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Part 19c: 6'' pulley

19c	6'' pulley	1924	-	0	0	1	N°10

The parts

The 6 inch pulley was many Meccano boys' dream part. Even now, one's first purchase of a part 19c tends to signify the jump from 'junior' to 'senior' Meccano, for some reason. Or is that just my opinion?

It's not immediately obvious that the 6'' pulley is actually made from the same initial stamping as the 118 hub disc, introduced at the same time. It seems more likely that this part was made simply because it presented itself as a possibility, rather than there being any real need for a pulley of this size. The groove is massively oversized, and there was never a tyre designed to fit it.

The two identical sides of the 6'' pulley are riveted together with small brass eyelets. Some versions have this eyelet painted, some don't. This indicates whether the separate sides were painted before or after assembly. It is quite easy to remove these eyelets, along with the boss, and create two 'half-pulleys'. These parts allow you to make excellent 6'' overall diameter locomotive wheels, when bolted to a 5½'' circular girder or part 118 hub disc. The purists would frown on you though!

In fact, in the 1978/79 spart parts list the 19c is shown exactly like this; as two separate parts with a bush wheel included to bolt the pair together and form the boss. None of these have ever been found, though, and the only known dark blue examples are the same design as the previous versions.

Chronological variations

Although the 6 inch pulley was introduced in 1924, it remains rare in nickel plate. At 2/6, it was the second most expensive part in the Meccano system after the shuttle. Since it was not included in any outfit, even outfit 7, it rarely featured in any models or supermodel leaflets.

It was available in black paint (date uncertain), this and the dark red version are somewhat more common, but it was not until the part was added to the contents of the 10-outfit in 1950 that it became a common feature of larger models. Note that the 6" pulley was available as a spare part right up to 1941, and would have been in medium red for those last few years.

Medium red and light red versions are of course the most common. It appears that the 6'' pulley changed from light red directly to blue in 1964, and was strangely supplied in this colour scheme in the limited number of Silver/Black/Yellow outfit 10's of the late 60's. Blue is therefore fairly common, but the 1978-on dark blue is quite rare, as (apart from in the 10-outfits of the time) it was not listed as a spare part, even though it was available.

The only design change came in the late 60's, when the elongated holes at the end of each spoke were slightly enlarged. You have to look very carefully to spot it! The hub disc part 118 changed at the same time, confirming that the source of these parts was still the same.

Variations and oddities

Richard has sent us this picture of a pristine yellow 19c. But it's not one of the standard yellows we're used to. He describes it as "slightly lemony". It's come out of the model room in Binns Road for some special project, but I don't understand why it's this colour.

Dealer spare parts boxes

It is thought that the 19c was never supplied boxed, only wrapped in paper (as per this example).

The lack of a product code number on the label dates this part prior to around 1954. Of course, the 19c was only supplied in 10-outfits, and thus it is very unlikely that it was available post-war as a spare part until at least the reintroduction of the 10 outfit in the middle of 1950.

Individual part numbers

Part numbers for the parts on this page are as follows:    Unique part numbers
For identification, each variation has been given a suffix to the main Meccano part number. These suffixes consist of a two-character code for the colour, and if there are many variations, a further number and sometimes letter code to identify each variation. See the bottom of the 'Parts' page for further details.

You don't need to worry what the codes are, just click on any one for a photograph.

The button above turns on and off the display of DMS numbers (where they are known). The DMS (Development of the Meccano System, Hauton and Hindemarsh) published in 1972 and added to in 75 and 82, suggested part numbers for every variation of every Meccano part. These numbers aren't perfect, but they are recognised and also referenced in the EMP (Encyclopedia of Meccano Parts, Don Blakeborough).

Description	from	19c
Nickel plated	24	.ni
Black painted	20s	.bk1
Early red	26	.re
Dark red	27	.dr
Dark red, double-tapped	28	.dr1
Dark blue	34	.nb
Dark blue with blue boss	??	.nb1
Medium red, pre-war stamping	37	.mr1
Medium red	45	.mr
Light red	58	.lr
Blue (small elongated holes, as above) ¹	64	.bl1
Blue with larger elongated holes at end of spokes	60s?	.bl
Dark blue	78	.db
		ALL

¹   The pulley changed from red directly to blue in 1964, and was supplied as such in all known silver/yellow/black outfits. We have yet to come across a post-war black 6'' pulley (stamped Meccano Made in England). If you find one, please send us a photo!

Please send us pictures of missing parts! Hints and tips for pictures
Take a picture of the part in very good light, preferably on a plain yellow background, without a flash but with a tripod.
Ideally, trim the picture to about 150 pixels per inch of the Meccano part (unless the part is particularly big or small), save it as a reasonably good quality jpg file with a filename of exactly the part number, for example 19b.ni1.jpg, and email it to us by clicking on 'Contact us' at the top of the page. Thanks!

• A greyed-out box shows that no part exists for that colour combination.
• Part number codes with a green background have an attached picture of the part, just click once on the code to show a photograph of that part in a separate window.
• Parts marked "†" were temporary or economy parts, or existed only within specific themed outfits. The previous part continued throughout or afterwards.

Further information

Brian Maunder      (at 4:04pm, Thu 5th Jan, 23)

Occasionally 6" Pulleys turn without the boss fitted. I have an example in Dark Blue.

Michael Walker      (at 12:48pm, Tue 1st Mar, 22)

I bought a 6" Pulley more than fifty years ago, but I haven't used it yet. Maybe it will come in handy one day!

Old Blue Gold      (at 12:17pm, Tue 1st Mar, 22)

It was certainly a "prestige" part for me. I bought one cheap in a January sale in the 1960s. The boss was not straight so it was quite useless, but it looked good. A few year ago I grabbed the boss in some pliers and gave it a tweak. To my astonishment it bent back to a perfect position. Brute force and Higorance do work sometimes.

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