Take the Blasted Picture!!!

Now that I have the Clockwork Cottage back in the family room, there is no excuse not to work on it. I want to get the dumbwaiter installed. It is holding up progress. I can't finish the kitchen or the workshop until it is done.

This morning I got to work and did the framing and have it to the point where it can be installed now. It really does go up and down. It's not very pretty from this angle, but IT WORKS!!!! I built a box and added a chain to the top of it. I used eyelets in all of the holes to make the chain slide easily. I used a piece of chain from an old necklace. It adds enough weight to the whole thing that I am not going to have to do anything fancy to counterbalance the mechanism. I simply put tracks in all four corners of the chute to make sure that it slides straight. I am going to have to stain or paint the box before I permanently install it.

I have it fixed so that the whole thing slides down through a hole in the second floor.


Here you can see it in place. I kept putting it in and taking it back out to make sure that everything worked, step by step.

I am now to the point of having to rig the mechanism to pull it up and down. I am only going to have a handle on the top floor because Zar tells me that he is only going to use it when nobody else is in the house. There will be no signs of it at all in the kitchen once I put in the shelf unit.

I needed help when I was in the last stages to take a photo of the box in the top position. Tessie and Spike volunteered. Tessie thought it would be fun until she discovered that she didn't fit in the box. Spike still thinks it fun......Tessie kept yelling for me to take the photo. Just after I did, she let go of the chain. Luckily Spike was uninjured in the drop. He is a smart dog. He heard that if you jump up and down when an elevator is falling the chances are better that you won't get hurt. It must have landed when he was in the "up" position!

Anyway, that's the progress for this morning. I am going back now and rig it with a handle and then scold Tessie for letting go of the chain. I should have it up and running by tomorrow.

See you then!