It’s time to “put up” or “shut up”…………...

[Runs With Scissors]

Well it’s been a while since the purchase of my Bridgeport, and my garage is a F’ing disaster…..




Between the 9,000 projects I have going on, and the weather being “all jacked up”, I have had to “start and stop” basically every project I have been working on, and so I have 9,000 "half done projects" all needing to get done NOW!!!!!

One of the “biggies” on my list is that Bridgeport that is taking up space and just generally “getting in my way” …..

So it needs to get into the basement.

The weather is projected to cooperate for the next few days, so the time has come….Lets begin……….


Firstly I have to try and protect the tile. This is one of my main concerns, cause cracking tiles would mean “lots and LOTS of extra work”.






The stairs are another area of concern…..I certainly don’t want them to get damaged (or collapse) during this maneuver; So it’s off to Home Depot, to get some lumber to try and protect things.




My original idea, was to make a “Trolley and Rail” system out of that 1x1 steel and to attach to the various parts, then lower them down one at a time.

One thing that has been “bugging me” is the lack of "surface area” in my system……It’s hard to explain, but the “thin’ness” of that steel is making those voices in my head scream “NOOOOOOO"…….

So I decide to go to my “thinking place” that you probably call Home Depot…...

I sometimes go there to just “walk around and get ideas” for what ever project I am working on. This project has been “kicking around” in my head for months now, but I need some more “inspiration” …….

I still like my "Trolley System” idea, but there is a nagging voice in my head that says it still needs “something else”…….


Then as I am walking through the lumber section, just looking around, it hits me………I need lumber for project #8,673, the “up north deck replacement"

The deck will be made of pressure treated 2x6’s, so if I got 2x12’s, I could use them for the “mill runway” and then rip them down to 2x6 and use them for the deck…….2 for 1……….I like 2 for 1 ideas.

A short while later, Waalaaa




Now my plan is put those 2x12’s down the stairs as “runners” and have the “Trolley” slide/roll down them.

But something is not “kosher” in my head.

I am thinking that if things start getting a little “off kilter” it would be nice to have sort of a “bumper rail” of sorts to make things stay straight…..

I decide to screw on a “guide rail” system...

so I set up the saw horses and get to work.







Now originally, I was not worried about the 1st 18 inchs or so of the stairs cause I figured the trolly would have to “cantilever” over at least that far, but I am now ’second guessing” myself……

So I decide to “splice” a piece in, to make up for the small section I was originally “not worried about”




So I put a #10 SS screw every 6 inches, along the entire length of the board






This has a “calming effect” on my nerves…..I am liking it.









I like the "surface area” that these 2x12’s offer, and in my head that will "help distribute the load” better….But something is still “not quite right” in my head…..So I decide to sleep on it…..

Besides, I still have to “shore up” the stairs…..

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now for the "shoring up”, I decide to get a little “creative"






So I look through the scrap pile, and basically start stuffing anything I can find, under as many treads as I can.

It’s the old adage….If a little is good, more must be better”


I end up even taking my homemade grinder stands, and unbotlting the grinders to use the bases, for shoring support.


I used my tall jack stands, old chunks of metal,…….you name it…I used it.

I even employed the “cherry picker”




I feel like I am “more than good” for this amount of weight…

Basically in my head, I am using the Runs With Scissors inspired “Drunken Fat Guy” measuring system that I have developed.

The Drunken Fat Guy measuring system goes something like this:

I reason that the mill base is about 1,000 lbs, SO….if I had 4, 250lbs, Drunken Fat Guys, all hugging each other on my stairs, (2 standing on each stair) would they collapse?

In short, I don’t think so….


So now it’s back to the “runway” …There is still something bugging me…..

I don’t like the area under each tread….There is something in me that keeps saying I need to ’transfer the weight” to the top of each step….although I can’t explain exactly “why” I need to do this, I just do…...

So I sacrifice a 2 x 8 and make a series of “blocks"




Using 2 SS screws per block, I put those blocks in as many holes as I had.








I am feeling a little better about things now, but that “transition area”, from the tile to the stairs is screaming my name….

It needs attention, but I am not sure “what” it needs….It jusy needs “something"

I think I “slept on it” for a day or 2, but while I was eating dinner, "it hit me like a sack of hammers”….

I will make a steel “transition plate"


So I rush over to the computer and draw it up real quick.

Like a flash, I am running down to the CNC plasma cutter, computer in hand,

Then I “eyeball” the 10 gauge sheet of mild steel that is calling my name…..




Thats, when I start to "feel old”…..As i was picking that damn 1/2 sheet up, it dawned on me….This damn thing is heavy….hahaha….oh well. I barely hoist it up….(BTW this is how I get so behind…..Now I want to make a "hoisting system” for the Plasma table…..)



after a few seconds, 2 of these lovely “transition plates” pop out.




so it’s off to the brake to bend them up.

