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Shoutout to the old Otis traction unit I saw at the museum in Chicago
I was at the Museum of Science and Industry last weekend and they have this fully exposed Otis traction elevator from like 1920. The thing that got me was the rope sheaves, they were massive and the grooves were cut so deep and clean. Anyone here ever had to work on something that old, or know where to find parts for a restoration?
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sam_anderson7mo ago
Man, that's so cool. I always stare at the old machinery in those places and wonder how it even ran. About parts, that's the real trick, isn't it? I knew a guy who restored an old freight elevator and he spent years just hunting down a single correct sheave. Did the museum have any info on who maintains their display, or if they've ever had to source pieces for it? That might be a good place to start asking.
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henryperez7mo ago
Honestly, I don't get the obsession with keeping that old stuff running. It's a cool museum piece to look at, but actually trying to find parts for it is a total waste of time and money. That technology is so outdated that it's basically useless today. We have safer and more reliable systems now for a good reason. Would you really want to depend on a hundred year old elevator every day? Let the museum display be the end of the line for it.
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