Be Careful Lifting A Lathe

Here's mine going up right after it was delivered. It has since been moved to another bench, but it was rigged the same way then. Luckily, I did quite a bit of rigging in my job over the years. This was a piece of cake as they say. Those shop cranes are a wonderful thing to have around. They don't move too well laterally, so I lower the load until it's just about the legs before moving a load. If I can I'll put the load right on the legs. With this lathe, it wasn't possible without using lumber.

If you're not careful, though, rigging can hurt you and wreck equipment.

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Nice pick! I always cringe when I see folks strap around the outside of the lead screw.
 
Did you have much trouble getting the straps spread out to find the balance points? She looks nice and level to me.
 
No, I got lucky the first time. I figured the headstock is the heaviest part, and played around with the straps while still low to the pallet. At first, it would be level with the straps closer together, but I didn't like that way so I spread them out like you see. It went up very nice and level.
I almost screwed up and put the straps on the lead screw, but I caught it before I did it and routed them properly.
 
I've purchased a Craftex CX 707 12/36 lathe from Busy Bee Tools. I should be receiving it in a couple of weeks. I came to the site to get some ideas on lifting and moving it. I've picked up lots of good advise from you fine people with experience on the topic. Thanks for passing on your knowledge. Can't wait to get my new machine.

Scott
 
On a lathe I do 3 straps. One at the lift point hear the headstock and the other 2 angled at each end. The 2 extras keep the load balanced and prevent tilt with the main strap taking the brunt of the load. Stills scares me every time, especially the lift up onto the stand. I also modified my engine hoist by spreading out the lags which makes it more stable. As noted above, always run the straps under the lead screws and not over them.
 
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