Wire Rope Direct News

Fibre Rope – A Brief History

Since its invention ropes have been instrumental in all manner of day to day tasks, from using simple twines and string for parcel wrapping to larger towing ropes and more.  So how old are the earliest ropes and where did they originate? There is evidence of rope being used some 20'000 years ago found in some cave paintings and some museums have samples of rope from 2600BC from Egyptians, ropes from the roman era can also be viewed in many museums.

Many types of people utilised rope in their daily lives, such as hunters, who would use fine rope for the string on their bows; farmers, soldiers, merchants and builders also utilised rope in some way, often for tying items together or for hauling heavy items.

Some of the earliest fibre ropes used in the UK were made from strips of lime bark which were twisted together, quick progression was made and people were soon using various other plant fibres to produce ropes; water reeds, vines, flax and even grass would have been utilised. Later on rope production progressed even further by using animal hair and leather.

The early processes would have only produced ropes of a fairly short length, but longer lengths would have been much more useful, this is when, during the middle ages period that so called rope walks were introduced. Rope walks were extremely lengthy structures where strands of the total span of rope were laid out then twisted all together to create the rope. Hemp fibres used to be fixed to a hook fixed to a wheel at one end of the walk, which was gradually turned whilst at the same time as the rope maker backtracked down the rope walk, giving out extra fibres from the supply that he carried which were twisted into the fine rope as he went along, gradually increasing the length of the rope. Groups of these longer fibres were later on twisted together to produce even thicker and stronger rope.

These longer ropes were a godsend for many operations, especially in shipping for sheets and halyards. This is because shorter rope lengths would have needed to be spliced together which not only gave the rope a weaker point but also made the rope thicker in parts which made it difficult to pull them through pulleys etc.

The expertise of rope manufacturers has dramatically altered through the years; furthermore modern-day ropes have little indication to the ropes from the past.

Fibre ropes  made from natural fibres are still produced today and are predominantly sisal or manila. During the mid 1900's man-made fibres were becoming more prevalent to make rope, nylon, polyester and polypropylene were used to produce stronger ropes with differing qualities, and so are suitable for different purposes; they were also becoming much cheaper to mass produce and had less impact on using our worlds natural resources.

More News Articles

It is imperative to select the right wire rope for the taskin hand, here are some basic selection tips to help you ch...

Wire rope can be easily damaged, even when not in use; it isfor this reason that it is so important to store your un-...

 Both forms of fibre rope, (man-made and natural) have a widevariety of uses, from the smallest parcel strin...

Wire ropes are a very versatile piece of equipment and canbe used across a whole variety of areas, and for different purpo...

This news article looks at the fibre rope sling and willinclude advice on using them in a safe manner, along with ...

 This news article looks at using a wire rope sling in a safemanner and will also incorporate maintenance and in-ser...

 Wire Rope Direct supplies the most popular types of wireropes amongst many others; here are some details our ...

Wire rope is a composite material, which may, depending onthe type incorporate other materials in minimal quantities, ...

Wire rope is generally a tough product utilised for manypurposes, especially lifting heavy loads, however if not han...

This post will briefly look at the main characteristics ofthe different fibre rope constructions.PLAITED ROPE; this ...

There are various make-ups of fibre rope such as twisted;plaited and braided, here we will look at the main characteris...

There are many different types of rope available today, allof which can be used for many different purposes, however...

Wire Rope Direct is part of the Lifting Gear direct group; afamily run business with years of knowledge and experience....

 There are numerous varieties of rope on offer today; a farcry from a few hundred years ago where rope consi...

 We have covered the safe handling and inspections or yourfibre ropes which will all help with safety and longe...

Lifting Gear Direct, the sister company to Wire Rope Direct has just been awarded the top distributor title by Columbus McKi...

 The working life of a fibre rope can be greatly enhanced byhaving them inspected on a regular basis, this al...

 All kinds of fibre ropes need certain care taken whenhandling them, especially natural fibre ropes like sisal...

 With the winter weather fast approaching it is time to takea look at tow ropes, make sure yours are up to scr...

 There are many factors to take into account when selecting awire rope, here are some guidelines to help.Manufactu...