Gear train for lifting: 12 wheels that raise 1000 pounds
A worm-screw and a compound train of toothed wheels calculating vast mechanical advantage
The lower half of the sheet lays out a compound train of twelve toothed wheels, each stage annotated with fractions of an ounce that track how a tiny force is multiplied down the chain. Leonardo concludes that one fifty-thousandth part of a grain can overcome and lift a thousand pounds of weight if each wheel is given ten parts of lever to one of counter-lever. Above, a note explains how the nut of the screw below, which pulls crosswise, should be set, and a large cannon barrel on a carriage with an elevating screw is drawn across the centre. Faint further sketches and untranscribed jottings surround the main figures.
On this page
Worm-nut of the transverse screw
A note at the top explains how the nut (chiocciola) of the screw beneath, which pulls crosswise, is to be positioned. It accompanies a small mechanism sketched above.
Twelve-wheel train multiplying force
A row of twelve toothed wheels is stepped with fractional ounce values (1/500000 of an ounce up to 12 ounces). Leonardo finds that one part in fifty thousand of a grain overcomes and lifts a thousand pounds of weight, if each wheel is given ten parts of lever and one of counter-lever.
Cannon on a carriage with elevating screw
The large central drawing shows a cannon barrel banded with reinforcing rings, mounted on a timber carriage, with a screw beneath it for elevation; a circular inset magnifies the breech and its wedge. Further untranscribed writing lines the sheet.