Biggest portable lathes

There is the saying of get the biggest lathe you can afford and fit, woe betide the man who has to carry a Colchester down the cellar stairs.

As someone who might have to migrate from a lovely flat access garage to, god forbid, spiral staircases can anyone recommend lathes that can be comfortably carried by two fit people?

Weight is one thing but I've seen some lathes that seem to come apart like lego and others if not cast as one piece are atleast a huge pain. My Wilfin is of unknown weight but combined with it's inconvenient way of mounting onto its legs its proven a big pain to manhandle.

The early bench mounted Boxford including ME10 ie not undertype come apart relatively easily and the heaviest part is the bed at 60lbs. I say not the undertype as the cabinet is an inconvenient rather than impossible lump to move.
Then choose a bench design that fits your location which might include cast in situ concrete as over a period of time you could carry the ingredients down the stairs one gravel chip at a time.

Probably lots of the new far eastern lathes can come apart too.

Having taken three lathes and an X2.7 mill upstairs, I can recommend my Unimat SL

More seriously a 7x mini lathe is portable in one piece although not an comfortable one man lift. They do come apart easily though and all the components are easy to carry.

As far as larger Chinese lathes are concerned my son and I got a Chester DB10 long bed (10 x 30) upstairs after removing the chuck, tailstock and motor, but it was a struggle and could have caused serious injuries. We mounted it on a bench, fortunately the cabinet stand was light enough to be carried up the loft ladder for storage. We will have to move the lathe again when the new workshop is finished but next time it will be without the carriage and headstock as well.  (edit) As well as reducing the weight, this should make the lathe bed far better balanced to carry.

Brian G

Edited By Brian G on 15/02/2023 22:59:50

The 10x22(mine is a Warco WM250) isn't a problem for two people to move around or down steps. We did remove the tailstock, compound slide and chuck, then wound the carriage as far left as possible to improve the balance a bit.

Two fit blokes, or hefty women, could carry a 7 series Myford up a stairs without too much bother. What you mount it on is another matter entirely.

I think that it goes without saying that you take off the chuck, tailstock and carriage, and even the motor, but I prefer to leave the headstock undisturbed.

Edited By Chris Pearson 1 on 15/02/2023 23:08:03

I have moved my ML7 Myford with myself and one other bloke. Pulled the electric motor off, the cross-slide, tailstock and chuck in about 5 minutes flat. Unbolted the lathe from its bench and then loaded the components into the back of my small Toyota hatchback, bench included. It is a very easy lift for two blokes this way.

Didn't have to wrestle it up a spiral staircase but I am sure we could have if needed. Are you moving to a lighthouse?

Edited By Hopper on 15/02/2023 23:39:31

If the room you are thinking about is upstairs rather than a cellar, then talk to a specialist piano moving company. They sometimes take a window pane out and then erect a cantilevered crane it the upstairs room poking out of the window, lift the piano, and pianos are heavy, probably as big as a reasonable lathe

Lathe elevator ??

Lift

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=elevator+moving+house&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:109db096,vid:uXhXmmpI8_A

Depends how strong you are really, couple of average sized blokes in their 50's bought my DB10 and carried it in one piece out of the shed, down the garden, down steps, to the front of the house and into the back of an estate car no problem. I did my bit by carrying the stand out

How strong am I really? Well, it varies. I'm partly or completely paralysed about half of the time and it comes on suddenly, so we had to keep the weight down to what my son could safely stop from sliding down the stairs if I collapsed. I don't think the two 90 degree turns in our staircase helped, a problem that seemed relevant as the OP mentioned spiral staircases.

Brian G

Back in the 1970s when we were younger my wife and I carried my new Myford S7 upstairs,no motor ,tailstock and cross slide removed, I do know of a round head Colchester triumph that was taken down a flight of steps into an air raid shelter by a friend and his son,though they were good at moving various heavy items with minimal equipment.

My SC4 is shiftable by two of us.

