Overhead ‘crane’

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

After hefting that 30lb lump of 4-jaw chuck a couple of times from floor to spindle, it was only a matter of time before I dropped it.

Dropping it would result in either a broken foot, even though I wear steel toe capped boots, or a mangles chuck, none of which appealed to me in the least.

Time to install a crane system of some sorts that could be used for lathe and milling machine use.

Hours of searching on the internet revealed systems ranging from Heath Robinson affairs to those that would no disgrace the ISS.

None, however, suited my particular needs of spanning all three machines, a distance of just over 3m.

Much head scratching about using channel section steel, when I came across Unistrut and that fired the brain up in devising a way to mount it with the open side facing downwards, and a trolley of some sorts to run on the upturned ends, with a pulley system attached to it.

As is my wont, I started to think up all sorts of weird, wonderful and complicated ways of suspending the Unistrut from the garage roof beams, to clear the power points.

I found a suitable piece of aluminium and decided that two axles with roller bearings should word, as they where low profile compared to roller ones.

These where ordered together with a double pulley system, and when received, I measured and drilled the trolley blank for the axles and pulley retaining strips then turned the ends of the axles for the bearings, still not having resolved how to fix the 'strut to the beams.

Sitting on the throne one morning, I said to myself "stupid old fart, just screw spacers onto the beams, and the Unistrut onto them" so problem solved.

The Unistrut was temporarily suspended from the beams to check if my solution would work, and so it proved.

Measuring up later, all that was needed where bits of 1" wood, so 5 pieces where cut and screwed into place, with the Unistrut onto them.

The securing screws needed csk holes, as there was only a milimeter or so clearance between the trolley and 'strut.

With the Unistrut in position the assembled trolley was slid into place and it whizzed along the rail without any problem, but the real test was yet to come.

First thing up was the standard faceplate that felt feather light, proving my system worked, so the real test was next.

The 30lb (15kg) 4-jaw chuck that 20 years ago would have meant anything to lift, but age and BigC treatment meant I wasn't happly lifting that to spindle height.

Now I needed to find a way to hook the lower pulley to the chuck, but a large S hook came to the rescue, it being hooked round one jaw with the others tightened up againt it. Nice and firm.

The test.

A gentle pull on the nylon rope/string had that chunk of metal rising into the air as if it was half the weight, and no creaking of wood or sound of screws parting company with wood, prooved my desing.

WhooHoo it worked like a dream, and the 3m length of Unistrut covered all three machines.

All I need to do now is make something to store the chuck and large faceplate I have.

I am chuffed to say the least at the outcome.

Geoff – About to act as taxi to collect Her Indoors' neice visiting from Europe so in a rush.

E&OE

Edit/

New folder added to My Photos.

/Edit

Edited By OuBallie on 05/07/2013 13:13:01

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Using Unistrut and pulley

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

A gentle pull on the nylon rope/string had that chunk of metal rising into the air as if it was half the weight

Geoff, It should have felt lighter than that

[count the pulleys]

Seriously though … an excellent plan

MichaelG.

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Nice

This has been on my list for ages.

I sold my ML10 some years ago. The thing I miss most about it is that you can pick a chuck up with one hand…

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I'v started a similar set up, the rail on mine is made from 2 bits of angle iron welded back to back (old bed frame), now I'v gone electric, I built a hoist using a garage door opener motor, powered by my work shop low voltage supply. I'll see if I can find a photo of it at some stage, and put it in my album.

Ian S C

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

A while ago .I decided that I didn’t want to handle any parts that require hoists or cranes.
I have since worked with chucks requiring forklifts to fit and chuckjaws needing hoists to lift…hoists and the like are about working smarter not a sign of personal frailty..just don’t get under any thing you wouldn’t want to fall on you.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Geoff, good idea, using lifting gear is much better than man handling, but I think you can sling your chuck much safer and present it to your spindle ready to screw on with a round endless sling and using your fixed steady as shown below.

Using a suitable size bar or tube which will fit reasonably loosely into the bore of your spindle and long enough to reach your fixed steady from the front of the spindle with a gap inbetween to get the chuck with the lifting sling attached and allowing enough of your bar overhanging the steady to allow the chuck to be slid up to the spindle with some overhang to spare.

Then gently lower it down so the bar rests onto the bottom two fingers of the steady and the other end of the bar lined up with the spindle bore, it can be easyly slid towards the screw thread on the spindle.

