# PM-1640TL and Skyhook?



## jeremysf (Sep 8, 2021)

Holy moly these 10” chucks are beasts.

I have read some of the threads here about quick change tool post mounted Skyhooks on lathes, and it sounds like while they look intuitively scary, they are pretty safe.

That said, does anyone have experience with mounting one on a PM-1640TL or similar?

I just milled the blank base on my inexpensive CXA quick change tool post, and it’s not a ton of steel that holds it to the cross slide. Curious if anyone has any first hand experience with mounting a Skyhook to it.


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## pineyfolks (Sep 8, 2021)

I've never used one but they look like a lot of stress on the compound, especially on a small machine. Sliding a piece of round bar through the chuck so you have enough sticking through both sides to get a hold of and making a wooden cradle for under it is a lot cheaper and faster in my opinion.  There's a lot of YouTube videos showing small chuck cranes and the method I described. Whatever you do make it easy and don't pull your back out.


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## stupoty (Sep 8, 2021)

I only have an 8" 3 jaw but is still quit heavy , I do the piece of wood on the ways to give me some ware to put it down and change hand grip.

I have actually had it roll off the lathe (once , only once) everything in it's path was destroyed  

so some sort of wedge on the piece of wood to cover the ways might be handy 

Stu


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## jwmelvin (Sep 8, 2021)

I imagine cutting loads for a 16” swing lathe are quite a bit higher than the weight of the crane and chuck. But of course the moment arm is much longer for the crane, say about an order of magnitude. My WAG puts the resulting load in the same ballpark as cutting, so it shouldn’t be an issue. You could test by putting a piece of bar in a boring bar holder and applying a load about as much as the chuck + crane weight, and measure tool post deflection. Compare to deflection when cutting.


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## 7milesup (Sep 8, 2021)

Personally, I would mount it somewhere else.  Beef up the splash guard with some tubing and mount it to that.


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## Janderso (Sep 8, 2021)

7milesup said:


> Personally, I would mount it somewhere else.  Beef up the splash guard with some tubing and mount it to that.


+1


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## seasicksteve (Sep 8, 2021)

Janderso said:


> +1


+2. ABOM has a vid that addresses this concern specifically. He feels that in his application the set up is plenty strong and Im sure it is. I just would not be comfortable with it on my machine. I would likely mount a spigot on or near he headstock that would double as a holder for the chuck wrench.


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## yota (Sep 8, 2021)

here is the Mr. Pete take on it.


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## mksj (Sep 8, 2021)

A 10" 4 jaw direct mount is around 65lbs, and an 8" 3J with back plate probably 75 lbs. What might be a simpler alternative at this weight  is to make some sleds for the ways and keep the chucks on a cart at a similar height so you can transfer them more easily. If you decide on something like a skyhook you could make a mount with a hole or simple fastening system and mount it to the T-slots on the cross slide. My 8" chuck is 85 lbs, I often will clamp the jaws to a 1/2" through bar to make removal and handling it a bit more easy. My rotary table is about 140 lbs and I have it on a movable cart at the same height as the mill table so just swing it onto the mill, but that is close to limit of what I want to deal with, since I only weigh 150 lbs and not a youngster anymore.


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## Larry$ (Sep 8, 2021)

I have an 8" with a cast iron back plate that is plenty heavy for an old guy. I made a wooden sled that fits the ways and is exactly the height to slide under the chuck. That takes care of the hardest part, taking it off the mount. I have a shelf that is the same height to put the chuck on.


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## pontiac428 (Sep 8, 2021)

This thread conjures images of St. Vincent of Saragossa, except instead of a millstone, a chuck.


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## benmychree (Sep 8, 2021)

I have a 19" Regal Leblond lathe and use a Sky Hook on it routinely to change chucks up to an 18" four jaw with no problems, now over about 40 years, I also made adaptors that can be used on other machines, including mills and drills and the slotter, I would recomend them to anyone who has larger standard machine tools.


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## xyz (Sep 8, 2021)

jeremysf said:


> Holy moly these 10” chucks are beasts.
> 
> I have read some of the threads here about quick change tool post mounted Skyhooks on lathes, and it sounds like while they look intuitively scary, they are pretty safe.
> 
> ...


I did not want to attach  anything to the lathe itself because of the stress, torque that would result.  There is a youtuber who has one on his Monarch.  The PM-1640TL is a huge machine, but it is no a Monarch.

I opted too build a two pole, independent gantry with an electric winch, on two triangular wheeled platforms.  I use it to lift other things (like the 728VT milling machine.)  When I get the mill and the lathe operational, I intend to build something just right for the 1640, but totally independent from it so that there is no additional stress to the machine.


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## benmychree (Sep 8, 2021)

What may seem insanely heavy to our muscles is virtually nothing to the capabilities of an industrially rated machine tool, and the skyhook is a well engineered and quite safe, I have never had a problem with the two that I have owned, the load brake is quite controllable under load.  I also have a tram rail, actually a barn door track above mu lathe and mill with a HF electric winch for chuck changing and mill accessories such as the dividing head, etc, but the skyhook also swings to retrieve heavy objects off the floor onto the lathe or mill that he electric hoist cannot reach.


