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flat rods

A series of horizontal or inclined connecting rods, running up upon
rollers, or supported at their joints by rocking arms, to convey motion
from a steam engine or water wheel to pump rods at a distance. Fay

flat rope

A steel rope made up of a number of loosely twisted four-strand ropes
placed side by side, the lay of the adjacent strands being in opposite
directions to secure uniformity in wear and to prevent twisting during
winding. The strands are sewn together with steel wire. Nelson

flats

a. Subterraneous beds or sheets of traprock or whin. Fay
b. Narrow decomposed parts of limestones that are mineralized. Fay

flats and pitches

a. A phrase descriptive of the structure of the lead and zinc deposits in
dolomite of the Upper Mississippi Valley region of the United States, esp.
in Wisconsin. The flats are nearly horizontal solution openings; the
pitches are the inclined, interconnecting joints. AGI
b. A slump structure of both horizontal and steeply inclined cracks in
sedimentary strata. Syn:pitches and flats

flat sheet

a. A steel plate laid on the floor at the face of a tunnel or heading
before blasting to provide a smooth floor for shoveling the broken rock
into tubs. Syn:turnsheet
b. Blanket deposit.

flattened strand rope

A wire rope designed to give a greater wearing surface than ordinary round
ropes and yet have about the same strength and flexibility. They have
roughly 50% more wearing surface than ordinary round ropes, owing to the
Lang lay of wires. See also:wire rope

flatting

a. York. Horizontal vein of spar or barytes in the lead mines. Also called
flatting bed. Arkell
b. A process for truing-up handmade fireclay refractories while they are
still only partially dry. Handmaking is now little used except for some
special shapes.

flatworking

Scot. A working of moderate inclination. See also:flat; flat lode.
Fay

flaw

a. A general term for any internal or external imperfection of a fashioned
diamond or other gemstone. It includes cracks, inclusions, visibly
imperfect crystallization, internal twinning, and cleavage.
b. An old term for a steep, transverse strike-slip fault.

flawless

Said of a diamond or other gemstone that is free from flaws of any
description when observed by a trained eye under efficient illumination
with a fully corrected magnifier of not less than 10 power.

flaxseed ore

An iron-bearing sedimentary deposit, e.g., the Clinton ore, composed of
disk-shaped hematitic oolites that have been somewhat flattened parallel
to the bedding plane. CF:fossil ore

fleches d'amour

Acicular, hairlike crystals of rutile, TiO2 , embedded in quartz; a
semiprecious gemstone. Also called love arrows, a literal translation.
CF:rutilated quartz

fleck

To scale or peel off suddenly; applies to shaley beds in the roof or to
coal slab at the face. Nelson

fleckschiefer

Ger. A type of spotted slate characterized by minute flecks or spots of
indeterminate material. See also:fruchtschiefer; garbenschiefer.
AGI

fleet

The movement of a rope sidewise when winding on a drum.
See also:fleet angle

fleet angle

a. The included angle between the rope, in its position of greatest travel
across the drum, and a line drawn perpendicular to the drum shaft, passing
through the center of the head sheave or head-sheave groove.
b. Of hoisting gear in mine shaft headworks, the angle between the sheave
and extreme paying-off position on the winding drum; in good practice the
angle is below 3 degrees . Pryor, 3
c. As used by diamond drillers and miners, the angle between the two ends
of a hoist drum as a base and the sheave wheel in a drill tripod or
derrick or the headframe pulley as the apex. Long

fleet wheel

a. A grooved wheel or sheave that serves as a drum and about which one or
more coils of a hauling rope pass. Zern
b. Surge wheel. Mason

fleischerite

An isometric mineral, Pb3 Ge(SO4 )2 (OH)6 .3H
2 O ; linnaeite group; occurs in fibrous aggregates and crusts
associated with cerussite, memetite, and plumbojarosite in the upper
oxidation zone of the Tsumeb Mine, Namibia.

Fleissner process

A thermal drying, batch-type process, in which the action of high-pressure
steam on a lump of lignite produces the following effects. The lump is
heated inside and out to an approx. uniform temperature by its envelope of
condensing steam. As the temperature rises and the pressure increases part
of the colloidal water is expelled from the lump as a liquid. The lump
shrinks as water leaves and the cells collapse, and when the pressure is
lowered, more water leaves by evaporation caused by the sensible heat
stored in the lump. When the pressure is lowered further by vacuum,
additional moisture is evaporated, which cools the lump. Mitchell

flexible

a. Capable of being flexed. Capable of being turned, bowed, or twisted
without breaking. Webster 3rd
b. Said of a mineral that can bend without breaking and will not return to
its original shape; e.g., talc and chlorite. CF:elastic; malleable.

flexible ducts

See:ventilation ducts