Winch Drum API
Winch and cable-drum maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically — the rope-capacity, line-pull and rope-out numbers a winch operator, rigger or recovery driver works a drum with. The capacity endpoint gives the rope a drum holds by exact layer geometry: the sum over every full layer of the turns per layer × π × that layer's mean wrap diameter, where turns per layer = drum width ÷ rope diameter and the number of layers = the flange-to-barrel depth ÷ rope diameter — a 10-inch barrel, 20-inch flange, 12-inch-wide drum on half-inch rope holds about 940 ft over 10 layers. The layer-pull endpoint shows why pull falls as the drum fills: the rated pull is for the bare-drum first layer, and as rope piles on, the growing lever arm cuts the line pull and raises the line speed in the same ratio — pull × (first-layer diameter ÷ this layer's diameter) — so the top layer of a deep drum can pull barely half the bottom-layer rating, which is why you spool off to bare drum for a hard pull or add a snatch block. The length-at-layer endpoint gives the rope wound after a number of full layers, for marking the rope or knowing how much line is out. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for winch- and hoist-sizing tools, recovery and off-road apps, marine and industrial-rigging utilities, and engineering calculators. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Geometric estimate — allow for nesting and freeboard. 3 compute endpoints. For capstan friction use a capstan API; for block-and-tackle a pulley API.
api.oanor.com/winch-api
