Side Scan Sonar Tow Cable Sheave
Deigned by: Dan Scoville
Machined by: Dan Scoville
Goal: Make a sheave to hold a 0.1875 inch diameter steel cable for towing the side scan sonar.


I can not take full credit for the design of this sheave. I patterned it off of a sheave I saw online somewhere but did my own design work after that. As you can see from the CAD files the sheave can be opened by pulling a couple pins and pivoting the side plate around.

I stated with two 1/2 in thick pieces of aluminum rough cut into circle to make the sheave wheel out of. I do not have a lathe big enough to turn the sheave wheel on so making it in halfs was the next best choice. I cut the outside diameter of each part and then angled the head of the mill over to profile the area where the cable would lay.

Finally I cut the center hole in the wheel where the axel and bushing will go.
Next I flipped over the side plate and machined out some material to lighten the part up. The side plates were bolted together and I machined in 4 holes to further lighten the part and make it look better.