How to Use Simple Machines to Improve Your Life

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world", said the famous mathematician, Archimedes, describing the functionality of the lever, a simple machine. For my first ever Instructable I would like to introduce you to a few simple machines and how you could use them in your life. A simple machine is defined as a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force (Wikipedia). In short, the 6 main simple machines use mechanical advantage to multiply force. The 6 simple machines are:

• Lever
• Wheel and axle
• Pulley
• Inclined plane
• Wedge
• Screw

In this instructable I will show you how to use a few simple machines to hopefully improve or somewhat make your life a little better.

• Rope
• Sticks
• Wood, with a few hand tools
• A chocolate bar
• The golden tears of the Egyptian god Ra.

Sometimes you find yourself needing a strap and winch to tie down loads because just some rope and your strength doesnt seem to keep anything secure. But what if all you have is some rope? Can we use a simple machine to multiply the force we apply on the rope? Luckily, we can use a knot that acts as a pulley system to provide 3-1 mechanical advantage. And we dont require the need of a pulley!

The Truckers Hitch also called Wakos Transport Knot is a very useful knot that I find myself using most of the time with the Scouts or on the farm where rope needs to be very tight to hold down tents, secure loads or to build rafts with big old drums to keep them from floating away!

If you want to keep the know simple then you could instead make a quick figure of 8 loop to run the rope through (see diagram). Rope is a fantastic commodity with many uses and its a technology that has been around a long time, I might do an Instructable on knots so keep an eye out.

If you've ever taken your car off road then you may be unfortunate to know how difficult it is to try and drive while stuck in the mud. Sometimes you might even need as much man power as you can muster. But what if its just you? Out on the back roads, a long way from anyone, just you and your brain's problem solving to rely on. Lets imagine your car doesnt have a winch on the front but just some rope you keep in the back for emergency rope swinging into lakes. All your going to need are 2 logs and an anchor to tie an end of your rope to. (P.S. Make sure your rope is strong and is in no way damaged, it needs to take alot of force)

This is called a(n) Off-grid/Backwoods Winch.The video can explain it alot better than I can.

1. Tie one end of the rope to a secure anchor and the other to the vehicle, leaving a bit of slack for the logs.

2. Loop the rope around the 2 logs as shown in the picture, the horizontal log is called the pulley, and the vertical one is called the lever. The longer the lever, the less force you have to apply because of the longer distance you have to move it.

3. When you rotate the lever log a single full 180 degree turn, you will have to then flip the pulley log 180 degree as well to continue rotating the lever. This is much clearly seen in the video.

4. As you rotate more and more, there will be alot of tension in the rope, so please be careful as there is a chance that the lever or pulley log swing at you. But hopefully you would have gotten your car unstuck by then :)

If you love woodwoking as much as I do, then youll know the fustration of not having enough clamps. Just when you need one the most, all of them are already being used for other projects. Sometimes you have to wonder, is the wife right about my large collection of clamps? Is it too big? Is there such a thing as not enough clamps? Luckily for you and your wallet, we can make very simple, effective and cheap clamps with wedges. All a wedge is is a triangular piece of material, be it wood or metal.

Making your own wedge clamps can sometimes be far better than your normal clamps from the local hardware store, because as you make the jig in which your wooden piece sits waiting for the glue to dry, you can place the wedges wherever they most effectively create pressure ensuring the glue takes hold. Wedge clamps are easy to make, cheap, and can be made to any size. Some of the most effective Wooden joints utilize wedges to make them stronger

Take a look at the photos and hopefully you will get inspiration to use wedges on your next woodworking project.

I hope you enjoyed my 3 uses of 3 simple machines. This is my first Instructable and I certainly learned alot making it. I hope to make some more in the future, if you have any ideas please let me know. If you liked this or found any useful, please give me a like and perhaps share. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll will try my best to answer them. Also comment any of your own ideas or solutions to problems that includes the of a simple machine.

Good luck and All the best,

-Qarstar