# I have to move my 1236



## MikeWi (Sep 13, 2019)

I'm moving to Pittsburgh soon, and that means moving my 1236 lathe back up the basement stairs. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm thinking that It will help immensely to reduce the weight by removing the motor and the headstock from the ways. Bonus, I get to learn how to align the headstock! yay.  Any thoughts on  doing this? At least it will be at ground level at the new place!


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## Stonebriar (Sep 13, 2019)

I moved mine twice before I sold it.  I broke it down the way it shipped to me and built a pallet to mount it onto. It was stable that way and not too difficult to slide around. I didn't have stairs to navigate though. Good luck on the move.


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## BGHansen (Sep 13, 2019)

Whatever you need to do to be safe.  Personally, I'd try to avoid removing the head stock, but it's not uncommon.  I removed the head stock of my old Rockwell 10 x 36 lathe and didn't have too much trouble realigning it.

I'd brace the top of the stringers of your stairs with 4x4's down to the basement floor (vertical columns) as you might be exceeding what dimensional lumber and 16D's can hold.  Would hate to see your stairs or worse yet one side come off the 1st floor deck and dump things 8' to the floor.

I moved an Atlas 12 x 36 and Rockwell 10 x 36 out of the basement of my old house.  I pulled the motors, tail stock and the carriage.  Left the head stock and bed together.  I made a plank out of two 2x12x16' as a ramp that set directly on the stairs.  Made a couple of side brackets from angle iron and ran a 3/4" rod of steel between the angle, turned down at the ends to fit loosely into a couple of 1/2" holes in the angle (3/4" rod became an axle).  That was at the top of the ramp.  Made a cart out of 2x4s and plywood with casters on the bottom.  Then screwed a buddies 12V truck winch to the floor and hauled everything up by myself.  The cable ran over the 3/4" steel rod at the top, kept the cable from chewing up the plank.  On top of the lathes, I brought up a Jet JVM-830 mill (900 lbs.), Grizzly mill/drill (700 lbs.), Craftsman drill press and some other woodworking tools that were under 100 lbs.  Also brought up an 8' slate pool table (3 pieces at ~150 lbs. each).  I have three 10' lengths of roller conveyor too.  Use that to maneuver things out into the garage once they were on the 1st floor.

More detail than you asked for, just reliving my move in 1991 . . .  Repeating, I'd try to avoid removing the head stock, but whatever you need to do to stay safe.  You'll enjoy having a shop on the first floor.

Bruce


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## Lucky Liverider (Sep 13, 2019)

if your selling the home to move tack it on to the mortgage and let the buyer deal with it then upgrade to a 1440


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## MikeWi (Sep 13, 2019)

LOL Good idea, but no, that's not what's happening. Just doing a sanity check.


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## Dabbler (Sep 13, 2019)

When I moved my 12X36 (750 lbs, 200 lb stand) from my old house 25 years ago.  I hired a machinery moving company to do it, and they charged me $150 for 2 miles, but it was money well spent...  I've moved lots of mills and lathes since, but I kinda stay away from stairs.  

I will have to move a larger lathe up some stairs someday soon, and I'll be getting a hotshot crane truck with a swivel head to drag it up the stairs for me.  It is just over 3000 lbs total;  1200 lbs in the bed, and the rest in the headstock and apron.

Some questions on your move:  How much does it weigh fully assembled?  Does it have an integral base, or is it on a stand?  Do you have a safe winching point and a straight pull, or do you have to go around corners? 

All these things contribute to my next point:  have a plan.  If you don't have a movement plan, you have a good chance of having a problem.

BTW:  On some lathes, it is easier to take off the carriage than the headstock, and no realignment issues.


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## MontanaLon (Sep 14, 2019)

You are about to find, as many have over the years, that it is an order of magnitude more difficult to move something into a basement than out of it. 

What I mean is when gravity is working to help you it creates 10 times less work than when you are working against it. I had to break down my lathe and mill to get them into the basement and it was difficult. I suspect I will find a need to break them down further to get them out.


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## Dabbler (Sep 14, 2019)

I agree completely.  That's why the crane.  6 guys took it down the stairs, and needs a 5 ton crane to get it back out.


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## Flyinfool (Sep 14, 2019)

There was a house near me that sold recently, It was listed as a mechanics dream house as the Bridgeport in the basement stayed with the house. It sold pretty quick. 

