How about a chain hoist?Fair do's. On the Bridgeport, the gib gets removed but the knee still needs lifting staight up and off. I have that to do over the hols. Got lots to consider. Roof height. Engine crane lift height. The mill is in on a pallet so I need to lift the crane up level on another pallet to match and keep level. I have considered painting too but I paint like a six year old so I may go for "Patina" instead.
Fair do's. On the Bridgeport, the gib gets removed but the knee still needs lifting staight up and off. I have that to do over the hols. Got lots to consider. Roof height. Engine crane lift height. The mill is in on a pallet so I need to lift the crane up level on another pallet to match and keep level. I have considered painting too but I paint like a six year old so I may go for "Patina" instead.
Don't worry, this won't look new. But if I'm dismantling to fix various issues it makes sense to spruce it up a bit. You should see my lathe....Personally im not a fan of painting machinery to make it look like new i prefer patina , derust and and protect from rusting again as best you can. I like the used look and dont have to worry about chipping/scratching the paint just adds to the patina
Thanks for confirming that.When I bought my 1ESG (a 1980 badged as Bridgeport) I had it delivered to the office on a pallet, then stripped it down into Corsa Combo-sized bits so I could bring it home and reassemble in reverse order.
From memory (it was probably about 2003, the photo below is dated March 04) the knee does pull forward when you extract the gib strip. It's &^%^%£%$£ heavy mind, more so than the vertical head (which I think is 43Kg), and a bloody awkward shape to grip.
View attachment 430228
It was about a dozen years before I managed to bag a vertical head at a price I wanted to pay:
View attachment 430229
I converted it to single-phase but kept all the bits just in case. Coolant works (new pump), one-shot seems to empty the oil somewhere...
I'll wind it up as far as it goes, lift a bit more with my pallet stacker, then remove the gib and hopefully pull the knee forward without any excitement.
Good advice, and I considered using the overarm. But as I have a pallet stacker, that's what I'll be using to lift the knee away.Wind it up to the top. Support or lock it into place*. Take the screws out of the Z-axis nut and wind the nut up the screw. That allows you to see how much screw is inside the casting/pocket. That will tell you how high the knee needs to be to remove it forwards.
By removing the gib, the knee will go to the right enough to clear the dovetails. Put a coke can protective shim in there if you are worried about things hitting that should not. Do not put your fingers in there.
* Slide the overarm forwards and use a ratchet strap. That will also allow you good control when moving the knee forwards. Using something other than a ratchet strap, you could lower the released knee onto a trolley.