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How to Build an Outside Pulley Elevator

A pulley elevator can be built outside to demonstrate how an elevator is supposed to work. This allows you to show the internal mechanism for raising and lowering the elevator. An elevator that is raised and lowered with pulleys will require a counterweight. A counterweight is needed to offset the weight for the car of the elevator. Materials for this project can be found at many home improvement stores.

Things You'll Need

1/2-inch plywood, 4-foot by 8-foot
Tape measure
Power drill
Small wooden box
Eye hooks
Rope
Counterweight

Instructions

- 1
  Measure 6 inches down one edge of a 4-foot side of the plywood. Mark it with a pencil. Measure and mark the opposite edge of the plywood.
- 2
  Place the straight edge over the marks and draw a line. Measure 6 inches from each edge and make a mark on the line. Measure 12 inches inward from each 6 inch mark and make another mark.
- 3
  Attach a pulley to the plywood on each mark by using the power drill. Label the pulleys left to right as "2," "1," "5" and "6."
- 4
  Measure 6 inches up from the bottom of the plywood. Make a mark on both edges and draw a straight line.
- 5
  Measure 6 inches from the left side and make a mark on the line. Measure 12 inches inward from this mark and make a second mark.
- 6
  Attach pulleys on the two marks with the power drill. Label the two pulleys as "3" and "4."
- 7
  Secure two eye hooks to the top of the wood box. Secure one eye hook at the bottom of the box. Attach a rope to the bottom eye hook. Run the rope under the bottom two pulleys and over pulleys "2" and "1" at the top. Secure the rope to one of the eye hooks on the top of the wood box.
- 8
  Attach a rope to the second eye hook on the wood box. Run the rope over pulleys "5" and "6" at the top of the box. Attach the rope to a counterweight such as a brick.
- 9
  Turn pulley number "1" to the left to raise the wood box and to the right to lower it back down.

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