Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight 196Kg. I
have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe lifting
point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious they don't
know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe

As Gunner is so fond of reminding us, Google is your friend:

http://truetex.com/movemill.htm


- -
Rex Burkheimer
WM Automotive
Fort Worth TX

Joe Brown wrote:
Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight 196Kg. I
have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe lifting
point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious they don't
know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe

Joe Brown wrote:
Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight 196Kg. I
have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe lifting
point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious they don't
know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe




Now you get to buy a pair of big nylon tow straps and some load-rated
shackles. You'll also need a come along for use with an overhead
support, or a shop crane with a long boom. The straps can be wrapped
around the head and allow you to lift the machine from above its center
of gravity. Good luck and be careful!

Joe, I will tell you how I moved my mill several years ago. I took a
piece of flat bar 3/8 by 2 I think and cut the length 2 or 3 inches
longer that the diameter of the column. I then drilled a small hole on
one corner (I'll explain later) and another hole in the center top. I
connected a chain schackle to the center hole and hooked a chain to the
schackle. I then tied a piece of wire (or string) to the small hole on
the end and lowered the bar/chain assembly down the column. At this
point, the bar was parrallel to the column. When it got below the
bottom of the column I held the chain and let go of the wire. The bar
was then perpendicular to the column. I pulled the chain tight making
sure the bar was centered under the column, and hooked the chain to my
engine hoist. After moving the mill to where I needed it, it was just a
simple matter to loosen the chain and pull the bar out with the wire. I
moved the mill several times this way. If anybody out there sees a
problem with this method, please respond. I am always open to helpful
criticism.

Forgot to add, congrats on your new mill/drill. And, as Tim mentioned,
be careful no matter which method you use. They are small, but still
heavy enough to do a lot of damage if it gets away from you. Bill.

That's about 200 lbs lighter than the one I moved.
Take the cap off the top of the column. Then crank the
head all the way up. Lift off with 2 reasonably strong people.
Move the head and base separately using 2 people.
When you get where your going put the base on the stand
1st, then put the head back on.

Worked for me.
Wayne D.


On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 18:34:56 GMT, Joe Brown
wrote:

Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight
196Kg. I
have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe lifting
point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious they
don't
know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe

Our shop moved our 2800+ lb Excello (bridgeport clone) by using four
hydraulic floor jacks (2.5 ton rating, the kind used for lifting up
cars to change the oil, etc.) under the four corners of the pallet the
machine came on. To remove the pallet, we use the same jacks, this
time on either end of a long straight wood 2x4 under the knee and a
long pipe through a 2" hole in both sides of the casting. This is a
large floor-type knee mill, though, and it doesn't seem as though your
mill has either a knee or a large casting. Most large machines,
including ours (if we had had the facilities to use it) have a large
threaded hole in the top of the ram to secure an eyebolt. I would look
under the belt cover. Failing this, the best place would be a sling
placed under the table between the table and the casting. This is
likely to want to tip backwards, though. I would not move anything
this heavy hanging by the crane, though. I would lower the machine
onto a heavy duty furniture dolly to move the machine to it's final
location, then lift it off with the crane.

Hello, thanks for your timely reply to my post. I was peering down the
centre of the column using a torch, and the method you suggest seems very
logical, and might be the way that the mill is lifted in the factory. I'll
post my progress, or lack of it on this board.
Regards,
Joe.
wrote in message
oups.com...
Joe, I will tell you how I moved my mill several years ago. I took a
piece of flat bar 3/8 by 2 I think and cut the length 2 or 3 inches
longer that the diameter of the column. I then drilled a small hole on
one corner (I'll explain later) and another hole in the center top. I
connected a chain schackle to the center hole and hooked a chain to the
schackle. I then tied a piece of wire (or string) to the small hole on
the end and lowered the bar/chain assembly down the column. At this
point, the bar was parrallel to the column. When it got below the
bottom of the column I held the chain and let go of the wire. The bar
was then perpendicular to the column. I pulled the chain tight making
sure the bar was centered under the column, and hooked the chain to my
engine hoist. After moving the mill to where I needed it, it was just a
simple matter to loosen the chain and pull the bar out with the wire. I
moved the mill several times this way. If anybody out there sees a
problem with this method, please respond. I am always open to helpful
criticism.

