# 4200 lb. lathe in basement



## jhanko (Aug 17, 2008)

I just thought I would share an interesting story (with pictures) about a guy who hired a rigging company to move a 4200 pound Rivett toolroom lathe down stairs into a basement without disassembling. http://www.depmco.com/ That thing makes a Monarch 10EE look like a mini-lathe...


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## cmacclel (Aug 17, 2008)

Holy crap!

I would have like to have seen how they picked the head up to slide it through the door!

Mc


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## SafetyBob (Aug 17, 2008)

And I thought moving my Series 1 around was special by moving it along the floor with round pipes. My lathe did offer some challenges too, I didn't have those nice skates when I moved it from one side of the garage to the other (to make room for the Bridgeport).....out come those black iron pipes and a car jack and a really big crow bar....like 5 feet of crow bar....

That was a truly amazing move. How much do you think that cost him? 

And hind sight to whoever might be considering used equipment. Please figure in the cost to go get it true and properly operating again. It was and is such a pain in the butt working around old, used, worn out machinery. Get it new if you are serious about it. If not, then get something used, play with it, see if you like the hobby.......then sell it and get something new. You won't regret it.

Bob E.


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## PEU (Aug 19, 2008)

OMG 

And sometimes I cry out loud when I move a table around the office 
Respect! to their moving skills.

I have an interesting story moving a mill and a lathe to a 5th floor office  but moving this heavy lathe is another league, I tought at the end I would see a destroyed door frame at least...


Pablo


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## wquiles (Aug 19, 2008)

I am totally impressed at how they got that monster in that basement


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## Data (Aug 20, 2008)

What??????? That little lightweight lathe?


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## gadget_lover (Aug 20, 2008)

One of the advantages riggers have is the (supposed) knowledge of what can be done without messing up the machine. They will happily do things that would make me cringe.

Daniel


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## ABTOMAT (Aug 20, 2008)

Even better is a series of photos a guy on RCM posted a few years ago. Put a Hardinge HLV-H and some kind of large Bridgeport-style mill (maybe Lagun, not sure) in his basement, with just a buddy's help. Through an INSIDE basement door in the living room of his house.


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## KC2IXE (Aug 21, 2008)

ABTOMAT said:


> Even better is a series of photos a guy on RCM posted a few years ago. Put a Hardinge HLV-H and some kind of large Bridgeport-style mill (maybe Lagun, not sure) in his basement, with just a buddy's help. Through an INSIDE basement door in the living room of his house.



I did it with a full sized Burke Millrite - not that hard - I hope an HLV-H goes down there before spring


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## Torque1st (Aug 23, 2008)

Moving big heavy objects is not that hard IF you take your time and know what you are doing. Hiring a rigging company is one way to get the job done by someone with experience. I will have to hire one when it comes to installing my lathe.


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## tvodrd (Aug 23, 2008)

I have an upcoming move to northern Nevada which includes over a ton of mill and ton of lathe. (Not to mention a bunch of toolboxes, two bandsaws, a drillpress, compressor, tablesaw, and gunsafe.) The local riggers I've used for the last few decades will show with a semi/flat bed trailer/squat forklift, and one guy will load it all! Pro riggers are amazing! 

A few $K later, the stuff will be unloaded and placed. Dunkel Bros have a Porscha collection you wouldn't believe, purchased by local industry and folks like me. 

Larry


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## KC2IXE (Aug 24, 2008)

Torque1st said:


> Moving big heavy objects is not that hard IF you take your time and know what you are doing. Hiring a rigging company is one way to get the job done by someone with experience. I will have to hire one when it comes to installing my lathe.



I did say "no big deal". That said, I was never a licensed rigger, BUT when I was a steel worker putting up cranes, I spent a LOT of time doing rigging. When the time came to move the mill, I looked at the job, knew I needed a couple of items I didn't already own, bought them, and did the job. A few years experience moving stuff around with hoists and cranes teaches you how to do it


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## Torque1st (Aug 24, 2008)

I may just hire a wrecker with a boom on it for an hour. I have everything else I need but a crane is a mite expensive. Automotive wrecker type cranes are an alternative to a rigging company but many of them do not have the experience the regular rigging companies do.


