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Archimedes' screw (water-raising screw)

How does an Archimedes screw lift water? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design following Brown No. 443 (1868)

Also called: archimedes screw, screw pump, water screw, tornillo de Arquímedes, Archimedische Schraube

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
4 in table

Notes

  • A helical flight turning inside a tube, inclined so each turn traps a pocket of water: turning it moves the pockets up the axis one pitch per turn — lifting by rotation with no valves.
  • Here Ø60, pitch 60 mm, 3 turns, set at 35° to the horizontal (drawn axis 55° from vertical); it works below about 40°, where each pocket still holds water.
  • Brown's No. 443 (Archimedes' screw, machines for raising water).
  • Parts (each has its own page): archimedes-screw-rotor-60, archimedes-screw-tube-60.
  • Brown's movement No. 443 (1868) shows it; this model is a Xem Studio design following his figure, every part at true size.

Archimedes' screw size chart

parametervalue
outside Ø60 mm
pitch60 mm
turns3
inclination35°

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Henry T. Brown (1868, public domain)Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements — scan on archive.orgwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
507movements.comBrown's movement No. 443: figure, his text and an animationwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Generated by Xem Studio from the standard; threads are plain cylinders at major diameter. CC BY 4.0. index.json

archimedes-screw-mechanism-assemblyAssembled mechanism, all parts placed at one pose (STEP keeps each part separate)STEP · STL
Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.
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Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=archimedes-screw-mechanism

Archimedes' screw (water-raising screw), isometric render of a generated part
Render of archimedes-screw-mechanism-assembly from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Archimedes screw rotor Ø60, pitch 60, 3 turns, Ø12 shaft, isometric render of a generated part
Archimedes screw rotor Ø60, pitch 60, 3 turns, Ø12 shaft60.0×60.0×220.0 mm★ 1 file
Archimedes screw casing tube Ø60 inside × 180, isometric render of a generated part
Archimedes screw casing tube Ø60 inside × 18070.0×70.0×180.0 mm★ 1 file

Questions

How does an Archimedes screw lift water?

A helical flight turning inside a tube, inclined so each turn traps a pocket of water: turning it moves the pockets up the axis one pitch per turn — lifting by rotation with no valves.