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Pulleys of the third system, three pulleys (7 : 1)
How does the third system of pulleys work? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design following Brown No. 21 (1868)
Also called: third system of pulleys, spanish burton, 7 to 1 pulley, compound pulley, sistema de poleas de tercera clase (7:1), Rollensystem dritter Art (7:1)
Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.
- sizes
- 4 in table
Notes
- Every rope ends on the load: rope 1 runs from the load over the fixed pulley to the first runner, rope 2 from the load over that runner to the second, rope 3 from the load over the second runner to the hand. Tensions double up the chain — P, 2P, 4P — and the load gets all three: W = 7P (2ⁿ − 1 with n = 3).
- Pitch-Ø80 fixed block, pitch-Ø40 and pitch-Ø20 runners; rope ends on a load bar at x = −40, 20 and 50, whose weight stem sits on the resultant (x = −10).
- Brown's No. 21 (a combination following the doubling rule; the single Spanish burton, No. 16, is the same system with two pulleys).
- Parts (each has its own page): tackle-beam-240-sockets, tackle-block-40-top-stem, tackle-block-20-top-socket, tackle-block-10-top-socket, rope-sheave-3mm-pitch-80, rope-sheave-3mm-pitch-40, rope-sheave-3mm-pitch-20, ropes-3mm-third-system-pulleys-7-to-1, tackle-weight-d40x40-socket, load-bar-100-sockets-m40-20-50, dowel-pins-metric.
- Brown's movement No. 21 (1868) shows it; this model is a Xem Studio design following his figure, every part at true size.
Pulleys of the third system, three pulleys size chart
| parameter | value |
|---|---|
| fixed block | pitch Ø80 |
| runners | pitch Ø40 and Ø20 |
| rope tensions | 4P, 2P, P |
| mechanical advantage | 7 |
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.org | web | Publisher's page; dimensions are facts |
| 507movements.com | Brown's movement No. 21: figure, his text and an animation | web | Publisher's page; dimensions are facts |
Free files
★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json
| third-system-pulleys-7-to-1-mechanism-assembly | Assembled mechanism, all parts placed at one pose (STEP keeps each part separate) | STEP · STL |
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.Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=third-system-pulleys-7-to-1-mechanism

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Questions
How does the third system of pulleys work?
Every rope ends on the load: rope 1 runs from the load over the fixed pulley to the first runner, rope 2 from the load over that runner to the second, rope 3 from the load over the second runner to the hand. Tensions double up the chain — P, 2P, 4P — and the load gets all three: W = 7P (2ⁿ − 1 with n = 3).