Mr Olds’ remarkable elevator
Olds Engineering, a traditional workshop and foundry, sits in Maryborough, Australia. It’s not the sort of place you’d expect to find a new industrial invention in the 21st century: and yet the Olds Elevator, patented by Peter Olds, is just that.
More about Olds Engineering: https://www.olds.com.au/
and the Olds Elevator: https://www.oldselevator.com/
Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux
I’m at http://tomscott.com
on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott
on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott
and on Instagram as tomscottgo
@TomScottGo
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
An update: I'm sad to report that Peter Olds passed away in September 2025; may he rest in peace. The mayor of Fraser Coast has paid tribute to him: https://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/news/article/2422/statement-from-mayor-on-death-of-peter-olds-oam
@grampydeathblade2217
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Variation of the Archimedes Screw.
@AndyBHome
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
This video doesn't show the key element of the design until the last second. As soon as you see that it's not hard to understand at all. I grasped it immediately when I saw the fin that draws the material into the cylinder at the bottom but not at all until then. I wish this video had started with a clear picture of the bottom. I believe I would have understood it immediately. It did not. He showed the bottom in a way that obscures the angled scoop, even though he says the word scoop. I paused the video to see what he was talking about and figured it must be on the inside because I couldn't see anything from their videography. Only in the last shot of the bottom at the very end of the video can you see the actual shape, and again, at that point the way it works seems obvious to me.
I think this video is trying to get the viewer to feel a certain way about this invention that's not really very helpful. It's an approach to teaching that I think tries to undermine people's confidence rather than to help them learn how to understand or simply to distribute information.
"Why didn't anyone think of this before?" That really seems to be fishing for the answer, "Because in our arrogance and stubbornness we refuse to see what's right in front of us." No thanks. I prefer, "Who cares? Turning screws were quite good for many things, now we have a new way to use them."
This just seems like a negative way to present the subject that truly turns me off.
@lucasbiaggini
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Honestly, it actually felt very intuitive to me. The material being elevated dont care wether it's the screw or the casing moving, as long as there's sufficient friction between the material and the casing.
@Woodroffski
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
To me it looks like it should work.
@cirecrux
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I remember watching this in a better time
@cooltheory
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Just like turning the nut instead of turning the screw. I remember getting laughed at 25 years ago when I mentioned this as a concept. Probably around the same time this bloke thought of and implemented the idea. I’m glad the people I told laughed at a little girls idea and weren’t bright enough to steal it for themselves because this bloke is a well deserved winner 🏆 ❤
@cezannealves6926
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Why is it better to rotate the tube instead of the screw?
@ClassChange
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Why is this not an archimedes screw?
@carloscostacox
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Soooo… are you saying this is what the orbital elevator should look like?
@pahom2
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
How is this better than rotating a screw? It is more convenient to have a rotating screw inside a closed fixed pipe than having a rotating pipe that have to be mounted on a bearing through the whole its length
@kirknorman2403
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Will it also lift water
@EattheApple666
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Does it move water too?
@MultiFallguy
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
his dad and granddad were literally inventing steam machines.
@SuperJerbear96
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I wonder why nasa didnt use something like this on mars
@IvImpuIsivevI
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
As a chemical engineer, this did not surprise me. But for someone that does not have a fluid mechanics background I can see how this doesn't make sense.
@maple7rees-352
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Let me get this straight.. You're telling me I made this in engineering class in highschool and I'm just now learning that this is an actual thing that has a name and everything??
@craigd1275
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
ho is this better than rotating the screw?
@InformationEngineer59
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
This is a simple issue of relativity and perspective. If you mounted a camera on the cylinder, you wouldn't be able to tell that the cylinder was moving, it would appear that the screw is moving. If you mounted the camera on the screw, it would appear that the cylinder is moving even in an old system where it was the screw moving.
@Lucideye_99
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Miss you, watching the old stuff again.
@wyattlittle6451
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
1:04 … how is this confusing? This knowledge has been around for over 2000 years.
@matthewmccalister5594
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Every now and then, Youtube recommends one of your videos and says that I haven't seen it before. I always get so excited that it is new content!!
But I am very grateful we have these old videos. I always stay till the end and rewatch the videos that I have seen.
You have done so many great topics that there is always something new to learn!
@mikedunn7795
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Mr Olds led an extraordinary life! Sad to see him pass. As far as the tube lifter is concerned,I didn't hear about the rotating scoops at the bottom,which immediately helped me understand how this thing lifts stuff.
@DanHarkins-jk9mi
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Rest in inspiration, sir.
@cokesandwich1668
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Ok, it works. But what's wrong just turning the screw, as has been done for centuries?
@samuelzachary8723
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
am I the only one who wasnt confused? the cylinder is where the friction comes from obviosly.
@stefanmatthiascornelius526
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I feel like this was a trick question, because you didn't show the bottom of the housing. I imagined a simple opening in order to not block the material from entering. But the real bottom has some kind of funneling that pushed material inwards, as you rotate the housing. That's why it's counter intuitive.
@InterGalactic1998
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
It’s not counterintuitive at all
@alkeryn1700
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
this is pm exactly what i expected would happen.
@Paultimate7
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I dont understand why he thought the cylinder convayor wouldn't work. He literally said how it works. Friction. what..? Its not confusing at all.
@tiggytheimpaler5483
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I understood it, i was just surprised at how efficient it was tbh
@andy347
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
"It's just a cylinder with a couple of scoops at the bottom – yet without the scoops, it would have done nothing.
@AetherOwl
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
"new" no. It's not new, idiot. It really isn't.
How old are cork screws? Tell me that how it lifts the cork works differently?
Also, you're moving the cylinder, not the screw. (Or both. Won't claim to know the screw isn't also moving, but the container is.)
@remliqa
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
What is the advantage of rotating the cylinder instead of the screw and vice versa ?
@babeshep
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Archimedes did this a few thousdand years ago.
@prithwishguha309
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
4:36 nah it's totally intuitive if u r not dumb
@lordeisschrank
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
I dont quite get what advantage this has over turning the screw instead
@Zach99999
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
This actually makes more sense to me than turning the screw. The screw turning messes with my mind.
@chrisjones1075
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 am
Quick question, does it work with material with no friction, like water?
Comments are closed.