Magic Belt

“ The ends of round belts are usually joined by means of cylindrical hooks and eyes, which are threaded so as to screw on to the end of the belt, but for twisted round belts it is better to place in the centre of the belt a small core of soft wood. ”

“ We have not stopped at flat link belting, but have turned our attention to manufacturing round solid leather link belting, and believe that we have almost attained perfection in that line. As the illustrations clearly show, there is quite a demand for inch and upward solid round belting, and the difficulty always has been to join such a belt together. All steel hooks, etc., do not seem to satisfy. This, our new invention, is so simple that it hardly needs explanation. A belt of this kind can be taken apart in a short time, and shortened or lengthened at pleasure. ”

“ For instance, find the center of any piece of leather on one side of the belt, and then look on the opposite side and see if the joint is right under your center mark. It should be by all means, for right here lies the most important thing about the construction of leather belts. A belt whose laps are all the same length, and which has all its joints broken correctly, will put the same load on the glue throughout, and that is what must be done in order to get the best results. See Fig. 80. Here we have a belt that is 36 inches in width and a double ply. ”

“ There is no class of appliances so little understood by the ordinary steam engineer and steam user as belts, which may be seen by the quantity of belting sold annually. Where one can point to a belt that has been in continuous use for twenty years, you can find hundreds that do not last one-fourth as long. Why? Not always because the buyer has tried to get something for nothing, but as a rule, when they do, they get nothing for something. ”

“ The object of this chapter is not to say how belts are made, but to impress upon the minds of belt users that to get the best results, belts, like all good servants, must be well cared for, and all responsibility should rest with one man, just as with your engine or any high-priced machine. ”

“ Another rule is, that at a velocity of 1000 ft. per min. each inch of breadth of belt should transmit 21/2 horse-power on metal pulleys, or 5 on wooden ones, on which the adhesion is greater. Adhesion may also be increased by covering the pulleys with leather or india-rubber. Both rules assume that the belt is of ample strength. One horse-power would be transmitted by a belt running 1000 ft. per min. with a pull of 33 lb. A good single belt should not break with a much less strain than 1000 lb. per inch of breadth, and should stand about 1/10 as much as a working strain. ”

“ The question of the minimum amount of slip of a belt in transmitting power from one pulley to another reduces itself to a question of creep, for it is possible to have belts large enough so that with proper tensions there will be no regular slip. With a difference in tension on the two sides and of elasticity in the belt, creep, however, is bound to take place. ”

“ He gave orders to the stewards, the overseers, and the grain-wardens; to the scribes, the housekeeper, the huntsmen, and the grooms; and he had to look through all the day's accounts; finally he told the Apparitor that he wished to undress. The [pg 29] Apparitor undid his belt, a belt from Sluck,29 a massive belt, on which glittered tassels thick as helmet-plumes; on one side it was gold brocade with purple flowers, on the reverse black silk with silver cross-stripes. Such a belt may be worn equally well on either side, golden for a holiday, and black for mourning. ”

“ When the edge gets a trifle dull, use the small steel on both sides of the edge; first wet the steel with the lips, it makes a much better edge. For the benefit of beginners who may attempt to splice a belt for the first time, do not use a glue that will not allow you to remove the clamps and put on the full load in forty-five minutes after the glue has been applied and well rubbed down. The time given here applies only to clean belts that are absolutely free from all oils, and does not include old oil-soaked leather that no glue will ever dry on. ”

“ Ultimate strength of ordinary leather belting = 3086 lb. per square inch. Belts vary from 3∕16 in. to 1⁄4in. thick, average 7∕32 in.
Power of Single Leather Belts.
To calculate the power of single leather belts, the following formula may be used: Let HP = actual horse-power. W = width of belt. F = driving force. T = working tension from 70 to 150 lb. V = velocity of belt in feet per minute.
Example:—A 10-inch belt running 2500 feet per minute, what horse-power will it transmit? Assuming the working tension to be 100 lb.,
[179] ”

