Rope
Any cord over an inch in diameter is called a rope. Ropes are principally made of vegetable fibre, the chief of which is hemp. Coir rope is made from the fibrous husk of the cocoanut; manilla rope from the fibres of a species of banana; in addition to which cotton and other similar substances enter largely into the business of rope-making. Wire rope, both iron and steel, is now extensively employed both on shipboard and on land. The machines invented by Mr. John Good, Brooklyn, N. Y., and others have made it possible to so manufacture ropes that their strength may be measured with the greatest exactness. Large cable-laid ropes consist of three large strands, each made up of three smaller strands. Hawser-laid rope has only three strands, each containing a sufficient number of yarns to make up the required thickness. TABLE OF DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHTS OF SHORT-LINKED CHAINS AND ROPES, AND PROOF OF THE CHAIN IN TONS. (HASWELL.) Diam. of Chain. Weight per Fathom. Proof Strain. Circum. of Rope. Weight of Rope per Fathom. Diam. of Chain. Weight per Fathom. Proof Strain. Circum. of Rope. Weight of Rope per Fathom. Inches. Lbs. Tons. Inches. Lbs. Inches. Lbs. Tons. Inches. Lbs. 5/16 6 .75 2 1/2 1.5 11/16 28 6.5 7 10.5 3/8 8.5 1.5 3 1/4 2.5 3/4 32 7.75 7 1/2 12 7/16 11 2.5 4 3.75 13/16 36 9.25 8 1/4 15 1/2 14 3.5 4 3/4 5 7/8 44 10.75 9 17.5 9/16 18 4.5 5 1/2 7 15/16 50 12.5 9 1/2 19.5 5/8 24 5.25 6 1/4 8.7 1 56 14 10 22 NOTE.--The ropes of the sizes given in the table are considered to be of equal strength with the chains.