- Joined
- Jun 17, 2011
- Messages
- 2,062
Last night, I came up from the shop for a break and found that Paul (Old Iron) had posted a toe jack build. I was taking the break from building a toe jack. Within the next few weeks, I need to head over some mountains and pick up the Victoria U2 mill I bought recently. It's mounted on a couple of 6" I-beams, so I don't need to jack it up for the forklift at either end of the drive. The fun will come after it gets set down on the slab outside the back door.
We'll need to ease it down off the I-beams and onto rollers, like you see in Paul's photo. I can do that with shims and a pry bar, but I'm bored waiting to get the mill. I needed a long-weekend project, so here it is.
Paul's slotted design is better than this approach, but this should work if used carefully. Rather than weld the toe on, I wanted the strength of a formed corner, so I cut and welded two pieces of 3/8" thick angle to make the lifting bracket.
The guide column is just a piece of 3" angle, which also acts to capture the bottle jack along two sides. The aluminum pillow block was made using a boring head on the mill/drill. Held in place with a pair of flat-head screws.
The lifting bracket is completed by welding two sides on and drilling for the top screw of the jack. The box was sized for a loose fit over the column.
A 3/8" base plate holds it all together. Total lift with a 2 ton jack is 5 1/8". I would hesitate to work with the jack that high up, though. Too much side pull on the shaft.
We'll need to ease it down off the I-beams and onto rollers, like you see in Paul's photo. I can do that with shims and a pry bar, but I'm bored waiting to get the mill. I needed a long-weekend project, so here it is.
Paul's slotted design is better than this approach, but this should work if used carefully. Rather than weld the toe on, I wanted the strength of a formed corner, so I cut and welded two pieces of 3/8" thick angle to make the lifting bracket.
The guide column is just a piece of 3" angle, which also acts to capture the bottle jack along two sides. The aluminum pillow block was made using a boring head on the mill/drill. Held in place with a pair of flat-head screws.
The lifting bracket is completed by welding two sides on and drilling for the top screw of the jack. The box was sized for a loose fit over the column.
A 3/8" base plate holds it all together. Total lift with a 2 ton jack is 5 1/8". I would hesitate to work with the jack that high up, though. Too much side pull on the shaft.