“ Hence thin flexible belts are to be preferred to thick stiff ones. Besides the loss of power in transmission due to this cause, the bending causes a stress in the belt which is to be added to the direct stress due to the tensions in the belt in order to find the maximum stress. In ordinary leather belts the bending stress is usually negligible; in ropes, however, especially wire rope, it assumes paramount importance, since it tends to over strain the outermost strands and if these give way the life of the rope is soon determined. ”

“ No heel is ever attached. Around the man's waist, holding up his drawers and chiripa, is wound a long colored belt, with tasseled ends left hanging over his boot, down the right side; and over that he invariably wears a broad skin belt, clasped at the front with silver and adorned all around with gold or silver coins. ”

“ But a crossed belt is open to the objection that the surfaces of the belt rub against each other at the point of crossing, which tends to rapidly wear out the laced joint of the belt. By crossing a vertical belt the lower pulley receives part of the weight of the belt. ”

“ With heavy belts, particular care should be taken to prevent any portion of the clothing being caught either by the moving belt or pulleys, as many serious accidents have resulted in the past from carelessness in regard to this important detail. The person handling the belt should, therefore, be sure of a firm footing, and when it is impossible to secure this, it is advisable to stop the engine and fit the belt around the engine pulley as well as possible by the aid of a rope looped around the belt. ”

“ Next in importance is to buy a belt that has already been filled with some good waterproof dressing. It is quite likely that to buy a belt that has been filled means to buy one that perhaps has some bad leather in it that would be seen in a dry oak tan belt, and also that the adhesive power of the filled belt is not quite equal to the dry one ”

“ And now, as the Indian sank down into his blanket before the fire, Sir William produced a belt from the folds of his cloak and held it out. The belt was black with two figures woven in white on it. The hands of the figures were clasped together. It was a chain-belt.
"Brother," he said, slowly: "The clouds which hang over us prevent us from seeing the sun. It is, therefore, our business, with this belt, to clear the sky. And we also, with this belt, set the sun in its proper course, so that we may be enabled to see the narrow path of peace." ”

“ The capacity of a belt depends on, its width, speed, and thickness. A single belt one inch wide and travelling 1,000 feet per minute will transmit one horse power; a double belt under the same conditions, will transmit two horse power.
Fig. 2,813.—One horse power transmitted by belt to illustrate the rule given above. A pulley is driven by a belt by means of the friction between the surfaces in contact. Let T be the tension on the driving side of the belt, and T', the tension on the loose side ”

“ The longer we thought over it, and turned the angles of possibility to inspection the more hopeless the prospect grew. But again the Gold Belt? A shining lure of the Demon of Death to tempt us to a horrible doom. As Goritz ostentatiously showed it to us it became loathsome, sinister, a delusive snare! ”

“ There is not one establishment in one hundred that does not leave the care and tightening of the belts to the judgment of the individual who runs the machine, although it is well known to all who have given any study to the subject that the most skilled machinist cannot properly tighten a belt without the use of belt clamps fitted with spring balances to properly register the tension. ”

“ Furthermore, belt connections are lighter and cheaper than gear-wheel or other rigid and positive connections, and hence the wide application of leather belts for the transmission of power, notwithstanding the slight variations of pulley velocity ratio due to the unequal elasticity of the various parts of the leather composing the belt. ”

“ Each strip, except the one at the end, has a claw at the lower corner (on some of the strips the bit of skin bearing the claws is pieced in) so that there are 138 eight nearly equidistant claws making a fringe round the lower edge of the belt. There is a hole at each end into which is half-hitched the end of a narrow strip of deerskin about 8 inches long. These strings serve to tie the girdle. This belt is 33 inches long and 11⁄2 inches wide, and has been worn so long that the inside is very dirty. Such belts are very valuable and highly prized, and are worn exclusively by the women. ”

“ Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their infant children. ”

“ The ordinary method of lacing a leather belt is to make the laces straight on the pulley side, all running in the same direction as the movement of the belt, and crossing them on the outside diagonally in both directions. ”

“ When a belt envelops two pulleys that are at a right angle to each other, two guide pulleys are needed in order that the belt may, in passing to each pulley, move in the same plane as the pulley rotates in, and the belt is in this case given what is termed a quarter twist. ”

“ The belts received at treaties, councils and other assemblies were entrusted for presentation to the care of one individual, usually the sachem, who was expected to keep in mind the occasion and purport of each, which he could readily do by the aid of the devices emblematic of the event it signalized that were traced upon each. [17] Thus a belt presented to Sir Wm. Johnson by the Six Nations, had wrought upon it the sun, the emblem of light, and symbols of the Six Nations. ”

“ The main belts never entirely disappear, and never depart very far from their mean positions with respect to the equator, but the smaller belts toward the north and south are more or less evanescent. Round or oblong spots, as distinguished from belts, are still more variable and transient. The main belts themselves show great internal commotion, frequently splitting up, through a considerable part of their length, and sometimes apparently throwing out projections into the lighter equatorial zone, which occasionally resemble bridges, diagonally spanning the broad space between the belts. ”

“ To let a belt run one moment after it gets too slack is bad practice, for it is apt to slip and burn all the staying qualities out of it. Another good reason why it should not be run slack is that the engineer or belt man, to save work, would be tempted to put on a dressing or, worse yet, put on resin to make it pull, and, in the language of Rex, "the man who will put resin on his belts is either a fool or a knave," for it is sure to spoil his belt if continued for any length of time. ”

“ Belt dealers and makers, like almost all other dealers in supplies, aim to get nothing but first-class goods; but second and third, and even fourth-class goods, are made, and you get the quality you pay for. In the second place, belts wear out quickly because they do not get proper care. ”

“ The common belt has leathern straps, and buckles to fasten it, an iron ring and a pocket. A double cincture for wrestling forms a very strong girth, which is put on by pupils who are very strong, when they wrestle. ”

“ Bend a ring on one end of the wire and stick the other end through a hole punched in the center of the belt. The ring will prevent the wire from passing through the leather, and it should be bent in such a manner that the hook end of the wire will hang downward when the width of the belt is vertical. These hooks are placed about 2 in. apart for the length of the belt, allowing sufficient ends for a buckle and holes. The strap can be buckled around a tree or tent pole.—Contributed by W. C. Loy, Rochester, Ind.
Never stand in a direct line of a swiftly revolving object, such as an emery wheel. ”

“ A man who would do that would steal a hot stove or write a libellous joke about me.” The judge was a rare joker and the young man whom he apostrophised for fun didn’t know a jack from a load of hay.
Parker, Martinsburg, Argyle, Petrolia, the “Cross Belt,” Karns City, Angelica, Millerstown, St. Joe, Buena Vista, Modoc and Greece City had passed in review. The “belt” extended fifteen miles and the Butler field acknowledged no rival. ”

“ Lacing is not stronger in proportion as it is heavy. If it is heavy and clumsy it gets strained in going round the pulley, and soon gives out. The ideal way to lace a belt is to make it as nearly like the rest of the belt as possible, so that it will go over the pulleys without a jar. The ends of the belt should be cut off square with a try square, and a small punch used for making holes. Holes should be equally spaced, and outside ones not so near the edge as to tear out. ”

“ A good quality of leather will sustain a somewhat greater strain. In use on the pulleys, belts should not be subjected to a greater strain than one eleventh their tensile strength, or about 290 pounds to the square inch or cross section. This will be about 55 pounds average strain for every inch in width of single belt three-sixteenths inch 2011 thick. The strain allowed for all widths of belting—single, light double, and heavy double—is in direct proportion to the thickness of the belt. ”