How to Build a Dumbwaiter. Having a dumbwaiter in your home makes for an interesting and functional piece of architecture.

Not
only that, it adds a bit of nostalgia as well. Building a dumbwaiter into an existing wall takes some planning and know how, but with
the right plan, you'll have a way to take heavy items from the ground floor up to the attic in no time.

Step 1

Plan the route of your dumbwaiter. If your basement is situated over your kitchen, you can keep canned goods in your dumbwaiter and
store them where it is cooler. Measure to see how much floor space you will need to use for your dumbwaiter and plan a spot where
there will not be any encumbrances. Check for wires and pipes before you cut. Fixing cut plumbing will be messy and cut wires can
cause electrical shock. Check first before you set your location.

Step 2

Build a case for the dumbwaiter. For a finished look use furniture grade pine plank or some other desirable wood. You will also need
to "box" in the weights that will attach to your dumbwaiter.

Step 3

Buy a dumbwaiter or make one out of an old shelving unit. Be sure to put a rim around the bottom so that items will not slide off
shelves. Dumbwaiters can be purchased ready-made from websites like Butlers Buddy (see Resources below).

Step 4
Drill holes and attach manila sash cord to your dumbwaiter and wrap around pulleys attached to the top of your case on both sides. If
you have purchased a dumbwaiter kit, this step should already be done for you.

Step 5

Attach counter weights to the sash cord to counter balance the load. Experiment with different weights to get the proper balance from
your dumbwaiter.

Step 6

Mount four springs to the bottom of your dumbwaiter case. This will ensure that your dumbwaiter will not get damaged if it should
fall too quickly to the bottom floor.
Dumbwaiter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see dumbwaiter (disambiguation).

A dumb waiter also known as a lazy waiter (Speiseaufzug) in the oldest restaurant in Munich, the Hundskugel, with the hand-pulled cart in the "UP"
position and only the rope visible.

in Japan

A dumbwaiter is a small freight elevator or lift intended to carry objects rather than people. Dumbwaiters found within modern structures,
including both commercial, public and private buildings, are often connected between multiple floors. When installed in restaurants,
schools, kindergartens, hospitals, retirement homes or in private homes, the lifts generally terminate in a kitchen.[1][2]
The term seems to have been popularized in the United States in the 1840s, after the model of earlier "dumbwaiters" now known as serving
trays and lazy Susans.[3] The mechanical dumbwaiter was invented by George W. Cannon, a New York City inventor. Cannon first filed for
the patent of a brake system (US Patent no. 260776) that could be used for a dumbwaiter on January 6, 1883.[4] Cannon later filed for the
patent on the mechanical dumbwaiter (US Patent No. 361268) on February 17, 1887.[5] Cannon reportedly generated a vast amount of
royalties from the dumbwaiter patents until his death in 1897.[6]
 Contents
[hide]

1Description
2Regulations governing construction and operation
3In history
4In culture
5References
6Further reading
7External links

Description[edit]
A simple dumbwaiter is a movable frame in a shaft, dropped by a rope on a pulley, guided by rails; most dumbwaiters have a shaft, cart,
and capacity smaller than those of passenger elevators, usually 45 to 450 kg (100 to 1000 lbs.)[2] Before electric motors were added in the
1920s, dumbwaiters were controlled manually by ropes on pulleys.[1]
Early 20th-century codes sometimes required fireproof dumbwaiter walls and self-closing fireproof doors and mention features such as
buttons to control movement between floors and locks on doors preventing them from opening unless the cart is stopped at that
floor.[7]Dumbwaiter Lifts in London were extremely popular in the houses of the rich and privileged. Maids would use them to deliver laundry
to the laundry room from different rooms in the house. They negated the need to carry handfuls of dirty washing through the house, saving
time and preventing injury.[8]
A legal complaint about a Manhattan restaurant's dumbwaiter in 1915, which also mentions that food orders are shouted up and down the
shaft, describes its operation and limitations as follows:
[There is] ... great play between the cart of the dumb-waiter and the guides on which it runs, with the result that the running of the cart is
accompanied by a loud noise. The rope which operates the cart of the dumb-waiter runs in a wheel with a very shallow groove, so that the
rope is liable to and does at times slip off. ... The cart has no shock absorbers at the top, so that when it strikes the top of the shaft or wheel
there is a loud report. ... [T]he ropes of the dumb-waiter strike such wall at frequent intervals with a loud report. ... [T]he dumb-waiter is
often negligently operated, by running it faster than necessary, and by letting it go down with a sudden fall.[9]
More recent dumbwaiters can be more sophisticated, using electric motors, automatic control systems, and custom freight containers of
other kinds of elevators.[10] Recently constructed book lifts in libraries and mail or other freight transports in office towers may be larger than
many dumbwaiters in public restaurants and private homes, supporting loads as heavy as 450 kg (990 lbs).[citation needed]
Matot Rope Pulled Dumbwaiter, circa 1940

