Build A Scissor Lift

🎯 Objective

Using your knowledge of joints and levers, create a mini scissor lift that can lift weights placed on it. Email us a photo of your creation at ideas@team.repair for us to share on our platforms!

You will need:

  • Cardboard
  • Fasteners (provided)
  • Scissors
  • Weights (use any objects of different weights that you can find)

Engineering Background

Scissor lifts are a type of equipment used for lifting heavy things vertically, and are mostly used in the construction industry.  They use a mechanical linkage system, which is when a system of rigid bars are connecting using either rotating or sliding joints. Linkages can be used to amplify force and motion, which is why scissor lifts are able to lift very heavy things.

❓ How do scissor lifts use lever mechanisms to move vertically?

A scissor lift achieves linear (straight) vertical motion using the power gained by using a lever. Similar to the lever we saw in the torch, the body rotates around a pivot point and a mechanical advantage is created. However, by horizontally restricting the movement of the top and bottom bars of the scissor lift, the direction of the force created ends up being only vertical.

How to Set Up

  • Cut cardboard into equal length strips to create bars.
  • Use the provided fasteners to connect the bars to create X shapes.
  • Fasten the top and bottoms of each X shape together too.
  • Create infrastructure for your lift! This could be a base plate or supporting platform to hold the weights.
  • Lay the base of the lift on a flat surface and try pulling apart and pushing together the bars of the bottom X.
  • Try adding weights on top to test the strength. You can play around with the length of bars, the number of X’s, and the thickness of the bars to test what makes the strongest scissor lift.

Advice

  • This works best if members are rigid. Can you layer the cardboard to help with rigidity?
  • The joints should be placed on about the same location on every bar

Example Project

🧐 How tall can you make your scissor lift?

We challenge you to build as tall of a lift as possible! You may need to use a sturdier material, or stick two layers of cardboard together to create a thicker material. Send a photo of your tallest creation to ideas@team.repair for a chance to be featured across our platforms!