[sonny]

Long time lurker making his first post here! It was only a matter of time. Anyway, I'm looking to buy a Tormach PCNC 1100 series 3 as soon as my garage/workshop is rebuilt and I'm trying to get as many things lined up beforehand as I can. I'm planning to fabricate my own lifting bar because I already have the material and access to a cnc mill. If someone could provide the dimensions (hole diameters, distance between holes and thickness) I would really appreciate it. I'll return the favor somehow if possible! Thanks!

[tmarks11]

I wouldn't "directly replicate" the Tormach bar if I was you. They use a eyelet bolts to the table as a lift point, which i don't think is a great idea... especially when they already have handy 1" holes for threading a lift bar through.

I used a $30 harbor freight load spreader. Here is what my setup looked like:
Attachment 253830

In retrospect, I didn't really save a lot of money over what Tormach had, as chains, spreader, and shackles probably cost $60. But I actually had all of that stuff for lifting my lathe, so it did work out $$$ for me, as the Tormach stuff wouldn't work on my lathe.

[sonny]

Thanks for the reply tmarks11. I did consider the Harbor Freight load spreader at one point. I already have chains, shackles and eyelet bolts on hand. I noticed in your pic that you had 2 separate hoists attached to your mill. I'm going to be using just an engine hoist, so how would you suggest I go about my rigging?

[MichaelHenry]

I used an engine hoist and chain fall to move my PCNC1100 from the garage where it was delivered to the basement shop where there is very limited head room. You may not need to go the the lengths I did but there are some pictures and narrative here of how my wife and I did the job.

Tormach PCNC 1100 CNC Mill


Mike

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Personally, I would not use chains, but good ratcheting tie-down straps. They are MORE than strong enough, and won't risk buggering the paint in the machine. And, if you use them properly, you don't need a balance beam, you can simply adjust the length of the straps to level it. NIce, heavy duty straps are available for next to nothing from Harbor Freight, and even Home Depot.

Regards,
Ray L.

[Peter Neill]

I'm planning to fabricate my own lifting bar because I already have the material and access to a cnc mill. If someone could provide the dimensions (hole diameters, distance between holes and thickness) I would really appreciate it. I'll return the favor somehow if possible! Thanks!

I asked the same question as you about 2 years ago
Eventually made one myself from a piece of 10mm x 100mm mild steel flat I had lying around, though I had to work out the sizes myself.
I'll see if I can dig it out and measure it tomorrow, can't get out to the workshop right now as it's cold, dark, and haunted.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Just get some rigging straps, safest, cheapest, and will work better than the tormach way that is for sure.

[tmarks11]

Thanks for the reply tmarks11. I did consider the Harbor Freight load spreader at one point. I already have chains, shackles and eyelet bolts on hand. I noticed in your pic that you had 2 separate hoists attached to your mill. I'm going to be using just an engine hoist, so how would you suggest I go about my rigging?

My electric 2 ton hoist didn't give me enough head room to get the mill on the stand, so had to rely on a little 1 ton chain fall to pick up the column. I had checked the measurements ahead of time, so I had the manual hoist ready when I got the mill.

Since I did had the electric hoist (came as a matched set with the gantry), using two hoists at once was an easy way to level the load without having to mess around with the balance at a single pick point, and keep the chains away from contact where they might scratch the paint. I could have done it with just the one smaller hoist, but no need; this was a quick way to get the mill level so I could pull the trailer out from underneath it and slide the base under it.

I wish my gantry crane was a 10' high beam instead of an 8' beam... it would make this a bit easier... but I can't complain too much, it was a killer deal and makes life a lot easier than relying on a engine hoist (or the forks on my tractor).

[MFchief]

All,
My experience was very much the same as Mike's, installed the 1100 in a basement. I was lucky enough to have a walk-out basement door, so I didn't have to disassemble the mill. I used an engine hoist to get it on the stand, and the head of the hoist had to fit between the floor joist, another 3" and I would have been in big trouble!

Mike, I enjoyed looking at your site in the link. We may be the only two people on earth who own a CNC mill and a Rhodes shaper!
Terry

[MichaelHenry]

Thanks Terry. I think that were only around 5,000 of those Rhodes shapers built and there are quite a few of them still in use even though the youngest is probably 70 years old or so. The Tormach mill is a lot more fun and productive.

[Dyna490k]

Dimensions for lift arm are described as if it was on a grid:
1st hole 7/8"dia x0, y0 2nd hole 7/8"dia x7-1/4" , y2-1/4" 3rd hole 7/8"dia x10-5/8" ,y1-3/4" 4th hole 1-1/8"dia x20-5/8" , y0
Material is 7/16" plate steel
Hope this helps

[Peter Neill]

OK,here are the dimensions from my home made bar.

Length = 23.375" / Width = 3.93" (100mm) / Thick = 0.375" (10mm)

From L/H side: 1st hole is 1.5" in X & 1.375" in Y / Centre hole: 8.75" in X & 2.375" in Y / 3rd hole: 21.5" in X and 1.5" in Y.
All hole diameters were 1".

This was just a tiny bit off the centre of balance, but good enough for the job.


Attachment 254144

[Dyna490k]

When I moved the machine I only used the one pickup ring on the top near the stepper motor. I picked uneven but was easy enough to balance with two people

[sonny]

Thanks to everyone for the help. Now I'm ready to make some chips fly!