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## xyz (Sep 8, 2021)

benmychree said:


> What may seem insanely heavy to our muscles is virtually nothing to the capabilities of an industrially rated machine tool, and the skyhook is a well engineered and quite safe, I have never had a problem with the two that I have owned, the load brake is quite controllable under load.  I also have a tram rail, actually a barn door track above mu lathe and mill with a HF electric winch for chuck changing and mill accessories such as the dividing head, etc, but the skyhook also swings to retrieve heavy objects off the floor onto the lathe or mill that he electric hoist cannot reach.


I want a skyhook.  I'm chicken when it comes to heavy things that can roll, especially onto my toes.


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## benmychree (Sep 8, 2021)

xyz said:


> I want a skyhook.  I'm chicken when it comes to heavy things that can roll, especially onto my toes.


Another detail, I drilled and tapped all my chucks for an eyebolt, so no getting away from the hook.


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## xyz (Sep 8, 2021)

benmychree said:


> Another detail, I drilled and tapped all my chucks for an eyebolt, so no getting away from the hook.


I was planning to put a pipe through the chuck; then have a riser such that I can hook on to it.  Sort of a large upside down question mark.  I have seen others do something like that.


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## benmychree (Sep 8, 2021)

xyz said:


> I was planning to put a pipe through the chuck; then have a riser such that I can hook on to it.  Sort of a large upside down question mark.  I have seen others do something like that.


I did that for the dividing head, but like the eye bolts for the chucks better.


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## xyz (Sep 8, 2021)

benmychree said:


> I did that for the dividing head, but like the eye bolts for the chucks better.


where did you drill the hole?  what thread?  what about balance?


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## benmychree (Sep 8, 2021)

xyz said:


> where did you drill the hole?  what thread?  what about balance?


Mostly the tapped holes are about the center of the body of the chuck or a bit to there left to compensate for the back plate's weight, most of them are 1/2 -13, although my 10" Buck Chuck came tapped for 5/8 - 11.


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## xyz (Sep 8, 2021)

xyz said:


> I was planning to put a pipe through the chuck; then have a riser such that I can hook on to it.  Sort of a large upside down question mark.  I have seen others do something like that.


something like this:







Or this 






But I don't have a bender, nor a torch, so it will have to be some complicated construction.


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## xyz (Sep 9, 2021)

benmychree said:


> Mostly the tapped holes are about the center of the body of the chuck or a bit to there left to compensate for the back plate's weight, most of them are 1/2 -13, although my 10" Buck Chuck came tapped for 5/8 - 11.


Thanks.


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## pineyfolks (Sep 9, 2021)

A section of barn door track attached to your ceiling running the length of your lathe might be another possible solution. I think it would easily handle the weight of your chuck plus help with loading awkward lengths of stock.


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## pontiac428 (Sep 9, 2021)

pineyfolks said:


> A section of barn door track attached to your ceiling running the length of your lathe might be another possible solution. I think it would easily handle the weight of your chuck plus help with loading awkward lengths of stock.


I like it.  It should be named a Kevorkian Track, so when times get tough you can throw a couple loops of rope around the chuck, wrap the other end around your neck, and press the green button!


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## pineyfolks (Sep 9, 2021)

pontiac428 said:


> I like it.  It should be named a Kevorkian Track, so when times get tough you can throw a couple loops of rope around the chuck, wrap the other end around your neck, and press
> 
> 
> Hopefully none of us get to that point no matter how tough it gets.


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## xyz (Sep 9, 2021)

pineyfolks said:


> A section of barn door track attached to your ceiling running the length of your lathe might be another possible solution. I think it would easily handle the weight of your chuck plus help with loading awkward lengths of stock.


Thanks for the suggestion.  I cannot attach anything to this house.  Hence alternate solutions.


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## erikmannie (Sep 10, 2021)

I have a SkyHook for my PM-1660TL. I need it for my 12” 4J!

The company in Idaho is *stellar* to deal with. Call in your order to make sure you get the right size (e.g. CXA) mount. VERY friendly people there.

The SkyHook is awesome!


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## erikmannie (Sep 10, 2021)

I got the chuck attachment (I forgot the name).

The company has never had an issue with stress on the compound, and they have been in business for a very long time.


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## jeremysf (Sep 10, 2021)

I’m starting out some super sweet chuck cradles and clamping down on a piece of round bar to use as a handle. I have a cart the same height as the ways, so it’s not too bad to lift it the 24” from cradle to cradle.

Once I get a little further along, I will probably invest in a machine mounted Skyhook.


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## stupoty (Sep 11, 2021)

xyz said:


> something like this:
> 
> View attachment 377730
> 
> ...



You could do that level of bending (i.e. not critical dimensions) with either cold bending in a bench vice or use a plumbing style propane torch to get the bend locations to red hot for a hot bend.

 Stu


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## xyz (Sep 11, 2021)

stupoty said:


> You could do that level of bending (i.e. not critical dimensions) with either cold bending in a bench vice or use a plumbing style propane torch to get the bend locations to red hot for a hot bend.
> 
> Stu


Thanks for the encouragement.


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## Just for fun (Sep 12, 2021)

I will only have an 8" chuck but with a weak back I will also be looking for some sort of way to move the chuck back and forth between lathe and cart.  I will check out the Skyhook.


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