Rotary Table - Oops, Size Matters!

I sold my 12" Bridgeport to my boy, the 10" I now have is still a shade above my limits for lifting, if it wasn't such a good deal a 8" would of been my choice. Even for the 10" I have sacrificial al. plate that goes on in at about 12" so the 8 would have been fine. For now I have my RT on a scissor lift for a motorcycle to hydraulically jack it up to about 10" of the mill table. I would like to make a lift off the back of the ram.20161129_163104.jpg
 
I have an older Enco 12" RT that weighs in north of 200 lbs. I lifted it up to the mill/drill table a number of times. Due to its weight, it has remained in place on the mill for the past five years. (I do most of my machining on the Tormach nowadays) With increasing back problems in recent years, I don't dare lift that RT any more.

I have contemplated several methods for easily and safely loading and unloading this beast. A hydraulic lift table was one choice. Another was to make a small crane for a table with casters. The advantage of the crane would be the ability to load and unload without a requirement for brute force from me.
 
jmarkwolf said:
I'm kinda thinking I shoulda stuck with the 8-incher and padded the order a little to get over the cash-back threshold. But I'll probably never want for a bigger rotary table! :)
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Congrats on your purchase, hard to beat the price. I went the same route as you, and agree the 8" would have been the better choice for my BP, but if I ever get a big horizontal the 10" may come in handy.
Until the back injury last year, I could lift pretty much anything not nailed down, but always paid attention to how I went about it. Now I have to remind myself not to. Several crane setups are at the top of the list for the new shop. cheers, Mike
 
FOMOGO said:
Until the back injury last year, I could lift pretty much anything not nailed down, but always paid attention to how I went about it. Now I have to remind myself not to. Several crane setups are at the top of the list for the new shop. cheers, Mike
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I had a herniated disc about 10 years ago, it shut my leg off. I had surgery to correct it, took a couple years to get it strong again but years of back pain before the surgery is now gone. So when I lift something heavy it is always on my mind. But like you guys I am thinking a crane of some kind is also on my to do list for the basement, maybe something as simple as a roll around engine crane. Heck I'm not getting any younger either! Knees are going, hearing is almost gone, gotta wear glasses to see up close now, hair changed color but I think I get to keep it, lol.
 
woodtickgreg said:
I had a herniated disc about 10 years ago, it shut my leg off. I had surgery to correct it, took a couple years to get it strong again but years of back pain before the surgery is now gone. So when I lift something heavy it is always on my mind. But like you guys I am thinking a crane of some kind is also on my to do list for the basement, maybe something as simple as a roll around engine crane. Heck I'm not getting any younger either! Knees are going, hearing is almost gone, gotta wear glasses to see up close now, hair changed color but I think I get to keep it, lol.
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Still breathing and having fun. Those are the big ones...
 
I bought a 12” RT about 30 years ago. Had to move it when I moved! But other than that, it’s been on the bottom shelf of a heavy duty cabinet all its life around here! It’s just too darn heavy. And I too have had back surgery, with the sciatic nerve problem, it’s no fun! I have managed to live without the RT, I improvise. In looking back, can’t recall ever really needing a RT with so many workarounds. On a similar subject of accessory milling tooling, I do use a dividing head and indexer. And they only weigh about 20-50 lbs…Dave.

It’s kinda like once that rock starts to roll down hill, it’s hard to stop. Somebody says they need a shaper, they need a rotary table and so on. Then somebody else says the same thing but has no clue. Then all of a sudden, everybody wants the stuff? (sorry to all the shaper and RT lovers).
 
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I was thinking something along the lines of an engine hoist as well. I would want a wider footprint though, and adjustable outrigger stabilizers. I can't get a typical engine hoist under my mill stand or the Tormach stand.

Here's what I am thinking:
24 x 30" base on casters
multiple slide out shelves for heavy item storage
rotatable hoist, adjustable for height and boom extension
adjustable outrigger stabilizer feet
capacity, 300 to 500 lb. lift weight at full extension

Comments?
 
I have a 16" for my #3 universal mill if anyone wants a bigger one. It's beyond hand lifting....period. I'd like to find the gear drive mechanism for it so I could do helical milling, or maybe rig up for gear hobbing, but there isn't much info around for the older Zayer manual equipment, and the current distributor isn't any help at all. They just want to sell new CNC big bed mills.
 
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