# Lifting A Mill.



## wm460 (May 18, 2015)

What is the best way to lift a mill from the crate onto the stand .

Can I wrap a sling around the head and lift from there?


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## Swifty (May 18, 2015)

Best case scenario would be to lift from the base, that way nothing is under stress, but this is often not practical. The more weight that you can have above the lowest part of the sling, without being top heavy, would be ideal. But we are obviously talking about a bench top mill here, although they differ a lot in size. You would have to be aware of the pressure put on things if you lift by the head only, probably the easiest way to go for you, just watch out that you don't damage anything.

Now that I've said all that, at work we had a very large ram type mill that had a large eye bolt in the ram for lifting, the mill would have weighed a few tonnes. Even bridgeports have an eye bolt on the ram, but all the weight is taken on the ram slide.

Paul.


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## ROB 123 (May 18, 2015)

I used a engine hoist/lift my mill weighs 310kg sx4  the trick is to make sure you have the straps the right length so you can lift it straight onto the bench .

I was 4" short of the bench height this caused a big problem as I was not sure that if I released the hydraulic lock it would come crashing down .

So I had to make a platform that would allow it to only drop a couple of inches this ment the mill was hung in the air 30mins  The last thing I wanted .
Rob.


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## bazmak (May 18, 2015)

If its a simple bench mill like the sx2 then lift the head and base as 2 
separate parts.At the end of the day its common sense


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## GLCarlson (May 18, 2015)

wm460 said:


> What is the best way to lift a mill from the crate onto the stand .
> 
> Can I wrap a sling around the head and lift from there?



The best way? Let somebody else do it. Hire a rigger who has all the equipment and insurance, and has done it hundreds of times. But assuming that's not a practical option, some thoughts.

Need a bit more info to be really helpful. Estimated weight? Does the manual show lifting points? How high is up? From what kind of surface? What's your past experience with this sort of operation?

Quantity has a quality all its own. A 300 pound lift is very different from a half ton or more. While 300 lb can hurt you, a slip probably won't kill you. With a half ton or more, that equation changes. In any case, never work alone.

What kind of lifting equipment is available? United Rental often carries a 2000 lb long-arm lift (towable) which can go as high as 10 feet reaching at least 3 feet in (that is, the base is around 5 feet) long. I've used that for lifts of 1500 lb onto 3 foot high stands. The cheaper Northern/Harbor stuff probably won't have enough reach. A gantry crane may work- but is hard to rent and expensive to buy. A hoist from the joists has been used, but remember that approach puts the load on the beams from the wrong side. 

I've also built cribs under a machine, using a scissor jack to raise it 3-4" at a time and then slid it over to a stand. And in several cases, just found 4 big guys and bolted 2x4 handles to the machine.. (worked a treat for a lathe bed- about 700 lb). Hit the local Gold's Gym with a few fifties in your pocket, or call a local mover.

The very first thing I'd do is ask the machine manufacturer how to lift it. That should be in the manual- but if not, call tech service and ask. 

Good luck, and be careful.


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## DJP (May 18, 2015)

I like the 'take it apart, move the pieces and put it back together' approach. It limits the risk of a top heavy lift that flips out of the slings.


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## Dave Sohlstrom (May 18, 2015)

You will get far better advice if you post some photos of the mill sitting on the shipping pallet or give us the make and model number so we can go to the mfg web page and look at what you are dealing with.

I've lifted 3 mills and 2 lathes and all were different.

Dave


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## ShopShoe (May 19, 2015)

When I got my X3, I designed the stand with bolt-on legs.

Moved Mill from crate to table-top on ground, bolted it to table-top.

Raised whole table top from underneath in steps, then attached and braced legs.

(Did all this by myself, but had someone standing by a few feet away ready to help or call for help as might have been required.)

My new and improved table for this mill will be the same height, so mill can be slid over.

Frank Hoose at Mini-Lathe.com discusses moving machines up ramp to table-top with electric winch and has some links to other machine moves.

--ShopShoe


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## tornitore45 (May 19, 2015)

It is standard practice to take apart Chinese machines to clean, lube, debur, inspect and fix anything assembled with a mallet.

So you have to take it apart anyway, and is a good opportunity to get familiar with your new machine.  Knowing how things go together is very helpful to have a feeling of what can be wrong when something does not feel right in operation.


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## GLCarlson (May 19, 2015)

tornitore45 said:


> It is standard practice to take apart Chinese machines to clean, lube, debur, inspect and fix anything assembled with a mallet.



True...but only for some Chinese mills. Disassemble a Tormach 1100 (for example) and you've invalidated the warranty. Of course, the problem only applies if the warranty is worth something.


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## Philipintexas (May 19, 2015)

I have a Mill-Drill that I've moved a couple times. Since it has a hollow column I lowered the head all the way, dropped a chain down the column and attached it  to a cross bar under the base. This is essentially lifting from the base and the chain kept it from tipping. I used an engine hoist to do the lifting.


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## wm460 (May 19, 2015)

Thanks for your replies the mill is a   SIEG SX3L  Mill and the weight is 162kg


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## jimjam66 (May 19, 2015)

Hey Mark - take a look at [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQAeDbps3QI&feature=youtu.be"]this video[/ame].  Early on he lifts the mill out of a crate onto a table (the video doesn't show the whole process but you might see enough to get an idea of how he positions the slings).  Not an SX3 but the weights are about the same.

David


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## XD351 (May 19, 2015)

Have a look on the grizzly site and find the operation manual for one of their machines that is the same as yours or very similar that is how i found the manufacturers recommendation on how to lift my machine - not a grizzly but they do one exactly the same as mine.


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## rodw (May 20, 2015)

Here's how the supplier told me how to lift a SX3.






The sling is around the swivel part of the column and it balanced nicely. Once on the stand, i hired an engine crane to get it to my shed.


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## Cogsy (May 20, 2015)

I used a 2.0 Ton engine crane to lift my mill onto my bench. The mill weighs around 350kg (~770lbs) and I had slings around the head. As I had to line up the mill with mounting bolts on the bench I manually put a bit of sideways force as I set it down. Quite unexpectedly the engine crane tilted in the direction of the sideways force and fell over. If I hadn't had my hand on the crane release lever and dropped the mill on the bench then it would have fallen to the floor. The moral of the story is be very careful of a heavy mill suspended by an engine crane, it's a heck of a lot closer to toppling over than you'd expect.


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## wm460 (May 25, 2015)

I put a couple of car stands under the back of the trailer, wound the jockey wheel up so it is firm, blocked the wheels.
Now  have got the mill sitting on the back of the trailer.
Decided to get a boilermaker to weld up the stand, because my welder is too light for the thickness of the material I am using.


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## wm460 (May 25, 2015)

I have started to un-crate it when I thought I would start clean it before it is in the shed.

My question is how to clean it, what do I have to dismantle?

Google and the search  is not my friend in this matter.


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## DJP (May 25, 2015)

I like kerosene for cleaning up machines especially if it is new machine with factor grease everywhere. Kerosene leaves a slight oily film which will protect the cleaned parts until you apply oil. For my new minimill I did not dismantle anything and it works just fine with its plastic gears.

The bigger challenge that you have is making the column perfectly vertical to the bed. I didn't have expensive gauges. I trued up my mill using a fly cutter where the cutting tool bit was replaced with a long scribe. When you rotate the spindle through 180 it's easy to check the gap from pointer to bed with feeler gauges. It was good enough for my first milling project which was to make parallels. You will needs lots and lots of parallels to position work at the right height. You might as well make them yourself as a first project.

Have fun as new machines don't come by often for me.


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