Safely Moving A Surface Plate

Sorry no video.
I had planned to take pictures as I went. I took a pic of the crate in the driveway, the next thing I knew the crate was in the bedroom.
A chain fall makes the whole thing painless. We had to beat the ramps back down a couple of times with a mini-sledge getting the crate onto the stoop, then we got it into the door with the help of a floor jack and let it tip onto the dolly. Most of our time was spent getting it aimed perfectly at the door while dragging it onto a pair of 4x4 skids.
My biggest worry was crushing the crate, but I just strapped it low and it was fine.
I will be ordering a new mill at the end of the month, I will make sure to properly document it (not that that helps you this weekend :) ).
 
joshua43214 said:
I will be ordering a new mill at the end of the month, I will make sure to properly document it (not that that helps you this weekend :) ).
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No worries... I've moved more than my fair share of machinery. Most of which out weighs this plate by a solid margin.

The concern centers around my desire not to damage my home during the move....lol. I unwittingly placed my shop space in the center of nicely finished areas.
 
Have you tryed acetone this will work on apoxy as will melt fiberglass resins try on a scraping if it works good luck
Bob
 
Hi Bob, thanks for the reply. We came to the conclusion a while back that the plate is in fact a single piece, and manufactured in that manner.

In regards to the surface plate move I have good and bad news....

The good is, I finally have it out of the back of the Yukon, and I pulled it off without an engine hoist. Just so happens that the stand my 9" lathe came on is the same height as the bed of the truck. I strategically positioned the truck, pulled the plate onto the stand, and then used a chain fall strapped to the car port main beam to lower it to ground level. I even managed to find myself a appliance hand truck to hopefully cart the plate into the house and down into the basement.

Which brings me to the bad. As it is, the nearly 500lbs plate is too much for me to man handle myself. frown.png Couldn't even manage to get it up the few steps into my home. Made a few phone calls and wasn't able to reach anyone. So.., the plate is currently living outside until I get the materials to build my basement window ramp. Probably for the best anyway.

Took tons of video. Need to edit out the boring stuff though.

Guess I should start another thread, or maybe ask to have the title of this one changed.
 
Hey, just do it like Michelangelo did -- with chisel and mallet :)

Mike (running and ducking....)

PS: Actually not as crazy as it might sound. If you carefully chip away a corner edge of the bottom, you'll at least be able to establish whether it's one piece or not. And, in the latter case, the type and strength of the bond.
 
Have you called a granite fab shop. They might be able to saw it loose or some such thing. The folks that shape and install granite counter tops should have some ideas. Maybe the could core out a pattern of holes in the bottom plate to lighten it or to provide access for some type of solvent.
 
psychodelicdan said:
Have you called a granite fab shop. They might be able to saw it loose or some such thing. The folks that shape and install granite counter tops should have some ideas. Maybe the could core out a pattern of holes in the bottom plate to lighten it or to provide access for some type of solvent.
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Even after we determined that it is in fact a single piece of granite I did give some thought to taking it down the road to the local granite counter top place to see if they could slice it in two. Not sure what that would do to the accuracy of the plate however, so I opted not to potentially ruin it and rather deal with the move.

Tony Wells said:
Most welcome.
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Appreicated..., but you did set a bar by using "safely" in the new title. After all is said and done you may want to omit that tidbit, for insurance purposes....lol
 
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