Wire Cloth
The business is now so well perfected as to make it a matter of the least difficulty to obtain from manufactures every conceivable variety of this fabric. They weave all the grades of iron and steel wire cloths, from the finest and lightest hardware grade to the coarsest and heaviest coal and mining grades; also, all the different kinds of brass, copper, and galvanized cloths for any of the various purposes for which wire cloths are used. Wire Rope is steel or iron wire twisted into ropes. When great pliability is required it is customary to make the centre of hemp, especially the smaller-sized ropes. A reel should always be used for stowing wire rope, and as a protection against rust the rope should be occasionally tarred or painted. Short bends should be carefully avoided; and, while wire rope of similar strength to hemp will run on sheaves of the same diameter, it is always preferable to have larger ones, as the rope will wear longer. The relative dimensions of hemp cable and of wire rope are as follows, the figures denoting circumference in inches:
Hemp....3, 4, 5, 5 1/2, 6, 6 3/4, 7 1/4, 8, 9, 10, 10 1/2, 11, 12. Wire....1 5/8, 2 1/8, 2 3/4, 3, 3 1/4, 3 5/8, 4, 4 3/8, 4 7/8, 5 1/2, 5 3/4, 6, 6 1/2.