Moving Heavy Things

A real does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book! Ideal for all those people (I count myself amongst them) who’ve caught themselves thinking “There must be a better way than this!” halfway through moving, say, a boat up a beach, or a piano down a flight of stairs. Everything about the book seems practical – it’s a nice robust hardback published by “Wooden Boat Books” in Maine, USA, who you feel must know what they’re talking about. It begins with an introduction containing the sixteen “Precepts of Moving” – wise words, including “Number 5: The stagehand’s axiom: Never lift what you can drag, never drag what you can roll, never roll what you can leave” which seems particularly worth remembering! The book then goes on to deal with everything that needs to be taken into account when moving anything heavy: friction, the human body, ropes, knots, pulleys, winches, and everything else you can think of. It is well explained and has beautiful illustrations throughout, including a really handy double spread of diagrams of block and tackle systems, showing the mechanical advantage gained and which forces are applied where. I often use it in the shop to help explain things to customers!
A great book for anyone interested in how things work – ideal for children and adults alike, and a hard book to find elsewhere!

“Moving Heavy Things” by Jan Adkins - £7.95, Woodenboat Books - BUY NOW