alt.building.construction

On Oct 7, 8:40 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
> "Joe" wrote in message
>
> news: @ ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Oct 7, 8:22 pm, "hall...@ " wrote:
> >> HEY! This is akin to someone coming here looking for a source for
> >> blocks of ice for their ice box and being informed theres a new
> >> product, a refrigerator that can do the same job easily and more
> >> convenient.
>
> >> Perhaps he wants to re live his youth working with a star drill? Dont
> >> laugh occasionally I do wierd stuff I had last done as a child just
> >> for the heck of it although I avoid the hard work ones these days:)
>
> >> in any case his question has been asked and answered. Hopefully he
> >> will remember to wear safety glasses. Star drills can be dangerous
>
> > And gloves and knee pads, because he is going to be on the ground at
> > least two days stubbornly whacking at something that many of us have
> > done in under an hour. Sheesh...
>
> > Joe
>
> In the two communities of Tonopah and Pioche, Nevada, they have annual
> celebrations. One is for founders day, the other for Labor Day. It's just
> really an excuse to drink for three days and eat a lot of spicy food, but
> they have Glorious Titles on them nonetheless.
>
> One of the competitions is mucking. That's seeing who can load the most
> gravel and rock into a container in five minutes. It comes from the old
> days when muckers used to go in after a shot and clean up the debris created
> by the shot. And they worked twelve hour shifts.
>
> Another competition is called single jacking. One man has a hefty sledge
> hammer, and the other has a star drill with a shaft of about one inch, and a
> star bigger than that. Remember that this was to put in sticks of dynamite,
> so the hole wasn't small.
>
> One man would hold the drill. The other would strike it with the sledge.
> Then the drill holder would rotate the drill, and the hammer man would
> strike it again. They had a set time limit.
>
> In the old days, poor boy operators did all their blasting with single
> jacking. Many times with just one man. Lots of mines were one man
> operations. Drilling came in later, and was the cause of silicosis which
> limited a man to three months of working in the mines, and at that time, he
> was coughing so much he was worthless. Then the advent of hydraulic
> drilling where they simply put a stream of water through the center of the
> bit, and the dust was eliminated. Dust from other sources in the mine still
> caused silicosis and miners didn't have a long life span as a group.
>
> Single jacking was an orchestrated ballet. A good team could perform well,
> but it was a tenuous thing. One miss with the hammer, and the drill holder
> was off work for a few weeks or months. Swinging a heavy hammer at a steady
> rate at sometimes overhead angles was something a lot of men simply couldn't
> do more than five minutes.
>
> The competitions I witnessed in Pioche and Tonopah were on a flat level
> surface. In the real mines, they were in every imaginable angle.
>
> It's always fun to watch other people work their butts off, and holler HURRY
> UP while you're drinking a beer.
>
> Steve- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Minor correction. Your description is 'double jacking' - two man.
'Single jacking' is one man who both holds the drill and wields the
hand sledge.


Harry K