mechanism · 05 · ash beam · oak fulcrum · 1st class
a length of ash laid across a small oak wedge. on one end, a stone heavier than a forearm; on the other, a person who knows where to stand. the lever does not lessen the work, only spreads it across a greater length of patience.
the principle is so old that no one's word invented it. you find one waiting in every shed, in every cellar, in the corner of any room where something needed to be lifted once and might again. someone has marked the beam at the place where the wood begins to go quiet.
field-note · the further your hand, the less your back; the truth told plainly by a stick.
pulley · winch · screw-jack · workbench