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How to Rebuild Wooden Block & Tackle

You bought it at an auction and, as it sits, it's nothing more than a boxful of odd parts, only four of which look like a block and a few short, darkly stained pieces of rope that look as if they've seen better days. The auctioneer said it was a pair of antique blocks, as in "block and tackle," and your challenge now is to reassemble those blocks. A project not to be undertaken lightly, it's part jigsaw puzzle and part mechanical engineering

Things You'll Need

Screws
Screwdriver
Nails

Instructions

- 1
  Take inventory of the parts in your possession. A block consists of a hook; an outer strap that may be of metal, wood or rope, to which the hook is attached; an inner strap that connects the hook to the block; sheaves (pulleys); a sheave pin, which serves as the axle for the pulleys; a metal or wooden tube called a thimble that may be attached to a wooden or metal brace called a becket; and a shell, made up of wooden plates. There should be one more shell plate than pulleys. The block may also have metal straps that hold the block together, or it may have been tied together with rope.
- 2
  Lay out the wooden plates of the shell. The outer plates of the shell will be larger. The outer edges of the outer plates will be rounded.
- 3
  Insert the sheave pin through an outer shell plate from outside to inside. Push a sheave onto the sheave pin. Sheaves are always separated from each other by an inner shell plate. Push an inner shell plate on the sheave pin if there are two or more sheaves.
- 4
  Push the second sheave onto the sheave pin. If the block has multiple sheaves, continue to push sheaves and inner plates onto the sheave pin until all sheaves are mounted on the sheave pin.
- 5
  Push the second outer sheave plate onto the pin after all the sheaves and inner plates are mounted. Attach the inner strap to the top (the top of the block will be flat; the bottom will be round, with two through-and-through holes) of the block's shell plates with nails or screws, depending on the evidence of previous joinery. Attach the becket to the bottom of the block.
- 6
  Wrap the horizontal metal retaining strap around the center of the block, encompassing both outer shell plates, if a retaining strap is present. Secure the retaining strap to the outer shell with screws and a screwdriver.
- 7
  Attach the vertical retaining strap around the block, centered on the outer shell plates, and secure it with screws and a screwdriver. Attach the outer strap to the top of the outer shell plates and the inner strap.

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