- Joined
- Jan 11, 2020
- Messages
- 71
I know there's already a number of posts and threads about the 833T and TV but I figured I would start one too. The plan for this thread though is not necessarily to talk about the mill itself, its to talk about getting it moved and setup for homegamers such as myself. From what I've found online most people that buy a mill this size will put it in their garage or pole barn using an engine hoist or something similar. My machine is going in my walkout basement and because of this I was originally put off by the size, weight, and 220v power requirement, and almost went with something smaller. So this thread is about the first steps of my journey with my new PM-833TV and will hopefully be some help to some other hobbyists out there that would like 800lbs of milling machine in their basement.
Day 0
I received my mill on a Friday afternoon from Holland freight. The guy that delivered it was very nice and helpful and I could tell he knew what he was doing because he didn't drive the truck into the powerlines in front of my house like a lot of people do. After unloading it off the truck, and with me pushing, he was kind enough to haul it up my driveway and set it down in my garage. I tipped him $20 for the help and being a good chap. I then uncrated the mill, checked for missing parts, and saw that all was good.
Day 1
I started the day early with a trip to the metal shop to pick up a couple more pieces of steel for the mill stand and a few 2x4s. There's no way I could take this thing down to my basement in one piece, so the plan was to build a makeshift gantry crane out of 2x4's and a tractor supply special chain hoist so I could move it in pieces. I don't necessarily recommend building a gantry crain out of scrap 2x4s unless you know what you're doing. I happen to have a PhD in mechanical engineering and did the calculations to make sure this thing wasn't going to collapse in on itself. I'm also a solid 200lbs and was doing pull-ups on the thing to test it first. Renting, or even buying, an engine hoist is probably a better option but I'm cheap.
With the gantry crane built I started taking parts off the head to lighten it up and reduce the changes of breaking something. Removing the motor and some other parts made the head a lot lighter and it was fairly easy to remove. And by the way, Matt at Precision Matthews, if you're reading this, change the socket head screws that bolt the motor mount to the spindle casting to hex head cap screws. There's barely any room to get an allen wrench to fit in there without getting it stuck. With most of the things removed I then wrapped the head with a 3000lb tie strap and connected it to the chain hoist. After putting some tension on the chain with the hoist and then undoing all the bolts the head slid right off.
I didnt get any pics of it but I dropped the head down onto plywood with the column mating face down. I then put some other wood around it that was screwed in place to help support it. After that, I secured and picked it up with my milwaukee hand truck and rolled it down the hill to one of the sliding doors of my walkout basement and in she went. I don't have a good way of weighing the head but if I had to guess I would say it was ~100 - 130lbs with the motor removed. While having a walkout makes this easier, I feel it still wouldn't be too difficult to do this with stairs. I would however want an appliance dolly rather than a generic one like I have. A second hand would also make it a bit easier.
With the head in the basement next up was the column. The column easily unbolts from the base with 4 large, I'm guess M12??? bolts and detaching the line from the one-shot oiler. To lift the column I used two tie straps around the z-axis saddle moved all the way in the top position. I used two 150lb straps for this, one on each side of the lead screw. Ideally I would rather have used much higher rated straps as I'm pretty sure this part weights more than 150lbs but I at least had two of them and wasn't moving it far. Once secured the column lifted up pretty easily and I set it down one some more plywood. I also noticed there was some copper shim stock between the column and base, I assume to do some tramming from the factory. Just as before, I secured it to my hand truck and went down the hill to my backyard and then in the basement. The column is substantially heavier than the head was, if I had to guess I would say 200 - 250lbs. Still movable by one person but if I was moving this thing down a basement stairway I would absolutely want an appliance dolly or a second set of hands.
And thats as far as I got for Day 1. Tomorrow I'll be moving the table and then hopefully the base. After that, I need to built the stand it will sit on which will also have a few challenges.
Day 0
I received my mill on a Friday afternoon from Holland freight. The guy that delivered it was very nice and helpful and I could tell he knew what he was doing because he didn't drive the truck into the powerlines in front of my house like a lot of people do. After unloading it off the truck, and with me pushing, he was kind enough to haul it up my driveway and set it down in my garage. I tipped him $20 for the help and being a good chap. I then uncrated the mill, checked for missing parts, and saw that all was good.
Day 1
I started the day early with a trip to the metal shop to pick up a couple more pieces of steel for the mill stand and a few 2x4s. There's no way I could take this thing down to my basement in one piece, so the plan was to build a makeshift gantry crane out of 2x4's and a tractor supply special chain hoist so I could move it in pieces. I don't necessarily recommend building a gantry crain out of scrap 2x4s unless you know what you're doing. I happen to have a PhD in mechanical engineering and did the calculations to make sure this thing wasn't going to collapse in on itself. I'm also a solid 200lbs and was doing pull-ups on the thing to test it first. Renting, or even buying, an engine hoist is probably a better option but I'm cheap.
With the gantry crane built I started taking parts off the head to lighten it up and reduce the changes of breaking something. Removing the motor and some other parts made the head a lot lighter and it was fairly easy to remove. And by the way, Matt at Precision Matthews, if you're reading this, change the socket head screws that bolt the motor mount to the spindle casting to hex head cap screws. There's barely any room to get an allen wrench to fit in there without getting it stuck. With most of the things removed I then wrapped the head with a 3000lb tie strap and connected it to the chain hoist. After putting some tension on the chain with the hoist and then undoing all the bolts the head slid right off.
I didnt get any pics of it but I dropped the head down onto plywood with the column mating face down. I then put some other wood around it that was screwed in place to help support it. After that, I secured and picked it up with my milwaukee hand truck and rolled it down the hill to one of the sliding doors of my walkout basement and in she went. I don't have a good way of weighing the head but if I had to guess I would say it was ~100 - 130lbs with the motor removed. While having a walkout makes this easier, I feel it still wouldn't be too difficult to do this with stairs. I would however want an appliance dolly rather than a generic one like I have. A second hand would also make it a bit easier.
With the head in the basement next up was the column. The column easily unbolts from the base with 4 large, I'm guess M12??? bolts and detaching the line from the one-shot oiler. To lift the column I used two tie straps around the z-axis saddle moved all the way in the top position. I used two 150lb straps for this, one on each side of the lead screw. Ideally I would rather have used much higher rated straps as I'm pretty sure this part weights more than 150lbs but I at least had two of them and wasn't moving it far. Once secured the column lifted up pretty easily and I set it down one some more plywood. I also noticed there was some copper shim stock between the column and base, I assume to do some tramming from the factory. Just as before, I secured it to my hand truck and went down the hill to my backyard and then in the basement. The column is substantially heavier than the head was, if I had to guess I would say 200 - 250lbs. Still movable by one person but if I was moving this thing down a basement stairway I would absolutely want an appliance dolly or a second set of hands.
And thats as far as I got for Day 1. Tomorrow I'll be moving the table and then hopefully the base. After that, I need to built the stand it will sit on which will also have a few challenges.