Thinking of adding another Half Ass Holiday: Pulley Day!

The Boots at Wheaton Labs do cool stuff all winter that mostly has to do with making the Lab a better, lovelier place.
And also usually food also plays a central roll.

We're talking about adding another Half Ass Holiday to the calendar:

Pulley Day!

On Pulley Day, the boots will do things that have to do with pulleys.

Here's Paul's initial list:
     projects that include pulleys
     laundry racks
     window quilts
     food drying racks next to the ceiling that can be lowered
     pulley based ceiling storage

Here are some things I'd like to add:
     more things like Bob.
     maybe some experiments with manual log skidding winches
     maybe some gravity lights in the pantry, where you lift a weight which turns a dc generator which powers a light that will automatically turn off when the weight bottoms out

Help us out!  What are some other permie/homesteading projects and tasks that involve pulleys???

What kind of food should we eat to commemorate this Day of Pulleys?

Here's kinda what I'm talking about with a gravity light.  (Just ten seconds from 3:49 to 3:58 or so).

But I think we could make it with bike parts or some such.

Would this half assed holiday have a food component?

I would love to see someone make a gravity light! I think those are the coolest things, and I'm really bummed I'm not skilled enough in that aspect to make one. If it works, maybe there could be plans listed in the digital market!

paul wheaton wrote:Would this half assed holiday have a food component?

Maybe something round and flat and delicious...?

What about the other simple machines? Would that be too many days? Or maybe combine them? That would be really cool to have a day each to appreciate and ponder all the ways each are used to make life easier and brainstorm new, creative ways to use them.

Here’s a pulley incorporated into a fiber arts project.

I’ve been thinking about how to spin some warp for my peg loom.  I had heard about using strips of cloth as warp.  I have a fair amount of polyester fabric😝, which I bought 20 some years ago.  I was thinking I could cut it in strips, and it would be a lot stronger spun than just as a strip.  But I don’t have a spinning wheel, or a drop spindle.

I thought I could use a cordless drill and a pulley to replicate the functions of a spinning wheel.  The drill to get the twist into it, and wind it onto a shaft with an eye in it, in the place where the drill bit goes.  A pulley anchored on the wall or anywhere solid would hold the unspun strip… one hand (or a friend) would feed the strip onto the pulley wheel, after it passed around the wheel, it would be twisted.  Once that length (the distance between pulley and drill) had adequate twist, then the spun warp would be passed through the eye and wound onto the shaft.

It would probably work, but maybe the description is indecipherable to anyone not familiar with spinning.  Anyone who wants to give it a try is welcome, no intellectual property jealousy here!!! .  I will be experimenting with it soon myself soon enough.

I think it might be possible to spin fibers with the drill once I get familiar with the process.

I have to admit I really miss my Ashford at this point.  😁

Beau Davidson wrote:Here's kinda what I'm talking about with a gravity light.  (Just ten seconds from 3:49 to 3:58 or so).

But I think we could make it with bike parts or some such.

In the past I considered vastly expanding this concept by walking up a couple of floors and then getting into a suspended chair.  An escapement would lower you to the ground and in the process generate electricity. For safety, the light-weight chair could be wicker and run on rails. Alternatively, place everything over a pond or pile of corrugated boxes like what Jackie Chan uses for his stunts.

I always thought that walking down the stairs was a complete waste of energy and considerable wear on the leg joints. For the generator, a car alternator charging a 12-Volt car battery would be ideal. A cigarette lighter socket usb adapter can drive the fan or lights or charge powerbanks..



I believe this escapement is the simplest to make and can be beefed up if necessary.  Look for other versions on Youtube.

If you have bike parts, try making a differential hoist.

Lastly, a Chinese Windlass. If you make 3, you could assemble something like the Arecibo Radio Telescope and precisely position a roof structure from 3 pylons.

