Lever

This homemade lever was part of a large come-along Ed used to pull large objects. A come-along is a manually operated winch used to pull things horizontally like across a floor for example. They are operated by cycling a handle back and forth which spools a steel cable onto a drum like an old boat winch. They are still used to this day to shift heavy objects short distances. Ed had two homemade come-alongs. The larger one is featured in a vintage photograph with Ed standing next to it at Ed’s Place in Florida City. It’s no longer complete. The smaller of the two still exists and hangs in his shop at Coral Castle. The lever is made from spring steel and the handle portion has been ground into the classic machinery handle of the time. Ed’s bench grinder was manually operated so he spent a good amount of time working on this to get it into the shape he wanted.