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Old 06-05-2008, 01:15 PM
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JCL JCL is offline
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Location: Vancouver, Canada
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In early industrial revolution era factories and workshops there was often a single power source (steam engine or water turbine) which drove a series of rotating shafts in the rafters. At each workstation, a belt came down from the overhead shaft to the respective lathe, drill, grinder, press, or other machine. The belts were generally flat leather belts. The workshops were noisy. At the end of the working shift, the foreman would go to the main shaft, and with a long stick, reach up and hit the belt sideways, "knocking it off" the pulley. That brought all the machines to a halt. To this day, we still refer to quitting time as "knocking off"
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