Mr Winch Redux

You could be forgiven for having thought that Mr Winch was a Single Purpose winch (viz. for raising and lowering the clothes drying rack). Not so.

This week's project was to use the boards I had so carefully learnt to glue together in previous weeks to create, complete and install a linen cupboard/shelves. As projects go, this one made greater use of tools than any project I've undertaken so far, setting me that much further apart from lower life forms.

Once I had my cupboard, though, I had to find some way of perching it twenty feet above a flight of stairs, in a corner opposite the drying rack. And to make the challenge that little bit more challenging, I had to do this on my own. And because the walls are plaster and masonry, I would need to install wall plugs to make it work.

So this is what I did:

(1) I designed a way of attaching the cupboard to a series of cords which would not foul the positioning of the cupboard against two walls (after all, I had to be able to remove the cables once the cupboard was in place). I also designed a cup-holder-like-thing on the base of the cupboard so that I could get a purchase on the cupboard from underneath with a bundle of timber I had to hand.

(2) I harnessed the cupboard to the pulley system and Mr Winch, and I lifted the cupboard into the air.

(3) I tied a cable from the harness to a door jamb on the other side of the stairwell from the pulley system, giving me lateral maneuverability.

(4) I pulled this slightly towards the door jamb and then propped it against the wall with the help of a bundle of timber and a strut.

(5) I then tightened the winch, repeating step 4, until I had the cupboard up in the corner.

(6) I then made this fast by screwing the support timber into place and using a G-clamp to affix the edge of the cupboard to the wall to the left hand of the cupboard.

(7) I drilled pilot holes into the wall through the cupboard's lateral supports. This involved climbing onto the staircase banister and hovering, with one hand for support, over the 20 foot drop....

(8) I then slowly worked the cupboard back down the wall and out of the way, so that I could drill holes in the wall and insert wall plugs.

(9) Finally, I worked the cupboard back into position, secured it, screwed it in, removed the cup-holder, removed the harness and, voila! All done.

(10) Oh yeah, and I hoovered for an hour to get up all the sawdust and plaster dust.

Finished product:

Meet Mr Winch!

Meet Mr Winch. It's been some months since I put up our clothes drying frame. From the beginning, it had occurred to me that this contraption could be dangerous if mishandled. When the rack is full, it's actually quite heavy, and a slip of the rope could bring the whole thing crashing down. So I was on the lookout for a winch, anyway.

Then, while I was in Columbus this past month, Susie simply did not use the rack, because it was too heavy for her to manage fully loaded. So I went online and ordered a winch (apparently designed to be mounted on a pickup truck for use hauling boats onto boat trailers).

There were lots of nuts and gear ends and things which needed to be nestled into the wooden frame I designed for mounting the winch on the wall. But it's now in place and, voila! It works!

We're also working on building a linen cupboard at the top of the stairs. I'm using this opportunity to practice gluing boards together so that when the time comes to make book shelves, I'll be all practised-up! So in the last week or so, I've also bought a lot of sash clamps and such. Fun! The good news is that there's plenty of room for improvement.

To answer Jaime

Maybe one of these puppies....

(I don't know how to post You Tube screens the way you do.)

Bangladesh

So, we went to Bangladesh for a couple of amazing, intense weeks. Now we're back, I resigned, and we're trying to decide whether to get a puppy. If all goes to plan, I'll spend a couple of weeks in Columbus following Dad's wedding, and then, hopefully, some time in Northern Ireland with the in-law-in-laws.

Finished. In the down and up positions.

The modern age we live in

What happened to blogging? Not like I was ever particularly good at it, but it was a nice way to keep in touch with the Kessler/Iten/Donnelly diaspora. Now the sibling effort is, frankly, poor (with the exception of Annie). As far as I can make out, the latest posts are as follows:

• Annie - today
• Megan - September 2009
• Jaime - September 2009
• Ben K - June 2009
• Mandy - June 2009
• Anne Marie - March 2009
• Jennie - March 2009
• Ben I - January 2009
• Brad - December 2008

I know that Facebook, Twitter, etc., are very fashionable, but they're not the same. (And anyway, we've had Facebook for yonks, so that's no excuse.)

And it's nearly finished!

Right – this isn’t quite finished, but you get the idea – I dangled it for this photo as much to get a sense of where to put it as to have something to put up on the blog. I’ve got to add in an extra pulley and affix a cleat to the wall. And I’ve now given it a starter coat of polyurethane. When I've finished coating it, I'll also make an attachable vertical drying rack which will hang from one end of this rack (i.e., from the base of one of the triangles).

Anyway, this will hold far more laundry than the effete version pictured in the last post.

So, now for the bookshelves….