Author Topic: Lathe Moving Dolly  (Read 4182 times)

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Lathe Moving Dolly
« on: July 11, 2020, 09:27:26 PM »
This is going to be a new, short term project. Thursday my lathe broke down--something electrical. It is a heavy lathe, weighing about 400 pounds. I managed to move the lathe and the cabinets it is mounted on from my machine shop, thru my office, out into my main garage, where I unbolted the lathe from the cabinets and used my cherry picker engine hoist to lift it into the bed of my truck. I moved it using a tow rope, my truck, and a terrified wife who stood in the office and screamed STOP whenever the lathe was about to crash into anything---the tow rope went thru a few doorways and around a few corners. I don't know if any of you are familiar with the Darwin Award or not. I survived. Wife survived. Lathe survived. Sometime this week the lathe will be repaired and I will have to pick it up and repeat all of the above, only in reverse. I have just inventoried all of the scrap bits of angle bedframe, wheel casters, and heavy lumber in my various storage spots. I am going to build a heavy duty Dolly to mount the lathe on and roll the damned thing from my truck back into my machine shop. The Dolly will be about 1/4" higher than the cabinets that the lathe sets on so it can be slid from the dolly onto the cabinets---no lifting required. If I live as long as my mother, who is 100 years old, probably sooner or later I may have to move the lathe again.---Stay tuned!!!

Offline crueby

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2020, 09:43:20 PM »
And do NOT watch any old Three Stooges shows with them moving pianos or anything....!  Any old mines in your area, borrow a mine car and some track to weave it through the house?


For now, I'll stick with my little Sherline lathe, can tuck it under my arm for moving it when needed...

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2020, 10:13:15 PM »
There is a back story to this. Five or six years ago when I bought this lathe new, I brought it home from the store in my truck, off-loaded it, tried it out. It performed very well. I was a lot fatter and wimpier five or six years ago, so I hired "professional machinery movers" to move it from my main garage into my machine shop. Two huge men arrived, picked up the lathe, carried it into my machine shop.--and charged me $500. It took them all of 10 minutes to move the lathe. I'm a lot trimmer and in better overall health now, and I wasn't going to pay anybody to move the lathe. I don't want wheels on my lathe cabinets. the cabinets do not have leveling feet. It costs me nothing to make the dolly, and I will keep I around until I die or get sent to "the home".

Offline Hugh Currin

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2020, 12:08:59 AM »
Brian:

Not sure where to start this rambling reply, so I'll just start rambling. I just finished moving my mill and lathe from Oregon to Arizona. Required a forklift on both ends, but the forklift wouldn't fit into the garage on either end. Inside they were moved around via ply bars and steel pipes used as rollers. They are settled in, but I find myself needing to move a bench top sized mill and lathe. I may want to move these seasonally so have been putting thought into how.

In some circles a 400lb lathe is pretty light. I'm sure the Riggers thought it was. However, heavy enough to hurt you big time if not kill you. So be careful and safe.

I would first suggest moving the lathe at ground level (+/- 6"), particularly if it is off its stand already. Those stands are narrow and top heavy with the lathe installed. I fear a dolly the same height will also be top heavy. How about a dolly some 4-5" high with casters. For 400lb you shouldn't need true machine skates. Move the machine into the shop then use the engine hoist to mount in on its stand.

I think I'll make some outriggers with large casters for my small lathe and mill. That should allow them to be moved safely while on their stands. Make them such that the machine is lifted a few inches so the outriggers can be attached. Then lower onto the casters for moving. I've come across what's called a "toe jack". They can be purchased but can also be made using a bottle jack. This looks like a much easier way to lift one end of a machine a few inches than a pry bar. Lift one end 2", block solidly with wood, lift the other end and block, repeat. This would get the machine high enough to install outriggers, skates, or put a furniture moving dollies under each end. I plan to do this for the last foot or two to get up against the wall (the outriggers would be in the way).

A toe jack would be a big help moving a machine onto its stand also. Lift and block the cabinets up until one leg of the engine hoist will pass underneath. I had some trouble moving my bench top mill onto a stand because I couldn't get close enough with the hoist. Its permanent stand is wider so will be more trouble. So, lift the cabinet until the hoist passes one leg under to get the machine squarely over the table. Lower the machine and bolt into place. You can likely lift the cabinet by hand, but lowering it back down with the machine attached is harder. Toe jack would be very handy. Lower one end 2" and re-block, lower the other end 4" and block, repeat until on the ground. Then, Bob's you Uncle.

I found this YouTube video very interesting for moving machines.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJeoaW2Zbhg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJeoaW2Zbhg</a>
He also has a video on building a toe jack but no plans. Still looking for plans.

Keep the lathe as low as possible when moving. It'll keep the lathe safer and you healthier. Never lift a machine higher than necessary, and never put any body part under a lifted machine. And for sure let us know what you end up doing, with pictures.

Here's hoping for an easy and clean move.
Hugh

Offline Hugh Currin

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2020, 12:20:25 AM »
I hope the YouTube link above came through. I haven't been able to see YouTube links on MEM for some time. Tried both Firefox and Chromium, no joy. Anyone had similar trouble? Anyone know how to get these links back? Pictures are visible but no YouTube.

