Millrite Moving Methods?

[Dave Bonzo]

Hopefully, we're getting the mill unloaded today; it's been a process of move-five-things-then-unload-one-tool, and repeating that several times. I put the little punch press on a small dolly, and I'm just going to lag it into the top and keep it shoved out of the way until it has a real home; the brake is on a dolly as well, for now, but it'll get moved as soon as I can find a work surface for it. I have absolutely no idea where the mill will sit, but I'm thinking that it'll go next to my extra-big-ass drill press just for the sake of comedy...but that's going to be after we get it off the trailer with the temperamental roll-a-lifts - the wheels don't actually like to, you know, ROLL - without upending it. There are precious few places to grab the thing, now that I've been looking at it for two days.

Also, I'm starting to realize how unlevel the garage floor is...and how inconsistent. The lathe is almost 1/2" out over 48", but my small shaper that's sitting three feet away along the same wall is perfectly level. I'm wondering if I shouldn't be thinking on some kind of leveling base for these tools; after standing at them for a bit, I wouldn't mind them being a bit taller, anyway.

 

[matthewsx]

Hopefully, we're getting the mill unloaded today; it's been a process of move-five-things-then-unload-one-tool, and repeating that several times. I put the little punch press on a small dolly, and I'm just going to lag it into the top and keep it shoved out of the way until it has a real home; the brake is on a dolly as well, for now, but it'll get moved as soon as I can find a work surface for it. I have absolutely no idea where the mill will sit, but I'm thinking that it'll go next to my extra-big-ass drill press just for the sake of comedy...but that's going to be after we get it off the trailer with the temperamental roll-a-lifts - the wheels don't actually like to, you know, ROLL - without upending it. There are precious few places to grab the thing, now that I've been looking at it for two days.

Also, I'm starting to realize how unlevel the garage floor is...and how inconsistent. The lathe is almost 1/2" out over 48", but my small shaper that's sitting three feet away along the same wall is perfectly level. I'm wondering if I shouldn't be thinking on some kind of leveling base for these tools; after standing at them for a bit, I wouldn't mind them being a bit taller, anyway.

I had a similar experience with roll-a-lifts too although I was moving a shed. You may want to consider using pipe or some other method for moving the mill. I have a similar sized mill to move soon and will be bolting it to a palate and using a palate jack.

Yes, leveling feet will be helpful and getting you tools up to a comfortable height is advisable. Some members have built mobile bases with leveling incorporated. No a bad idea with older machines that you might have to get behind for service.

Sounds like you’re almost there, go slow with moving the mill and get it done safely.

John

 

[Harry Knutz]

That old Southbend lathe actually looks to be pretty well taken care of. My first lathe was a Southbend 13, Mine was wore out 3 owners before I got it.

 

[7milesup]

The lathe is almost 1/2" out over 48", but my small shaper that's sitting three feet away along the same wall is perfectly level.

Machine leveling does not have a single answer. For example, a lathe cannot have a twist in the bed, but it does not matter if the headstock is higher or lower than the tailstock. As a point of reference, many ships have machine shops in them and rarely are they ever "level." So, focus on ensuring no twist with level being secondary.
I have bases under all of my machines except the lathe. My Sharp mill is still on the massive pallet I built for it when transporting it home. It is still on the pallet because 1.) At nearly two tons, it will not be a trivial task to remove it from the pallet. 2.) It allows me to move it with my pallet jack if need be. I intend to build a real base for it eventually, but it is not a priority. Is my mill level? I have no idea and don't care. There is so much cast iron in it that my concern for it having a twist is...zero.

@Firstram created an awesome design for his milling machine, which I will shamelessly copy. Post #106 in this thread.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Machine leveling does not have a single answer. For example, a lathe cannot have a twist in the bed, but it does not matter if the headstock is higher or lower than the tailstock. As a point of reference, many ships have machine shops in them and rarely are they ever "level." So, focus on ensuring no twist with level being secondary.