Neil

Here is a method once described to me by those that did it - a T - bar of steel formed 2 lifting handles at the back end of the Myford mandrel. The vertical portion of the T was 1/2"D. steel bar poked through the mandrel and locked solidly in the 3 jaw. It was humped down from the loft workshop in a 2 storey house, so a few staircases. Don't know how it was originally got up there.

John

I have a HBM BF290 300kg / 600 pound bench lathe. I disassembled the lathe completely and brought it upstairs part by part. The bed, without any parts (70 kg /140 pound) is the heaviest.

Disassembly took about a day. I bagged all bolts/washers/screws and taped the bag to the part. Making some pictures may help.
Assembly took about a week. Because it is a Chinese lathe, i used the opportunity to service the lathe.

I followed the same procedure for my mill.

Good grief! I hope you've beefed up the floor joists a little.

Mini lathe is an easy one man lift if you take the chuck & tailstock off....for some reason similar weighted mills seem rather more awkward??

Good question from OP.... as everytime i eye the SC4 up i realise there's no way i'm ever moving that about single handed.... upstairs!

So mini lathe will stay for the forseeable future.

A lathe is low and wide, so the weight doesn't try and tilt

The mill is tall and narrow, and you're tempted to hold it at the ends of the table. Laying it on its back makes it safer to move around, but doesn't help with lifting it onto a bench

Ok, so I'm obviously a wuss!!!

When I moved my Myford S7 into it's new home (around the side of the house, down 10 wide steps and into the workshop) it took 3 of us - 2 of those (not me) big hairy **sed builders! I'd removed the motor, tailstock and rear bracket (but not the slides) and bolted a 4" x 2" batten to the front support lugs (feet) to allow an easy place to get hold of it - and I can't emphasise enough how easy that made it to comfortably carry the damn thing.

Two of us could possibly have managed moving it a short distance, but for a longer travel, you need more grunt, just in case someone misses their footing, or stumbles.

Regards Tom

My guesses: Two of me would not be able to move my S7 far without moving equipment - even with motor etc off. ML10 seems better. 50Kg per person, going upstairs carrying an awkward load, needs strong and fit people. The person who gets the heavy end of the myford is probably going to feel like they are lifting more than 50KG.

So SIEG SC4 or Warco 240 just about fit that limit... Two of me would take it on but I would use tools and time to get it up stairs. But I know people who [regularly go down gym and] could lift that on their own.

For an easy life I would suggest no bigger than warco 180 for any two random older men prone to injury.

A mind experiment I just did: walking upstairs backwards with two bags of sand (40kg). A bag of sand is an easier lift than some lathes (to get and keep hold of). I would want to 'warm up' and take great care not to reveal an old injury.

Edited By jaCK Hobson on 17/02/2023 09:46:12

It needed two of us to move my ML7. mainly because the motor, ,hanging off the back, made it so horribly ungainly.

Fooliushly, I separated base and column when moving my RF25 mill into the new (At the time ) workshop

It was much easier, next time with a 1 ton engine crane! But they don't go upstairs easily, even when folded.

A mini lathe cxan be moved single handed, but will probably call for two or mthree pauses for breathg and a rest climbinbg stairs, especially of spiral (Resat one end on a higher step (Prerferably the Headstoock end which is likely to be heavier (And even more so if tailstock and Topslide are removed ).

Idealy, a second strongman will make life, so much easier.

At a pinch, would it be possible to rig shear legs above the central shaft and hoist bthe machines up the central void?

Howard

Something just came to mind~ we're really doing this all wrong!

Women are much better @ carrying heavy weights, whilst us blokes are better @ pushing & pulling stuff.~ it's all in our physical makeup apparently.

Know a fair few gents who've had a hernia, including myself, but not met a lady that has...yet.

So next time the lathe needs moving get the missus & one of her lady friends to do it.

But don't forget when her car needs a bump start you should be the one pushing.