Hi folks, how many of you are fed up lugging vices and other lumps of cast Iron on and off your machines, I've done this for ten years at the same place of work and I'm getting a little peeved and feeling the stain.

on another note , what do you folks do to prevent rust forming between machine bed and vice - I usually use slideway oil but I'm not convinced this is good practice!!

Pat

Hi folks, how many of you are fed up lugging vices and other lumps of cast Iron on and off your machines, I've done this for ten years at the same place of work and I'm getting a little peeved and feeling the stain.

on another note , what do you folks do to prevent rust forming between machine bed and vice - I usually use slideway oil but I'm not convinced this is good practice!!

Pat

Here is my solution: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22023

Regarding the rust I find the best is a very thin film of vaseline. I have tried lube oil, grease and cutting oil and they all stain more than vaseline

Buy or make a crane. Geof's design is very cool with the articulating arms. I may just have to copy it. I'd probably drill/tap a plate for the arm to bolt to, and then clamp that plate in the vise. 1/2" A36 or 1018 would be the material of choice.

Try LPS-3 for rust. When exposed to air, it dries into a waxy substance, very much like cosmoline but not as annoying. When trapped between the vise and the table, it stays liquid. What I do is spray the entire table with LPS-3, mount the vise, and then spray everything again, especially the seam between the vise and the table. I get sort of a waxy fillet which prevents coolant from getting in underneath. If coolant manages to seep through, it's blocked by the thin film of liquid LPS.

I don't lift vises, any more, way too heavy for me! Then there is always the big gorilla who takes the vise off the machine and puts it away on the BOTTOM shelf, under the work bench, nearly impossible to get out without back strain. In a pinch, I can lift a vise from a mill table to a work bench top,on the same level. I lift it with both hands behind my back, the vise resting on my but. That way I use my strong stomach muscles, without straining my back.

Here is my solution: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22023

Regarding the rust I find the best is a very thin film of vaseline. I have tried lube oil, grease and cutting oil and they all stain more than vaseline

that is almost exactly what i am looking for my idea was almost exactly the same, i will make it so that i can roll it from one machine to the next i have two of these indexers i dont have to take them off very offten but when you do they are frikkin heavy, Thank for showing that forum

Just thought i would share this

How about a cheap engine lift from China and a piece of steel with a taped hole in it for an eye bolt. Works wonderful when clamped tightly. I had a disk taken out of my back, 3 hernias, and a bitter devorce. I just through the devorce in for laughs. I don't lift or date anything heavy. Just some rules from an old tool maker.

I use a forklift for everthing heavy at my work... 700lb aluminum fixtures...

but given that this is on a 5' by 10' machine, space isnt too much of an issue.

At the last place I worked at, we used an engine hoist and eye bolt, and a threaded hole on top of the tombstones to move around the tombstones/pallets.

I use a forklift for everthing heavy at my work... 700lb aluminum fixtures...

but given that this is on a 5' by 10' machine, space isnt too much of an issue.

At the last place I worked at, we used an engine hoist and eye bolt, and a threaded hole on top of the tombstones to move around the tombstones/pallets.

Yeah a forktruck is out of the question i have 8 machines and no room to get a fok truck around the machines good thing i run all small parts LOL!!!

I wish I had the room for a fork truck. I have to leave the tool room to change my mind. Our tollerance is so tight we can only have one engineer in the room at a time. 2 cnc, 1 band saw, 2 surface grinders, 1 elox, 1 mig, 1 tig, 2 tool boxes, 2 benches. Tool hall as it is refered to is 14' x 30'. No fat tool makers allowed. If I put on 5 pounds my helper has to loose 5 just so we can pass by each other. And for God Sakes Don't Fart! cause you can't get away from it.

I wish I had the room for a fork truck. I have to leave the tool room to change my mind. Our tollerance is so tight we can only have one engineer in the room at a time. 2 cnc, 1 band saw, 2 surface grinders, 1 elox, 1 mig, 1 tig, 2 tool boxes, 2 benches. Tool hall as it is refered to is 14' x 30'. No fat tool makers allowed. If I put on 5 pounds my helper has to loose 5 just so we can pass by each other. And for God Sakes Don't Fart! cause you can't get away from it.

now thats to funny at least for us that are reading it

And for God Sakes Don't Fart! cause you can't get away from it.

That is why some genius made a Compressed Air Tank and Air Gun, LOL. So you can send stuff like that "Back to Whom Dealt It". :D

Cheers guys, thanks for those piccys Geof on that other thread, food for thought.

After almost pulling my back lifting a piece of 5.5" stainless to put it on the saw, I went to Harbor Freight and bought an electric winch (120 vac). Comes with hangers to go over a pipe and I just drilled a couple of holes in the exposed joists and hung it up. Works great. Made in China and lists for around $120 (on sale half price couple of months back) -- paid for itself on the first use! Capacity is 300 lbs or double if you use the furnished pulley and double the cable. They also have one that lifts something like 800 lbs for less than $200.

