How do you lift your heavy indexers/rotary tables?

oliverdude · Mar 6, 2010

Just wondering what other people are using to lift their heavy rotary tobles, super spacers, etc on and off their mills with? I don't have an actual hoist, but do have an engine hoist. Kind of looking for other less awkward ideas though.

HuFlungDung · Mar 6, 2010

I use a hydraulic stacker: a kind of push around forklift with a battery operated pump. I went 25 years without one, but I don't know how I did it

Edit: btw, these also work well for lowering engine assemblies out from under some of the modern vehicles. I used mine to put the engine back in my Toyota highlander after we made do with the typical mechanic's claptrap assortment of floor jacks, wooden blocks, etc. to take it out.

Ox · Mar 6, 2010

I used two straps and an 8000# forktruck.

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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

mbraddock · Mar 6, 2010

Is this a manual machine or one with covers surrounding it?

Geof came up with a very slick solution for lifting the rotary on/off his MiniMill that you can view here. It's a unit that bolts to the machine and uses a hydraulic ram like the one on your engine hoist to raise or lower the accessory off a cart onto the machine table.

Mike

ramsay1 · Mar 6, 2010

Overhead swinging derrick with chain fall and trolley.. Mike

Mike C. · Mar 6, 2010

Heuer lift (hospital invalid lift that looks like a miniature engien hoist). Rated 450lbs, has swivelling rubber casters on all four corners, and the legs can be spread or narrowed, depending on whether I am using it on my bridge mill (legs narrowed to fit under the bed) or my VN12 (legs spread to reach around the base).

doug6949 · Mar 6, 2010

Worn out forklift. Leaks propane, mast is bent, hydraulics are shot, and it goes into gear by itself. Both VMC's have been hit at least once.

But hey, look at all the money we saved by not installing a crane.

oliverdude · Mar 6, 2010

I guess I should have stated that this is a manual vertical mill and I'm mainly needing help with a 10" rotary table with a 10" chuck on it.

mbraddock, Your link isn't working. I'd like to see the attachment. BTW, I don't the Geof you mentioned, but I like how the name is spelled.

Thanks,
Geoffrey

3t3d · Mar 6, 2010

For that sort of a problem, I've seen a frame ( Upside down U shape) that bolts to the top of table. Slide it over the mill, with the rotary dangling over the table, and raise the table up to meet it. Unbolt it from it's "storage frame" and use it on the mill.
When done, raise the table up to meet the storage frame, bolt it to the frame, and move it away from the mill.

shapeaholic · Mar 6, 2010

How about a gantry hoist??

I had the same problem with the lifting. In fact I dropped my 12" Troyke rotary table, just missing my feet.
So... I built a home shop over head crane (well sorta) (4000 lb gantry)

I have it set up so it rolls back and forth over the lathe and mill, and it can reach any spot in the work area.

The crane also disassembles, and no single piece is more than I can handle myself. I do need help to put the beam up, but I'm working on a system to be independent on that too.

Works for me!

Cheers
Pete

Forrest Addy · Mar 6, 2010

"Just wondering what other people are using to lift their heavy rotary tobles, super spacers, etc on and off their mills with?"

One hand, arm's length. How else? Doesn't everyone bulge with muscle? My shirts keep splitting at the biceps?

oliverdude · Mar 6, 2010

Forrest Addy said:
My shirts keep splitting at the biceps?

Mine used to split at the buttons.

They don't now, but still working on it.

Shaybuilder · Mar 6, 2010

My lathe and mill back up to each other so I made a small jib crane to lift the chucks for the lathe and a 15" Troyke rotary table onto the mill. The jib has a 4' arm and can reach both easily. Used a 1/2 ton chain fall which give me nice control.

crrmeyer · Mar 6, 2010

Mike C. said:
Heuer lift (hospital invalid lift that looks like a miniature engien hoist). Rated 450lbs, has swivelling rubber casters on all four corners, and the legs can be spread or narrowed, depending on whether I am using it on my bridge mill (legs narrowed to fit under the bed) or my VN12 (legs spread to reach around the base).

Goole hoyer lift for a photo. You can find the older classic style (manual pump) on craigslist for cheap. I really like that the wheel spacing is adjustable.

Ox · Mar 6, 2010

oliverdude said:
I guess I should have stated that this is a manual vertical mill and I'm mainly needing help with a 10" rotary table with a 10" chuck on it.

Thanks,
Geoffrey

If this is on a knee mill:

Once upon a time _ I had a Ser II SP Brdigeport that was 4 axis CNC. It had a 20" Troyke CNC table. This is not something that anyone on this site will pick up and put anywhere!

I had an cherry picker (

) but it was alot for that as well! We didn't even have a forktruck for some of the time. Heck - early on there wasn't even "we"! It was "me". LOL!

What I ended up dooing was I built a cabinet that sat behind and beside the mill at about average table height. We used the 4th most of the time, but when we wanted to offload it - we would run the table over to the cabinet and set the knee to just above the top and slide it off. Worked slick!

I think we may have had a vinyl cover made for it to keep chips off of it as well. ???

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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

gwilson · Mar 6, 2010

I made a heavy cart about 18" wide and 4' long,heavy angle iron. It has a bottom shelf I keep full of heavy stuff. In the center,I welded a 2" square steel bar about 8" high. Milled dovetails into the top area,and slipped a 500# capacity Sky Hook over the dovetails.

I mean to mount my lathe chucks on the top surface.

The cart is on heavy duty casters. I can roll it up to the mill,and lift things onto its table. On the lathe,I can mount the Sky Hook on the toolpost,and lift chucks from the cart onto the lathe. It is easy to manipulate the heaviest chucks by small increments to line up with the D6 spindle.

I made the first cart for my former job. We had a large Promaster lathe. My partner Jon,and I built 2 more carts for our home shops. The Skyhook is a handy little crane.

I also have one of those battery powered lifts that will lift 1500# if the going gets too tough.

Ray Behner · Mar 7, 2010

I have an overhead trolley system above the lathes, but to load the mills and bandsaw I use either the electric Presto-lift (1 ton cap.) or the little hand hyd. lift (500 lb).

Gordo · Mar 7, 2010

Lifting

You could do what I did, marry a big German farm girl and tell her that that 15" rotary table too heavy for her to lift and then just get out of the way. :cheers:

Gordo

Robert Campbell Jr. · Mar 7, 2010

6 big casters on a large cabinet, SS top. Roll it to any mill table, adjust for height, slide accessory. My 16" RT weighs close to 400#, moving it is a non event.

The big rolling cabinet was a good idea but it now is full of tooling too, eight large drawers, 33" X 60" top, thousands of pounds. Still rolls easily but a bugger to start moving. I will soon build a smaller cart, just for my heavier mill accessories and park that damned cabinet. In an earlier shop, I had a higher ceiling and a gantry but it's a lot easier to just push the cart around and slide the stuff off and on. All my mills have built in "elevator" tables, some even powered.

Tool post crane on larger lathe, store several hundred pound chucks etc. in rolling chest under lathe.

adama · Mar 7, 2010

Buy a cheep small one. Its surprissing how oftern thats enough to get the job done! Lot easyer to shift.

How do you lift your heavy indexers/rotary tables?

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