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I'm open to comments/advice or even sabotage efforts. Lathe move tomorrow

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
On the Modern C0636 there are lift holes. Made it easier. We were really careful to block the straps away from the lead screws. Then we put the lathe down on the 2x6's and rolled it on those bars. I could move it myself and did to final position. I think it's a 1300 pound lathe. Hiring a picker truck is a very good investment and not expensive. it was $200 ish for this move. Made it way safer. If you need to lift something heavy up in the air this is a good method.

1679789912019.jpeg
 
something like this, that was my other thought, 2 pieces of hss, bolted through with a chunk of 1/2 redi rod, one on ither end, chunk of lumber on the top to protect the ways from the hss, then throw a strap around the top hss, 2 points of lift

probably use 2x2x3/16 or 1/4 for the hss, that should negate the hole your drill through the middle of it

easy to, so long as you have some material to cut up

View attachment 32757
What I suggested with steel plate, not wood, clamping strength you've got a fair bit of weight.

Depending on exactly how the lathe is built the lead screws and drive mech could be bent in either slinging method so I would suggest that you consider this carefully.

Do the initial lift carefully to check the front to back balance. I found my CX707 very sensitive to lifting location.

You don't want to be "That guy!"
 

Darren

Ultra Member
Premium Member

One beam under the bed one on top sandwiching the bed (wood shims to protect the bed), held with ratchet straps. Very solid.
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
One beam under the bed one on top sandwiching the bed (wood shims to protect the bed), held with ratchet straps. Very solid.

Yes, that is basically what I was suggesting but I like your ratchet straps better than my central eye bolt.
 

phaxtris

(Ryan)
Premium Member
Premium Member
@Degen the lumber is only to protect the ways, all the load is taken by steel, whatever lumber is used will easily be able to handle the compression a single 1/2 or 5/8 bolt can muster over the couple inches of surface area

there are lots of ways to lift this thing, its going to come down to what he actually has available on site at the time

i have rigged literally thousands of lifts over my career as a welder/ironworker (some jobs have 80+ lifts a day for several days on end), including rigging/moving lathes, statues, flag poles, the list goes on, everything here is just a suggestion, @TorontoBuilder is going to have to take everything everyone has brought up under advisement, the best he can do is prepare for a few options. It sounds like there are a few unknowns, so the best thing is to have a couple options before he leaves, that way he has the best chances of a quick and successful lift with minimal drama.

nothing is set in stone, its all just suggestions
 

TorontoBuilder

Ultra Member
On the Modern C0636 there are lift holes. Made it easier. We were really careful to block the straps away from the lead screws. Then we put the lathe down on the 2x6's and rolled it on those bars. I could move it myself and did to final position. I think it's a 1300 pound lathe. Hiring a picker truck is a very good investment and not expensive. it was $200 ish for this move. Made it way safer. If you need to lift something heavy up in the air this is a good method.

View attachment 32768

The bars make life so easy. That's how we lifted the craftex 1440
 

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
The grizzly advice will result in a bent lead screw or on-off switch rod that way if anything shifts at all. The very safest way to lift any lathe is to use the web hole closest to the headstock and - yes - basket hitch it to the lifting eye through the web only. What this means is, the webbing uses holes between the ways on both sides - never anywhere near the lead screw!

When you lift, the lathe will be unbalanced. You can move the carriage (never lift a lathe with the tailstock on it) to help with the balance, but almost always a balance strap is needed from the tailstock end of the bed . This is never more than 1/10th or 1/20th the weight of the lathe. On my 1750 lbs 1440, the weight was 60 lbs. This can be fastened and adjusted with a normal ratchet strap.

I only use ratchet straps for 1/3 of their rated weight, and if they are being used in a lift, 1/4 of their rated weight. And these are branded straps, not unbranded offshore ones.

Yes, I know people have absolute rules about never using ratchet straps for a lift: Would you lift a 220 lb table saw on a 1200 lb ratchet strap? Well if there were two, of course!

on wood versus steel" steel on steel is never a good idea. I use wood as much as I can. I *did* make a specialty lifting eye for the LeBlond lathe out of 1/2" plate that fit correctly between the ways, and used a 3/4" forged lifting eye. the bed weighed 975 lbs. It was constrained by the eye and strap the went through the web near the centre of the lathe bed. This was not to lift the whole lathe, just the disassembled bed ONLY.
 
Last edited:

Darren

Ultra Member
Premium Member
I only use ratchet straps for 1/3 of their rated weight, and if they are being used in a lift, 1/4 of their rated weight. And these are branded straps, not unbranded offshore ones.

In my example above, i wrapped the straps around the beams several times.

Yes, I know people have absolute rules about never using ratchet straps for a lift: Would you lift a 220 lb table saw on a 1200 lb ratchet strap? Well if there were two, of course!

Absolutely

on wood versus steel" steel on steel is never a good idea. I use wood as much as I can. I *did* make a specialty lifting eye for the LeBlond lathe out of 1/2" plate that fit correctly between the ways, and used a 3/4" forged lifting eye. the bed weighed 975 lbs. It was constrained by the eye and strap the went through the web near the centre of the lathe bed. This was not to lift the whole lathe, just the disassembled bed ONLY.

steel-wood-steel, very tight, is just fine. The wood is for traction.
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Yes, I know people have absolute rules about never using ratchet straps for a lift: Would you lift a 220 lb table saw on a 1200 lb ratchet strap? Well if there were two, of course!