I can see that being an issue; the head section is 90% of the weight...so the tail just follows along, and that could be very problematic. I could use a triangle to solve any possible no-twist issues...

I have bases under all of my machines except the lathe. My Sharp mill is still on the massive pallet I built for it when transporting it home. It is still on the pallet because 1.) At nearly two tons, it will not be a trivial task to remove it from the pallet. 2.) It allows me to move it with my pallet jack if need be. I intend to build a real base for it eventually, but it is not a priority. Is my mill level? I have no idea and don't care. There is so much cast iron in it that my concern for it having a twist is...zero.

I have such a small space that keeping everything mobile may be the only way to make it work well. I thought about just welding up some solutions with my tiny little welder, so, maybe I'm not too far off-base on that one. See what I did, there?

@Firstram created an awesome design for his milling machine, which I will shamelessly copy. Post #106 in this thread.

You know, I've been looking at some little body rams for awhile, now, and wondering what I could do with them...and I think I just figured it out. Cool design!

That old Southbend lathe actually looks to be pretty well taken care of. My first lathe was a Southbend 13, Mine was wore out 3 owners before I got it.

I think it's mostly okay, yeah. Found the serial number on it, so I'm hoping to look that up later. Definitely needs a new power cord, and I'm going to replace all of the not-so-factory electrical stuff that machines seem to collect, but it's a decent lathe, methinks. I kind of like that it's short and compact, but I would prefer a better tray.

I had a similar experience with roll-a-lifts too although I was moving a shed. You may want to consider using pipe or some other method for moving the mill. I have a similar sized mill to move soon and will be bolting it to a palate and using a palate jack.

The main problem is that the lifts have to be very vertical - not leaning at all - or a serious caster effect comes into play. That can be surprisingly hard to prevent. Rollers may well be involved.

Sounds like you’re almost there, go slow with moving the mill and get it done safely.

Yep, it's gonna be a VERY slow day.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Pictured: Great success!

Didn't take much effort at all to unload; the lifts aren't fun to shove around, but they work. I didn't like pulling a strap so tightly around a corner of metal, but it worked for the five minutes that it was on there.

Also Pictured: Le punch press.

I haven't figured out how old this thing is, but it's one of the first pieces of equipment that the previous owner's family purchased, so it's definitely an antique. I dated the lathe to the late 30's, roughly, and the mill to the mid-60's. I need to do some more research, though; I just casually pulled up a few sites and glanced over them while taking a break from Hulk-shoving the lifts everywhere except where I wanted them to go.

Pictured: But I finally got it there.

That's... probably not where it's going to stay. It does fit the space, but it's not the ideal placement. I may shift it around and site it where the drill press is currently located...so that means a mobile base is shortly in order. The lifting jacks gave me a fun idea; I might be able to get something done that uses them, and which even I can build.

Also, for those that noted the hand scraping...

Pictured: Pretty.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Pictured: Sited and sorted...for now.

It's a right fit, but it actually works really well in the virtual "corner" by the barely-visible door on the left. It's not even remotely level, but I can fix that pretty easily...and to be honest: this thing wasn't hard to move with nothing but the roller bar. It's not fast - every placement of the bar gets you no more than one inch of movement at the absolute most - but it's predictable and simple. The drill press is very, very close on the right, but neither table hits the other and the working spaces actually don't intrude...so I'm going to try it here. I like the idea of mounting the power feed control on the wall, or something similar: a DRO could be handled the same way. I don't have much in the way of power supply, though, so I need to think about how to power the 220V motor, the 110V power feed, a DRO that's probably going to be 110V as well, and some task lighting...and a three-phase drill press that I'd like to have a depth readout on, as well. That's...six separate items: I have exactly one 220V and one 110V available. But that's a problem for another day...because this final shoving- around is officially Millrite Moving Method: Managed.

Thanks again, most sincerely, to everyone. Without so much knowledge and so many great suggestions, I wouldn't have gotten any of this done.

 

[7milesup]

Man, that is awesome. Good for you.
I am not sure if anyone posted this yet but here ya go...