My late father, Jack Voisin, made a neat block and tackle pulley assembly. It is completely homemade of wood and it actually works. He used a scroll saw, router and sander to construct all pieces. He crafted the pulleys, nuts, and even the threads on the bolts, all in wood.
The links of chain all appear to be hand-carved out of one piece of wood stock. However each link was individually cut on the scroll saw and rounded over, probably with a router. The secret he said, was to break each link in half, join them together and then glue each link back together again. The hair-line fracture from breaking the link all but disappears after gluing, sanding and staining.
His attention to detail is amazing and it shows his planning and craftsmanship.