Idrija Municipal Museum, Prelovčeva 9, SI-5280 Idrija
Ownership
Public
Owner
Municipality of Idrija, Mestni trg 1, SI-5280 Idrija
Local / Original ID Number
510:IDR;RS-8
Type of Object
Mine
Description
Short description
Three horizontal brackets were screwed on the lower frame with a middle bar. The cylinders with a piston and a slider are installed on the right and the left bracket. The pistons are connected to handle that rotates the drive shaft with an extension rod, a crosshead and a connecting rod. The drive shaft is mounted on top of the three vertical brackets with three slide bearings. In the middle of the shaft is a small cogwheel with straight cogs – pinion (number of cogs z=12). The small cogwheel is interconnected with the large one (number of cogs z=48), which is mounted on drums’ shaft, therefore the gear is i=4. Therefore both drums are relatively short. Each side has an eccentric connected with a special lever with a handle, which serve for controlling the slider. The track brake is installed on the left side of the left drum.
Measures
Length 191 cm, width 109 cm, height 122 cm.
Materials
Cast iron housing, brass, steel, wood.
Dating
End of the 19th century
Author / Producer
Manufacturer information is not known.
Picture attachments
Original use
The winch was used for lifting and lowering the load in the Idrija Mercury Mine pit. The described winch was used to pull the carts along the tunnels to the shaft, or it was used to lift the ore during the deepening of the shafts. The rope was coiled on both drums, which were smooth and without threads, due to the weak force in the rope. Therefore, the rope was coiled in several layers. The winch was powered by compressed air from the compressor station, which entered in through a flexible pipe and through the machine valve. The handle was used to change the direction of the drum (forward, backwards, neutral). After the elimination in 1950, the winch was displayed in the castle’s courtyard until spring 1990.
Present use
The portable mining winch is being preserved, secured and presented as an important monument of Idrija technical mining heritage with exceptional universal values. The described machine was exemplary restored and prepared to operate on compressed air. It is part of the Idrija Municipal Museum collection “Mining machines and devices”, which demonstrates the middle-European machine manufacturing at the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th centuries. The collections contains the restored mining machines and devices, tools and equipment, which were necessary for working in a pit or in outdoor plants. For this reason it represents technical heritage which greatly exceeds the Idrija Mercury Mine framework and is therefore of a larger, global importance.
Original location
The Pit of the Idrija Mercury Mine.
Present location
Francis’ Shaft building (showroom 1).
STATE OF CONSERVATION
History of conservation:
The mining winch was restored between 1990 and 1992. It was completely disassembled, surfaces of individual parts were cleaned with sandblasting process, reassembled and painted with foundation and top paint. Therefore, no additional interventions are necessary. Security of the premises is ensured.
Present state
good
Necessary activities:
Regular seasonal maintenance.
DOCUMENTATION
Addresses / collections / links etc. where further in-depth information is accessible:
- Inventory Book of the Idrija Municipal Museum;
- Zelenc, Anton. In vendar se giblje: katalog rudniških strojev in naprav. Idrija, Idrija Municipal Museum, 2001;
- Kladnik, Darinka. Sto muzejev na Slovenskem. Ljubljana, PD, 1998, p. 69.