Regulations governing construction and operation[edit]

Building codes have regulated the construction and operation of dumbwaiters in parts of North America since the 19th century.[2] Modern
dumbwaiters in the United States and Canada must comply[citation needed] with American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) codes and,
therefore, have features similar to those of passenger elevators.[11] The construction, operation and usage of dumbwaiters varies widely
according to country.

In history[edit]
After defecting from the Soviet underground in 1938, Whittaker Chambers gave a last stash of stolen documents to his nephew-in-
law, Nathan Levine, who hid them in a dumbwaiter on his mother's house in Brooklyn. A decade later, Chambers asked his nephew to
retrieve them (which Chambers referred to as his "life preserver"). Handwritten and typewritten papers therein came from Alger
Hiss and Harry Dexter White (and became known as the "Baltimore Documents"). Microfilm contained therein was subpoenaed and
sensationalized (misnamed the "Pumpkin Papers" in the press) by Richard M Nixon for HUAC.[12]

In culture[edit]
Harold Pinter wrote a play in 1960 called The Dumb Waiter, in which a dumbwaiter forms a key element.
In the 1990 movie Home Alone, the protagonist falls down a dumbwaiter for laundry, only to find himself in front of a scary furnace in the
basement.
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b George R. Strakosch (1998). The Vertical Transport Handbook. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1998. ISBN 0-471-16291-4.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c Harry Robert Cullmer and Albert Bauer (1912). Elevator Shaft Construction. New York: W.T. Comstock Company, 1912.
p. 30. Limited Preview, Google Books, accessed August 26, 2008.
3. Jump up^ Quinion, Michael. World Wide Words: "Lazy Susan". 24 Apr 2010. Accessed 11 Aug 2013.
4. Jump up^ United States. Patent Office (1883). American Architect and Architecture, Volume 13. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Company, 1883.
p. 11. Limited Preview, Google Books, accessed October 30, 2012.
5. Jump up^ United States. Patent Office (1887). Official gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 39, Issues 1-4. Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1887. p. 252. Limited Preview, Google Books, accessed October 30, 2012.
6. Jump up^ J.H. Beers & Co (1897). Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1897.
p. 258., retrieved October 30, 2012.
7. Jump up^ Anthony Avillo (2002). Fireground Strategies. Tulsa: PennWell Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-87814-840-0.
8. Jump up^ http://www.tower-lifts.co.uk/goods-lifts/dumbwaiter-lifts/
9. Jump up^ System, National Reporter; Superior Court (new York), New York (State); Court Of Appeals, New York (State); Supreme Court, New
York (State); Company, West Publishing (1916). "DARR V. COHEN" (print and Web). New York Supplement, National Reporter System, New York
(State) Superior Court. New York: West Publishing Company, 1916. 158 (c. 3): 325. Retrieved 2008-08-26. Cases argued and determined in the
Court of Appeals, Supreme and lower courts of record of New York State, with key number annotations. Via Google Books. (Original from
the University of California. Digitized August 3, 2007.)
10. Jump up^ http://acelifts.com/dumbwaiter-lifts/
11. Jump up^ See "ASME Product Catalogue". ASME. Retrieved 2008-08-26. ASME A17.1 covers safety for new elevators; A17.2, elevator
inspection; A17.3, safety for existing elevators; and A17.4, emergency procedures, including those applying to modern dumbwaiters.
12. Jump up^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. pp. 799 (total). LCCN 52005149.