If you guys ever saw all the huge farm equipment I lift with straps, you would laugh yourselves silly!

Everything from huge disk harrows to combine heads to whole tractors.
 

Darren

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Funny that you guys mentioned lifting a table saw. That is tomorrow's project. Its a Ridgid job site saw. Lifting with a rope and pulley. My brother will pull the rope and I'll push the now weightless table saw up the ladder.
 

phaxtris

(Ryan)
Premium Member
Premium Member
here is how le blonde wants you to lift one of there lathes, similar to one of my options, notice tail stock in place

the grizzly option is the safest way for that particular lathe, im sure they have tried it out a few times during production to come up with that arrangement

what im getting at is every piece of equipment/lift is different, the cg is different, the geometry is different, just because the best way on your lathe, or the ones you have moved was to lift from the web casting doesn't mean it is the best way for every lathe

every lift/load/piece of equipment needs to be assessed for the best and safest lifting procedure, you cannot say with certainty that one particular method is the only method for all, and a safe setup for one might be outright dangerous for another



le blonde.jpg
 

TorontoBuilder

Ultra Member
The grizzly advice will result in a bent lead screw or on-off switch rod that way if anything shifts at all. The very safest way to lift any lathe is to use the web hole closest to the headstock and - yes - basket hitch it to the lifting eye through the web only. What this means is, the webbing uses holes between the ways on both sides - never anywhere near the lead screw!

When you lift, the lathe will be unbalanced. You can move the carriage (never lift a lathe with the tailstock on it) to help with the balance, but almost always a balance strap is needed from the tailstock end of the bed . This is never more than 1/10th or 1/20th the weight of the lathe. On my 1750 lbs 1440, the weight was 60 lbs. This can be fastened and adjusted with a normal ratchet strap.

I only use ratchet straps for 1/3 of their rated weight, and if they are being used in a lift, 1/4 of their rated weight. And these are branded straps, not unbranded offshore ones.

Yes, I know people have absolute rules about never using ratchet straps for a lift: Would you lift a 220 lb table saw on a 1200 lb ratchet strap? Well if there were two, of course!

on wood versus steel" steel on steel is never a good idea. I use wood as much as I can. I *did* make a specialty lifting eye for the LeBlond lathe out of 1/2" plate that fit correctly between the ways, and used a 3/4" forged lifting eye. the bed weighed 975 lbs. It was constrained by the eye and strap the went through the web near the centre of the lathe bed. This was not to lift the whole lathe, just the disassembled bed only.
here is how le blonde wants you to lift one of there lathes, similar to one of my options, notice tail stock in place

the grizzly option is the safest way for that particular lathe, im sure they have tried it out a few times during production to come up with that arrangement

what im getting at is every piece of equipment/lift is different, the cg is different, the geometry is different, just because the best way on your lathe, or the ones you have moved was to lift from the web casting doesn't mean it is the best way for every lathe

every lift/load/piece of equipment needs to be assessed for the best and safest lifting procedure, you cannot say with certainty that one particular method is the only method for all, and a safe setup for one might be outright dangerous for another



View attachment 32769leblonde
I'm lifting with 2 ton capacity chain fall hoist and a spreader bar that will lift from two points. One point will be the main web in the middle of the lathe.

The other point will be just to the right of the gap, and will lift from the a bar set below the bed like the leblonde recommended method, except I will fasten the lower bar to another over top of the bed. Bolted together in three places to assure that the lift point cannot shift. Then if required I can sling to the tailstock end but I doubt that will be required because the spreader bar is adjustable and will be over top of the balance point.

This will allow me to rotate the lathe to fit into trailer lengthwise as well. I'm very comfortable with this method. It was just a matter of devising a bed clamp that wont shift, and wont risk the bed ways, or the lead screw or feed shaft, and that could support 900 pounds

But just in case I also will also have electric hoist ready in case I need to lift a little more weight from either end via a sling strung under the foot of the lathe

I'll take some pics....
 

phaxtris

(Ryan)
Premium Member
Premium Member
what are you using for a spreader bar and how are you rigging that up, that concerns me more than anything in this whole thread, what many call a "spreader bar" is not actually a spreader bar
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
I'll take some pics....

Can't wait!

Good luck!

WAAAAY too much negativity on this thread. Somebody on here needs to be an optimist. I guess it's my turn! Let's face it, the very worst that can happen here is that some lucky SOB will get a tailstock.......!!! :p

Seriously, it looks like all your brother's dreams are being realized! Must feel great for both of you!
 

Downwindtracker2

Well-Known Member
A caution, any lathe is going to be top heavy, your lifting point is going to be below the center of gravity. I'm old fashioned and not used to thinking of these new fangled ratchet straps , so I going to suggest a simple rope tied around the headstock to the sling to keep from tipping

A lot of your solutions will depend on the rigging you have available . You may have to get creative. I was millwright, lifting ackward machinery from an impossible to get at place was almost a daily occurrence in sawmills. And no skyhooks anywhere. As carpenter I worked for a couple of years as a rigger on dam construction but that doesn't really count, under big gantry cranes with lots of rigging. My partner had Rigger J. Mortis on his hardhat, which I thought was funny.
 
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