Rope Stropped Tackle Blocks

Its about time to raise our timber frame cabin skyward, so we need a little help to get our heavy bents off the ground. In this video we make a few rope stropped tackle blocks which will combine with our capstan to impart a huge mechanical advantage to any force applied.

For these blocks we start with some dry riven Chestnut Oak, which we plane down true and square. These pieces are glued up and carved to accept the rope stropping. For our sheaves we use an old sailors favorite, Lignum Vitae wood, hardest wood in the world, and self lubricating. As I have not had the time to build myself a lathe yet to turn these sheaves, I used a hand crank grinder in a pinch. Though not so much necessary as just fun to play with, a yankee hand crank drill press helps us get our holes perfectly straight and square though all the pieces, which helps much in assembly and during operation. The combination of the lignum sheaves and bronze axles create a tackle block that is impervious to rust that might foul a steel block, and was a staple of the old sailing ships of the past.

Unidale and Charles the cat help out with twine inspection and overall supervision of the project from start to finish. In our next video we will be doing a quick demonstration of this tackle block system and our timber frame capstan, as we ramp up for the raising of our cabin.

ADDED: blocks were soaked in a mix of 1/3rd each pine tar, raw linseed oil, citrus solvent, heated and stirred...