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Author
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Topic: I need help building a model!
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StellaLuna
Member
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posted 04-30-99 04:46 PM
  
Can anyone help me? I'm making a model of a castle as a science projectand I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas. Simple, or detailed?
Small, or big? I need information on what kind of things were used in castles in the Middle Ages, that use levers, pulleys, gears and other simple machines. Please help by checking out my profile and sending me a message! Stella
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Philip Davis
unregistered
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posted 05-01-99 07:11 PM
The most obvious example of a machine in a castle is the drawbridge. This started out as a simple plank over a ditch which was pulled, or drawn, back into the castle but it became a complex device with pivots and conterweights, which, when properly adjusted, meant one man could quick draw up a heavy bridge. I've add a small diagram to my website at:- http://www.castlesontheweb.com/members/philipdavis/drawbridge/drawbridge.html - to give the general idea (I quickly drew this diagram so it won't win any design prizes. Unfortunately I couldn't find another website with any diagrams of drawbridges at all.)
Other machines were the well winding gear. This could range from a bucket on a rope, through the simple 'wishing well' windlass mechanism to a relatively complex treadwheel mechanism with a person or animal in a large wheel turning a windlass (one still exists, driven by donkeys, at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight)
Not strictly castle machines but very closely related were the various seige engines. Several wedsites have good illustrations of these. Try the excellent Castles of Wales site at:- http://www.castlewales.com/home.html.
Good luck with the project.
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