The wieght can then be let off completly and the sling can then be removed out of the way.

It can then be slid right up and engaged onto the spindle thread.

Your bar and steady can then be removed once the chuck has been screwed on a significant amount.

Of course your chunks can be removed the same way in the reverse order that is.

You can get these slings off ebay at a reasonably price. **LINK**

Regards Nick,

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 05/07/2013 19:51:13

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Corr!! That's some old chuck for a little old Boxford ??

[steamdaveParticipant @steamdave]

As an aging bloke, I too have the problem of lifting stuff from floor to machine.

I don't have headroom for an electric hoist a la Lidl, so after some thinking and not coming up with much in the conventional world, I finally decided on a dinghy mainsheet track and sliders, inverted from normal usage. SWL 660kgs, which is heavier than anything I will want to move. The hoist is an old Haltrac mini hoist – used to lift engines out of cars before engine cranes were thought of by amateurs. Makes light work of lifting chucks and rotary tables, etc.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Same here as regards lifting weights, can still manage the chucks but some of the jobs are getting so you finish up with a ball either side of your ears.

My problem is low roof and none of it is load bearing so nothing suggested so far will work. The rear wall behind the lathe is only a block division wall so again will not carry any load.

Thinking about it only the floor is capable of taking the load and any twisting loads are best off being supported by the element I'm trying to lift to – the lathe.

No room at headstock end due to layout and the gear change cover so tailstock end is the obvious choice with care taken so the tailstock can be removed if needed as I often fit a turret in place of the tailstock. This again is a brute to lift up.

So trip down to the scrap yard and come up with these bits for £30

The rotor in the barrow is nothing to do with the build, that's a typical load.

Bottom bit done, 4 stud anchors into the floor and four M12 bolts into the end of the lathe bed.

Top bit part done, that 3" solid bar in the first picture is halfway inside the square box section and the beam spins on this by two delrin bushes. The jib is 4" x 2" with a 3/8" wall thickness, hate to see things bend.

Proof load testing !

There is a limit to how big a rotor the lathe will take and it's less than these two together that that's the 50% overload needed.

Couple of days later, sure enough the big boys rolled up.

This is just on the limit as the tailstock only has a couple of inches left. For reference the keywayed end is worn undersize and the keyway is splayed. It requires turning undersize, welding up and turning back to size with a new keyway in.

Before the crane this would have been a right pain and an accident waiting to happen as it rolled off wooden blocks etc, now it's a one handed job.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I've nothing as big as that but the occasion has arisen when I have a 4 jaw with a great big lump of metal in the jaws to move about.

My own solution was to keep the chuck still, with some support underneath(lump of wood etc) and revolve the spindle by hand via the exposed belt pulleys, unscrewing and refitting the chuck as required without ever revolving the chuck itself

It's much safer and easier to handle if you can develop a system which doesn't revolve the chuck

 

 

Edited By Ady1 on 06/07/2013 00:58:39

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Thanks all for the comments.

A the time I bought the 41×21 Unistrut, I didn't realise that 41x41mm was available which would be better in providing more 'meat' above the bearing axles. Cannot see mine breaking through though.

Ian S C,

Your idea never entered my head. Nice one.

MichaelG,

Yes you are right, it is much lighter to lift than I intimated at. Was in a hurry to pick relative up, so didn't do a proper proof read before posting.

Nick,

I forgot to state that the 'S' hook used was only temporary, and just to test the system, and that a more secure way was being investigated, but thanks to your brilliant idea I now have a solution at hand.

As a final thought, I have absolutely no idea what weight my system will lift, but no doubt more than I would ever wish to work with.

Geoff – Too much wine yesterday, so must promise not to keep up with youngsters in future!

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I'm just glad I don't use a friends little lathe too often, it's a vintage Pratt, with 16" (I think) chucks, last time I used it was to remachine the ring grooves in a piston for a Lanz Bulldog tractor. Since then he has built a crane for chuck handling. Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The hook is on the left hand chain fall. There are more photos in my album, that show the other side of the hoist. Ian S C

[NJHParticipant @njh]

John

Big bits like that make me shudder when I consider the potential for things to go wrong – glad you seem to have found a safe solution. None of this is a problem to me as I'm intrigued with"small" – think 8 and 10 BA sized! That does bring its own problems of course – hours of work, one sneeze and it's lost forever!

