Hoist for lathe

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I've been thinking about my back lately and the fact that with a new large capacity lathe on the way that it would be nice to have a hoist to raise those heavy blanks to the spindle position. I've not heard any of you talk about having one but I thought I'd ask if anyone does anyway. If so any thoughts or recommendations. I looked at HF and they have some reasonable 12V 2000lb ones (winch)pretty cheap. I just don't know anything about them. Is power or chain drawn the better way to go?:confused: :) They even have a rope draw that would handle most blanks for about $7.00:eek: Joke Guys!!

[Jim Becker]

Not a bad idea with your back situation. I would think that a manual hoist would be easier to manipulate, but I have no experience. It would be nice to have it on a short track so you can lift next to the lathe, slide it over and then bring it down to spindle height for mounting...something to ponder!

[Pete Jordan]

You better get that lathe soon. You are shopping up a storm! I have a chainfall that I use for my garden tractor but have not used it for blanks. I have to figure out how to hold the wood so it would not fall on my foot.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Christopher....I've got a suggestion that will protect your back. Have that Stubby delivered to my shop. I will ship my Jet VS Mini to you. You won't have to mount any blanks larger than 9.5" that way. Save your back Christopher...You only have one!:D

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Christopher....I've got a suggestion that will protect your back. Have that Stubby delivered to my shop. I will ship my Jet VS Mini to you. You won't have to mount any blanks larger than 9.5" that way. Save your back Christopher...You only have one!:DI don't wish to disappoint you but that Stubby really isn't a Stubby. (Robust American Beauty 25) Actually, I'm not quit ready to sign the adoption papers on "Beauty" just yet. I do know however you'd be a good parent and I won't forget you. I want you to know however, you have an open invitation to come turn on her when in this neck of the woods. Hint...Hint!:)

[David Epperson]

I've worked with hoists and cranes and wince whenever anyone tlaks of using a winch for a hoist. True a 2000lb winch will probably never fail when used to lift 50lb blanks, but it's the principle that winches are not designed for lifting or load holding. My personal favorite in this load range is a little ratchet chain hoist. Mine is 550lb capacity with 8 to 10 ft of lift and would fit in a tool box. HF has something similar I think, though a bit bulkier. For hoisting a blank, I'd shop for a few nylon slings too, while you're at it. I haven't seen very many trees with lifting eye hooks built it. :D

[Fred LeBail]

I have a lift set-up on my wood splitter. It consists of a Boom arm ,2 pulleys and a set of Pinchdog tongs. The lifting is done with a Boat loading winch. ( cheap). The system works great for the larger firewood logs.The cable attaches to the arms of the dogs and force the points into the wood.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I don't wish to disappoint you but that Stubby really isn't a Stubby. (Robust American Beauty 25) Actually, I'm not quit ready to sign the adoption papers on "Beauty" just yet. I do know however you'd be a good parent and I won't forget you. I want you to know however, you have an open invitation to come turn on her when in this neck of the woods. Hint...Hint!:)


Christopher ....I have nothing against Robust.....PM me for the address of my shop.......In a reciprocal agreement...I'll pay for shipping on the Mini..You pay for shipping on the Robust!:D

[Pete Jordan]

This looks pretty good.

http://www.harderwoods.com/hoisttrack.html

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I have a lift set-up on my wood splitter. It consists of a Boom arm ,2 pulleys and a set of Pinchdog tongs. The lifting is done with a Boat loading winch. ( cheap). The system works great for the larger firewood logs.The cable attaches to the arms of the dogs and force the points into the wood.Fred, any chance of getting a pic when you have a chance? Thanks for sharing.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Christopher ....I have nothing against Robust.....PM me for the address of my shop.......In a reciprocal agreement...I'll pay for shipping on the Mini..You pay for shipping on the Robust!:DYou're Kill'in me here Ken!!:eek: :eek: :D :D

[Phil Powell]

Chis,
I have a 1 ton engine hoist that I bought from Harbour Freight. It's on
wheels and folds up to a package about a foot thick. As I recall it was
on sale and cost me something like $129.00. Works like a champ!

[Mark Cothren]

My hoist is about 75" tall and weighs about 230 pounds. I've had it for a little over 17 years, but I just can't seem to get done paying for it. It sure eats a lot of groceries, too...:D

[Quinn McCarthy]

Chris

Check this one out!

http://www.hansonwoodturning.com/

Quinn

[Pete Jordan]

Chris,

I saw somewhere where a person mounted a pickup hoist from HF right on the ways of their lathe.

