Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[71 MKIV]

I concur on the VFD. VFD's are better than rotary converters which are better than static converters.

Weird fact of the day. Any 3 phase motor can be used as a rotary converter. Hook up your two hots to two of the inputs, and use a rope, ala old lawn mower, to get it spinning. The third phase is induced into the third connection of the motor. Your converter just needs to be bigger than the motor you are running. IE, a 5 HP converter will comfortably run a 3 HP or smaller. The armature of your converter needs to be big enough to have the mass so as to not stall trying to start your machine.

edit: the only difference between a rotary converter and a regular motor is the converter is wound so it starts on only two phases.

I didn't see any CAD machines and I'm not sure how much speed control Thomas needs. A high quality rotary with some capacitive filtering might be a nice compromise between cost and use.

FWIW
YMMV
Steve
AKA 71 MKIV

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

Thomas, Chris, Happy New Year!

Thomas, Congratulations on your retirement. I highly recommend it! I retired from the Army National Guard after 40 years this past September. I only bring it up to serve as an example.

You see........

I,


......FLUNKED retirement!

About 30 days before it was to take effect, The Dept. of the Army Civilian Personnel office at Fort Rucker, AL called and offered me a dream job.

I used to tease my wife that when I retired I was going to get a job at the local airport teaching people to fly a couple days a week. Well the position I was offered is teaching former pedestrians how to fly UH60 Blackhawks for the US Army. It's more than a couple days a week, but it's an absolute blast! We are in the process of moving across the country, buying a house and building a shop (whose process has been heavily influenced by stumbling across YOUR thread and thus GJ).

So whether the example is good or bad, only you can determine, just be careful what you say.

Again, congratulations to you and your bride!

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

Thomas;

I think you you are a great example of this, I hope you enjoy it.

 

[bluesharpman1]

AWESOME JOB!!!...I love restorations like this........

 

[hobbitss]

Thomas;

I think you you are a great example of this, I hope you enjoy it.

Yep... That's him... Good call...

 

[BB767]

Thomas regarding three phase power for the new house: If bringing that in is impossible suggest you look into Variable Frequency Drives for the required machines rather than a phase converter. The VFD's have really come down in price over the years, and are much safer and trouble free than other devices.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me over the past four years, and I look forward to future projects.

I concur on the VFD. VFD's are better than rotary converters which are better than static converters.

Weird fact of the day. Any 3 phase motor can be used as a rotary converter. Hook up your two hots to two of the inputs, and use a rope, ala old lawn mower, to get it spinning. The third phase is induced into the third connection of the motor. Your converter just needs to be bigger than the motor you are running. IE, a 5 HP converter will comfortably run a 3 HP or smaller. The armature of your converter needs to be big enough to have the mass so as to not stall trying to start your machine.

edit: the only difference between a rotary converter and a regular motor is the converter is wound so it starts on only two phases.

I didn't see any CAD machines and I'm not sure how much speed control Thomas needs. A high quality rotary with some capacitive filtering might be a nice compromise between cost and use.

FWIW
YMMV
Steve
AKA 71 MKIV

Thank you both for the advice on VFD's. That's beyond my knowledge level. I haven't looked into specifics of what I'm going to do for wood shop 3 phase electrical power once I move the equipment. Here's a look at the motor data plates for...



...both the Yates American planer and jointer, both circled. They are 5 HP, 3 phase, 440V. The motors look different sizes because of the angle of the photograph but really...


...(here is the planer motor, serial # 8205)...



...(here is the jointer motor, serial #8167) As you can see they are the same spec and size motors. These are the highest horse power 3 phase motors I have. A physically large 3 phase motor is the General Electric motor on the Oliver 20" disc sander.



Manufactured in 1939, it's a brute, shown here for scale.





Although much larger in size than the Yates motors, it's modestly rated at only 2 HP, also 3 phase 440V.



The GE measures in at about 11" (28 cm) in diameter (hard to see from that angle) and about 12" (30.5 cm) long.





The Yates motors are a little over 6" (15 cm) in diameter and 9" (23 cm) long.



