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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Eltham, Vic, Australia
    Age
    55
    Posts
    27

    Default Advice about second hand lathe... and moving it!

    So I've just purchased this lathe from gumtree. (Turner Lathe 310x910)

    https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/burw...the/1193133032

    I guess it's a bit late to ask if I got a good deal , but I'd like to hear your opinion anyway!

    Also, I'm yet to get it shipped , which I have to arrange. Any ideas on who would be the best / safest / economical ?

    I need to get it onto a truck, to my house in Eltham, Off the truck and down the driveway, down a few stairs and into my workshop.

    Love to hear your feedback!

    Kind regards,
    Marty

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    470

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Arty Marty View Post
    So I've just purchased this lathe from gumtree. (Turner Lathe 310x910)

    https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/burw...the/1193133032

    I guess it's a bit late to ask if I got a good deal , but I'd like to hear your opinion anyway!

    Also, I'm yet to get it shipped , which I have to arrange. Any ideas on who would be the best / safest / economical ?

    I need to get it onto a truck, to my house in Eltham, Off the truck and down the driveway, down a few stairs and into my workshop.

    Love to hear your feedback!

    Kind regards,
    Marty
    Looking at your lathe, you can use a engine crane if you have one and load onto a trailer. You also can unbolt the lathe from the stand and lower the lathe on 2x heavy duty dolly and place some timber boards on top of the stairs.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Southern Highlands NSW
    Posts
    1,894

    Default

    2 methods:
    1 - move complete lathe with suitable equipment and expertise, or common sense as it's potentially dangerous to man and machine.
    2 - before moving, partially dismantle the lathe and move in pieces.

    Easily removed: tailstock, chuck, compound assembly, guards, etc.
    A bit more involved: leadscrew/spring covers, drive shaft, control shaft, carriage, gearbox, electric motor, cables etc.
    Those bits just go back together.
    Detaching the headstock can also be done, but you might need to align it to the bed upon reassembly.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Hi Marty
    Welcome to the forum.
    Your lathe looks to be the same genre as many of us on this forum, own. In the old money 12" x 36". I know mine weighs a bit under 500kgs all tooled up.

    My suggestion would be to check out the costing of courier trucks fitted with a Hy Ab Arm. Up here, around a $100 or so for an hour.
    Unless you are really familiar with the engine crane, its maximum lift height, its reach, and the utility deck height, there can be traps not easily resolved on the day.

    Be prepared to split the base from the body there are sometimes maximum height lift issues associated with engine crane route.
    Different utilities have different tray heights etc and different engine cranes lift to different maximum lifting heights. you need to be quite sure of this ahead of time.

    Once at home.

    After measuring carefully and that you can get the full lift with the sheet metal bases fitted, know that the lathe and sheet metal base frame will be the top heavy.
    That's why it would be good to put the ancillaries in the bottom of the base cabinets ( if this is possible) to stabilize the lift.

    Once at home I would remove the base and have built a dolly to grunt the lathe around and keep its center of gravity close to the ground.

    Some thick plywood-say 12mm or better and somehow fixed to the stairs (screwed) will allow the lathe to be slid down now what is a ramp.

    Once the lathe body is down the ramp obviously it needs lifting back on to the sheet metal bases. Are there means to lift like a floor joist and will you have the head height to lift with a chain block or come - along.

    Just some thoughts based on previous experience.

    Grahame

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,416

    Default

    I agree split the cabinets to get it lower as there top heavy.
    Don't wrap slings around the lead and feed screws, go behind them and just lift the bed.
    So many people stuff a good lathe either by lifting it the wrong way, or it falls over smashing cross slide etc.
    Using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Eltham, Vic, Australia
    Age
    55
    Posts
    27

    Default

    Sadly I think I'm going to have to let that lathe go and find a smaller one. It's just going to be too hard to get it downstairs to my workshop. Really sucks because it was a good price. I didn't need one that big but getting a smaller one will probably cost me nearly twice as much.

    If anyone knows of a good quality one that's about 500mm or 600mm BC, let me know

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
    18

    Default

    Take it apart, easy job. Even if you leave the headstock on it's still a lot lighter and easier to manage.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    35
    Posts
    1,522

    Default

    Hi Marty I'm not far from you in Balwyn, if you need a hand give me a hoi, having moved a fair few machines in the last few years my advice is hire a Hiab, just to move it down your stairs, most should reach 5 + metres with a little lathe like that.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,416

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Arty Marty View Post
    Sadly I think I'm going to have to let that lathe go and find a smaller one. It's just going to be too hard to get it downstairs to my workshop. Really sucks because it was a good price. I didn't need one that big but getting a smaller one will probably cost me nearly twice as much.

    If anyone knows of a good quality one that's about 500mm or 600mm BC, let me know
    That's a shame, there a good size lathe, the size lathe where power feeds etc all come standard.
    I have one similar and it ticks every box for a seasoned home machinist.
    I'd make it work, as Grahame said make a ply skid to bolt it to.
    Using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,416

    Default

    Some casters underneath the ply would move it around.
    If you post up your location some members might lend a hand or equipment.
    I certainly would as I'm about to dismantle my 2 ton engine crane and store it for whenever, along with my 2 pallet jacks and Gantry.
    Using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Wodonga Vic
    Age
    38
    Posts
    633

    Default

    The difference between shifting a lathe that is 600BC and a lathe that is 900BC is negligible, you're still going to need all the same lifting/shifting gear to move it to your location, give or take the 100 kilos.

    I would stick to your guns and go through with the purchase, the greater work envelope of the 12" x 36" is not negligible, contact some local crane companies, some taxi trucks or some freight forwarding companies and see what the damage is to have it moved.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Eltham, Vic, Australia
    Age
    55
    Posts
    27

    Default

    ok, im pushing ahead.. let the fun and games begin!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,416

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arty Marty View Post
    ok, im pushing ahead.. let the fun and games begin!
    Once you get it and in place you will be satisfied.
    If you bought a small bench top lathe without power feed and cross feed etc you would regret it.

    If you look at the lathe, you have a screw cutting leadscrew, a carriage power feed shaft (with a keyway) and the your forward reverse shaft to operate it from the carriage.
    Smaller lathes don't have these, just one leadscrew that does everything, and a manual change of gears to change the feed rate, rather than a gear box where you just shift a few levers.
    Using Tapatalk

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Marty,
    I am sure with experienced help the lathe won't be too much of a problem.

    To reinforce what Dave J said the lift has to take place through the bedway rails. It is as simple as putting the eye of the sling through the ways and pushing a solid bar through it
    Also never lift by the chuck spindle.
    The sliding tailstock could act as a balance adjuster to get the lift level.
    It appears to be a very good buy and it is not easy to find in such good condition with so little work on it.

    Grahame

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Toowoomba Qld
    Posts
    401

    Default

    How many is a few stairs ?

    At the end of the day that Lathe is only a couple hundred kg's. Engine crane and a box trailer will get her moving. Have moved a few similar lathe's in the past and have even made a pallet racking gantry and used a block and tackle to lift one prior. On reasonably flat concrete a couple of round bars underneath it and a crowbar to work as a lever under the end and it will roll along. The stairs will really be your biggest hurdle, if you leave the cabinets on it she will be top heavy so extra care will need to be taken.

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