Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: small bridge crane

  1. #1

    small bridge crane

    I would like to set up a small ceiling mounted bridge crane for getting large blanks onto my lathe. I have a 1/2 ton chain hoist for lifting. The travel would not be more than a few feet in either direction, and there is about 60" clearance above the lathe centers. Does anyone have pictures of a similar arrangement or sources for parts, particularly the wheeled trucks?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    North Eastern West Virginia
    Posts
    104
    Google Unistrut. McMaster Carr sells Rails and trolleys that can support up to 600 lbs. It may get you what you are looking for.
    Joe

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Cary, NC
    Posts
    551
    I used a length of barn door track over the center line of my lathe. I mounted the rollers to an inexpensive electric hoist. The set up works great. I use it to take my tailstock on and off. Hope this helps.
    Joe

  4. #4
    Engine hoist? That might work well but has space requirements. I think you could get a fold up version to save space. Additionally it would be useful elsewhere.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,882
    Gantry crane?
    Bill D

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Fredericksburg, TX
    Posts
    2,576
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Bradshaw View Post
    I used a length of barn door track over the center line of my lathe. I mounted the rollers to an inexpensive electric hoist. The set up works great. I use it to take my tailstock on and off. Hope this helps.
    Joe
    I have similar to Joe. Remember, with a chain hoist, the load on the rail is the weight lifted plus the force effort to operate the chain and hoist weight. I like the use of electric hoist and Harbor Freight has pretty inexpensive.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Cambridge Vermont
    Posts
    2,282
    Do you have a solid wall near by? If so a wall mounted jib crane could work. I assume that you are only lifting a few hundred pounds at most. Paired with a trolley and your chain hoist I think it would work just fine for what you want. Plus it would take up almost no room.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    N CA
    Posts
    1,279
    I have a storage space in my attic trusses and cut the sheetrock out of a bay of the rafters. I put a one ton electric winch up there boiled to the rafters and reinforced to lift things up to the storage area. You may be able to do the same and run a 4x6 or such across a number of rafters to better carry the load. If you can rig it off the rise of your rafter, all the better. By opening the ceiling you keep your floor to ceiling height open. The body of your come along, the chain or cable, the hook, the choker and the material and you may be pushing it at 60".

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,882
    A patient lift is a smaller lighter version of a engine hoist. You should be able to get one for around $100. They are more maneuverable but only 300-400 pound weight limit. Some even have a battery powered lift function. Make sure the casters can be locked. Many will have a sling bar instead of a hook so you have to make something to fit.
    Bill D

    https://www.biscohealth.com/product/...SABEgJj7PD_BwE

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Mesa, Arizona
    Posts
    1,798
    Kevin -- You've received several good responses to your question about using a bridge crane to mount large blanks onto your lathe. Allow me to point out another option: The 1000 Lbs. Capacity Hydraulic Table Cart (lift cart) from Harbor Freight. It's not a perfect replacement for a bridge crane, but it will lift a heavy blank 34.5", allowing you to wheel the blank right up to your lathe. If you need additional help, a chain hoist mounted directly above you lathe could be used to move the blank from the lift cart and suspend it above the ways.

    It may not be as elegant a solution as the one you have in mind, but I'm confident you'll find lots of additional uses for the lift cart. I bought one a couple of months ago and I don't know how I got by without it. Well, I do. When I was younger, I could move something heavy out of my pickup's bed without too much problem. Now, I just roll the cart to the back of the truck and lift the table to the height of the bed. It made assembling my new PM 3520C much easier than it would have been. It also serves as the 'mobility kit' for the lathe. I just put the table under the bed of the lathe, lift it a couple of inches, and I can wheel the lathe around the shop with one hand.

    This is just another way of skinning this particular cat.
    David Walser
    Mesa, Arizona

  11. #11
    I don't really have space for a roll-around lift, and the ones I have seen look like the legs would run into the headstock pedestal when the load was in the right place. My welder friend has some surplus Cannonball sliding door track and trolleys that should work with some fabrication to hang a center track section from the side rails/trolleys. A couple of log tong type hooks connected by chain will serve to grasp the blanks with minimal slack The chain hoist hook should be no more than 24' below the ceiling when retracted. As my friend Ron says, " I think it will work- I saw it in a cartoon once."

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
    Posts
    3,895
    I installed several overhead hoists in my shop. One of the best investments I made. Fairly cheap I used the Northern Tool ones. If you're working in a relatively fixed area, so don't need the X-Y movement, they are great. I'm not sure if that would work for 5-6 feet. The sway would certainly get your attention. You could mount a hoist on rollers to a steel rod supported properly on both ends. That would get you the horizontal movement, though just in one axis.

    I looked seriously at bridge cranes for my shop. Got absurdly expensive, and I'm frankly getting more use out of the several overhead hoists.

    I do wish I had installed a few more. I may still, but with 17' ceilings, it's not a cheap or easy option.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    N CA
    Posts
    1,279
    You have a welder friend? Problem solved. How about this? Make a wall bracket mounted high on the wall, centered to the lathe. Figure your beam length needed to pick the blank and roll it to the correct spot. The support leg could be a simple A frame that can fold up when not in use. You need to pick the load high enough and clear of the lathe so it can then be rolled into place. Otherwise if the blank is hitting/moving the lathe you have additional problems. You could actually suspend the beam from the ceiling so it does not have to come down once you make a pick. The support legs can then be affixed when you need the lift and removed to keep your floor space clear.

  14. #14
    I rigged this up with some free sliding door hardware from my friend's old shop. It racks a little in use but not too badly. It would have been much simpler to use a single track over the lathe centerline, unfortunately there is a line of lights directly overhead so this seemed the best solution. I used Timberlock screws through the track up into the joists to get the minimum standoff from the ceiling and found the trolley wheelsoverhead crane.jpgskyhook chainfall.jpg just barely cleared the fastener heads. As it turned out I have plenty of overhead clearance and would have done as well to use the track brackets as I did on the crossbeam.skyhook pick.jpg

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,882
    To lift my mill/drill I made an I beam. I bolted a C channel to each side of the ceiling joist above the bench. They sat on a bolted 2x4 that was screwed to several studs against the wall. I came out about four feet. I jacked a 4x4 under the free end before lifting. Lifted 600-700-- pounds with no stress.
    Get an Army type hoist or a cyclone hoist to save headroom or use a low headroom trolley with a regular hooked hoist.
    Bill D

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •