96 replies to this topic

[ISMrider]

yea lets gets some pictures guys......

[Zage]

I don't have a digital camera or a scaner so I cant post pictures of my work, but I might be geting a digital camera for christmas (yes! even though I'm 13 I will be the only one who knows how to work it) so I will post pictures of my work ASAP!

[WBSKI]

I have built a new ski lift out of lego and steel. It is a double and has a hand bent steel chair frame along with a mid station, i will take pics of it soon! :D . Zage, thats so kool how u have made so many lifts!!

[Zage]

Thank you I am very proud of my work. I recently tore down my funitel and replaced it with a fixed-grip triple. Here is a hint. For my chairlifts and pulse-gondolas I made the chairs and cabins out of tooth picks so they are very light. For my bi-cable gondola and arial tram the cabins are made out of K'nex.

[PolarBoy]

Hey! I'm new in this forum. I builded lift once but i didn't figure out what kind of lifts i does make because i didn't have parts much. I also didnt have the motor.
Some day i will build a big lift with computer controlled motor and alarm system if something fails. :D

[WBSKI]

I am now building a reversing gondola, it is programmed to stop at each end, I use an RCX to operate it. I have attached 1 of 2 trams, the other will be attached soon.

[Duck]

I think one of the biggest problems with modeling a detachable is definately the grips. Depending espically on what is used for the rope, a grip has to be so tiny to pass over depression as well as tension sheaves, and still get a grip on the rope.

Trams are great fun. I've built a few using thin fishing line - 2 running ropes and one haul rope per line/2 lines to counterbalance.

Zage, mechanically how does your Funitel operate?

-Iain :)

[Zage]

Well, I just looked at how real funitels work and copied that. I got some great stuff off Garaventa.com and images of Squaw Valleys funitel from Skilifts.org. I got mine up and running again, it works really well now.(it needed a LOT of work )

[crazyskier91]

What did you use for sheaves?

[edmontonguy]

most LEGO wheels have a groove when you take the rubber part off. The smallest ones work the best but they are hard to mount and the groove isn't very deep so there has to be a lot of weight on the line.

[Zage]

K'nex has two size rims, the larger ones I use for bullwheels and the smaller ones, I use for sheaves. The K'nex rims have realy good grooves.

[ISMrider]

Holy Snap!!! Duck I have never seen Ian spelled that way!!!

[Duck]

Zage, on Jan 12 2005, 06:30 PM, said:

Well, I just looked at how real funitels work and copied that.

Okay, but I was more interested in technical details of how you developed a deceleration/acceleration system, detachable grips, etc... :) A Funitel is about the most complex lift system I could think of trying to attempt building a model for, so if you've got something up and running, that's amazing! I've done a few sketches, but gave up when I couldn't find a material I thought was suitable for a haul rope.

The biggest problems for me are trying to find a rope which is small enough to be flexible to pass over the sheaves and not jump off if the radius is too tight, yet large enough to build some kind of reasonable detachable grip.

-Iain

[Zage]

Ohhh I see, well my currant funitel is fixed grip and operats in jigback style, but I am trying to make a detachable funitel.

[Duck]

I had forgotten that there are jigback wide-stance bicable systems out there. I remember seeing a fairly large one somewhere just outside of Quebec city when I was there several years ago. I can't remember where exactly it was though. It was by some big waterfall.


-Image © skiresort.de. Alpe d'Huez, France.

I love the looks of the gondolas on this one! Good stuff. I wonder if they have one of those L-shaped "parallelogramming" bars underneath, to prevent the gondolas from impacting one another?

-Iain

This post has been edited by Duck: 13 January 2005 - 12:22 PM

[Zage]

There is a fixed grip jigback funitel in Quebec, it was made by Doppelmayr. My funitel kinda resembles the one in that picture.The wide-stance bi-cable funitels are called Funifors. :D

This post has been edited by Zage: 13 January 2005 - 12:28 PM

[Duck]

http://www.lift-worl...unifor/list.php

Wow! Check out the cable routing path! That's really clever. It's similar to Otis' new elevator system which uses belts. The belt is fixed next to the drive at the top of the shaft, passes down and under a sheave on top of the cabin, back over the drive spindle, down to a sheave on the counterweight, and finally back to the top of the hoist frame where it's terminated. It gives an automatic 2:1 mechanical advantage. Is that how yours is set up, Zage?

I forgot to ask you what you're using for rope, too. :)

-Iain

This post has been edited by Duck: 13 January 2005 - 07:00 PM

[Zage]

Mine is just a fixed grip jigback funitel. For the haul rope, I use thick string. What does that sign mean?

[Duck]

Oh, shoot. No hotlinking allowed. :) It was a photo of a (the?) Funifor in Italy.

So is this more or less how your cable system is set up?

-Iain

Attached File(s)

•  Funitel_Fixed.jpg (23.81K)
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This post has been edited by Duck: 13 January 2005 - 06:59 PM

[Duck]

(Compared to a Funifor setup, as I understand it from the photos - one of the large end bullwheels is driven at twice the speed of the gondola)

Attached File(s)

•  Funifor.jpg (26.59K)
  Number of downloads: 15