Moving Plywood

[Joe Calhoon]

Working solo now I don’t know what I would do without it. Don’t use many sheet goods but have moved a lot of heavy doors and timber with it. Larry came up with a wing nut with a built in washer to replace the oversized nut for height adjust. Much better, I would recommend getting one of these from Michael if you have the old system.

[Bradley Gray]

I work alone now too. It is amazing how easily and precisely it moves. I've used it to rip heavy doors - easy to keep the work against the fence without supporting the weight.

I will look into the wing nut. That is the weakest part.

[Jim Becker]

When the time comes that I have a new shop building I'm actually hoping to have the space setup that I can use a "Crazy Horse" type solution for moving heavy sheets around as they are difficult for me to maneuver at this point. I don't use much sheet stock, but there are "those times" when having the rolling, helping hand would be, well...handy...

[Edwin Santos]

When the time comes that I have a new shop building I'm actually hoping to have the space setup that I can use a "Crazy Horse" type solution for moving heavy sheets around as they are difficult for me to maneuver at this point. I don't use much sheet stock, but there are "those times" when having the rolling, helping hand would be, well...handy...

My Crazy Horse came in surprisingly handy for managing 8/4 boards. Boy, try lifting a 10' 8/4 piece of hard maple and like inflation, you'll find they've just become way heavier than they were 20 years ago.
With the CH you can stack two or three such boards onto the neoprene head and maneuver them like a marksman to your bench or work stands, pivot around and lay your side down where you want. Also, if you use the dolly like an A frame carrier, you can move sheets past a car while still parked in the garage as long as you have the width of the dolly itself 24" or so.

[Edwin Santos]

I got one of the last kits from Larry. I am still finding new uses.

No better way to go from truck to saw.

Makes a great "tail man" when ripping long, wide, heavy stuff.

I've thought about making an accessory head with roller balls to use as an outfeed stand at the bandsaw or table saw, with the dolly casters locked.

[Jim Becker]

My Crazy Horse came in surprisingly handy for managing 8/4 boards. Boy, try lifting a 10' 8/4 piece of hard maple and like inflation, you'll find they've just become way heavier than they were 20 years ago.
With the CH you can stack two or three such boards onto the neoprene head and maneuver them like a marksman to your bench or work stands, pivot around and lay your side down where you want. Also, if you use the dolly like an A frame carrier, you can move sheets past a car while still parked in the garage as long as you have the width of the dolly itself 24" or so.

That's a really good point, Ediwin. The device is generally thought of in the realm of sheet goods, but there's no reason one cannot balance something long and narrow on there, too, although it will likely tend to be less stable perpendicular to the length. You don't have the weight off to the sides like you do with a piece of sheet goods. So it just will take more care.

[Edwin Santos]

That's a really good point, Ediwin. The device is generally thought of in the realm of sheet goods, but there's no reason one cannot balance something long and narrow on there, too, although it will likely tend to be less stable perpendicular to the length. You don't have the weight off to the sides like you do with a piece of sheet goods. So it just will take more care.

It takes no more care, and actually quite a bit less because you have much more control with long, narrow heavy boards, even stacked in multiples. Hard to explain, but if and when you get one of your own (and I hope you do), you will see what I mean.

I will always be mystified at why Larry was not able to build a market for such a clever device. His videos were very good and it looked like he was promoting it well.
Sam Blasco made a video of himself managing sheet goods using the aluminum model with his slider saw setup.

[Kevin Jenness]

I will always be mystified at why Larry was not able to build a market for such a clever device. His videos were very good and it looked like he was promoting it well.
Sam Blasco made a video of himself managing sheet goods using the aluminum model with his slider saw setup.

My guess is he wasn't charging enough. I recall someone posting on this forum that it was too expensive. Once I had used it I found it invaluable.

[Joe Calhoon]

Michael has kept the cost down by producing totally on his CNC. And actually the plywood model is as good as my aluminum one. It knocks down and assembles easily for shipping. To me it is one of the most cost effective tools I have bought in a long time. Working solo very handy for me. A while back on the courthouse renovation I had to mill up long lengths of 16/4 mahogany. As long as you get the ball fairly center across the width of material it’s easy to handle. Along the length can be off center a lot.
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[Jim Becker]

My guess is he wasn't charging enough. I recall someone posting on this forum that it was too expensive. Once I had used it I found it invaluable.

...that plus the time commitment and it's also relatively easy to make something like that merely from a photo like many fixtures, which in turn limits the market further from what is already a small audience. Good ideas just don't pay out sometimes...

[Edwin Santos]

My guess is he wasn't charging enough. I recall someone posting on this forum that it was too expensive. Once I had used it I found it invaluable.

When I got mine, it was one of the last because he had already announced he was pulling the plug and wanted to offload the remaining kits. I gave him a call after I built it to compliment the product and expressed surprise that it didn't fly. He told me he had concluded the woodworkers, hobbyist and commercial alike, are a breed that will spend a dollar to save a nickel all day long.
Probably what Jim mentions was at play too. People looking at the thing and thinking hey, I could build that myself without really thinking about the cost of the parts, and time scratching your head thinking about how to replicate the non-slip dome head in something approximating the way Larry did it.

[Phillip Mitchell]

So can you still buy one of these, even the plywood versions? I’ve looked around a bit based on info in this thread and not seeing an easy answer. I’m intrigued.

[Bill Dufour]

Looks like a piano stool and a house jack had a baby. My house jack is used for setting upper cabinets.
Bill D.

[Mike Kees]

If your daughter's boyfriend is a framer, you'd be surprised how easy it is to move plywood. My job is to stay out of the way. Trying to help slows things down. Admittedly, he slows down with 3/4" MDF.

This was me 30 years ago. Routinely packed 3-4 sheets of OSB at a time. On a roof we would drop down to two at a time...

[Mike King]

So can you still buy one of these, even the plywood versions? I’ve looked around a bit based on info in this thread and not seeing an easy answer. I’m intrigued.

Joe Calhoon above has given you the answer.