Another shaper to think about and a few questions

[Vinny]

Don't you have a neighbor with a forklift?

[haroldmulder]

Depending on what you have for scrap material laying around you could unload that yourself. I recently moved a Van Norman #2 mill into my new garage. I loaded it onto the trailer and then off again all by myself. I used chains and a chain hoist along with 1/2"pipe for rollers and then two pieces of 3" angle iron to slide the machine off the trailer. The trailer was still hooked up to the truck and I also use jack stands under the rear of the trailer to prevent slippage. Hear is a picture showing the mill halfway down the ramp. Well I was going to post a picture but cannot find a way to post picture directly from computer to this forum. So here's a link to my blog on restoring a couple of old machines and the photo will be on the page that opens. The March issue of my blog. Restoring lathe and mill

Harold

[Dr Stan]

The pic of Harold unloading his mill is quite reminiscent of how I've unloaded multiple machines.  Keep the trailer hooked up to the tow vehicle, use ramps, rollers, and above all else take your time and be careful.  Plan out your moves in advance so if something unexpected comes up you'll be more prepared for "plan B".

Have someone else keeping an eye on "things".  Even if they cannot help with the unloading they can at least provide a 2nd set of eyes to help avoid any mishaps.

[Roadracer_Al]

There are two types of lubricant introduction devices.  One is for oil, the other for grease.  They look so close they often get mixed up and the wrong material inserted into the wrong places.

An oiler (the iconic US manufacturer is Gits... our UK members can have a good laugh, now)  And they look like this:



There is a small hole in the bottom of the "can", a spring, and a ball.  The spring-loaded ball keeps junk out of the oil galleries.

A grease nipple is a different creature all together.

A grease gun has a spring loaded clip which grabs onto nipple, hence the iconic shape.

[Pete O]

Thanks for the link to your oil-gun Darren, there are obviously still a lot of old threads that I haven't managed to read yet. I might even have one or two that I could convert, but just small ones that would need refilling constantly. Hmm, maybe fitting a bigger reservoir to a grease gun.....

Thanks Stan, yes I did build the trailer 25 years ago- would do several aspects of it quite differently if I was doing it again now but it tows beautifully and has served us well over the years. Just had it sandblasted and painted and it looks better than it ever has.

Vinny, a neighbour with a forklift would be ideal, not a goer unfortunately. Bloke who used to live next door had an old Massey Fergusson industrial yard crane that was very handy- unloaded my lathe which probably weighs 3 times what this shaper does. His property was bought by the farmer who owns much of the surrounding land and I somehow seem to have got him offside- he won't even wave to me as we pass these days! Not even sure what I did to upset him.  

I'll have a think about making a ramp to unload it but I'm leaning toward the partial dismantling- in addition to reducing the weight and making it safer, it will give me access to the idler gear that is loose as well as enabling me to clean out much of the old grease.

[Pete O]

I must type very slowly- two replies whilst I was typing!
The oilers in Al's post are what is on my lathe- I have about a dozen of them left over from a batch i bought to replace damaged ones when I bought it. The grease nipples are what is on the shaper- but from several other posts on this forum, I have been given to understand they are still intended for oil.

When I bought the Elliott mill, I had to pay a bloke to unload it. Kicked myself afterward, realising I could have built a very sturdy knock-down gantry for the same money. Then I'd still have the gantry.

[Dr Stan]

(09-05-2016, 06:50 PM)Pete O Wrote: When I bought the Elliott mill, I had to pay a bloke to unload it. Kicked myself afterward, realising I could have built a very sturdy knock-down gantry for the same money. Then I'd still have the gantry.

Sounds like you have come up with your own solution.

[Pete O]

I have the machine unloaded, without spending any more money to do so. Began by removing the motor, gearbox, table and ram;

   

   

The ram took a fair bit of maneouvring to lift out of the ways once the gib was removed. Didn't stop to take any pics as I was poop-scared of dropping it.

Left me with this on the trailer, which went outside for a good clean.

   

Then back inside and a bit of work to swing it safely off. It was quite a job for the little floor crane.

Got the idler gear sorted out- the retaining nut had come loose, allowing some unwanted end-float. Applied some 243 to prevent it coming loose again.
Got the machine to this stage before the dinner bell:

Have to mow grass tomorrow, hoping I can get another couple of hours on the shaper later in the day. Need to wash out the gearbox before re-mounting it.

   

[Pete O]

Don't know what happened with that post- I'm sure I only removed the gearbox once.

[Mayhem]

Nice to see you got it off OK Pete.