Be Careful Lifting A Lathe

ih8beingold

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I'm new but thought I'd share my experience hoping that it may help someone. I recently purchased a lathe and mill. Like most people that buy used, I wasn't ready when the big day arrived. I did a quick search on moving lathes and headed out the door. I used an engine hoist and a "treesaver" strap about 4" wide and 6' long. I saw numerous pictures on the net where people basically wrap a SINGLE strap twice around the body of the lathe near the head to choke it, use the carriage travel to balance it, and lift. Easy right? Well this worked well to bring her home. The problem came later after I had to move her again in the shop. I had the lathe stored near the door and had taken the time to wipe her down with oil to prevent rust. DO NOT WIPE A LATHE DOWN WITH OIL IF YOU INTEND TO MOVE IT WITH A SINGLE STRAP. The next time I moved it the strap slid just a LITTLE from the oil. Maybe 1/2 an inch. Just enough to change the center of gravity. As it tipped slightly the carriage suddenly decided to freewheel and started travelling down the bed towards the headstock and the lift went bad in a hurry. Luckily I was only a couple of feet off the ground when this happened and as far as I can see no damage was done. The lathe slid FAST at an angle until the base hit the cement floor. It happened in the blink of an eye. I would highly recommend using at least two straps. I will never again lift with a single strap and I will remove any oil from the area I intend to lift from. LOCK the carriage any way you can!!!
 
Welcome to the group ih8beingold.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully, it will prevent someone else from having a similar or worse experience.
 
Sorry to hear, but glad you and your lathe are OK. You did an excellent job of explaining without pics. I could visualize your experience in just your few words of the story…Dave
 
Yes, I hope it helps someone. I shudder to think of the few times it was high in the air during the move. Nobody got hurt and no damage done, but that was just dumb luck. If the carriage hadn't moved it wouldn't have been as bad. I have never seen locking the carriage mentioned in any post related to moving a lathe so I thought I'd better mention it. Laziness and trying to save $10 on another strap was stupid in hindsight. Another lesson learned. Be safe.
 
also lock or remove the tailstock ask me how I know about that one!
 
Last time I moved a friends lathe I chucked a "Eyebolt" in the headstock and ran the strap thru it and around the bed. Then I took some weight off it and moved the tailstock till it blanced out and locked it down. Worked real nice.
************Just Saying**********************G****************************************
 
Very good write up, thank you! Locking down any movable objects is a really good idea.

When I do a lift like that, I normally do use two straps, one to lift the load, and the other as a balance strap. Position the lifting strap purposely off of the balance point and use the balance strap the level the load. For the balance strap I normally use a ratchet type tie down and tension it to about 10% or so of the load. This method also works great for setting engines into vehicles, allows you to precisely control the angle to mate up to the transmission.
 
There are 2 kinds of riggers in the world, those who have dumped a machine, and those who will!

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. I had once worked for a piano retail store. John had taught me a lot about moving pianos and organs. First rule: don't lift if you don't have to. 2nd. Use arms and legs not back. Always check your equipment before using it. If a strap looks worn, throw it away(yes, we had one that broke, fortunately not one got hurt). Always use more than one strap. When the item is on a trailer or truck, strap it good. Do not have someone support it. Plan your move, it's frustrating to start over because it won't go that way. Make sure that everyone knows what is going on NO GUESSING. If and I hope never, it starts to fall, get the he!! out of the way. After we got done moving a piano, John's favorite saying was "another child has been born". Mark
 
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