jackanapes

A jackanapes is a small auxiliary pulley mounted on the structure of a mine shaft or hoisting frame to keep the main lifting rope aligned and prevent it from fouling against the shaft sides or timber sets. It performs no load-bearing function itself, but instead bears the lateral pressure created by the rope as it deflects from the vertical, redirecting the rope's path back toward the center of the pulley block above.

In a typical deep mine hoist installation, the main rope would leave the winding drum on the surface, travel down the shaft under tension, and return loaded with ore or water. Without intermediate alignment pulleys, the rope would scrape against irregular masonry, timberwork, or structural ironwork as it descended. The jackanapes mounted on a bracket at intervals down the shaft or at the shaft collar ensured the rope stayed centered and vertical, reducing wear and the risk of the rope snagging or unraveling.

The pulley wheel itself was typically made of cast iron or wood with an iron rim, sized between 6 and 12 inches in diameter depending on the rope gauge and shaft width. It was supported on an axle and could rotate freely to match the speed of the descending rope. The mounting bracket was bolted or riveted directly to the shaft cribbing or to wrought iron guides running down the sides of the opening.

Why the name survives as an artifact. The term jackanapes is likely a corruption of an older designation, though the exact etymology is unclear. By the late 19th century, when shaft-sinking methods had standardized and rope guides became more engineered, the jackanapes had already become obsolete. Modern mines replaced it with permanent steel guide rings fixed to the shaft walls, which are simpler to maintain and more robust. The word persists only in historical mining records and geological surveys of abandoned workings.