 

[Paul Allwood]

Haha - your posts are always very entertaining. Love following your train(s) of thought. I chuckled at your comment about now wanting to build something to load the plasma table - I get distracted just as easily.

I'm pretty busy, but you seem like a nice bloke and I could save you any more worry....I could just send you my address, and I'd even be happy to pay half of the freight. I promise I would would look after it and even send you photos. I've always wanted a mill.

People are always telling me how helpful I am.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now I will say this….although that brake comes in handy, it takes some “trial and error” to get the bends correct.

It’s pretty easy to “over bend” things.

But F’it….I aint making a watch here.

I gotta “carve out” some extra wood that is in the way, to try and “even things up” a wee bit.





After some “hacking and slashing” I get it to the point where I am "satisfied".

The demons in my head are quieting down a bit, and the “sense of calming”, sort of a “Zen like” feeling starts to wash over me…..

Life is good…...

So I screw them in place.












OK…..The shit is starting to "get real” at this point.

I can't think of anything else that needs to be done to the stairs.


So I position the Bridgeport near the hoist, cause thats what I am going to use to take it apart.




Now one thing that I have noticed about my “machine skates”, it that they accidently turn, at the most inopportune times…..so I dig thru the scrap pile and use some "old rebar” as a "makeshift axle”.

This keeps the skates pretty straight.





now for the disassembly.


I start by yanking the table.

Aside: I heve been diligently watching “Barry” from H&W Machine Repair on BoobTube….he has an excellent series on how to do all kinds of thing to Bridgeports. Nice Job and thanks Barry!!!!!


I will just give you the “Cliff Notes” version of the disassembly.

First the table and X and Y screws come off.









Then I slide the table onto the arms of the hoist





Then I yank the “cross slide”….( I know that is not the name, but I’m having a brain fart as I type this….will correct it later)

 

[Runs With Scissors]

The “pin” for this “cross slide thingy” gets stuck.





so I have to eventually saw it off.

Aside: according to “Barry” I will not use them to reassemble it, so apparently it won’t make any difference when reassembling.

But what job would be complete without adding a little blood…..hahahaha










Now for the “knee"

The mill is nearly 80 years old, so I am a little surprised at how well everything is coming apart.

 

[PHPaul]

I see three possibilities here:

1. You're single,
2. Your wife is away on vacation, or
3. You have a VERY understanding spouse.

All I know is, h377 would freeze over before I'd get away with that in MY house!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now for the knee





Like Butter………..





After spending nearly 80 years inside a shop, I decide that he needs a bath.







So my intention is to wash everything up before I start to take it down the stairs.


But….and there is always a “but”……….

I only get the based washed, when my SIL calls me and says that he just had a “job cancelllation” and that he will come over to give me hand, and we can use his machine (Vermeer skidsteer) to get it down the stairs.


Well, I decide to take him up on his offer, so that kind of puts my “scheduled timeline” in a weird spot.




Now, my "original plan” was to take my time, first wash, and then get all the small parts down the stairs first, then tackle the base.

Instead I start thinking that “hell, why go through all the trouble of getting the smaller parts down there, just to have this thing “crash and burn” when I do the "hard part” which should be the base?????

It’s making more sense to me, to do the hard part first, and I now have an opportunity to have a nice strong/young/smart guy helping me…..

OK…..Time to make a “course correction” , so I give the base a “quickie wash"




Then the next day, I start setting up

First I wrap the “snatch strap” around the wall, and





Here is the “back end” of the “system"



Now we use the Vermeer to lift it onto the porch.

My SIL suggests using his loading ramps to carry the base onto the porch.

However, I was “uneasy” with a 4,500 lbs machine, carrying a 1,000 lbs mill base, sitting on my concrete porch.

I really dont want to crack that porch……(And YES, YES…I know what you’re thinking….”Really dumbass, you’re worried about your CONCRETE porch, but you have no problem putting a full size mill in your basement????……..all I can say is that “I’m complicated” )

So we decide to just place the mill bass on the porch, and I come up with the idea to make a “steel ramp” to get it up and over the porch sill…..

So again, I run to the computer and draw up a few triangles, and one rectangle to make a “ramp”.


Now its off to the CNC plasma cutter……(BTW you NEED one of these things…trust me, but i forgot to take pics)

Now with the ramp pieces cut out, I use the hoist as a "makeshift welding table"




and weld her up




Then rig it up to the Vermeer





Now as we set it in place I notice something…...




The problem is I think we are going to damage the door threshold, so I “quickie cut” another piece to cover it, and weld it in place. (I hit the 10 pic limit, so see the next post)

 

[Runs With Scissors]

She rolls in just perfect.




