There is a whack of posts out there on moving a lathe. Probably worth digesting some of them just to see the issues & avoid the pitfalls. There are some unhappy stories & no warranty is going to cover that or your injuries. The main thing is do as much homework beforehand so on moving day its get it in & mounted with as little drama as possible with all the tools, ramps, rollers... you envision using (plus a few more). You will see all kinds of methods employed. One thing I can pass on from personal experience, don't allow any straps to circumnavigate the lead screw or the moving carriage. It can put bending force on the leads screw. This happened to me & explained unwelcome cutting patterns, I couldn't un-bend it so had to be replaced. Some guys manage to avoid it altogether & get straps under the chunky cast parts, others make a kind of sub plate. Id just say avoid the delicate bits at all costs.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-enco-12-x36.25174/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/how-are-you-mounting-your-pm1340gt-lathe.42112/
Some of the bolt-together stands aren't bad according to some, other swear they are the root of vibration evil. On my 14x40 lathe I had a frame welded out of 2" square steel tubing. My garage has a pretty healthy slope so I bought some of those heavy duty rubber bottom screw-on feet. That worked well for adjusting & seems pretty smooth running. It also provides a way to tweak any uneven floor condition in the lathe bed twist axis which is also important. I can take a pic if you like, it was about s simple as I could afford at the time. I measured the bolt-down hole pattern from the supplied tray & actually that was a dangerous leap of faith because the pan was off slightly, so beware. In hindsight:
- yes, integrating some sort of drop down castor wheel arrangement would be a added bonus. It would allow you to move the machine around with another picker episode or calling 5 buddies over. For example one day you may want to install a DRO & you need to get in behind there.
- integrate your chip tray & backsplash metal for sure
- some guys go with fixed shelves integrated into the either side frame. My idea was making/modifying a cheap roll-in unit so its not tied to the frame itself. This can be drawers, shelves, whatever you like. Either way, give some thought about storing chucks & tooling.
