Ropes

Ropes are used to thread the paper machine. The rope run goes through all the dryer sections and are setup so that the tail, a narrow sheet, goes through the dryers properly and reaches the reel drum. Paper machine ropes, or carrier rope, is made from nylon and other synthetic materials which are abrasion resistant.

Ropes are very dangerous. When I first started working on a paper machine the first thing the machine manager told me was if I ever heard a rope break, run. If a rope breaks and catches anyone's limb it would surely catch and pull the person through the rope run which would more than likely kill the person. This is why it is important to correctly splice the ropes. This is where the ends of the rope come around to close a loop. The splice should be overlapping at least 18 inches. Glue should also be applied to the splice for extra strength. If a rope begins to fray it should be carefully monitored. If the fray worsens, then a decision should be made to replace the rope. If a rope breaks it can not only result in a break, but also take out other ropes. If the rope is in the first section and it breaks and takes out all the other ropes down the machine this can lead to several hours of downtime. Some rope runs are fairly complicated and take some time to re route. It is much simpler to replace a rope by tying a new rope to the old rope than to have to manually guide the new rope by itself through the rope run.

It's better to be safe than sorry, so do not take unnecessary risk with the ropes, you could get burned.