Thanks Wayne, yet another sensible suggestion. I'll post any progress.
Regards,
Joe
"Wayne" wrote in message
news
That's about 200 lbs lighter than the one I moved.
Take the cap off the top of the column. Then crank the
head all the way up. Lift off with 2 reasonably strong people.
Move the head and base separately using 2 people.
When you get where your going put the base on the stand
1st, then put the head back on.

Worked for me.
Wayne D.


On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 18:34:56 GMT, Joe Brown
wrote:

Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight
196Kg. I
have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe lifting
point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious they
don't
know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe

Hello, sounds as if your mill is a bit of a beast! Thanks for your advice, I
have bought a dolly which will support up to 300Kg (for when I lifted my
Warco lathe) so will use that for the actual move.
Regards,
Joe.
"woodworker88" wrote in message
ups.com...
Our shop moved our 2800+ lb Excello (bridgeport clone) by using four
hydraulic floor jacks (2.5 ton rating, the kind used for lifting up
cars to change the oil, etc.) under the four corners of the pallet the
machine came on. To remove the pallet, we use the same jacks, this
time on either end of a long straight wood 2x4 under the knee and a
long pipe through a 2" hole in both sides of the casting. This is a
large floor-type knee mill, though, and it doesn't seem as though your
mill has either a knee or a large casting. Most large machines,
including ours (if we had had the facilities to use it) have a large
threaded hole in the top of the ram to secure an eyebolt. I would look
under the belt cover. Failing this, the best place would be a sling
placed under the table between the table and the casting. This is
likely to want to tip backwards, though. I would not move anything
this heavy hanging by the crane, though. I would lower the machine
onto a heavy duty furniture dolly to move the machine to it's final
location, then lift it off with the crane.

Hello, thanks for your timely reply to my post. I was peering down the
centre of the column using a torch........

Joe, you really need to be careful using a torch to see down into the
column. These things WILL explode. G
Bill.

Thanks Rex, I'd already seen the article when I trawled the net before
posting.
Regards,
Joe.
"Rex B" wrote in message
...
As Gunner is so fond of reminding us, Google is your friend:

http://truetex.com/movemill.htm


- -
Rex Burkheimer
WM Automotive
Fort Worth TX

Joe Brown wrote:
Help! I've just taken delivery of a new Mill/Drill - ZX25M2, weight
196Kg. I have a floor crane but don't know where on the Mill is a safe
lifting point - I've contacted the suppliers helpline and it is obvious
they don't know either. Can anyone help?
Regards,
Joe

Ho Ho!!!

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, thanks for your timely reply to my post. I was peering down the
centre of the column using a torch........

Joe, you really need to be careful using a torch to see down into the
column. These things WILL explode. G
Bill.

Hi igor,
And I thought I had problems!
Will post progress later in week.
Regards,
Joe.
"Ignoramus4371" wrote in message
...
how I crated a clausing 8530 mill

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/packing/clausing/

i

On 23 Oct 2005 15:02:54 -0700, wrote:
Hello, thanks for your timely reply to my post. I was peering down the
centre of the column using a torch........

Joe, you really need to be careful using a torch to see down into the
column. These things WILL explode. G
Bill.



--

I said I would update my progress on lifting the mill onto the stand,
so here goes. I was not confident that the main column was solidly
fixed to the base so the front was lifted (by hand) and a 1 ton
capacity strop fed under and taken up round the top of the belt cover
into a shackle. Another strop was fed under the head between the main
clumn and motor, and this was also terminated at the shackle. A lift
was done tentatively with the floor crane, and lowered again for
adjustment, so that most of the weight was being carried by the strop
under the base.Then lifted again off the packing case bottom and onto a
small trolley, which was pushed into the workshop and located beside
the stand (with the strops still in position). The floor crane was
brought in and positioned, the final lift from the trolley was made and
the crane moved to loate the mill directly over the base. Having
lowered onto the base and the 4 fixing bollts dropped through, the
front was then lifted manually and the strop removed - Success!!
I was dissappointed later when commisioning the mill to discover that
the quill would only lower by 30mm and not the 100mm specified. Also,
the motor would only turn when the ON switch was held down. A call to
Axminster yesterday resulted in me partially dismantling the quill
lowering mechanism to remove swarf from the quill rack (and give it a
good greasing). The other adjustment was to the microswitch detent cam
under the belt cover. Many thanks go to Keith Thompson of Axminster for
his 'spot on' diagnosis. I now have a fully operational mill.