Entry 7 – End Pulley Support

The end pulley support guides one of the ropes that suspend the purging assembly. Like the two other pulleys It can be made in a unique way, depending upon materials and personal idiosyncrasies. Giving you some idea of various options for pulleys, each has been made quite differently.

The end pulley is arguably the simplest, because it is only required to guide a single rope. It can be made using a bearing, a small section of scrap pipe and the scrap wood. Having found a single ball bearing in one of my scrap draws, it was imperative that the rope run only along the tube where it was directly supported by the bearing. The annotated reality imaging uploads detail the process.

In the darkest depths of my scraps draws I found a ball bearing that was an almost perfect mate for this 22mm scrap of copper.

These brass olives are glued on using a glue of ‘super’ character. they will help constrain the rope.

A small section of 6mm threaded rod is employed to carry the bearing. Nuts are used to correctly align.

A section of the fencepost is drilled, sawn to shape, and then sawn again down the middle to create two equal side supports (of which one is shown). The threaded rod will fit into the hole drilled.

I hold it together to take a measure of its possible efficacy.

Upon the base of the embryonic pulley I drill a channel within which the rope might reside.

Wood glue is applied…

and clamps embrace the assembled fledgling form.

As I am not a true Master of the woodworking craft, it is necessary, once the glue has set, for me to flatten off the edges with a plane. This achieves perfectly seamless joints.

The pulley is nearly ready for final finishing. The spoke save is once more used to shape the wood and give it the authentic hand carved appearance. (I later decide I am not fully pleased by the shape and round off these sides more). End nuts are glued, the threaded rod is cut using a hacksaw and filed flush.