When mine shafts became to deep, a whim was needed to recover the ore in buckets. Joshua Hendy developed the Davis Horse-Power Hoisting Whim, exhibited here. The whim was a large drum made from wood in the early years, and later metal, with a cable running over pulleys and down the shaft, with a bucket at the end. A horse or mule would be tethered to a long pole attached to the whim and it would walk around in circles making the drum revolve; as this happened, the ore bucket would be raised to the surface.
This whim, patented in 1888, was built entirely of iron and steel, mounted on a heavy base plate, so that it was net effected by cold or heat. Both hoisting and lowering was regulated by one lever; the operation so simple that it could be handled by any inexperienced person. This whim is from the Eagle Mine in Copperopolis.
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