# I've always liked Fridays but this one is one of my fav's!



## Tipton1965 (Mar 5, 2021)

These arrived today.  PM-833TV and the stand.  I thought for sure there would have been a little damage coming all the way from the East coast to the West coast but everything looks good.  I paid for the lift gate but when the driver saw that I had a front end loader we just loaded it into the bucket and drove it into my shop.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 5, 2021)

Congrats!  Nice looking mill.


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## nighthawkFmobil (Mar 5, 2021)

Looks good. Spinning my wheels in mill directions constantly.  Even though I'll probably want a few. Analysis paralysis is near.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 5, 2021)

Made good use of the crates.


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## NCjeeper (Mar 5, 2021)

Best kind of Fridays when machines come!


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## DavidR8 (Mar 5, 2021)

New Machine Day! Woohoo!
Looks great, congratulations


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## brino (Mar 5, 2021)

Happy Friday indeed!

Congratulations.

-brino


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 5, 2021)

So I definitely need to raise the stand up five or six inches.  Has anyone ever formed up and poured a 5.5" tall concrete  base to set their stand on?  I was thinking I could put plastic down on my existing concrete and pour the base on top in case I ever wanted to remove it.


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## mmcmdl (Mar 6, 2021)

Tipton1965 said:


> Made good use of the crates.


Two thumbs up from me . One for the mill , one for the fire .


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## Tozguy (Mar 6, 2021)

Your cement floor looks to be nice and smooth in the photos. Maybe just use shoe polish wax instead of the plastic as a potential release agent. The edge of the plastic sticking out would not look so good to me.
Also consider topping the new cement pad with a layer of self leveling cement.
I imagine that you have already thought of anchor bolts.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

Tozguy said:


> Your cement floor looks to be nice and smooth in the photos. Maybe just use shoe polish wax instead of the plastic as a potential release agent. The edge of the plastic sticking out would not look so good to me.
> Also consider topping the new cement pad with a layer of self leveling cement.
> I imagine that you have already thought of anchor bolts.


I was thinking leave the plastic cut back an inch or so all the way around so it's not visible.  I'd definitely want to add anchor bolts so I could physically connect the machine base to the new concrete base.  One small issue is the leveling tabs on the base are threaded.  I suppose I could drill them out.


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## Tozguy (Mar 6, 2021)

What size thread are they?


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

Tozguy said:


> What size thread are they?


1/2"


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## Tozguy (Mar 6, 2021)

Considering that the anchor bolts will basically be fixing a cement pad to the bottom of the stand, a 3/8'' cement bolt in the hole as is would be strong enough @ 1000 lbs each. For example:








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The cement pad will lift off the floor long before the 3/8 bolts will give.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

Tozguy said:


> Considering that the anchor bolts will basically be fixing a cement pad to the bottom of the stand, a 3/8'' cement bolt in the hole as is would be strong enough @ 1000 lbs each. For example:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was thinking about using galvanized J-Bolts that I install when I pour the base.


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## Tozguy (Mar 6, 2021)

J bolts is also what first came to my mind. Then I got to wondering how difficult it would be to locate them with precision if clearances are tight through the hole. Remember the cement will shrink as it cures.

Ideally the cement should get to cure for at least a week before setting the stand on it. Then
you could wait until the cement has cured and shrunk for a month before drilling the holes into the cement for the expanding style anchors. The expanding style bolts might have an edge over the J bolts when it comes to esthetics.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

This is what I came up with.  The inside lines are the actual foot print of the stand and the outside lines would be what I form up and pour.  I tapered the front a little to help keep it out of the way of my feet.  My logic is having enough concrete in the bolt down areas.  Looks like the pad would weigh around 400 plus pounds at 6" thick.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

Also I'm trying to envision how to level the mill after it's in place on the poured concrete pad.  Even if the pad is perfectly level it doesn't mean the mill will be level sitting on top of the steel cabinet.  If I just bolt the cabinet directly to the concrete base the mill would most likely still need leveling of some sort.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 6, 2021)

I would bolt the Mill securely to the cabinet. Then shim under the base of the cabinet between base and concrete to ensure the Mill table is level. Just my thought.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

BladesIIB said:


> I would bolt the Mill securely to the cabinet. Then shim under the base of the cabinet between base and concrete to ensure the Mill table is level. Just my thought.


That's kind of what I was thinking.  Threaded rod coming out of the concrete base.  Then a nut with a large thick flat washer on top.  Then the steel cabinet resting on the flat washer.  Then another flat washer and nut on top of that.  Then you could level everything.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 6, 2021)

That will work for sure. Will be a large gap with a nut and a washer. I was thinking you would only be off by a little bit and could just use shim stock where needed to level it and have it essentially flush on your concrete pad. Either way will work though.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 6, 2021)

BladesIIB said:


> That will work for sure. Will be a large gap with a nut and a washer. I was thinking you would only be off by a little bit and could just use shim stock where needed to level it and have it essentially flush on your concrete pad. Either way will work though.


