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Thread: How do one man wood shops move large/heavy pieces?

  1. #1

    How do one man wood shops move large/heavy pieces?

    Ive been building furniture as a side hustle for a few years now out of my garage. In the past couple years, ive built several fairly sizeable pieces, such as a dresser and record cabinet. Both being 5ft long x 3-4ft high x 20" deep. Im curious how other one many shops manage to move pieces around their shop while under construction? I find that I routinely have to move it from my assembly table to saw horse, and back to the assembly table, at various stages, and without a second hand it is dam near impossible?

    Short of having someone come over to help me on a regular basis, id like to find a way be able to move pieces around much easier. I have a workbench and assembly table that doubles as a table saw outfeed table, so I frequently need to move pieces off the assembly table to be able to use the table saw. Id like to hear how other one many shops deal with this sort of thing.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    I have built a few pretty large pieces and have used furniture slides to help move them. I think the heaviest piece I have made so far was an armoire that is pretty much solid hickory. This piece was moved from the basement to a 2nd floor bedroom and I took the doors, drawers and the top off to make it moveable by two people.

    However, in the shop, once a piece starts to come together, if it's too heavy to lift to my work bench for assembly, I assemble on the floor.

  3. #3
    Furniture dollies, floor-level assembly tables, large levering devices, blocks of wood, hoists, straps, and muscle memory (that being the memory of at one time having muscles, since replaced by thoughtful cunning.)

  4. #4
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    I have five kids and a son in law. They are cheap...

  5. #5
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    I design with the thought that I have to be able to move the thing. I break the furniture into modules small enough that I can move each module by myself. Generally the modules travel to their new home seperately, and get reassembled there.

    While I'm thinking about modularizing, I'm also thinking about the transport problem. The new home might be up stairs, or up an elevator, or have other issues. Solving those issues is easier in the design phase than when you're trying to deliver a completed piece.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    I design with the thought that I have to be able to move the thing. I break the furniture into modules small enough that I can move each module by myself. Generally the modules travel to their new home seperately, and get reassembled there.

    While I'm thinking about modularizing, I'm also thinking about the transport problem. The new home might be up stairs, or up an elevator, or have other issues. Solving those issues is easier in the design phase than when you're trying to deliver a completed piece.
    Another option is to assemble in place. Then, when it has to be moved, it’s somebody else’s problem.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Dawson View Post
    Another option is to assemble in place. Then, when it has to be moved, it’s somebody else’s problem.
    To be clear, I usually assemble the complete piece in the shop, then take it apart to move it to wherever it is going, and reassemble it there. I connect the modules with fasteners which can be un-done, to enable that process. I usually teach the new owner how to disassemble the piece, so if they do eventually want to move the piece, they can.

  8. #8
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    That's an excellent question....and I resemble that one person that needs to move big things situation from time to time. I use a combination of methods, depending on the what. One thing that's been golden for me is having adjustable height work surfaces that can also be mobile. It's far easier to slide things laterally from surface to surface than it is to lift things between. But sometimes lifting is necessary, so I try to think it through and provide intermediate support when possible and only having to lift one end at a time. So the bottom line is to think it through and know when you reach your safe limit.

    Big things happen in small shops...

    This took a makeshift setup with both the primary bench and axillary support. 52" x 85" x 3"



    This was smaller....40" x 98" x 2" but much, much heavier; walnut vs d-fir



    This project was, perhaps, the most challenging, not so much for weight, but because of the limitations that two arms and one body bring...especially since it had to be assembled and knocked down a few times for joinery refinement. A few long clamps and ratchet straps had to be employed as well as temporary blocks clamped on to frame members to provide that third hand when necessary.

    VJTE6467.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    If you have the floor space to keep it around, a Harbor Freight hydraulic table is wonderful. I bought one to unload heavy items from my van, but find it very useful for moving anything around in the shop.

  10. #10
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    I have a chain hoist that I can hang from the rafters and a hydraulic table. I used both to build my workbench which ended up at 300 lbs. Recently I bought a shop crane on sale at Harbor Freight to unload and tip up a 500 lb bandsaw. The cost was less than renting one for a few days. I'm about to start a freestanding cabinet for the kitchen that will be 6' tall and 4' wide. All three items will come in handy for that project.

    Cliff
    The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.
    Charles Bukowski

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Dawson View Post
    Another option is to assemble in place. Then, when it has to be moved, it’s somebody else’s problem.
    Final glue ups on our california king bed happened in the bedroom because I didn't want to haul it up there assembled (man is that headboard heavy). I honestly am not sure if it can make the final turn on the stairs. Might just be a permanent fixture in the house.

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    I rented an engine lift (shop crane) for ~$30/day (1 day rental) to move my J/P from its shipping pallet onto a mobile base. I had an assortment of straps and shackles for lifting/towing/pulling.

    The OP would likely be using it more often, so purchasing one might be a better option. Most are designed to fold up for storage in 2x3 feet or so of floor space.

    -- Andy - Arlington TX

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Myles Moran View Post
    Final glue ups on our california king bed happened in the bedroom because I didn't want to haul it up there assembled (man is that headboard heavy). I honestly am not sure if it can make the final turn on the stairs. Might just be a permanent fixture in the house.
    I’ve had that problem a couple of times. The solution was a sawzall. (I try not to get too attached.)

  14. #14
    I have wrestled that problem for over 30 years. We (currently two of us) build large, heavy architectural work - mostly large doors - in a small shop. No room for forklifts, or boom lifts and a pitched ceiling means a beam lift would not work well. We also have to get it all out the doors, and into a truck.

    So, it is a series of strategies, no one solution. First, we build in small sections and work them through so we don't have to wrassle them when they are part of a 300# door.

    Next, and most important, is we have all machines and benches and horses and anything else at the same height - 38". A mortiser is higher, lathe doesn't count. But the same height means things can easily be slid from machine to bench to horses, to bench. If sanded and face down, then it is on a quilt and easily slid about.

    We will tack on a ripping along the edge of the door and tip it off the bench (2 man job) onto the floor, and and then drag it around and out the door into a truck with the deck at shop floor height. But other than leaving the shop the work is almost always at that 38" height.

    Photos of shop, etc at the new website: www.acornwoodworks.com
    I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
    - Kurt Vonnegut

  15. #15
    I've built two base cabinets for my house so far this year that were a challenge. Each is 7 feet or a little more long, 36 inches high and 22-24 inches deep. The guy that did my last hernia surgery warned me that if I get another, there isn't much they can do. So I work hard to stay under his 100 lb suggestion. Both these cabinets were more than that but I did not lift more than 100 lbs. I assembled them in my car garage adjacent to the shop on saw horses. When I moved them to the house, they had no doors or drawers or top. Btut just the carsase was a little too heavy to lift. So I lifted one end, got that end off the saw horse and then did the other end. Then a furniture dolly went under the cabinet. At the door, one end went in and onto sliders so I could lift the other end and slide the cabinet into the house. The two more sliders went under and I pushed it to it's home where more tilting, picking up one end and sliding got it into position. These are not the only pieces I've made that were heavy but just two recent examples. For me the necessary steps are to lift only one end of something big like this and to get it on wheels whenever possible. When wheels cannot reasonably be arranged, sliding it generally will work. I used the same steps plus tilting and walking to get my ~300 lb bandsaw and my ~500 lb table saw into the shop by myself. In those cases I only raised the tool enough to get it to slide. I slid it out of my truck onto the ground and walked it to it's home.

    My techniques are admittedly easier working in my house but I also make things for my kids and need to deliver them. But a customers house would be different.

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