[SomeWhatLost]

just curious how it worked out...
what was required/etc?

also if anyone unsuccessfully moved a SlantPro into a basement, I would like to know that too... details would be good....

[MichaelHenry]

I plan to do just that, much as I did with my Tormach PCNC 1100 mill about 8 years ago. I plan to disassemble it it into manageable pieces, use riggers to haul the pieces down the stairs, and reassemble at my leisure. I'd really like to get that done in the next month or two but further out is more realistic.

Mike

[adamvs]

It depends on what the access way is to the basement. The crate is not much bigger than the lathe, which comes on one piece basically. I'd first entertain the idea of sliding it down the stairs on skids, but it is a1600lb chunk. There are lifting eyes on the lathe itself, so concievably you could take the lathe off the base with an engine hoist, and slide the two pieces down on their own skids. I would be reluctant to take it apart beyond that, becuase even tho it's pinned together, there is no guarentee you would get the same precision as from the factory.

Have you talked to tormach about this? I'd get weights and dimensions on both pieces and come up with a solid plan, and double check everything.

I had a not straight forward install, as there is about a 3 foot rain gutter before the driveway. I called the trucker before hand and they would not back the truck up over this so I ended up making a bridge out of 2x8s. The driver easily rolled the crate on a pallet jack over this. Once in my work area, we made some 'outriggers' out of clear tight grained doug fir, bolted together with timerlocks. Each outrigger had two harbor freight 320lb castors on them, so eight in all. Once these were bolted to the side of the base we were able to roll it easily into place, in the corner I had in mind. Just to say it took some planning.
Good luck!

[rowbare]

If there are riggers in your area, I would contact them and see what they suggest. They might be able to move it in and set it in place without any disassembly. It is quite amazing what a team of professional riggers can do.

bob

[hanermo]

Either will work.
People aligned it.
Other people can realign it.

Its not that hard.
And if you get it wrong, you learn from it, and spend an extra evening redoing it.

[MichaelHenry]

It depends on what the access way is to the basement. The crate is not much bigger than the lathe, which comes on one piece basically. I'd first entertain the idea of sliding it down the stairs on skids, but it is a1600lb chunk. There are lifting eyes on the lathe itself, so concievably you could take the lathe off the base with an engine hoist, and slide the two pieces down on their own skids. I would be reluctant to take it apart beyond that, becuase even tho it's pinned together, there is no guarentee you would get the same precision as from the factory.

Have you talked to tormach about this? I'd get weights and dimensions on both pieces and come up with a solid plan, and double check everything.

I did talk to them and while they were not enthusiastic about the idea they didn't try to talk me out of it. They are aware of the way I moved my PCNC 1100 to the same basement so that may have had some bearing on their response.

In my case, machine tools have to be moved up 3 stairs from the garage to the utility room, make a sharp left down a flight of stairs and then a sharp right into the basement shop area. There is very little clearance along that path and the basement door is only 29.5" between the frame sides. Very few machine tools of any substance can negotiate that path in one piece. My wife and I moved the mill in pieces over the course of a week or so to allow time for each step and avoid the tendency to rush through the move without enough forethought. My job consumed a lot of the free time in that week so it could have been done in much less time.

Mike

[MichaelHenry]

If there are riggers in your area, I would contact them and see what they suggest. They might be able to move it in and set it in place without any disassembly. It is quite amazing what a team of professional riggers can do.

bob

I will use local riggers that specialize in industrial moves. Their supervisor stopped by to see the landscape and pictures of the lathe. His suggestion was to use his 4 "biggest and dumbest guys" off-book to just heft the pieces down the stairs. I'd try it myself, but expect the biggest lathe to be a lot heavier than the largest mill piece was and the 8 years since my mill move have not been kind to my back. I'll use an engines to take the lathe apart in the garage, let the riggers move the components to the basement, and reassemble myself with the engine hoist.

In some respects the lathe should be easier, since nothing needs to be lifted as high for the lathe as was necessary for parts of the mill.

Mike

[mountaindew]

Mike
The sbl owners manual has exploded drawings good for planning your move.
Looks like the base is largest part to move.
Way out of my comfort zone to assemble one and have it accurate.

[tmarks11]

I suspect that the lathe bed casting is significantly heavier than any of the individual castings of the mill. I know I wouldn't want to be trying to hold up one end of it.

[MichaelHenry]

I suspect that the lathe bed casting is significantly heavier than any of the individual castings of the mill. I know I wouldn't want to be trying to hold up one end of it.

I think you're right on the bed weight. I'm guessing 400-500 lbs, but wouldn't bet on it. I wouldn't to lift one end either and that's why I'm hiring riggers to do it, or at least to move the pieces. I don't trust them to disassemble or re-assemble it.

Looks like Tormach has a rough 3D CAD file of the SBL lathe with components that can be broken out. Maybe I can use that with my CAD program (GeoMagic Design) to get an estimate of component weights.

Mike

[mountaindew]

The manual shows 1580 lbs
That is 4ea 400 lb parts or 3ea 500 lb parts

[rowbare]

I am going to propose something that sounds really silly at first glance which, after some thought, will sound entirely reasonable (or totally absurd).

Cut a hole in the floor. Sounds nuts doesn't it? However someone on PM did this a couple of years ago.

