Another Rope Machine Modification

In a previous post titled "Rope Maker", I made a rope making machine per the specs in the Pioneering MB pamphlet, but bolted it to a trailer hitch for stability.  That arrangement was kind of clunky, and expensive for anybody who doesn't have extra trailer hitches lying around.  So I came up with a different solution.  I mounted the rope maker to a 2x2x20" piece of wood and drilled a 5/8" hole in it for the hitch pin.



First I took some 2x4 scraps and cut them 20" long, then ripped them to 1x2".


Then I glued them together and clamped them up overnight.  If I had it to do over again, I would have cut them slightly oversized, then trimmed them to 2x2" after the glue-up.



Then I marked the location for the hitch pin hole at 2-3/4" and centered on both sides.  I measured 3 hitches that I had in my garage.  2 of them had the hole centered at 2-3/4" from the end and the third was at 2.5",  so I went with 2-3/4".  I drilled the hole with a 5/8" spade bit starting on one side and going half way through, then flipping the piece over and finished from the other side to make a clean hole.



I thought I might have to round off the corners to get it to fit in the hitch receiver, but it fit perfectly with no wiggle.


To mount the rope machine, I drilled some pilot holes so as not to split apart the 2 boards I had just glued together.


Then I screwed it in place.


The new design is much lighter and has a lower material cost than the previous method shown below.


Refer to my previous post titled "Twisted" to see how to add a swivel to this system that allows for much easier rope making.

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