And This Is When I Got Sick To My Stomach

[Apostle10]

This past weekend was Moving Weekend, when my wife and I moved to a temporary residence while our house undergoes significant renovation. Five o'clock Sunday evening I'm pretty much shot, but decide to make one final trip with stuff from my garage.

Using a drop-deck trailer I carefully load my Rockwell mill and strap it down, and slowly drive to my new, short-term domicile. Twice when backing up into the garage I step out of the truck to make sure there is nothing in the way.

The third time, thud, I hit something. And that's when I got sick to my stomach. I had forgotten to lower the trailer and backed the motor housing into the eve of the garage roof. Uhhhhhhhhh.

What are the chances that I did more damage than just busting up the belt guard? Could I have sprung the head and ruined the alignment?

And what are the chances I'll be able to find a replacement belt guard without having to buy a full machine?

(Cross posted at the Yahoo Rockwell Milling Machine forum)

-Mitch

Mitch, I know your pain. After restoring a beautiful Hardinge HLV-H lathe, I was moving it to its final place in my shop when, in the last few inches, one of the rollers slid off and the machine went down flat on its face (red is not blood, it's oil). I was literally sick though the Lord spared me with some pretty good bruises on my leg. It's now all restored a 2nd time and back in business. Just let a little time pass and then get to work on it. You'll soon have it back in business. BTW, I'm have a lead on a Rockwell Horizontal Mill and I'm working out the final details on it.

Mike

 

[frank r]

That'll buff out...

 

[Firestopper]

Man, that picture made me nauseated. What a beautiful Hardinge. Thank god for that robust dove tale way. I have PTSD after that view haha.
Glad you came out with only soft tissue injuries. When I dumped a mill on its face way back when, the last thing on my mind was to take a photo. They say a photos worth 1K words....How true! Had I seen photos like these prior to moving machines, I would have never picked my old mill the way I did. Never ignore your gut feeling!
Thanks for sharing, you guys might save someone heartache.

 

[wrat]

In the machine shops I worked, we were always instructed to let the load fall. No part of your body was worth a cut or a scrape. Supervisors were very big on no one getting hurt.
But if i had such a nice machine and it started to fall, I'm afraid I would have done just as you did. There would definitely be some hide missing. Maybe not a trip to the hospital, but definitely a trip to the feel-better cabinet.
So sorry for the wreck.
What a depressing thread.

Wrat

 

[core-oil]

Would it not be possible to repair it by a bolt on steel strap along the sides, after getting the top part level to its correct position by bolting it down to its side cover, Won't look as nice, but I have repaired broken covers on machines by plating up in the past for a quick repair.

 

[Apostle10]

Well friends, when that baby started tilting toward me my immediate reaction was to shove backwards with all my strength. Within literally milliseconds I realized that all my strength was doing NOTHING to stop or even slow its fall toward me. I was actually caught between the falling Hardinge and my Bridgeport mill. The mill slid down my leg and I was pushed back hard against the mill. I have a partial imprint of the knee lever on my fanny. I was very fortunate and my doc thought it was a miracle that I didn't break my femur. Here's a photo of it that I just took for this thread to show that it's back in business as well as me You can read more about this lathe on my webpage http://www.w4xn.com

 

[tomw]

Wow, that is a gorgeous machine! I am in awe.

Too all, including those not posting, that have banged, dropped, crunched and mauled machines (including newly restored 30 Packards that roll into a wall you happen to be against), I am glad that the big chunk of iron missed the important bits. Thank you so much for being here and helping out us new folks. I am pretty sure your families feel the same way.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[machinist18]

This past weekend was Moving Weekend, when my wife and I moved to a temporary residence while our house undergoes significant renovation. Five o'clock Sunday evening I'm pretty much shot, but decide to make one final trip with stuff from my garage.

Using a drop-deck trailer I carefully load my Rockwell mill and strap it down, and slowly drive to my new, short-term domicile. Twice when backing up into the garage I step out of the truck to make sure there is nothing in the way.

The third time, thud, I hit something. And that's when I got sick to my stomach. I had forgotten to lower the trailer and backed the motor housing into the eve of the garage roof. Uhhhhhhhhh.

What are the chances that I did more damage than just busting up the belt guard? Could I have sprung the head and ruined the alignment?

And what are the chances I'll be able to find a replacement belt guard without having to buy a full machine?

(Cross posted at the Yahoo Rockwell Milling Machine forum)

-Mitch

If it's aluminum, find somebody with a good TIG welder, have him straighten it out, clamp it in position and Tig weld it. Should be fine.