Member postings for Grotto

It wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be. Using a long bar I managed to to pry the cross planks off the central beam enough to cut the nails with some side cutters, then slide cross planks out.

I used a “multi tool” to cut up the beam - luckily it was made from some type of soft pine.

I was a bit nervous at first sticking my hand/arm under the mill, but had plenty of hardwood blocks under it.

It wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be. Using a long bar I managed to to pry the cross planks off the central beam enough to cut the nails with some side cutters, then slide cross planks out.

I used a “multi tool” to cut up the beam - luckily it was made from some type of soft pine.

I was a bit nervous at first sticking my hand/arm under the mill, but had plenty of hardwood blocks under it.

Made some good progress.

Decided to try and do it with what I had on hand first.

Trimmed all the excess off the pallet, managed to get a small trolley jack under to lift and block mill so I could cut up the pallet and get it out.

Ended up with pallet on blocks under each corner.

I can’t lower it more with trolley jack, but someone is lending my an 8 ton toe jack which should get it to ground level.

I've seen home made toe jacks (online) made from bottle jacks. They don’t look overly hard to make, might be an option, although AndyA's method sounds good. Coincidentally I was in a club workshop at the weekend, and there were a pair of extremely strong trestles someone had welded up to support some girders they are working on. Could probably borrow them if they're not too high (will check how high the knee goes.

I'd prefer to lift from above but the ceiling joists/rafter ties may be in way.

The cast base only touches the ground at the corners and middle with 15mm clearance on the rest of the base, so there shouldn't be too much issue using toe jacks.

I’ll have a good look this weekend.

It was lifted onto the pallet with a couple of strops, although there is a thread for a lifting eye.

I may be able to borrow a stronger engine crane, I’ll measure it up to see if it will do the job.

lifting from above would certainly be the safest option.

I'll also remove the coolant tray for a better look. There are holes in each corner so I may be able to bolt a couple of lengths of RHS to, and then use bottle jacks under the ends.

Thanks, lots of good ideas.

roof is far from strong enough to take weight.

I tried an engine crane but it wasn’t strong enough (although sticker on it said it was) It was extended quite a long way as it was hard to get over top of mill.

Ideally I’d like it on the floor (no blocks or castors) as it’s quite high & I need a step to access draw bar.

I'm not intending to move it once it’s in position.

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 07/11/2020 08:43:06

Hi All

I'm wanting to get my mill off the wooden pallet it has been sitting on for ages.

I can’t think of an easy/safe way to do it.

it weighs a ton (or 2).

I can’t get a fork lift inside garage.

I can lift pallet using a pallet truck/jack, but if I support mill when pallet is raised, can’t think of a way to get pallet out.

I have thought about running around the base of the mill with a circular saw?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Edited By JasonB on 06/11/2020 20:15:41

I buy innner & outer from a local cable shop and reuse the ends of the old cable (have made new ends once).

I think the outer may only come in black, but I've never tried to get grey.

SL125's were fun bikes, only ever road mine as a commuter but remember they were particularly good for wheel standing.

I've got a Bridgeport clone with a tilting head.

I don’t use the tilt often, but when I do I find it a great feature. I find it easier/quicker to set up work level on the bed, and tilt the head rather than set up the work on an angle.

tramming the mill afterwards isn’t anywhere near as much of a hassle as I thought it would be.

I wouldn’t say it’s an essential feature, but quite nice to have

Not successful. I guess someone needed it more than me.

I really need to clear out a load of stuff from my garage before I add any more equipment, so stopped bidding early.

it was for sale previously for $2,600 in their shop. Maybe they’ll do a few more auctions

Thanks

My location has is Auckland, NZ, so I’ve had a look at the lathe.

bed seems to be good, only issues seem to be a bent had wheel on the tailstock, and hand wheel on top slide haven’t a bolt rather than the original.

I've been looking at upgrading my Myford ML7 for awhile, and have recently seen an Emco Maximat Super 11 (old version with 26mm bore).

It's been well used but seems to be in reasonable condition other than a couple of the hand wheels bent.

My question is, will this be significantly better than my Myford?

I don't do much big stuff, and find my current lathe has enough power for most jobs, and when it doesn't I just take lighter cuts.

Major improvements I can see are powered cross feed, scew cutting gearbox, faster speed, and not having do change belts in order to change speeds. Plus it's a V bed.

here's a link to the actual lathe I'm looking at...**LINK**

Thanks

I seem to recall my Seagull outboard ran 6-1 or 8-1.

Not sure why they say “1 tap needed”. I guess that’s true for tapping any hole, but I have spiral taps in starter & bottoming. If I’m tapping a through hole I only use the starter, but if hole is blind I’ll use both.

would be harder to start with the Axminster one.

I've used these type...

**LINK**

work well in some really tight spaces if you can get an extension on.

Screw driver through filter also works well but in some cars you don’t have enough space to get in.

Thanks Rod,

all & any advice is appreciated, I've lots to learn

I gave that endmill (1/4&rdquo a try as the end is really blunt, but sides are really sharp. I was prepared to have it snap, but only took light cuts (0.2 mm) and it performed well.

will use a larger one next time!

Well I finished it off. Just need to trim the punch holder to length.

works well on 1.6mm copper. I guess time will tell if it splits, but I didn’t have to put much pressure on it to fold the sheet, so I’m hoping not

Oops!

not sure where the 3 came from, it was meant to be 1 mm max. I need a bigger phone or smaller fingers

most use will be on 1/2 mm copper but good to know it will handle 0.8mm

Thanks for the advice. I think I knew that but hadn’t thought about the need for tensile strength.

I'll go ahead with the cast iron as it’s all I’ve got on hand other than some aluminium alloy which is probably a bit soft. I’m only planning on folding thin sheet (3mm max) initially, and if it splits I'll chalk it up to experience.

Found some time today so set up the steel plate to mill the angle.

Sorry - don’t know how to rotate photos!

I used the side of a end mill I'd previously destroyed the end of - side was still as new so got a nice finish.

I did one side, then rotated work piece and started the other side. Soon discovered the vice was not 100% square - got a ten thou. flat at one end but 25 thou. at the other. Squared the vice and redid both sides and it turned out perfect (a novelty for me).

I've got a foot long bar of cast iron which I'll use for the other parts, as I don’t have any steel the correct size. So far I've just cut it into two 6” lengths after face milling the rough side.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 29/08/2019 09:54:28