I have a Tree 2UVR mill @3400 lbs, a 1340 lathe at 1100 lbs and a surface grinder at 1500 lbs in the basement. They all came around 2 90° corners and down the stairs. If they ever have to come out it will be the same way.

I built a ramp out of 2 2x12s laid flat at a shallower angle than the stairs, and then built braces to spread the load to every stair evenly and finally covered the whole thing with 3/4 ply to further spread the load. In the hallway on the 1st floor I also covered the whole floor so the the casters would not break thru the narrow floor boards.
I then ran a 12,000 lb working strength cable through the house and down the steps to the machines, the other end of the cable went out a window and to the hitch on my full size 4x4 pickup truck. I had the shop crane just outside of the window with a snatch block to hold the cable off the window sill.
I welded up a dolly with four 4" swivel casters that I bolted the mill to. For the other machines I just bolted two 2x12s to the dolly to act as adapters for the other machines. 

A big thing to pay attention to is that as the machines tilt coming up the ramp the center of gravity moves toward the down hill side, so make sure that the machine is moving with the heavy side at the top so that it does not tip on the way up, also make sure that your attachment points are both high and low to help keep it stable.

As long as you plan everything ahead of time and try to think of everything that can go wrong and plan for that, It should be a nice boring move.

All three times it worked slick as can be. The mill was the first piece so it was a bit of a learning curve. it tried to cock sideways half way down the ramp. The truck was already in 4 LO and absolutly no problem pulling the mill back up for a second try.


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## MikeWi (Sep 14, 2019)

I used to have a post here of how I moved it into the house but it seems to be gone now.  I'm thinking I'll just move it back up the way I took it down, but better. I originally winched it down the stairs on a ramp. It will be harder to pull it up, but I think we'll manage.

"As long as you plan everything ahead of time and try to think of everything that can go wrong and plan for that, It should be a nice boring move."
That's how I approach anything like this, and why I'm asking what may seem to be an obvious question. No assumptions.


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## StevSmar (Sep 15, 2019)

I’m following this thread with interest. I’m still mulling over ideas on how to get a PM-1224-T (24” version of the PM-1236-T) into the basement.

Luckily it’s a straight run into my basement. I’m leaning towards taking the head off...
I should get a quote from a machinery moving company though, if it’s not too expensive it could be money well spent.


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## Dabbler (Sep 15, 2019)

StevSmar, with gravity as your friend, it is easier than moving it out!


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## Flyinfool (Sep 15, 2019)

At less than 500 lbs you could do it with a furniture dolly.
Run a cable from the dolly axle to a vehicle outside as an anchor to control decent speed.


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## MikeWi (Sep 15, 2019)

My basement stairs run parallel to the door, and end in a landing shorter than the length of the lathe, and   6" lower than the hall it has to move onto. It's a challenge even to get it down there, but we did it. I'm going to have to rig at least one crane to tip it up when it gets near the top. Gravity made it far easier the other way down, and it will be much harder to pull it up rather than let it down. Wife is like "sell it and buy another one later" but I only have two weeks left even if I wanted to sell it (at a loss). I'm going to be stubborn LOL.


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## Flyinfool (Sep 16, 2019)

A few 2x4s can anchor a pulley that will let a cable go around a 90° corner just fine.

Plan 2


MikeWi said:


> Wife is like "sell it and buy another one later" but I only have two weeks left even if I wanted to sell it (at a loss). I'm going to be stubborn LOL.



Sounds like a leave it there and buy the 1440 to me........


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## Firstram (Sep 16, 2019)

MikeWi said:


> My basement stairs run parallel to the door, and end in a landing shorter than the length of the lathe, and   6" lower than the hall it has to move onto. It's a challenge even to get it down there, but we did it. I'm going to have to rig at least one crane to tip it up when it gets near the top. Gravity made it far easier the other way down, and it will be much harder to pull it up rather than let it down. Wife is like "sell it and buy another one later" but I only have two weeks left even if I wanted to sell it (at a loss). I'm going to be stubborn LOL.




Can you cut a hole in the landing wall and make it a straight shot from the basement?


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## ch2co (Sep 16, 2019)

Out of the truckbed, down a steep flight of stairs, through a narrow kitchen, then a doorway and an immediate left turn into a narrow hallway, followed by a narrow right turn through another doorway into the shop. 
Only around 450 pounds but WELL WORTH the $125 for two big guys who knew what they were doing to gracefully manhandle it into my shop.