With the way the stand is designed there wouldn't be much of a gap at all.  The areas where the leveling would be done are elevated off the ground almost 2".  Plenty of room for a nut and thick flat washer without the base being elevated from them being there.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 6, 2021)

Gotcha, 100%.  Did not catch that in the earlier pics. Thought they were flat on the ground. Sounds like a good set up for sure and easier than shims.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 9, 2021)

Got a little progress done out in the shop.  Got my concrete base poured.  I'm going to let it cure real good then skim coat the sides with bondo to fix imperfections.  Then use dark grey paint to match the stand.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 13, 2021)

Got the base finished.  Now to get the machine up there.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 13, 2021)

Looks great and the paint looks like a perfect match.  What color did you get?  When I painted my tool tray I could not find anything that close?


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## Just for fun (Mar 13, 2021)

Great job Mr Tipton,  Looks great!  And your mill looks great also!

Congratulations on a job well done!

Tim


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 13, 2021)

BladesIIB said:


> Looks great and the paint looks like a perfect match.  What color did you get?  When I painted my tool tray I could not find anything that close?


Thanks!  The machine came with four round feet that are painted the same color as the cabinet.  I took one of them to Home Depot and went through their color charts and found a really good match.  I just used an exterior acrylic latex paint and rolled it on.  Before I did that I sprayed the base with a Duplicolor truck bed liner to give it a textured look.  I actually drilled those feet out and am using them for thick washers under the feet of the cabinet.

Here's a shot of the base after I textured it.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 15, 2021)

I added a racing stripe to the base to give it a little character.  Okay, now I'm done goofing around with the base.


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## DavidR8 (Mar 15, 2021)

Wow, that looks fantastic. 
As an obvious thread hijack, based on the checkerplate walls and the tidy machine base I'd love to see the rest of your shop.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 15, 2021)

DavidR8 said:


> Wow, that looks fantastic.
> As an obvious thread hijack, based on the checkerplate walls and the tidy machine base I'd love to see the rest of your shop.


Thanks!  I'll try and gather some pics of the shop.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 17, 2021)

I did some measuring and I don't think an engine hoist is going to work to get my mill up on to the stand.  Since the stand will be bolted to the concrete base it's basically permanent in it's location.  I think the lower legs on an engine hoist will hit the wall behind the stand before the mill is in position over the stand to lower it.  Not only that but I think the legs will interfere with the concrete base as well. I'd use my Bobcat front end loader but it won't fit through the door way into the room where the mill will be.  I may have to break the mill down into three or four manageable pieces and reassemble on the stand.  Any other ideas?


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## tjb (Mar 17, 2021)

Tipton1965 said:


> I did some measuring and I don't think an engine hoist is going to work to get my mill up on to the stand.  Since the stand will be bolted to the concrete base it's basically permanent in it's location.  I think the lower legs on an engine hoist will hit the wall behind the stand before the mill is in position over the stand to lower it.  Not only that but I think the legs will interfere with the concrete base as well. I'd use my Bobcat front end loader but it won't fit through the door way into the room where the mill will be.  I may have to break the mill down into three or four manageable pieces and reassemble on the stand.  Any other ideas?


Rent a gantry crane?


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## BladesIIB (Mar 17, 2021)

If you can’t get a Gantry crane, I had a similar issue with my mill and ended up having my two boys on the back of the engine hoist as counter balance so I could pull the legs in and make it work. My mill was 700lbs and I had it out in front of the legs and it worked for me.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 17, 2021)

I may run into the same problem with a gantry crane.  That is not being able to get the machine centered over the stand because the spread on the legs might be too far apart and hit the wall.  Not sure if there would be enough room to come at it from the side.


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## Just for fun (Mar 17, 2021)

I would go with Blades idea.... but my engine hoist does not have retractable legs and they are also narrow so may not fit around your stand.  But maybe a rental unit will work.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 17, 2021)

Just for fun said:


> I would go with Blades idea.... but my engine hoist does not have retractable legs and they are also narrow so may not fit around your stand.  But maybe a rental unit will work.


I did call the local rental store and they have an engine hoist with parallel legs 36" apart.  That would for sure straddle the base just fine.  I will drive over and look at it.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 17, 2021)

Well, productive day.  I rented the lift that I mentioned above and it worked perfectly.  Good thing to because it didn't have any adjustments on the lower legs or the upper boom......one size fits all.  The lower feet cleared the back wall by 6".  Best $35.00 I ever spent.


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## BladesIIB (Mar 17, 2021)

Looks great!  Needs some chips and oil on it now.


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 17, 2021)

BladesIIB said:


> Looks great!  Needs some chips and oil on it now.


Getting close.  I need to add the power feeds and wire the plug and a few other odds and ends.

I'm super happy with the table height since I'm 6' 4" tall.


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## Tozguy (Mar 17, 2021)

Beautiful set up, great location with natural light from the window.


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## vtcnc (Mar 17, 2021)

Tipton1965 said:


> I added a racing stripe to the base to give it a little character. Okay, now I'm done goofing around with the base.



At first glance that looks like a flush mount door set into the wall. My mind was reeling for a moment there.

Nice job with the base! Top notch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tipton1965 (Mar 18, 2021)

I got the power feed for the Z axis installed today.  Went pretty smoothly and works great.


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