Dear Phil,
Most interesting - thankyou.
One of the few items of description we have is mention of a 'winding cage'
which sounds very like what you describe. The surviving engine house has a
number of timber sockets and ledges in one particular place, suggesting a
device mounted on the outside, attached to various timber baulks.
I don't suppose there's a photo/sketch of the one at Fowey Consols?
How would they have clutched and declutched this? Sliding dogs?
The document suggests that you could wind all four at once, but doesn't
actually state this. Possibly what is meant is that you could wind each at
will. I'll look out the exact text so I can quote it to you.
We think the engine was a horizontal one, but at no point is it mentioned
who made it. It was acquired independently from other machinery on the
mine, which included a Harvey's 45in pumping engine and a Copperhouse
Foundry roller crusher.
Robert
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Phil Newman
Sent: 31 March 2011 10:45
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Multiple winding from a single engine
Hi Robert,
Have a look at the plan of Fowey Consols in De La Beche, 1839 (ie about the
same period as your document). It shows several water and steam powered
whims hauling on multiple shafts, including one that hauled on three. It
appears to have a horizontal cage or drum (ie mounted on a vertical shaft)
adjacent to the engine rather like a horse whim with cables leading off in
different directions. To haul from all three shafts simultaneously, it would
have needed three drums, one above the other, all rotating independently.
However, Barton (The Cornish Beam Engine p190) considered that this
horizontal arrangement could only be used on one shaft at a time by moving
the cable to different positions. Indeed it is implied in De La Beche's plan
by using solid lines and pecked lines to depict the cables, that only one
set was in us at a time. Does your document specifically state that all four
shafts could be hauled simultaneously?
Regards
Phil
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Robert Waterhouse
Sent: 31 March 2011 09:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Multiple winding from a single engine
Dear List,
I recently came across a claim that an 18hp (horizontal, I think) steam
winder on an 1840s Cornish mine was set up so that it could wind from four
shafts.
The furthest of the shafts concerned was no more than 300 yards from the
engine, but they were located in a variety of different directions and
elevations from it.
I imagine that there must have been four drums, geared and declutchable from
the main driveshaft, but the evidence on the site only supports two drums at
most.
Please can anyone supply other examples of this, and suggest how it was
managed? I'm aware of how haulage ropes could be taken to the shafts
over pulleys on stands, but am most interested in how the winding and
changes in direction were managed.
Robert Waterhouse
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