain from hemp of the growth of the British colonies or plantations in America, or of the United States of America, nor for any cordage whatever which shall be exported, unless the quantity thereof shall be three tons weight at the least.

Upon the entry for exportation, in order to obtain the bounty, the exporter shall make oath that the same is really and truly intended to be exported as merchandize, and not for the use of the ship during her then voyage, or any future voyage; and the master or commander of the ship or vessel shall join in the bond required to be given for the due exportation of such cordage, or, on failure thereof, no bounty shall be paid.

Nothing in this or any other act contained shall extend to disallow the bounty on the due exportation of such cordage to any foreign port or place whatever, except the Isle of Man, but that the same shall be and is hereby required to be paid on such exportation, other than to the Ile of Man.

Every ship or vessel, on-board of which any cordage shall be shipped for exportation, in order to obtain the bounty herein before granted, shall have on-board (over and above the quantity entered for exportation) a sufficient quantity of cordage for the use of such ship or vessel, according to the nature of the voyage, for which no bounty shall be allowed; and such ship or vessel, before clearing at any port in the kingdom, shall be visited by the proper officer of the customs, who shall not permit her to sail, if there be not on-board a sufficient quantity of cordage for the use of such ship or vessel, independent of and besides the quantity entered for the bounty; and such ship or vessel shall not sail upon her intended voyage until there shall be provided a sufficient quantity of cordage for the use of such ship or vessel.

No entry shall be permitted to pass for the exportation of any such cordage, or the vessel having onboard such cordage be permitted to go out of port, unless a certificate shall be produced, under the hands of the commissioners of his majesty’s navy, or any three or more of them, signifying that such cordage hath been tendered to them for the use of his majesty’s dock-yards, at the fair and then market price of such cordage in London, and that the same hath been refused by that board; and if any person or persons shall pass any entry for such cordage, without having such certificate produced to him or them, such person or persons shall forfeit and lose the sum of one hundred pounds.

There two acts have been continued for the further space of four years by the 31 Geo. 3. c. 43.

Upon the importation of cordage tarred or untarred there is payable a duty of 8s. 6d. per cwt. and no drawback allowed upon exportation: and there is a farther scavage-rate in the port of London of one penny per cwt. of 112 lbs. upon the importation of cable ropes for cordage.

Old ropes may be imported duty free.