Need to Calculate A Load Capacity? There’s An App For That.
If you’re a rigging professional and you own an iPhone, chances are you already have J. R. Clancy’s iRigging app—but if you’re still making capacity calculations by hand, this may be your lucky day.
J. R. Clancy has updated its industry-specific iRigging app, now offering it for both Android and iPhone operating systems. This latest update includes some important new features, so we asked Patrick Finn (PF), JRC product manager, to tell our readers all about it.
Q: Let’s start from the beginning. When did you first introduce the iRigging app, and why?
PF: We developed the app back in 2009. Before smartphones, we had a slide rule tool that we gave out to installers and users of rigging, to help them with the calculations riggers need to make when they load a batten or install a new system. The slide rule was hugely popular, and the iRigging app became a big hit in the rigging industry, providing a tool to riggers all over the country so they could calculate rigging math and have a reference for common capacities, wire rope, and fiber rope.
Q: What kinds of data are available in the app?
PF: It’s a pretty big list, actually. There’s wire rope data like minimum sheave diameter, quantity of cable clips, wire turn-back for cable clips, proper torque for cable clip bolts, cable breaking strength, and Nicopress sleeve crimp quantity. You can also calculate allowable fleet angles, arbor capacity, the weight of an individual counterweight, block capacities. and working loads for equipment. There’s even a chart for characteristics of curtains and curtain material.
Q: What have you added in this iRigging update?
PF: This is the first time the app has been available for Android users. We had thousands of downloads to the iPhone, and we’ve had many requests to make the app Android-compatible as well. In addition, we’ve updated the calculator for the amperage draw of motors and motorized equipment. We’ve added batten calculations as well, so riggers can figure out the load capacities of a batten at various lift line spacings.
Q: When will the new update be available?
PF: It’s available now in the App Store for iPhone, and in the one for Android.
Q: And what does it cost?
PF: It’s free—always has been, just like the old slide rule. This is important information every rigger should have, so we want to make sure it gets to all the people who need it.
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