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## sru_tx (Sep 16, 2019)

I bought a PM-1228 a year ago and moved it into an upstairs garage apartment with just one other person. I pulled the motor, tailstock, chuck, and part of the carriage. It needed minor cleaning and this gave me a lot of access in the process. I knew absolutely zero about lathes at the time so I was not comfortable removing the entire apron assembly.  i'm guessing the remaining assembly weight was in the 300-325lbs range. I used a refrigerator dolly and put the assembly on it, headstock at the bottom. I also moved the apron towards the headstock which concentrated the weight on the wheels and lightened the load on the handles. I could move it around single-handed on flat ground.

The sheet metal cover for the headstock geartrain is not strong enough to support the weight, so I removed the cover and made a small 2x6 frame to support the machine via the casting. After getting the unit upstairs and assembled, I quickly found out that part of the cross slide power feed was broken by the previous owner and I learned a LOT about my machine very quickly. I wouldn't hesitate to pull the apron and leadscrew/feed screws if I had to do that again.


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## MikeWi (Sep 18, 2019)

Time is running out with having to commute to PA to find a house. That's settled now, but there's still the garage sale this weekend and more packing. Never seems to end. Getting nervous about getting it done.


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## Bob Korves (Sep 18, 2019)

I would remove the lathe from the pedestal(s) or bench if it is mounted that way.  Lathes on stands are notoriously top heavy, VERY easy to tip over, with serious damage sustained, sometimes to the workers, too.  I would move it from the stand to a couple 2x8 boards cleated together, and then bolt the lathe down tight to the boards.  Carriage bolts coming up from under the boards are a good way to attach the lathe to the "sled."  Find a winch with enough cable to pull it up the stairs over plywood laid down to protect the stairs and to keep the work on a continuous smooth surface.  Block up your landing to the same height as the bottom of the door opening at the top of the stairs so you will only need to swing the lathe in one plane to turn it, then slide it through the door.


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## jwmay (Sep 18, 2019)

I moved my 900+ pound Grizzly lathe up steep cellar stairs a few weeks ago.  I used an engine hoist to remove it from the stand, rolled it across the floor on Harbor Freight casters, lifted it onto a very sturdy bench with the engine hoist, built a sideways A frame contraption at the top of the stairs, screwed two 2x12’s to the edge of the bench which rested on the landing, and pulled it up with a battery powered winch. The prep took about 10 times longer than the move. But it was remarkably easy overall.


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## jwmay (Sep 18, 2019)

And it’s not a bad idea to drain the headstock oil before you tip it up a steep slope. With the 36” tall bench at the foot of my stairs, it only had another 40” of rise over 8 feet, so it was easier to pull, and I didn’t lose any oil. That’s two things I didn’t think of on the way down the stairs originally.


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## MikeWi (Sep 18, 2019)

Yeah, we learned that when we brought it down! LOL Oil started leaking out the spindle bearing.


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## macardoso (Sep 19, 2019)

I have broken down my 12x36 to get it into and out of a basement. Used ropes and some rock climbing gear to get it down the stairs on a ramp. Then a comealong for getting it up. Not too bad honestly


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## Janderso (Sep 19, 2019)

Machine tool moves are always a memorable event.
I can remember every one of mine. Mostly good memories.
There was the one with the bad tire on the trailer......Bob remembers that one.
Preparation and having the power equipment available is key.
Slow and easy baby.


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## MikeWi (Sep 26, 2019)

Well my Wife and temptation for an upgrade convinced me to sell the lathe. Of course, we _still _had to move it out of there. Between me, the buyer (young man and his dad) we got it out in about 3 hours. We took off the headstock and motor and all other loose parts, and trucked them up on dollys. The bed was a challenge even with three people hauling on it, but we got it done. At least the new place has ground level access to the basement.


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## Stonebriar (Sep 26, 2019)

Congratulations.


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## Janderso (Sep 26, 2019)

What you gonna buy in Pittsburg?


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## MikeWi (Sep 26, 2019)

Another PM of course, but better! TBD... Tool Acquisition Disorder is strong with me, so there's many things. My wife is not going to be happy with me , but she's the one who suggested a "better" lathe if I sold this one, so it's all on her.


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## Flyinfool (Sep 26, 2019)

Hmmmmmm......

CNC......????

Well she said better.........


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