Norman

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

I wouldn't recommend buying slings off ebay Any slings lifting chains etc should only be bought from a reliable source When I worked in heavy engineeering all cranes slings lifting hooks etc were tested every other month

Roy

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by roy entwistle on 07/07/2013 14:08:54:

I wouldn't recommend buying slings off ebay Any slings lifting chains etc should only be bought from a reliable source When I worked in heavy engineeering all cranes slings lifting hooks etc were tested every other month

Roy

 

Hi Roy, do you mean that they were physically tested with a full rated load. I all the years I've worked in industry they were examined at regular intervals, usually determined by the insurance company that covered liability. In my preveious employment this was done by Lloyds British who used to use the EN 1492-2 standard **LINK**

The one in the link clams to have EN 1492-2 certification, it is depicted correctly with one single black strip running round the length of the sling and it is the normal colour for a 1000 Kg capability.

At the end of the day all lifting equipment should be examined each and every time before use regardless of when it was last tested. Common sense should prevail as to weather any equipment is safe to use and I doubt that Geoff's setup will be strong enough to break the sling that is in the link that I posted.

The legal requirments are not required for DIY use.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 07/07/2013 15:33:37

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

The original post concerned lifting lathe chucks hanging off unistrut. I think it doubtful that a cheap 1000kg sling is going to break on those kind of loads. I always try to take the approach that a sling could break at any time and make sure that any lifting I do is done in such a way that no one would be hurt if it did.

David

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Round my way there is always a long queue when slings are decommisioned. Lifting, towing,etc'. Never broke one , even well over SWL.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Gentlemen,

Many of you have mentioned that Strops should be tested and also making sure that they are used inside their rated capabilities, what none of you have pointed out is that all strops should be checked for cuts and nicks in the outer casing which will most likely mean that the internals will also be damaged, these strops should be diposed of as you cannot be certain that it will not fail regardless of weight.

There are also strops available on the second hand market marked as one use only, dont even think of buying these as you wont know what they were used for.

Martin P

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Martin, checking of cuts and nicks etc. are all mentioned in the EN 1492-2 link that I've preveiously posted.

Regards Nick.

[CrankParticipant @crank]

Fibre slings can easily be examined for damage by most people, the items that are of real concern are chains, hooks, shackles and eye bolts. These are being made in China and even look remarkably like ones produced in UK and Europe but unfortunately are made of steel which is of very poor quality. Tests have found that they will not even lift the marked safe working load let alone any test load, so beware.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Can I recommed these people ?

**LINK**

Usual no connection other than a satisfied and repaet customer. Their 1 tonne slings start at £2.06 each and are tested to x 7 working load. I replace mine quite regulary as i get paid to rig machines and no one wants to see thier pride and joy swinging about on a set of tatty slings.

I have no provision for testing hence the replacement but as a quick test one day on a tatty 1 tonne one I hooked one end over the bottom of the mast on the fork truck and the other end over the fork and tried to lift. Fork truck is a decent 2 tonne model but it just stalled the hydraulics.

That'll do me.

Couple of orders ago I also bought a set of ratchet starps to go with the new truck. Bought 4 of the two tonne x 6 metre ones and thought I'd get some of the cheap 1.5 tonne jobbies for holding the crane and lift table in the truck.

There were only £3 each so thought only get a couple as if they are like the Lidl ones don't want to waste my money.

When they were delivered the small ones are the same webbing [ but narrower ] as the bigger commercial units.

Dead chuffed so ordered a few more pairs.

Can't recoment these enough.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

John,

Astonishingly good prices …

Thanks for the link and recommendation.

MichaelG.

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Update.

I bought a couple of the slings that Nick mentioned, before JohnS' post, and they arrived yesterday.

Thanks to Nick's description of the way he lifted his chucks, I did the same using a piece of steel tube but with one sling only.

The chuck lifted easily, and much more safely as well this time.

I, however, made some wood cradles for the chucks to be lowered onto and nearly melting in the 30 deg temp in the carport, the cut-out in the wood positioning the chucks at spindle height, so all that's needed is to push it up to the spindel and screw the chuck on. So so much easier now!

For the 3-jaw I had to cut a groove in the centre of the cut-out for the jaw adjusting screws as they are proud of the chuck circumference. Did think of turning them flush, but sense prevailed.

If I was lifting the chucks by means of the cradles, I would have made them wider of course.

Just need to figure out how/where to store the chucks now.

More photos added.

Geoff – Changing chucks now a pleasure

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