Recreational Rigging--Moving a Mill

[ed_h]

I finally bought a knee mill, but was really afraid of moving it. It didn't turn out to be as hard as I thought. Here's how it went, with quite a few pics--

http://bullfire.net/Mill/Milling%20Machine.html

[Gary Gill]

That worked out very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[davidh]

you made it look quite easy. . good job.

[sch]

Having moved an 1800# Van Norman 12 in a similar way, though I was
able to go down a concrete walk way with a ~35D grade, rather than
steps I appreciate the work involved. Nice to have enough ceiling clearance
in the basement for the boom lift to have clearance to mount the motor.
Mine is under the main HVAC duct for the first floor so even though
the bottom of the joists is 9' up the duct took out 12-14". I drilled a 1"
hole in the doubled 2x12 main beam and threaded lifting straps through to
hang a sheave and used a comealong for the gear box, ram and motor
installs. There is a steel post next to the machine holding up the beam.
You ought to post a ref to the move in the drop box. Have to rummage
for the address, but it is a compendium of photos over a 10-15 yr period
of internet postings by amateur machinists.

[JoeLee]

How long did it take you from start to finish???

JL......................

[Mr Fixit]

ED_h Thanks for sharing great execution.
Iv'e got to ask the question. Did you put the cars in there the same way? If you did, are you trying to build something in a basement like a ship in the bottle. :rolleyes: Why not open the garage door and wheel it in that way. Just have to ask.
I too have British cars, 54 TD, 5 count so far Morris minors all projects but looking forward to working on them as retirement is just a couple of yrs away.
Safety Fast

Mr. Fixit for the family:)
Chris

[mickeyf]

I am very impressed, but am also swearing to myself that I will NEVER have a workshop in a basement! Give me a good old ground level garage any day. Yoiks!

[wierdscience]

Nice move,I have made a mental note from seeing all these basement moves.

If I ever move into a house with a basement the very first project will be a 10,000lb freight elevator about 8 feet square:)

[crancshafter]

Hi ed h
Nice wrightup on moving your mill.And nice pics.
This weekend I have had a 1000km roundtrip on bad winter roads to get home, to me a new "old" Aciera F3 mill small but will suit me. A nice good old quality mill, comes w/ horr ram, vertical head and slottinghead horr. arbors and collets from 1-15.5mm in 0.5 mm increments hard to find for the price I gave. You have to pay allmost the same for a X2 mill here in Norway.
I have it on my job shop where I will repaint it before i move it in to my shop,with help from a friend who have axess to a large crain-truck to lift it thru the door and place it on the floor in my shop.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w295/crankshafter/Aciera%20F3/14_-2096637032.jpg
best of luck whit your new mill. PS.don't regret bying the RF45 ,I have one(noicey b&%!ard) but now its going to an other home. in honest it have been a god frend for many years but I get tired of the noice from the gearhead( and me having "tinitus" after years in noicey enginerooms):O(
Best Regards
CS

[Mcgyver]

thanks for sharing that...but they brought 7 guys? :eek: How long were they there for?

[John Stevenson]

Mac, that went thru my mind as well.

They brought 7 guys to get it out, take it to the OP place - THEN - he strips it down into lumps and gets it into his basement on his own?

Why didn't he take it to pieces in the first place? One of these will all fit into a standard van and can all be handled with a 1 tonne folding crane.

Taking one to pieces is nothing new and has been documented before on this forum.

[HSS]

Mac, that went thru my mind as well.

They brought 7 guys to get it out, take it to the OP place - THEN - he strips it down into lumps and gets it into his basement on his own?

Why didn't he take it to pieces in the first place? One of these will all fit into a standard van and can all be handled with a 1 tonne folding crane.

Taking one to pieces is nothing new and has been documented before on this forum.
Our utilities company here, works like that. One guy doing the work as 5 look on. Personally, I would rather let the lumps down the stairs than winch them up, and he could work at his leisure doing so.
Thanks for the pictures, Ed.

Patrick

[Black Forest]

If it had been 7 Germans that came they would not need any of the moving gear. The 7 Germans would have just picked up the whole machine and carried it out and then carried it into its final resting place in your shop!!!!!!

What a bunch of slackers.

[John Stevenson]

If it had been 7 Germans that came they would not need any of the moving gear. The 7 Germans would have just picked up the whole machine and carried it out and then carried it into its final resting place in your shop!!!!!!

What a bunch of slackers.

Or one Brit with a Lancaster. :D :rolleyes:

[ed_h]

Thanks for the replies. I'll answer some of the questions:


How long did it take you from start to finish???

Half a day to get it out of Dave's basement and into my garage. Two days to break the mill down. A day to set up the ramp and sled and cover the floors. A day to move all but the column, half a day to move the column. These weren't all consecutive days, and it included a lot of planning and trips to the store for hardware.

Reassembly took a few days, but that included a lot of cleanup and paint.


but they brought 7 guys? How long were they there for?

The 7 guys surprised me, too. Some of them were strapping the mill to a big dolly, while others were nailing plywood to the stairs and lagging a winch to the garage floor. It took a total of probably two hours from arrival to when it was on their truck. Twenty minutes across town, and less than an hour to get it unloaded into my garage.

Maybe a total of three hours or so start to finish.



Why didn't he take it to pieces in the first place?

I didn't really want to hang around the seller's home for three days fiddling and planning. Once it was on my property, I could take my time.