The lathe footprint is 58"W x 66"H x 29"D. So if you cut 6' out of two joists (assuming 12" on centres), you will have a nice hole you can drop the machine through.

Pick a spot in the basement where there aren't any wires or plumbing running through the joists and you have a clear shot at the main floor, preferably a room that is carpeted or has cushion floor.

Rent 4 jack posts to support the joists you will cut and another 2 for a temporary floor support. Also get 4 10' or 12' lengths of whatever material your floor joists are and a 4x8 sheet of whatever your subfloor is made of. Screw a couple of 2x8s into the joists to tie them together and set the jackposts.

Cut through the subfloor and the joists. Remove and put aside.

Upstairs, build a box frame/gantry out of 4x4s and 4x6s and make a bridge over the gap with the lumber you bought to repair the joists. From the basement, tie the bridge pieces together temporarily with a 2x8 and support the middle with jackposts (maybe overkill).

Enter the riggers.
They take the machine from outside, place it on the bridge and rig the machine to the gantry. Lift the machine a few inches, remove the jackposts from under the bridge and remove the bridge. Gently lower the machine into the basement.
Exit the riggers.

Put the chunk of floor back in place. Take the joist material you bought, sandwich each cut joist between two new ones and attach securely.

Back upstairs, mark out a 4x8 ft area over the hole and cut through the existing subfloor and insert the sheet you purchased (just like the flooring guys to to repair a damaged floor). Screw it down securely. Roll the carpet back over or replace with your wife's choice of flooring.

Cons:
It might freak out your wife.
Probably unreasonable if main floor is all hardwood or ceramic.
The people who chided Steve for cutting his vise in a bandsaw won't like it.
It might freak out your wife.

Pros:
Your wife will get nice new flooring.
You don't have to disassemble and re-align the machine.
Safe. Machine stays in its intended orientation.
Your wife will get nice new flooring.
Fast. Probably less than 4 hrs to prepare and repair (plus the time to lay down the new flooring)
Makes a killer blog post/YouTube video.

Did I mention your wife will get nice new flooring?

bob

[vertcnc]

Did the exact think several years ago when one of my friends wanted a hot tub in the basement. Wife leaves for day. Flip back carpet Cut out 2 joists 16" OC, then put them back by laminating 3/4 plywood to both sides of each joist. 4 hours and could even tell.

[MichaelHenry]

I'd be tempted to try the hole in the floor, but our basement ceiling has almost no open area - pipes, conduit, gas line, and ventilation ducts every where. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have had the builder but a pit in the garage with a doorway through to the basement. That would have made it much easier to get tools in and out and would have been nice for working under the car.

Mike

[SomeWhatLost]

I'd be tempted to try the hole in the floor, but our basement ceiling has almost no open area - pipes, conduit, gas line, and ventilation ducts every where. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have had the builder but a pit in the garage with a doorway through to the basement. That would have made it much easier to get tools in and out and would have been nice for working under the car.

Mike

I wish I had an infinite amount of $$$ to go back and redo all stuff based on what I know now... would make life so much easier...

[SomeWhatLost]

I wish I had an infinite amount of $$$ to go back and redo all stuff based on what I know now... would make life so much easier...

actually I would settle for just an infinite amount of $$$...
that by itself would make things so much easier...

[adamvs]

Lol, this thread just gets better and better. I like the idea of cutting a hole in the floor - it's brilliant! Also get enough supporting vertical pieces under the floor in the path to the hole, and beyond the hole. The more bracing the better, this thing is seriously heavy. A little lumber from home depot is cheap insurance.
Just thought I'd post some pics of the outriggers I made to roll the lathe into place. It was one stick of tight grained clear doug fir, 8 heavy swivel castors from Harbor Freight, about 30 3/16th timber locks. They worked great to get the machine into a tight space.
Attachment 271652Attachment 271654Attachment 271654

[MFchief]

Been following this thread with interest. I don't have stairs to contend with but need to get from a concrete driveway thru a slightly sloped back yard to a walk-in basement double door. Stopped by my giant national chain equipment rental place (only one near by), and they quoted me a minimum one day rental of a forklift that would operate on grassy ground of $890 ! Needless to say I will look to other options. If I could break the machine down to components that don't exceed about 750 pounds, I could move it with my small tractor, using bucket forks.

I'm going to look around for someone that I can hire to do the move for me, once you get the machine off the truck, it's a five minute job.

Terry

[SomeWhatLost]

you may be over thinking it...
if there are no stairs, and just a bit of hill/slope/etc... just get a couple pieces of 3/4 plywood and a pallet jack...
pallet jack to move lathe, and plywood distributes the weight across soft ground...

works wonderfully...

[rowbare]

Been following this thread with interest. I don't have stairs to contend with but need to get from a concrete driveway thru a slightly sloped back yard to a walk-in basement double door. Stopped by my giant national chain equipment rental place (only one near by), and they quoted me a minimum one day rental of a forklift that would operate on grassy ground of $890 ! Needless to say I will look to other options. If I could break the machine down to components that don't exceed about 750 pounds, I could move it with my small tractor, using bucket forks.

I'm going to look around for someone that I can hire to do the move for me, once you get the machine off the truck, it's a five minute job.

Terry

You can probably get a crane service to come by for much less than that. They will pick it up, go right over the house and drop it where you want it.

bob