Grant Erwin wrote:

Fascinating. I think I remember reading that they wound up using sort of
bent fiber washers hung over the shafting. The washers just vibrated
around and freed up all the gunk, which -- as you said -- fell straight
down.

GWE No, they were simple circles with centered holes in them (about
twice as big as the shafting) the O.D. was 2 or 3 times that. Their
natural motion was to slowly run to one end of the shaft (or pillow
block, and then naturally reverse to the other end--fun to watch, the
first time..


At the Armington & Sims shop I learned that 'grease monkeys' were
originally the 12 year olds that climbed up to clean the overhead
shafting. Teddy Roosevelt signed laws limiting child labor to farms
and shop owners weren't about to pay 14 year olds to do the job, so
they installed disks that travel the length of the shafting to remove
the crud. Still, it fell on the machinists' heads and that's why all
those guys in the 'Bull o' the woods' cartoons wore hats.

Dick Hamm
Nashua NH