Moving a mill

I purchased a G0678 last October to replace my RF-30 mill. It is a nice machine and I am impressed with how well it functions. I moved mine into my basement by myself. My helpers were a rented pallet jack, an engine hoist, a hand truck, a rented refrigerator hand truck, a hand cranked boat winch with a snatch block and lots of ratchet straps. I took the machine almost fully Apart. I first removed the motor, I took off the head and ram as one piece. I built a wood sled from 2 x 4’s that I strapped it to and slid it down the using the winch to lower it slowly down the steps. I pulled the table and the knee, these went down stapped to the hand truck. This left the column and base, these do unbolt, both went down strapped to the refrigerator hand truck, lowered using the winch. Once all the parts were downstairs revered the process and put her back together. Take lots of photos and make notes! Label parts like the gibs so you know which one is which. It seems like a big job but take it one piece it a time and it goes fast.
 
ACHiPo said:
Ok so that makes me laugh. Your picture immediately reminded me of a book my Mom used to read to me when I was a wee one about a steam shovel that dug a big hole for a skyscraper. When he (yeah, the steam shovel was a he with eyes and everything--think of the movie "Cars"), but couldn't get out so became the steam boiler for the building.
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I loved that book!
c49c2c300f7999346881679568e08a8c.jpg



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If you disassemble the mill you can then fully inspect and decide if there are any improvements you want to make.
It looks like the G0678 includes Angular Contact bearings in the lower spindle, which is a good sign.

You can do similar for one side on each of the axis dials to remove a lot of the slop. It typically involves minor lathe work on the lead screws and/or housings.
 
I bought a similar mill about a year ago. Found it down the road at an estate sale, $400.00. And I got a Hardinge dividing head and a 12 x18 surface plate to sweeten the deal. The dividing head is worth more than the mill. Anyway... I didn't have to move it down a flight of stairs, but I did have to move it down the road. When I removed the mill, I disassembled it in this order: motor, head, table and finally saddle. I left the knee on the column, as weight wasn't my concern, just the center of gravity. I wanted the weight lower. I winched it up on a drop deck trailer and put all the other components in the bed of the truck. The motor, head, table and saddle were all able to be lifted in a truck bed by two people. I used a engine hoist to remove everything from the truck myself and left the base and column on the trailer. It sat like that in my yard for a few months while I completed my shop. I used the engine hoist to reassemble everything by myself, no problem. I don't have any weight estimates for the pieces. I would google moving machinery into a basement and see how others have done it. Since you have outdoor access i would consider getting a small electric winch, attaching it to your truck and slowly lower it down the stairs after building a track to match a skid you strap the machine to. I recently moved a hot tub up stairs to a 2nd story deck using a similar method, tying off to a large tree and pulling it up the stairs. Used a $70.00 Harbor Freight winch, and had to lower it once when it started to come off the skid, so I know it works well lowering a load too.
Good luck!

mill.jpg Found a picture of the mill when it was loaded on the trailer.
mill 2.jpg
 
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Mtnmac said:
I bought a similar mill about a year ago. Found it down the road at an estate sale, $400.00. And I got a Hardinge dividing head and a 12 x18 surface plate to sweeten the deal. The dividing head is worth more than the mill. Anyway... I didn't have to move it down a flight of stairs, but I did have to move it down the road. When I removed the mill, I disassembled it in this order: motor, head, table and finally saddle. I left the knee on the column, as weight wasn't my concern, just the center of gravity. I wanted the weight lower. I winched it up on a drop deck trailer and put all the other components in the bed of the truck. The motor, head, table and saddle were all able to be lifted in a truck bed by two people. I used a engine hoist to remove everything from the truck myself and left the base and column on the trailer. It sat like that in my yard for a few months while I completed my shop. I used the engine hoist to reassemble everything by myself, no problem. I don't have any weight estimates for the pieces. I would google moving machinery into a basement and see how others have done it. Since you have outdoor access i would consider getting a small electric winch, attaching it to your truck and slowly lower it down the stairs after building a track to match a skid you strap the machine to. I recently moved a hot tub up stairs to a 2nd story deck using a similar method, tying off to a large tree and pulling it up the stairs. Used a $70.00 Harbor Freight winch, and had to lower it once when it started to come off the skid, so I know it works well lowering a load too.
Good luck!

View attachment 332583 Found a picture of the mill when it was loaded on the trailer.
View attachment 332586
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Hi Mountain Mac, What's the poster hanging in the back? It looks like one with good conversion info for fractions and decimals and all that stuff. And two, why the PA set up?
 
Maplehead said:
Hi Mountain Mac, What's the poster hanging in the back? It looks like one with good conversion info for fractions and decimals and all that stuff. And two, why the PA set up?
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The poster is a SPI Decimal Equivalent chart, and it is one of the better ones. The photo in the back yard was taken not long after our annual party. The PA speakers are left over from that, the stage for the band has already been taken down. Sometimes I leave the speakers out there with a old stereo receiver till Fall, it doesn’t rain here in the summer. Sadly, the stage, PA and other party stuff stayed in storage this year.
 
I have the same mill. I took mine completely apart, ram, turret, motor, head, table, column and base. Used a heavy duty appliance dolly with motorcycycle tie down straps. The reason I purchased this machine was that it could be disassembled and moved. I could have bought a Bridgeport for about the same price but the weight and motor configuration didn't work.
When I got it reassembled everything was checked out. Tram in Y was a tiny bit off so I had to shim the front end of the turret .001. I have many hours on mine and am quite happy with it. I put DRO Pros glass scales on it. If you would like pictures just let me know. Another thing I did was to put a threaded dowel pin into the joint face between the head and ram. It trammed the head to dead 0 in an 12" sweep then drilled and reamed the interface for the pin. The reason being I was doing a job and the part came loose which caused the cutter to grab and stall the motor. The head only has 2 studs holding it to the ram and it knocked it out of tram. If I want to tilt the head I just pull the pin.
gbritnell
 
gbritnell said:
I have the same mill. I took mine completely apart, ram, turret, motor, head, table, column and base. Used a heavy duty appliance dolly with motorcycycle tie down straps. The reason I purchased this machine was that it could be disassembled and moved. I could have bought a Bridgeport for about the same price but the weight and motor configuration didn't work.
When I got it reassembled everything was checked out. Tram in Y was a tiny bit off so I had to shim the front end of the turret .001. I have many hours on mine and am quite happy with it. I put DRO Pros glass scales on it. If you would like pictures just let me know. Another thing I did was to put a threaded dowel pin into the joint face between the head and ram. It trammed the head to dead 0 in an 12" sweep then drilled and reamed the interface for the pin. The reason being I was doing a job and the part came loose which caused the cutter to grab and stall the motor. The head only has 2 studs holding it to the ram and it knocked it out of tram. If I want to tilt the head I just pull the pin.
gbritnell
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I looked at the Grizzly mill, it does appear the base is separate. I don’t know who made mine, but the base is one piece cast iron with a sheet metal drip pan around the edge. That should make it much easier to separate the base.

I have DRO Pros magnetic scales on mine, have been very happy with them. No problem with the head moving. The thing I hate about mine is it won’t reverse, forward only. I will eventually convert it to a 3 phase motor with VFD, which will give me reverse and eliminate moving the belt to change speeds.
 
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