How to Make a Block & Tackle
A block and tackle is "an apparatus of pulley blocks and ropes or cables used for hauling and hoisting," according to Webster's. The blocks are equipped with one or more pulleys, called sheaves, and threaded with line. The process of threading the blocks is called "reeving." When you have finished reeving the rope into the blocks, the blocks are "riven" and the rope system -- and any attachments, like hooks -- is called "tackle." The "standing block" is attached to a fixed point. The movable block is attached to the load to be moved.
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Instructions
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Set the two blocks down on their edges, so that the sheaves are standing up. The top of the blocks should point in opposite directions and their sheaves should be lined up, one above another, like a pair of "equals" signs: = =. Attach one end of the line to the "thimble" (a small metal loop on the bottom of a block) of one of the blocks, either with a knot or an eye splice. This is the standing block.
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Pass the line from the thimble of the standing block to the movable block and reeve it through the left sheave on the movable block. Only after the line has been riven through a block is it called rope, whether it be steel cable or a fiber line.
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Pull the rope back up to the standing block and reeve it down through the left sheave on the standing block. Then pull the rope back down to the movable block.
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Reeve the rope up through the remaining sheave of the movable block, then back to the standing block. Then, reeve the rope down through the remaining sheave of the standing block.
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Tie a knot at the end of the rope after you pull the rope through the final sheave on the standing block. This will prevent it from coming back through the sheave and prevent the block and tackle from un-reeving itself accidentally.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure that you use line and blocks with a sufficient safe working load for any project.