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## gadget_lover (Aug 24, 2008)

Some of the advantages of hiring a rigger:

They know that a chain from Home Depot that says "1000 lbs" is not suffficient to lift and move a 1000 pound load.

They will recognize lift points that you thought were just strange holes in the casting.

They don't even consider it when a neighbor says "We'll just tip it a little and Joe will hold it."

When the door jamb (the immovable object) meets the 2 ton lathe (the irresistible force) the door jamb will decide that it is movable after all. And the rigger's insurance will pay for it.

The rigger may cost an arm and a leg, but when it's all over you still have all your fingers and toes.

Daniel (who should have hired one last time)


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## Torque1st (Aug 24, 2008)

gadget_lover said:


> Some of the advantages of hiring a rigger:
> 
> They know that a chain from Home Depot that says "1000 lbs" is not suffficient to lift and move a 1000 pound load.
> 
> ...



Excellent!!!


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## KC2IXE (Aug 25, 2008)

Part of the fun is getting a rigger who will do the move. Last move, they had no problem taking my lathe/mill out of my old basement, but due to cabinets, refused to bid on going down the stairs at the new house, even though I told them the cabinets would NOT be there when the move occured (they came by before the closing, so I could not remove the cabinets). I've since rigged those cabinets so I can remove them in about 5 minutes after emptying them, otherwise the basement steps are REAL narrow - I also changed the hadrails to give me an extra few inches - only way to get a new dryer down the stairs

Joke? when looking at houses, one of the first things I did was look at the basement, and the basement stairs, to figure out exactly where the lathe and mill would go, and how hard a job it would be to rig them down the stairs - safely. As I said, I have a few years experience, as did Dad (RIP Dad)

One of the big rules in rigging - do it in such a way that is something DOES fail, no one gets hurt. No one ever goes UNDER the load. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 times as much work just to prevent someone passing under the load for 1 seconds - do the 2 or 3 times the work. If something does go wrong in that 1 second you'll regret it

I said I built a rigging frame - for the load I had to lift (900 lbs for the center column of the mill) it was way way overbuilt (6x6s). Now I want a new lathe. That sucker is really heavy (I'd like a 10EE). I'll probably head over to the local "Iron Works", and have them build me a STEEL rigging frame. The other option is a HLV-H - and take the lathe off the base, plus it would fit in the final spot a bit better. For some odd reason, a HLV-H costs more than a 10EE used. Don't really understand that


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## ABTOMAT (Aug 26, 2008)

KC2IXE said:


> For some odd reason, a HLV-H costs more than a 10EE used. Don't really understand that



Well, a lot of the available 10EEs are older, they have complex drive assemblies, and are quite heavy for the size. The HLV-H gets some bonus points for still being in production, at least in theory. That said, I'd take the Monarch.

Actually, in an ideal world I'd get a EE1000/13EE but I've only seen a couple come up for sale and I have no place to put one.


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## KC2IXE (Aug 26, 2008)

ABTOMAT said:


> ...snip...Actually, in an ideal world I'd get a EE1000/13EE but I've only seen a couple come up for sale and I have no place to put one.



YEARS ago, I had an option on a EE1000. Didn't have the very reasonable asking price. It was in REAL nice shape. Sigh

One nice thing about a Thyratron drive 10EE is you can run it off single phase 220, as everything goes to DC first, then PWMed


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## ABTOMAT (Aug 26, 2008)

A guy on PM bought a 13EE a year or two ago, and I ended up hosting his photos. What a beautiful monster. Hydraulically clamping tailstock with travel wheels, etc. The tall equipment cabinet is part of of the lathe's electrics:






That's the owner, not me.


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