Thanks.
Hugh

Offline crueby

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2020, 12:53:04 AM »
I hope the YouTube link above came through. I haven't been able to see YouTube links on MEM for some time. Tried both Firefox and Chromium, no joy. Anyone had similar trouble? Anyone know how to get these links back? Pictures are visible but no YouTube.

Thanks.
Your link shows and plays fine for me.

I seem to recall that if I use the https address for this forum rather than just http, with no s on the end, it wont show the vids. Not talking about the youtube link, but for getting to the forum itself.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2020, 12:56:50 AM by crueby »

Offline Hugh Currin

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2020, 01:25:19 AM »
I seem to recall that if I use the https address for this forum rather than just http, with no s on the end, it wont show the vids. Not talking about the youtube link, but for getting to the forum itself.

I remember some problems earlier with http vs https. I switched all my links to https then and that's what shows up in the address line. Excellent idea but not my current problem. But thank you.
Hugh

Offline crueby

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2020, 02:59:03 AM »
I seem to recall that if I use the https address for this forum rather than just http, with no s on the end, it wont show the vids. Not talking about the youtube link, but for getting to the forum itself.

I remember some problems earlier with http vs https. I switched all my links to https then and that's what shows up in the address line. Excellent idea but not my current problem. But thank you.
I meant the other way. Having the s makes mine break.

Offline Art K

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2020, 03:11:43 AM »
Brian,
I have an Enco 12 X 36 gear head lathe. According to the internet with the cabinet it weighs 1288 lbs, and we all know the internet doesn't lie. :ROFL: I went to the local Harbor Freight your home for cheap stuff. I bought 4 of these 500 lbs castors. I have 4 of these bolted to the 2x6's with lag bolts. I  used a crowbar to lift it and get it high enough to place this underneath. Not easy by yourself I might add. I used lag bolts to mount the 2x6's to the cabinet then rolled it into place. Then used the crowbar to reverse the jacking process.

 Hey you have a cherry picker to lift it that's the hard part. This is the Lathe I moved.

I imagine you have the lumber around, maybe not a harbor freight. Something along these may simplify your job replacing it in the shop. I did get the new power supply for my computer and it does appear to have fried the motherboard when it blew as well. So more working with my nephew to solve this computer problem.
Art
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Offline Hugh Currin

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2020, 05:20:27 AM »
I meant the other way. Having the s makes mine break.

By golly. When I take the s off (just http) I do see the YouTube links. Must be some kind of black magic.

Thank you.
Hugh

Online Jo

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2020, 07:17:17 AM »
To move machines I just do so per the video but use long 1" diameter steel bars as rollers. If the bottom of the machine isn't solid then slide a thick piece of plywood under it to give the rollers something to roll against. Four of my machines are over the ton and I have no problem moving them around on my own in this way  :)

I know its tempting with the small stuff like a 400lb lathe to move it around high but there is always that risk of it slipping and doing some real damage  :paranoia:

Don't forget to wear your safety boots when moving machines around and keep your fingers out from underneath unless there is something thicker and more solid than your hand under it first :ThumbsUp:

Jo
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Offline Jasonb

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2020, 07:35:01 AM »
Brian just a Jo says when I moved mine which is similar to yours all I did was lay a few lengths of 3/4" ID steel pipe on the floor, piece of ply ontop of that and walked the lathe and stand onto that. could be pushed easily with a couple of fingers

Offline pgp001

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2020, 09:31:21 AM »
Sometimes you need more than a couple of fingers to move it, "Size Matters"

Excuse the quality of the old scanned slides. This is how we moved our 20 foot long lathe many years ago, using a 1946 chain drive Scammell and winch rope.

Phil






Online GordonL

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2020, 01:45:51 PM »
RE: Moving machines. If you can get an engine hoist into the shop remove it from the stand and then lower it on to a pallet jack. A pallet jack is very maneuverable and they are inexpensive and frequently available used. You should be able to borrow one from a local store or shop. I have a couple of my my machines mounted on risers so that I can get a pallet jack under them to move them. I have even moved my 13" South Bend lathe by placing blocking on top of the pallet jack.

RE: Youtube videos. I had a problem a couple of weeks ago and it ended up being on of the extensions in Chrome. I disabled them one by one until I found the one causing the problem. Obviously the extension got "updated" when  was sleeping because the extension had been there for a long time.

Offline steamer

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Re: Lathe Moving Dolly
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2020, 04:55:55 PM »
When I had to move my VanNorman #12 milling machine......I'm guessing 2500 pounds....I had to raise it to get the leveling feet off, about 6 inches....then put it down on 4x4 timbers so I could then roll it out of the garage door and onto a trailer.   I did it alone....slowly, with a pinch bar, some cribbing in the form of metal flat and bar stock of various sizes, and some 4 x 4's  and some 1" x 3 foot long pipe rollers.    It's a little scary with a machine that heavy in a confined space as if anything goes pear shaped....theres not much room to maneuver.    That said you go slow, and plan the job.   In the end , after I had it skidded on the 4x4's , I used my pickup to pull it forward to the garage door opening. 

Took better part of the day to do all this....but a pinch bar does wonders!!!
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