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VF649
VW651
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I acquired my Gemtor VF649 from Brian Kallfelz in 2013.
My Gemtor VF649 is 109 mm. long, 109 mm. wide, 45 mm. high, and weighs 712 g. The VF649 is designed for use with 5/8" (16 mm.) or 3/4" (19 mm.) synthetic rope. The body consists of a 3.0 mm. stainless steel plate bent into a rectangular channel. A 63 mm. by 45 mm. by 6.3 mm. plate acts as a rope support. This support fits into two vertical slots in the side plates. An actuating lever pivots on a rivet set opposite the cable support. The lever actuates a 19 mm. cylindrical roller that presses the rope against the support. The roller slides in slots in the body plates and the lever, so the roller motion is linear, not circular. A 1.5 mm. stainless steel cable acts as a keeper for the rope support and a retaining clip. A 6.4 mm. stainless steel split pin welded across the channel provides a path for the keeper cable.
The front of the VF649 is stamped with "UP," an up-pointing arrow, "1 PERSON PER ROPE GRAB," "GEMTOR INC.," "MATAWAN NJ," "MODEL VF649," "NYS APP. #9048," "SERIAL NO. 01E413," ’USE 5/8" OR 3/4" SYNTHETIC ROPE ONLY,’ and PAT. NO. 4,542,884."
The cam action is interesting, since it involves a roller (much like a pulley) that presses the rope against a flat plate. This arrangement looks like it was meant to allow slippage under high load.
[ Top | VF649 | Return to Rope Grabs ]
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| Front | Rear |
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| Side | Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Gemtor VW651 box from East End Pawn Shop in 2009.
My Gemtor VW651 is 104 mm. long, 119 mm. wide, 33 mm. high, and weighs 1034 g. The VW651 is designed for use with 5/16" (8 mm.) wire cable. The body consists of two parallel 2.7 mm. stainless steel plates held together with two steel rivets. A 70 mm. by 32 mm. by 6.3 mm. plate acts as a cable support. This support fits into two vertical slots in the side plates. An actuating lever pivots on a rivet set opposite the cable support. The lever actuates a concave roller that presses the cable against the support. The roller slides in slots in the body plates and the lever, so the roller motion is linear, not circular. A maillon connects a snap hook to the other end of the lever.
The front of the VW651 is stamped with "UP," an up-pointing arrow, "GEMTOR INC.," "MATAWAN N.J.," "MODEL VW651," "USE ONLY WITH 5/16 WIRE ROPE," "CAUTION USE ONLY WITH ENERGY ABSORBER," and PAT.NO. 4,542,884." The maillon is stamped with "TAIWAN," "9N," and "SWL2200LBS." The hook has "FORGED" and "5M" forged on one side and "D1" and an H-inside-a-square logo on the other.
Allowing slippage between the roller and plate is a particularly good idea when subjecting low-stretch cable to shock loads.
I don't know whether the Taiwanese maillon and the hook are original or not, but the maillon does not open far enough to remove it from the arm, so I suspect that they both are original.
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