Looks can be deceiving. Even though the differential pulley block was found all the way back on page 161 in “Woodworking for the Adventurous Woodworker”, I chose to model it for my illustrator assignment because it didn’t seem like it would be too complicated at all, and because I’ve always been fascinated by large-scale pulleys (in this case designed for a few men to be able to handle the weight of a boat).  And to be honest, when it was time to choose midterm projects, having the illustrator part of the process already done did seem like it would streamline to process quite a bit.  However, I quickly realized that no part of the project is ever done until relentless planning and constant experimentation is done.  Upon beginning this process, I quickly got engaged on this project. I first went through all the instructional pages to get as much information on every part that constituted the differential pulley block.  I made notes on each and key considerations while making their design.  Since the book’s approach to building these projects are traditional woodworking techniques, I had to be creating in how I could use the tools that we have been using – the laser cutter, drill press, and other finishing techniques – to accomplish similar functionality. The first design obstacle I came across was the one of altering it from being a wall-hanging instrument to a stand-alone one.  I designed a 2-level base with insertions large enough for three backboards to fit in them, as well as a stabilizer behind the pulley. To complete the backboard, I needed to figure out how to attach the ratchet outrigger, which holds the ratchet wheel to the side of the backboard.  I could have made the backboard all out of one cut, but it would not show the division between them, which I thought was an essential part. Hence, for the middle backboard, I made it all out of one piece for reference, and for the front and back, glued the outrigger in the indentations made in the backboard and to the middle outrigger.’   Also, some components were missing from the illustrator schematic that they provided, so, from the planning I had done, I was able to make those adjustments as well.  It was bound to happen that I did miss one component or one hole here and there; in order to ameliorate this without having to recut an entire backboard, I used other tools like the drill press. This was also useful for when I got a glued dowel stuck in one of the inlets.   The completed backboard with a clamp here and there:   To design the wheels, the most important components for the pulley system, I used a combination of the three-ply and single-ply woods.  The single-ply wood would serve as the spacer between the two larger circles from the three-ply wood to give sufficient space for the pulley string to fit and grip efficiently.  The v-shaped cross sectional area for most efficient flow was achieved using the dremmel.        Finally, upon having all the components ready to formation, I realized that the design did lack a bit of pazaz.  To restore the industrial, rustic look that I had imagined for it, I spray painted the wheels gold and changed all the pulley plates to acrylic so that I could see all the action within the pulley as it worked. I was very happy with the outcome.  To continue with the theme, I also decided to cut out my hook out of a thick acrylic found in the scrap area.  I found that the combination of wood and acrylic for some components gave a very cool look, even though it was hard to combine without a special glue that was unavailable the majority of the time.  Hence, I drilled small holes and used toothpicks to keep them together.  This is an example: Trouble shooting: The most important part of the design was keeping track of the relative thicknesses of the different components in order for dimensions to match throughout the pulley block.  I did this by sketching the components that had thickness relations to one another.  I also made a list of all the rigid and free-moving components so that the thickness of the dowels used for them could be designed accordingly (and painstakingly).  I added some gold washers on either side of the spacer components to give free motion to certain components, like the pulley wheels and the hook. When all the components had been assembled, the string was installed and ran smoothly from the beginning due to the incessant planning done during the building process. Alas, after spending many a night to the early hours of the morning, this is the final product, finished with linseed oil and tallow for smooth functionality and a richer look: See it in action here This was extremely enjoyable and I learned more than I could have imagined.  Also, after some trial runs, books were put on the back of the pulley block to act as concurrently a book shelf and a counterweight for whatever being picked up.