How about an elevator. I saw one in a garage one time for getting things to the second floor

Flagpole
Retractable/moveable sun shade
Retractable welding curtain
Self-closing gate/door using a weight, could be one-way or two-way stopping in the center (weight would land on something or stop on a knot?)
Signal flag or sign (think there's such a thing on a willow feeder?) could accompany a door or gate to signal an open/closed condition, or "in-use" condition, or could just be some other signal (class periods? mealtimes? maybe a mailbox indicator, to know when the mail carrier has dropped off?)

Power / turn / crank something with pulleys and rope hooked to an adult sized seesaw?  Use that inner kid energy to make a boring chore more fun?

Make a block and tackle from wood

Why is a pulley called a block?
Image result for why is it called block and tackle
In the case of a pulley supported by a frame or shell that does not transfer power to a shaft, but is used to guide the cable or exert a force, the supporting shell is called a block, and the pulley may be called a sheave or pulley wheel. Pulleys on a ship. In this context, pulleys are normally known as blocks.

I always thought a pulley was a single “wheel” while a block was two pulley wheels or more  in a single (usually) metal frame.  

Block and tackle referred to the block of pulleys, and the rope that connected to a similar block of pulleys below.  The rope, (the tackle)went from one block to  the other.  The more wraps from one block to the other, the greater the mechanical advantage.

Taffy for pulley day

maybe featuring pulley shaped foods like donuts and bagles.  Combined with rope shaped food like spag or ramen?

paul wheaton wrote:maybe featuring pulley shaped foods like donuts and bagles.  Combined with rope shaped food like spag or ramen?

I just learned that ramen is one long noodle.

Cheerios?

Thekla McDaniels wrote:I always thought a pulley was a single “wheel” while a block was two pulley wheels or more  in a single (usually) metal frame.  

Block and tackle referred to the block of pulleys, and the rope that connected to a similar block of pulleys below.  The rope, (the tackle)went from one block to  the other.  The more wraps from one block to the other, the greater the mechanical advantage.

Correct.  A block does not have to include a pully [wheel] it can just be a smooth rounded holes in a block of wood that allow the line to pass through multiple times so that 2 blocks can be pulled together to tension a stationary line.  To avoid wear and reduce friction a wheel on a shaft is added to active tackle.  Wood taking more labor and skill to fabricate metal and plastic are the preferred materials now.  An all wood pully block would be considered  an artisan project today.   The cheeks would be a soft wood, the shaft for the pully the hardest wood available and the pully the the next hardest.

Build a snatch block

i'm thinking more like this:

That's cool.  Then maybe build little pulleys for that sort of thing.  Maybe from thread spools or hand made from actual wood...

Then maybe build little pulleys...  Maybe... hand made from actual wood...

It's not hand made, but a hole saw makes perfectly round pulley stock easily and quickly, along with a perfectly centered hole for the axle. A short length of all-thread or a machine screw, and 2 nuts and washers to sandwich the wood disk lets you chuck it in a drill (your 'lathe') and then use a rasp or sandpaper to create either a groove or crown (if you have a flat belt application).

Oh yeah- for a pulley project I'd suggest a bosun's chair, with enough mechanical advantage that anyone can easily hoist themselves to the rafter from which it's suspended. (May want a safety line with a spotter just in case the occupant were to somehow lose their grip halfway up)

Pulleys are the best

They can transmit power without vibration for very little cost. Reverse direction with just a twist of the belt. Make engagement of clutches simple and easy. Change speed and ratios with just a variable cone or pulley size difference. Transmit a lot of torque for their size and weight.

And that is just v-belting I was talking about.

Pulleys and belting is the best.

I'm old and want to start using urbanite everywhere.  I have to have a way to easily move the concrete chunks.  I am envisioning a handtruck with a pulley system that will help lift the chunk and allow for several to be stacked on the bottom plate.  If you have heard of a way to move concrete chunks more easily, let me know.  Otherwise, please, please, please consider this idea for your brilliant boots.

Here's what wesley did for pulley day this year!

One idea to make it easier to load without shifting due to the weight of heavy clothes would be to knot the top of the triangle of string at each end of the rack to the lifting line.  Then the triangle can't change shape.