| Author | Message | ||
     Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 754 Registered: 6-2009 |
I thought some who haunt these forums might find my recent non-RR project interesting. I just finished everything this afternoon (before the latest snow started to fly). My partner owns a building constructed in 1861 as a warehouse for a flour milling operation. It has a vintage freight elevator that has been out of service for years after its original rigging failed. I've spent the past few weeks replacing the car-counterweight rigging as well as the main pulley rigging with period correct (and extremely safe) manila rope. The car & counterweight are suspended by 2-inch diameter rope. The pulley control rope is 1.25-inches in diameter. The hitch you see with the counterweight just before the car is completely lowered was corrected shortly after making the video. This video is best viewed in full screen mode and runs 1 minute, 7 seconds. Here are several still photos: Car suspension end of the rigging, with the vintage thimble & hook  Counterweight end of the rigging. The original hook is now lost  Main Pulley & Brake. The pulley is about 5 feet in diameter  It's been a real adventure and the end result has been worth it (particularly since I have plenty of heavy items that need to come down on that elevator)!! Brian -- A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. ~ William James | ||
| Randy Roberson Prolific User Username: wascator Post Number: 181 Registered: 5-2009 |
That is neat; thanks for sharing. | ||
| Jan Forrest Grand Master Username: got_one Post Number: 536 Registered: 1-2008 |
There was much smaller version of this type of lift running from the basement of my chip shop, through the shop and on to the upstairs restaurant when I bought it. The lift had been serviced a couple of years previously but the rope kept jumping off the bottom wheel, so it was taken out of service as being dangerous. In the first month I decided I could fix it and started to examine it in detail. well, you could have knocked me down with a feather when saw that the only problem with it was that there was a huge accumulation of gunge in the wheel's rope channel. A few minutes with a hammer and chisel and the rope sat neatly in its groove and worked beautifully again. It continued to serve it proper function until I sold the business. |
