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how to lift gap section out of lathe without hurting myself?

Greetings.

I have given myself a hernia and a herniated disk lifting chucks and the gap section from my 16" swing lathe at work. (to save a few minutes getting a helper, now I will probably have a limp for the rest of my life.....dumbass) We bought a Skyhook, (which BTW is a wonderful tool), but I have not been able to figure out how to hold the gap section to lift it out. It is around a foot wide, 14 or 16" long, and weighs around 100 lbs. It has a hole around 5 or 6" square located near the tailstock end of it, which makes the center of gravity lean the thing over when you try to lift it, thus banging it against everything in sight, like the spindle nose, bedways, etc. Unfortunately, the leadscrew is mounted a bit too high to allow it to be slid out to the side without lifting.

Is there some kind of device available commercially designed for this? maybe some kind of clamp (like the scissor clamp for dragging pallets) to grab the underside of the ways?

Would it be safe to drill into the gap section to mount eyebolts? I'd hate to ruin the damn thing trying to fix it....

I have to take it in & out once or twice a week We will be getting a bigger lathe, but I have to wait for the beginning of the fiscal year for that. (bought a new mill, blew the tool budget)

Also, anyone care to recommend a good maker of lathes in the 24 to 36" swing range? Tool catalogs don't seem to offer a whole lot of options that big.

BTW on the Phase II QC toolpost conversation recently, we just got a 400 series (CA) and a bunch of toolholders, and the quality on it is great.

Thanks,

Gene

Reply to
gene lewis
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Have you got a steadyrest for this lathe which could be set on the gap section and used as a "handle" (set on the CG) for the hoist? At only

100 lbs, some sort of magnetic clamp might also work (watch your toes).

Protective wooden covers for the bed (at least) and perhaps something for the spindle nose (rubber plumbing coupling?) if it still gets out of hand. Some sort of bed protector has been SOP most places I've worked for chuck changes.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

Reply to
Machineman

life.....dumbass)

Reply to
Jim Sehr

Gee, duh.... :-) Yeah we have a steady. why didn't I think of that! Thanks!

Gene

Reply to
gene lewis

Thank you. the flat part of the ways on my lathe is on the outside of the vees, but your idea seems like it'll work well with a little modification. I'm going to try the steadyrest first.

Wish me luck

Gene

Reply to
gene lewis

Don't want to ask the obvious but have you looked for a tapped hole to take an eye bolt? The larger lathes that I have worked with (not that many) have all had this feature. One machine had one of the mounting bolt holes tapped. A 1/2" mounting bolt went through a 5/8" tapped hole. To lift the gap section, screw a 5/8 eye bolt into the mounting bolt hole

John

life.....dumbass)

Reply to
John Manders

No such luck. Thank you,

Gene

Reply to
gene lewis

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