I’m tired of having my girls drop to the floor just as I’m about to get the shot. 
Something needs to be done. I got inspired seeing Leatherman’s gantry. 
So, I go searching through the scrap steel I have next to my workshop. I was able to locate some suitable tubing. Gave it a cleanup on the lathe and made sure the Inside Diameter would be sufficient.
Need two, So make one into two.
Make sure they match
Digging deeper I found some old square tube with fairly thick walls its eight feet six inches long. I think it was a hand rail of some sort in a former life. It should do nicely.
De-rusting old metal is a great source for a cost of just a bit of work. I’m gonna need some of this to thicken one wall for making threads.
This is the boring part
I bored a counter sync to make a nice tight press fit. Makes for very square welding.
Fits perfect.
Real nice.
A bit of welding and thread cutting.
I like what I’m seeing here.
Time to clean and shine up the welds.
Removing paint is a pain. Got’er Done though.
A couple fresh coats of good ole Noir Mat Tremclad
Back in the shop. My pulleys have arrived. I need to mount them.
Coming along nicely.
On to solve another problem with the cranking system. First I need to square up some 6061 aluminium.
This part that I designed goes into the ratchet strap so it will hold wire rope. Enough for a 184 lb SWL. It’s still pretty rough at this point.
Getting there. I test fit it here. It’s looking good.
Made the last major cut, just need to drill the hole now.
Pretty much done, just need to take the sharp edges off.
The other side.
Cable installed.
With that problem under control, time to move on to the mounting system of the ratchet.
Again using some 6061 t6 aluminum, this time round stock.
Gonna make a custom spigot and use a super clamp to hold it at the perfect height.
I thought I was done with it here, I had to make one small adjustment after these two photos.
Carefully ground the old pin out and drilled out one hole on the ratchet to fit the new shaft.
Here it is installed onto the super clamp. It’s solid as a rock
All set up and working well.
All taken with my phone. I’m still waiting for a 70mm M8 class 12.9 bolt to make a back hook. I don’t trust the one I have now. Should be here Friday.
Cheers all