Then after a "247 point turn"

We rig her up for “The BIG MOMENT"




It is at this point when I am mentally going crazy!!!!!!!

I feel my pulse racing…...

10,000 things are racing through my mind simultaiously……"It’s actually going to happen…."

“Are you F____ing Crazy????”

“It’s not too late to back out, dumbass"

“Who the F told you this was a good idea?"

“Where is the nearest hospital?"


I can’t recall with “exact mental clarity” the moment when it “cammed over” that metal threshold I made, it’s all still sort of a “mental blur”.

But trust me when I tell you this…...

My ass was clinched so tight that “you could not have shoved a sewing needle up my ass with a jack hammer”…………and I ain’t even kidding!!!!!

Then one thing happened that although I had “considered it”, when it happend, it shocked the hell out of me……"The Rope Stretch"

OMG

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I felt my heart sink, as that rope began to stretch…...

But it "held strong”,

We had “head sets” on so we could talk to each other and through a series of slow moves using the Vermeer to hold it in place and slowly inch it down, we "gently guided” it.











“Houston……The Eagle has landed"

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Haha - your posts are always very entertaining. Love following your train(s) of thought. I chuckled at your comment about now wanting to build something to load the plasma table - I get distracted just as easily.

I'm pretty busy, but you seem like a nice bloke and I could save you any more worry....I could just send you my address, and I'd even be happy to pay half of the freight. I promise I would would look after it and even send you photos. I've always wanted a mill.

People are always telling me how helpful I am.

Thank you for the kind words,…... and your generous offer sir.

 

[Pawnee]

Nice writeup and brilliant moves!

 

[Ping]

OMG, your wife must be a saint!
I'm glad to hear no tile was harmed in the filming of this weeks episode of 'What in the H3LL was Runs With Scissors Thinking'

 

[skeets]

Question is how you gona get all that stuff outa da basement?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Question is how you gona get all that stuff outa da basement?

OMG, your wife must be a saint!
I'm glad to hear no tile was harmed in the filming of this weeks episode of 'What in the H3LL was Runs With Scissors Thinking'

I don’t care how/if/when/why they do it?……………. I’ll be dead.

The wife absolutely refuses to move, so I told her about all the sh1t I was going to do, and she said…”Go ahead…….As long as I don’t have to move, I don't care what you do."

GAME ON!!!

I see three possibilities here:

1. You're single,
2. Your wife is away on vacation, or
3. You have a VERY understanding spouse.

All I know is, h377 would freeze over before I'd get away with that in MY house!

or

4. wife is too stubborn to move to a place with a “pole barn"

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Nice writeup and brilliant moves!

Thank you sir!

 

[McMXi]

A short while later, Waalaaa

Is that the redneck version of voilà?

Another very interesting and very entertaining thread from you. When I moved from Arkansas to Montana I had to get two 1,000 lb gun safes up some ramps and into the 40 ft container using a hand truck. I thought that was hard, but this thread makes me realize that it's all relative.

 

[bird dogger]

I was shaking while pressing the "down arrow" button to see each succeeding post & pics...fearing for the worst to happen!!

Also: It's unbelievable that there is not one vintage Ridgid Tool calendar to be seen anywhere on your shop or basement walls!!

Kudos to the results....so far!!

 

[jaxs]

I was shaking while pressing the "down arrow" button to see each succeeding post & pics...fearing for the worst to happen!!

Also: It's unbelievable that there is not one vintage Ridgid Tool calendar to be seen anywhere on your shop or basement walls!!

Kudos to the results....so far!!

I know what you mean. Every time I see the wheels start turning I think "this will be the one" where communication unexpectedly falls silent at some point. I was expecting that anchoring wall to pull away from bottom plate and WOOOSSSSH,,,,,,,,,quick trip downstairs without trolly wheels even touching ramps !

 

[Lil Foot]

Great project, great documentation, great wife!

One of the toolmakers that I worked with (and learned much from) needed to perform the same operation, the only difference was that the mill he was moving was about 3/4 the size of a Bridgeport. (can't remember the brand)
His son was a journeyman framer, so he cut the proper size holes in the roof and the floor, framed them in, and installed trap doors.
They hired a crane, lifted the mill, lowered it to the basement, closed the doors, and camouflaged them so you couldn't tell they ever existed. (except from the basement)

It worked great for them, but I think your method is less work, and makes more sense.

P.S. I shuddered when I saw the rope, because I figured it was a dynamic rope, (stretchy) not a static rope. (no stretch)
But that is only because I used to climb and spelunk, and made the same mistake. (once)

 

[Sidekick]

Time to replace the stairs with an elevator. Your gonna need it eventually just to get stock down and builds up as you get older. Probably cost about the same as all that lumber did to build the protection devices for a Redneck elevator . If someone complains about you running a machine shop in a HOA you may have to remove it . Never say never.