Joining clip for driving belts
Machine driving belt joining clip courtesy of Charlie Smith, Huntly.
The saw mills were all powered in some way by machines either steam or latterly diesel. The power was transferred from the large driving wheel via a wide belt which, in double bench sawmills, drove a large cross shaft with a selection of its own driving wheels powering a variety of saws again with belts. Belts came in a variety of widths, thicknesses and usually in long lengths which were cut to the required length and joined. Before the days of rubber and nylon the belts consisted of long woven strands of cotton or hemp set in a solid flexible matrix of material somewhat like linoleum. The clips came in long lengths and were cut to suit the belt width. A clip was hammered or pressed carefully in to each end of the belt to be joined and the two locked clips then presented back to back and interlocked so that a joining rod could be inserted along the grooved channel at the back. Once the ends of the rod were peened over this would then form a long lasting flexible joint and a continuous belt.
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Groups: Sawmills, pulp mills, chipboard mills, Tools, equipment and clothing