hollidayp1 wrote:
Thanks for your response Harold_V. However, 500 lbs is really a lot of weight. Please try to move, lift, or manipulate 500 lbs and then tell me how easy it is. I have used your and other's suggestions about chain hoists, rafters, 1-ton shop cranes, and I am still having a problem moving this 500+ lb machine onto a 33" high bench without damaging the machine. I am currently trying a 3/8" steel cable through the recommended lifting hole but there is still a problem with the lifting cables damaging the threads and teeth on the bed of the machine. Thanks to all for your responses and suggestions but I am still struggling to lift this 3-in-1 machine onto a table/bench. PH 140628
I know it's frustrating when you try to move something heavy in a confined space and you don't have much experience doing so. However, I'd guess contributors to this thread have moved machines considerably heavier than the one you are trying to move. My mill, for example, weighs over 2,500 lbs and the base alone is over 1,400. In turn, that mill, a Bridgeport J-head clone, is a lightweight unit compared to a lot of machines found in a typical machine shop. So the observation that 500 lbs isn't much is, in my view, spot on in the context of Harold's suggestion to tie into the rafters to get a lifting beam with which to hoist the machine. You're not trying to move a 60" lathe with a 12' bed (for which the tailstock alone could well outweigh what you're trying to move) that would bring the house down around your ears if you tried to hang it from the rafters, only a small combination machine.
But here's the problem: Nobody here can see exactly what you are dealing with, so many of the suggestions, though workable for some machines in some places, might not work for you. You need to think about the problem a bit. Think about whether lifting slings (real ones--not random nylon straps--with rated loads, are surprisingly cheap) are needed if you will use a hoist or lift. Think about whether one of more robust wooden "clamps" made from a couple of 4x4s and threaded rods would make for safe and convenient places to hook onto things. Think about placing blocks of wood under cables or chains to prevent damaging machined surfaces. Think about what whether the table can be placed on dollies and placed after the machine is on it if you can't get into the space where the table lies. Think about whether it's better to jack up the machine or lift it--or both at different times. Think about whether threading eye bolts into those threaded holes and hooking them instead of passing the cable through the holes would work. Think about safety and how you will stay out of the machine's way if something fails and it falls. And so on. Sooner or later, a solution will emerge that makes sense.
If it doesn't, hire a rigger to put it on the table for you. It will be fast and safe (for you) even if it's not cheap.
Alternatively, be more specific about the environment you're working in (pictures would help) and we'll keep trying to help.
John