Putting 300lbs on a hole drilled through a joist is obviously okay....you did it. Doubling it to 600 might be risky, 800 riskier and if this can be doubled with a pulley wear a hard hat.

Putting 300lbs on a hole drilled through a joist is obviously okay....you did it. Doubling it to 600 might be risky, 800 riskier and if this can be doubled with a pulley wear a hard hat.

Geof, im sure you probably siad but how much weight can the lift you made handle i want to build something just about like that the two indexers i have are only a couple hundred pounds apiece.

Geof, im sure you probably siad but how much weight can the lift you made handle i want to build something just about like that the two indexers i have are only a couple hundred pounds apiece.

I never did mention the capacity and I don't really know. The Jack is rated at 3 ton which is more than enough. Our testing was very crude; we left the vises bolted to the table and jacked it until the column and arms deflected about 1/2". Then unbolted the vises and when we lifted them the deflection was only about 1/8". Therefore we have at least a four fold safety factor. :)

Our two vises on the baseplate are a bit less than 200lbs. They are not more because I can lift them and I max out at around 200lbs.

Maybe I should put in the disclaimer bit about not recommending this type of approach and if you follow my example you do so at your own risk, etc, etc.

One change I will make if we do any more of these is replace the brass bushings that the arm articulates on with bearings; the brass has a lot of friction. Since building these I made a some hinges for a big gate using trailer wheel tapered roller bearings. They are cheap and work like a charm.

I never did mention the capacity and I don't really know. The Jack is rated at 3 ton which is more than enough. Our testing was very crude; we left the vises bolted to the table and jacked it until the column and arms deflected about 1/2". Then unbolted the vises and when we lifted them the deflection was only about 1/8". Therefore we have at least a four fold safety factor. :)

Our two vises on the baseplate are a bit less than 200lbs. They are not more because I can lift them and I max out at around 200lbs.

Maybe I should put in the disclaimer bit about not recommending this type of approach and if you follow my example you do so at your own risk, etc, etc.

One change I will make if we do any more of these is replace the brass bushings that the arm articulates on with bearings; the brass has a lot of friction. Since building these I made a some hinges for a big gate using trailer wheel tapered roller bearings. They are cheap and work like a charm.

any thoughts for making one mobile

any thoughts for making one mobile

You mean this one? :)

The feet straddle the base of a VF2.

And I realised the picture also shows our Pneumatic Way Oil Dispenser. The blue tank with the air hose coiled up on it. It holds 5 gallons of way oil and discharges under air pressure through a hose and nozzle into the lube tank on the back of the machines. No funnels, no drips and very little chance of getting dirt in the lube tanks.

You mean this one? :)

The feet straddle the base of a VF2.

And I realised the picture also shows our Pneumatic Way Oil Dispenser. The blue tank with the air hose coiled up on it. It holds 5 gallons of way oil and discharges under air pressure through a hose and nozzle into the lube tank on the back of the machines. No funnels, no drips and very little chance of getting dirt in the lube tanks.

That is perfect "you the man" now this tank has my curiosity is it set up kinda like a spray can like the ones you fill up and add air

That is perfect "you the man" now this tank has my curiosity is it set up kinda like a spray can like the ones you fill up and add air

Yes exactly but it is based on an engine oil extractor tank I bought at a place called Princess Auto.

I will take some better pictures of it and our coolant dispenser and waste oil collector and put them in a new thread some time soon.

Geof
I have the winch supported on a 1" stainless steel pipe with each end thru a joist which is a standard 2 x 8 -- that puts 150 lbs on each joist. Two 2 x 8 joists can easily support three or four times that much weight. I might add that the holes should be in the center of the joists since the bending stresses are the maximum at the edges and almost zero at the center. It's a back saver!

Bikeman

Yes exactly but it is based on an engine oil extractor tank I bought at a place called Princess Auto.

I will take some better pictures of it and our coolant dispenser and waste oil collector and put them in a new thread some time soon.

thanks Geof im always looking for ways to improve productivity, these things you have come up are great, i have an 85 year old man that works for me that is my tooling guy and inventer, my idle, LOL this guy comes up with some realy great stuff you and him have alot in common it sounds like, exept he is a grumpy old fart but we love him any ways LOL

How do you know I am not a grumpy old fart in real life? :) Well certainly not old compared to 85.

How do you know I am not a grumpy old fart in real life? :) Well certainly not old compared to 85.

HA HA HA i was refering to the age hell im a grumpy old fart to some!!!! lol

I use a roll around tool bench. I lower the mill table to the same level as the tool table and just slide it of and on. i use it for mill vices and a 12" troyke rotrary table.

I use a roll around tool bench. I lower the mill table to the same level as the tool table and just slide it of and on. i use it for mill vices and a 12" troyke rotrary table.

are you not worried about screwing up the table on the mill? i neever unless there is no other way slide fixters, vises ext. on my tables