[Bill Wyko]

Christopher you should really try segmenting. You can build as big as your lathe will allow only one little piece at a time.:rolleyes:

[Ted Calver]

Chris,
I use a hydraulic lift table I got from HF to get the big stuff off the floor and onto the lathe bed--then wrestle it on from there. The latest HFD flyer showed a new? portable beam structure that you could attach a winch to and use to lift a load from the floor to the lathe.http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41188

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Great info guys. Thanks:)

[Glenn Hodges]

Sometimes I use my engine hoist to mount big blanks for turning. It is on wheels so I can move it out of the way when not in use. For medium size blanks I have a high school football player which helps me after school.

[Paul Engle]

Chris, take a look at the 500lb chain falls , very cheap and useable anywhere, and will give your back a work out without tying it in knots.

[Fred LeBail]

Chris, I'll post some pic's a little later, if I can remember how !!!!!

[Phil Powell]

Chris,
You may want to contact Brent. At one time he was about to market
an attacment to your lathe named"Sky Hook". It is a hoist that works
like a tailstock. Maybe he could include one with your lathe delivery.

[Fred LeBail]

Well Chris, here goes with the pic's. Sorry about the quality but i was in the shade.
There are outriggers on the splitter to help balance it when swinging large blocks around but the base of your lathe will do fine.

The first picture is of the over-all setup. Second is the Boat winch and the third is the pinchdog tongs.
This removable on the splitter because of the stability issue on uneven ground but it could be permanent on your lathe.

Hope this helps.

[Joe Mioux]

I've worked with hoists and cranes and wince whenever anyone tlaks of using a winch for a hoist. True a 2000lb winch will probably never fail when used to lift 50lb blanks, but it's the principle that winches are not designed for lifting or load holding. My personal favorite in this load range is a little ratchet chain hoist. Mine is 550lb capacity with 8 to 10 ft of lift and would fit in a tool box. HF has something similar I think, though a bit bulkier. For hoisting a blank, I'd shop for a few nylon slings too, while you're at it. I haven't seen very many trees with lifting eye hooks built it. :D

This needs to be noted!

Hoists and winches are two different animals.

[Don Snethen]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[Christopher Zona]

Is that .... snow? Still??

[Don Snethen]

Chris,

Several years ago I was at the point of needing something like you state that you would like. Here is how I did it. I bought a ten-foot section of boxed rail barn door track with four-wheel rolling trucks (trucks are rated at 240# each) and mounted it over my lathe and work table/bench. One end is attached to the wall behind my lathe and the other end is hung with all-thread from the truss over my work table. There is about three feet between my work table and my lathe and I bring the heavy turning blank in on my hand truck and with a small block and tackle (deer hunter type) I hoist it up. From chain I made a net-like, or cage-like, carrier, sort of like a tire chain only much smaller in diameter, and this wraps around the blank and is latched at the bottom end. This works well on any shape or odd-shaped blank. I move the blank over to my work table where I can attach a faceplate (or prep the blank however I choose), hoist it back up and move it over to the lathe. The chain carrier allows me to turn and twist the blank within it to align the faceplate. I control the hoisting and aligning with one hand while using the other one on the spindle handwheel to thread the spindle into the faceplate. I unlatch the chain carrier, bring up the tailstock and am ready to turn.

One step that I forgot is that since I only needed eight feet of the track I mounted the two foot cut-off section flat against the wall behind the lathe and then hung the wall end of the long track from it on a rolling truck. This gives the lathe end of the track some lateral movement left and right as well as forward and backward to facilitate the alignment of the blank.

The small block and tackle has a double tandem set of pulleys so provides a four to one weight reduction ratio. It is adequate for the blanks that I turn and does not take that much energy to operate. I doubt that I will ever want to turn anything too large for this setup.

This system is not rocket science and is not expensive to do and works well for me in my particular situation. I imaging that you have questions so ask away.

Don

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris....call the manufacturer....have the lathe shipped to me.....have the bill shipped to you......I'll ship you my Mini Mayo Light and you won't need an engine hoist to put blanks on the lathe. That problem will become mine.:rolleyes: :D

Seriously....look at an engine hoist. I've used them to raise 650 lb. h.v. transformers. The ones I've rented had legs that closed together or could be removed when not in use. They take up less room then.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

This has been a great help Guys! I really appreciate the info and have some good stuff to consider.:)

[Ted Calver]

Chris,
I mentioned this earlier but didn't have a link. With a really bad back, I'm seriously considering this thing as a way to lift blanks--maybe even help get the logs off the truck.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41188

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Chris,
I mentioned this earlier but didn't have a link. With a really bad back, I'm seriously considering this thing as a way to lift blanks--maybe even help get the logs off the truck.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41188
Wow, how'd I miss that. Thanks for the link.:)