Disassembly ? of a Rockwell Vertical Milling machine

I helped take apart a Clausing mill for moving, and I have a Rockwell.

1) You take the head off by disconnecting wires.

2) You take the knee off.

3) You take the pedestal off the cabinet.

Now you have 4 pieces, each one can be carried by two strong guys.

Chuck Sherwood is a fairly regular reader here and has one of those mills in the h/v version. I helped him move it to his basement but don't remember enough of the disassembly details to help you out, other than it wasn't very difficult. If he doesn't reply here and you still need help, look for his email address via Google Groups ad contact him directly.

I do have a vague recollection that removing the gib for the knee/column ways made it possible to lift the knee up and off of the vertical ways. Or maybe that was the case for my Clausing. Or maybe for both. Need sleep....

We removed the head, table, knee and column, and base. It wasn't hard work but it was a lot of work and took most of a day. I really don't think he needs to disassemble that far to move the machine over a lawn. I think removing the head and putting the rest of the machine on a dolly should be enough. Put plywood on the lawn so that the wheels won't sink in and will roll. I have heard that a toe truck works well for moving machines too. If the ground is hard it won't sink in.

chuck

I move my 8540 pretty regularly with a refridgerator dolly. The two wheeled gizmo with a restraining strap pulled up tight.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Once or twice, I've found it necessary to add a strap at the bottom on my refrigerator dolly when moving machine components, luckily without a disaster. Now I always add the second strap on heavy or oddly shaped stuff.

Pete Keillor

One or two additional tie-down straps, the kind with little ratchets, can sometimes be a real help for such things to keep the tool securely lashed to the dolly. I find the built-in strap can loosen at the worst times. Almost all of my major tools have been moved to the basement with a good quality dolly, usually partially disassembled. The exception was the base and column for an 8540. My wife and I got it half way down the stairs before it got away from her and tried to run me over. It made it two steps before getting lodged on the steel toe of my work boots. We used a 400/800 lb HF hoist to get it the rest of the way down.

Mike

My boys helped me move stuff into the basement on a dolly. I wouldn't let anybody below the load. We tied on to the dolly with a 1/2" nylon rope, the boys belayed the dolly, and I guided it from above.

Hoisting 101: never place yourself or anyone else underneath or in the path of the load.

Pete Keillor

Yeppers - I'd make a good poster boy for that rule! Aside from the stupid idea of putting myself below the load, the main problem was the rubber belts on the dolly that are located near the wheels and the load slide over the lip of a stair step. They slide real good with a heavy load!

Fortunately, no harm was done to tool or body other than a slightly twisted knee.

Mike

Amen! As an old rigger, we don't call being in that position "the bite" for no reason. You will get bit sooner or later. With any luck, you won't ever feel it... for long anyway.

Bottom line is, if you don't know how to move heavy equipment, don't, hire someone who does. You're worth it. No matter what your widow says .

Snarl