Thread: Lifting in the shed

Now I need something like that!
Good use for some old bike parts maybe
Does it just have an simple ratchet to stop it unwinding or something more complicated so it has to be wound down as well?

Stuart

At the moment it will wind down if the hook is pulled. One reason to strip it down is to check whether there is a clutch or lock arrangement. The gearing is light enough that you could hold the load by hand (150kg/30:1 = 5kg). I'm wondering whether that odd bracket on the top of the gear box was for a loop to drop over the handle for holding purposes. The weather is forecast to be hot and humid over the next few days but I hope I'll know by the end of the weekend.

Michael

Micheal, I solved the problem of no longer being able to lift/change the four jaw chuck on my macson by buying a smaller lathe (and keeping the macson)
At the mo I have my dividing head and 600 x 250 mag chuck that I use on the mill on
a cupboard setup with castors that I can wheel over and slide the heavy stuff on and off,
it's getting to the stage now that I will have to move the mill close to the macson and make some sort of lifting jib to be used for both machines, also some jobs are bloody heavy and I sometimes have to use the forklift to put material/jobs in a machine.
That little crane on a swivel of some sort will be a beauty

Chain has the big advantage that it won't deteriorate (fray) like steel cable, and can handle the tightest of curves without stress.

Good idea, I haven't seen those before. Was it new ? Price ?

Rob

Ex tafe
I paid $150 - more than I'd like but I've bought sillyer for more...

Michael

That price is not too bad. Roller chain is quite expensive. I like the idea as you don't have a ram in the way and it should be fairly light weight.

How do you intend to support the chuck when you lift it ? I suppose you could use a wide cinch strap to grip it.

Rob

I thought I'd start with a hook as below and see if anything more was needed (Sorry for the tilt - the scanner 'corrected' so the text was horizontal I think). In my case chucks are stored under the lathe so the main problem is getting them from say below knee level up to bed level - once there I can make wooden carriages that I can put the chuck on and then slide that up to the spindle.

Scan.jpg
The second sketch is a thought for mounting it - if I have it in a straight swivel I can only lift on a radius. If I put the swivel on the end of a short boom (say 400 to 600mm long) I could then pick up anywhere within (approx) a metre radius circle. Takes away the issue of needing to position things more precisely.

Thoughts?

Michael

Will be a handy thing to have around.
I think it's a sky hook, they have been around the US for years
Sky Hook Ergonomic Lifting Equipment, Back Injury Prevention

Dave

Originally Posted by Michael G

Thoughts?

Michael

Concept sounds OK.

You could even take it further by using square section instead of that triangulated fixed section of the primary boom and make it horizontally adjustable (same an engine lifting boom - ie square section sliding inside another square section with a locking cross pin.

Rob

I spent a couple of hours in the shed today but frankly, it's the sort of weather that bananas grow in. We feeble door openers* aren't up to this sort of weather.
The unit had "The Silvaflame Co., Walsall" on a small plate down on the base. They are a UK company but they now do machine guarding, and I couldn't see a picture of a unit like this on their website.
I had thought that this crane was geared, but when I opened it I was greeted with this sight. Obviously not.
P1010604 (Medium).JPG P1010609 (Medium).JPG
The scratching on the inside of the cover made me think that the notched but dished washer in the centre of the sprocket should be straight so that was the first thing corrected. I then removed the sprocket and discovered a ratchet - of sorts. The ratchet wheel spins freely on the shaft (that shaft goes straight through and has a sprocket on it that moves the lifting chain). Looking very carefully at the stub of shaft sticking out, you should be able to see a thread. The large sprocket sits on that and with the flattened washer in place can rotate around 45 degrees before it is stopped. After much head scratching, I think it works like this -

• When winding the load up, the sprocket screws in against the ratchet so that there is no slipping
• When winding down, the sprocket unwinds against the ratchet plate so that it does not try to stop the descent. Any tendancy to move faster than cranking speed winds the sprocket back in contact with the ratchet (and stops things). Winding a load down appears to be more about keeping the ratched disengaged so that the load can pull things down.
• However, I can't work out what function the ratchet inside the cover plays - or even if it is engaged at the moment. It's only thin and the cover has been pushed out slightly. The notched washer is bolted to the shaft going through to the raise/ lower sprocket. Any ratchet on that (I would have though) would mean one way lifting. I'm half wondering whether it is someones effort to "improve" the design, and the notched washer does not really need to be notched

P1010607 (Medium).JPGP1010608 (Medium).JPG

Here it is lifting an Ellis dividing head - roughly around 20kg. The effort required at the hand-wheel was not great and the load did not slip, either up or down. In the photo it's around 20mm above the surface. Chain length is such that it will raise an item approximately 1.3m
P1010610 (Medium).JPG

It appears that only thing that stopped the crane functioning properly was the notched washer having been dished by some ham-fisted TAFE student. Once that was flattened out and the threaded sprocket/ shaft arrangement freed up it was working nicely. I think the odd looking thing above the chain box is a handle which was bend out of shape at some time.

Michael
(*See the new SA state logo. Same guy did the commonwealth bank logo. I remember thinking when I first saw that that it was amazing what some people got paid for)

[QUOTE=Michael G;
Michael
(*See the new SA state logo. Same guy did the commonwealth bank logo. I remember thinking when I first saw that that it was amazing what some people got paid for)[/QUOTE]

Only $ 1.3 million to develop that ?

Gee, what a bargain. What they don't tell you is the cost of changing all the stationery, signs, carpets etc with the old logo on it.

Govt sure knows how to waste money.

Looking at it I had no idea it was supposed to be a door until I read the blurb.

I always have a chuckle when I see those Victorian car number plates with "Victoria - the place to be" and they're driving around South Australia. DOH !!!!

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

"Victoria - the place to be" and they're driving around South Australia. DOH !!!!

That is an old slogan. Any Vic number plate is toxic in S.A. Last job I did in Adelaide, we got put up at the West Lakes Hotel. Just across the way from the stadium. I went to go to work one morning and the van had been keyed, and the antener was a pretzil.

If only they had the irony. I cant stand the AFL, dont follow a team. Wouldn't care less if they were all on a plane one day and they crashed into Antartica and they eat each other. I reallly dont give a rats. But some moron vandalised me because of the plate. This was in the roped off area that signified it as hotel parking.

I was there installing capital improving equipment for S.A. I really have problems going there for any one other than Holden now.

Phil.

I can only apologise for the rest of us in the state who do respect property. Our football morons take their job seriously. (Parking a VIC plated car at West Lakes when there is a match on is tempting fate though...)

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

I can only apologise for the rest of us in the state who do respect property.

Michael

Yes, same here.

Every state has it's morons.

Rob