# Shop Crane



## shred (Apr 4, 2010)

After wrestling the 100+lbs of 4th-axis plus chuck around one too many times, I started thinking about making a shop crane, but not too much later a lowball bid I threw down on an eBay auction came through and I ended up with a Skyhook. I ditched the existing base as it was way too big and strapped it to a wire mesh cart. It needs outriggers for heavy stuff lifted outboard of the cart (I bolt a chunk of superstrut to the bottom when needed), but works really well for moving the 4th axis RT, big vises and so on around. Highly recommended if you have heavy stuff and don't want to run a ceiling hoist setup. I never got around to actual plans, but I was plotting to make a similar device from a few bits of super-strut and a flat nylon strap winch.





The lathe-chuck hook (lock the horizontal bar in the chuck jaws and lift) is made from a piece of pre-bent 3/4" rigid electrical conduit and some pipe fittings (rigid electrical conduit and pipe share the dimensions and threads, which comes in handy when bodging things together out of hardware store parts). I've tested it up to 200 lbs, so it should work for most anything I have.


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## steamer (Jun 13, 2010)

Nice Rig Shred....I've noticed that my milling vise gets heavier every year....one of them is sounding better all the time.... 8)

Dave


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## putputman (Jun 14, 2010)

Dave, my vise kept getting heavier each year. This was my solution. It works very well for me and I never hesitate to remove the vise anymore. Also solved the storage problem. 

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?action=profile;u=1989;sa=showPosts;start=390

The prints for the hanger are in the download section.


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## shred (Jun 14, 2010)

That swing-away is one of the threads that got me on the shop crane idea in the first place 

I use my vises (& RT) on multiple machines, so a roll-around crane is what I needed, but it does take up space.

For lifting, I stuck a couple 1/4" dowel pins spaced to fit the vise jaw bolts through a bit of 1/4" flat plate with a large hole bored in the top center of it. Clamp the plate in the vise; the pins go into the SHCS holding the jaws on for extra security. Crane hook goes into the large hole, unbolt from table and hoist away.


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## RonGinger (Jun 14, 2010)

Id be very careful of that rig using threaded pipe fittings. The root of the thread reduces the pipe diameter a lot. Ive seen many pipes broken at a fitting.


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## Omnimill (Jun 16, 2010)

RonGinger  said:
			
		

> Id be very careful of that rig using threaded pipe fittings. The root of the thread reduces the pipe diameter a lot. Ive seen many pipes broken at a fitting.



I was thinking the same thing, using a cast elbow that way would not be my choice.

Vic.


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## shred (Jun 18, 2010)

Omnimill  said:
			
		

> I was thinking the same thing, using a cast elbow that way would not be my choice.
> 
> Vic.


Yeah, I thought it was a bit sketchy at first, but after I jumped 180 lbs of me up and down on it a few times, I figured it could hold 100 lbs of 4th axis, which it has several times. The way the jaws clamp on, there's not as much lever arm. 

I suppose I could put in some 3/16" or so wire rope internally as a backup.


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