Moving Tormach mill to a basement - saga

[MichaelHenry]

Some folks here may be interested in disassembling a Tormach mill, moving it to a basement, and then re-assembling it. The link below is how my wife and I did it:

http://member.newsguy.com/~mphenry/tormach_cnc_mill.htm

All in all it went much better than expected. Most of the checks on the inspection sheet were run my myself before and after and all of them were pretty much the same before and after, which I think is more of a testament to the Tormach design than my skills.

Mike

[Beezer]

Man you are sooooo lucky. I am envious. Wish I had one of those Tormach machines. I have just the spot for it in my garage, but alas I don't have the funds. Boy that machine looks way to clean.

I see evidence of some other machines down there. What other machine do you have?


Carl

[Swiss]

Way to go!
We had a similar experience ourselves. We bought an Emco ConceptMill 105, and needed to get it from the street outside, down some narrow wooden stairs, then up some stairs and through a too-narrow doorway (we had to cut the doorway larger with an angle grinder). The whole operation took 8 people three long days to get it into place.

http://www.emco.co.uk/pcm105.htm

Damn milling machines are way too big.

Hugo

[MichaelHenry]

Beezer,

If you back up on the link posted you can see a list of the machines at one of the other pages on my web site, some with pictures or a description.

My other main tools are:

Clausing 5914 lathe
Clausing 8520 vertical mill
Clausing 8540 horizontal mill
Rhodes 7" shaper
KO Lee 714 surface grinder
Enco T&C grinder (1981)
Hammond printers saw

plus the usual assortment of grinders, saws, and hand tools.

The Tormach is the first major tool I've purchased new and its so clean because it hasn't really been used yet. I'm still futzing with accessory organization and adjusting the tram, not to mention trying to figure out SprutCAM, which the CAM software I hope to be using.

Mike

[ViperTX]

Mike, your website is a great log of your adventure!

[MichaelHenry]

Swiss,

These are "fun" projects, aren't they?

Mike

[Swiss]

MichaelHenry,

Yes, they truly are. I remember hauling this damn heavy machine all day, coordinating the troops, ropes and pullies, heavy lifting, and standing outside in the freezing snow at midnight. I went to bed that night totally happy and satisfied after a hard day's manly work. Aah, I miss those three days...


Swiss

[hockeypuck]

Hello,
I have a Tormach and a question, my Z axis drifts down sometimes when I turn the machine off at the end of the day.
One time out of four. Can anyone help?

[hockeypuck]

I have had my Tormach for a couple of weeks, my Z axis drifts down after I shut it down for the night, only one time out of four, any ideas?

[David Bord]

Hockeypuck,

Thats normal. You need to adjust your Z axis gib adjustment. Its outlined in the manual. I just did it today for the first time on my new machine.

David

[merl]

Michael Henry,checked out your web site and your move pics, great stuff!
My wife and I did the exact same thing about 7 years ago when we moved in to our present home.
I have a Harding tool room horizontal mill that only goes about 700lbs. but it doesn't come apart in as many pieces as yours.
We had this machine in the basement of two houses prior to this one so we were fairly well reherst in the procedure (yeah right,)
We used a nearly identicle set up to yours so I don't think I'm so crazy when I look back at it.
One thing we had different was a set of 4"x4"x1/2 wall angle iron "tracks" that we liad on the basement steps to help ease things down.
These worked fine and I highly recomend that anyone that moves heavy iron up and down the basement steps invest in a pair.
However, MAKE SURE that they are not too long or they won't lay on the steps and stay stableized.
We cut them to fit the stairs in the old house and found when we laid them down in the new house they were just a couple inches too long but, we didn't take the time to cut them shorter and just went ahead with it(bad decision number one).
Well it was 12am and we said " lets just get the mill put down the steps and we'll quit for the night" (bad decision number two)
So we start and about 2/3rds from the bottom one of the tracks slipps and the mill tips and slipps off the one track.
Fortunatly the stairs are flanked by a brick wall on either side so it wasn't going over but, not going down either.
So I say" I'll just squeese down the side of it to help slip it back on the track while you crank the winch down a little" (bad decision number three)
Long story short, the mill slipped a little more and came to rest on the edge of the angle iron, with one of my fingers in there for padding.
I was able to get my finger out my self but I didn't need to take my glove off to see that it was broken.
Got to spend the night in the ER waiting to get it fixed (smashed into six pieces inbetween the 1st and 2nd knuckle) and got the next 2 1/2 months off from work to reflect on the incident( I had two alignment pin sticking out of my finger and couldn't even work in my own shop)
I consider myself to be very lucky when, you think how badly things might have turned out, This is the only serious accident I've had in nearly 30 years as a machinist although there have been some close calls and I have seen some horrific things happen to others not so lucky.
But I digress.
I can tell just from the bright lites and the nice white walls that you must have a pretty good time down there.
PS shame on you for leaving that nice little shaper under the steps!
mine is the center piece of my basement shop.
To your continuing enjoyment!! (everybody)

merl

[MichaelHenry]

Merl,

Ouch - those experiences teach you something at the school of hard knocks don't they?

The shaper is on a mobile stand so it can be pulled out if it needs to be used. It was either under the stairs or put it up for sale and I wanted to keep it.

Mike