Basement shop equipment suggestions needed

[katit]

that is going to be interesting getting the lathe down there with that landing. I think I would take it apart as you are thinking so that you have a stripped lathe bed that you can lift vertical at the landing to get in the door. I was lucky my outside door to my basement shop was a straight run, so a flat bed wrecker was able to winch it down the stairs.

I was thinking stripping it down to bed+head. I don't want to disturb factory preset. Am I wrong? I may need to drain oil though as it would be leaking when vertical?

As for which lathe to get, I have a 1236T and like it a lot. If I had extra money at the time, I would have gotten the 1340 for the extra capacity and the hardened gears, but for a hobby machine, the 12x36 size works fine.

To me it is about what I can get in. Reading specs on both - weight look similar. Dimensions as well. It LOOKS like 1340 would be as "easy" to get in as 12x36

 

[Eddyde]

I wouldn't remove the head of the lathe. If you remove the chuck, tailstock, motor (if not too much hassle) and any hand-wheels, levers, etc. you should fine. You might want to hire professional machinery riggers, if you are unsure of doing it yourself.

 

[katit]

I wouldn't remove the head of the lathe. If you remove the chuck, tailstock, motor (if not too much hassle) and any hand-wheels, levers, etc. you should fine. You might want to hire professional machinery riggers, if you are unsure of doing it yourself.

I have no problem removing and reinstalling, I have problem moving large heavy objects
I think "safe movers" will be able to take care of this

 

[projectnut]

On the lathes I moved to the shop the heads were both bolted and taper pinned to the bed. They also had some shims between the head and bed. If you remove the head be sure to take pictures as to the shim locations if there are any.

I was in a bit of a rush when I disassembled the surface grinder to load it in my truck. I didn’t see any shims until they were laying on the ground. I had to assemble and disassemble the head to the base 4 times before getting all the shims in the right places. It’s only a 750 lb. Machine but it’s a real PITA to have to take it apart several times before getting it right.

 

[Ischgl99]

I was thinking stripping it down to bed+head. I don't want to disturb factory preset. Am I wrong? I may need to drain oil though as it would be leaking when vertical?

It will leak even just going down the stairs if the headstock is towards the upper side (I learned that the hard way), not sure if it will leak if you bring it in with the headstock towards the floor. I would definitely remove the oil, then you don’t need to worry about it.

To me it is about what I can get in. Reading specs on both - weight look similar. Dimensions as well. It LOOKS like 1340 would be as "easy" to get in as 12x36

The 13x40 is a bit longer due to the longer bed, and the headstock is slightly taller, but overall should not be that much different. The way I think bringing it in the easiest would be mounting it to a skid to slide it down the stairs headstock end first, have the skid a bit longer than the lathe to protect the headstock, lift vertical and rotate, then lower upper end into basement. You’ll need to verify onsite if that will actually work, but I think that could be doable. For rotating, a couple pieces of plywood on top of each other should make rotating fairly easy.

If you decide to go with safe movers, have them run through their plan with you first before moving anything. I hired piano movers to bring my gun safe into the basement, they almost killed one of their guys when they dropped it in the stairwell. They didn’t realize how heavy it was until it was too late. If we ran through what they planned first, that might not have happened.

 

[davidpbest]

I have no problem removing and reinstalling, I have problem moving large heavy objects
I think "safe movers" will be able to take care of this

Take a PM-1340GT for instance, what you have is a package that any three-person piano moving crew can move down your stairs on a piano skid-board. It's a long and skinny package, just like a grand piano set on it's spine. Wrap it in moving blankets, strap it to the skid board, and you have a package that is less than half the weight of a medium-sized grand piano, and not nearly as awkward size-wise to move. Piano movers are skilled at going up/down stairs with a load like this, and something like a PM-1340GT would be a cinch for them. Depending on where you are, a piano moving crew would cost something like $250 to do this job. Example:

This is what a PM-1340GT looks like on my shop-built "Skid Board". Piece of cake for a piano moving crew.

 

[katit]

If you decide to go with safe movers, have them run through their plan with you first before moving anything. I hired piano movers to bring my gun safe into the basement, they almost killed one of their guys when they dropped it in the stairwell. They didn’t realize how heavy it was until it was too late. If we ran through what they planned first, that might not have happened.

I was thinking to mount lathe inside a metal cage which would resemble safe (I checked sized of safes) and with weight being <800lb or so(after removing carriage/tailstock/motor) - it falls into "big" safe weight/size. Those guys not simply movers, they ARE safe movers. Sure I can talk through but to them it should be the same. I can even cover sides with plywood to make it square box.

 

[katit]

This is what a PM-1340GT looks like on my shop-built "Skid Board". Piece of cake for a piano moving crew.

Hmmm. In this case - I got interior stairs as well which seem to have bigger landing and 2 stairs. I just wasn't sure if it might be too heavy for regular interior stairs. Even 14x40 would fit through there dimensionally.

 

[davidpbest]

Hmmm. In this case - I got interior stairs as well which seem to have bigger landing and 2 stairs. I just wasn't sure if it might be too heavy for regular interior stairs. Even 14x40 would fit through there dimensionally.

Piano movers deal with platforms, u-shaped stairs, etc. all the time. Over my life, I've moved my grand piano at least a dozen times in all kinds of squirrelky situations. Well, I haven't done the heavy lifting - I left that to the piano moving crew.

Now, whether your staircase can take the load, that's a separate question. Get six people to walk the stairs as a clustered group and you'll know soon enough. LOL. I rebuilt the stairs to my basement using LVL beams as the stringers to increase the load capacity to 8,000 pounds.

 

[Larry$]

I've had an old upright piano moved into and out of the basement with a 90° landing. I had to modify the wall near the landing a bit because the upright piano doesn't have a slim profile like a lathe does. The piano movers did a great job and were cheap, considering.