The literature with the Yates machines claims use of a proprietary electric motor design (Yates American designed and manufactured their own electric motors) which is more efficient, resulting in a smaller size for the same output. All the other wood shop 3 phase equipment is equal to or smaller that these motors. With that information and no variable speed necessary, would a VFD still be recommended? I know we're perhaps jumping the gun a little early. Once I get into specifics on the house and shop I'll be seeking specialty advice as needed from everyone here so thanks in advance.


Thomas

 

[BB767]

This post is the first thing I look at every day and often more than one time per day. I thank you for providing us with so much pleasure. I look forward to many more years of your fine work. Bob

The Virgil's bottle cap key fob for Gus is one of coolest things ever.
Thanks one more time Thomas and Chris for so much enjoyment with you through this ongoing adventure.
Vince

Thomas;

I think you you are a great example of this, I hope you enjoy it.

Some else posted that same observation a couple years back and I still find it most appropriate. Like Joe, I have to admit, yep that's me.

AWESOME JOB!!!...I love restorations like this........

Thank you all so much. I've said it before but it still applies, posting all the information here so far has been great fun and I still find it very rewarding that so many enjoy it. I've learned a lot myself from others posting in so it's very much a win - win situation I think. If you can possibly stand it, I've got some really fun material coming this way. Thanks again.

Thomas

 

[Jim C.]

Hi Thomas and Happy New Year! Thanks for posting a few more woodworking machinery pictures. Those are some serious "wood munching" monsters. In an earlier post regarding your new house, you mentioned incorporating an elevator into the plan. (Did I understand that right?) At first, I didn't totally understand why. I knew you had some old Delta machines, but thought that by doing a little disassembly, they could still be managed by by two people up and down stairs. I've moved a few Unisaws, a heavy duty shaper, 17" drill press, etc. All were pretty reasonably manuvered with just a dolly and a helper. NOW I see why you need an elevator if those Yates American machines and the Oliver sander are going into the basement!!!!! I hope they're not currently located in a basement!!! How would you get them out? Nice looking machines.

Jim C.

 

[71 MKIV]

Well drat. spent a fair amount of time composing a reply and the server threw me out. Apparently the login must time out at some point.

Anyway, I'm not deliberately trying to be a know it all, but I've been in charge of the railroad's electric motors for the last 20 years, so I have some experience in this kind of thing.

Your Yates machines are trading RPM's for size. Smaller, but faster. The sander is a lower RPM, larger size for more torque to spin that disc. Larger motor also allows the motor to be part of the machine, rather than tacked onto the machine.
The electrical equivalent of a small displacement high RPM engine, think F1, and an engine with lots of displacement and a long stroke, but no RPMs, think old tractor.
This:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rotary-Phas...604?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4170a3e99c
should give you an idea of budget numbers for when that time comes, that is also a good converter and the size I would recommend.
I noticed that the sander can be wired for 220 volts. If the Yates machines have nine wires in the motor connection boxes then they can too. Which would allow you to not have to use the transformers in the circuit, which would make a lot of things simpler and more efficient.

As always:
FWIW
YMMV
Steve aka 71 MKIV
"never underestimate the perversity of an inanimate object"

 

[BB767]

Hi Thomas and Happy New Year! Thanks for posting a few more woodworking machinery pictures. Those are some serious "wood munching" monsters. In an earlier post regarding your new house, you mentioned incorporating an elevator into the plan. (Did I understand that right?) At first, I didn't totally understand why. I knew you had some old Delta machines, but thought that by doing a little disassembly, they could still be managed by by two people up and down stairs. I've moved a few Unisaws, a heavy duty shaper, 17" drill press, etc. All were pretty reasonably manuvered with just a dolly and a helper. NOW I see why you need an elevator if those Yates American machines and the Oliver sander are going into the basement!!!!! I hope they're not currently located in a basement!!! How would you get them out? Nice looking machines.

Jim C.

Jim, you have some catching up to do on your reading I see. Serious discussion of the Yates 16" planer started back on page 247, post # 4922. I also have pictures of both it and the 18" planer as I did restoration on them back in 1980. Not sure what pages those are on but it's after page 247.

Here's a current picture of the Yates American jointer and planer to give you some size for scale.



As a matter of fact those machines just happen to be in the basement of our present home, but the garage is located under the house.



Since the garages, half hidden, and circled in blue, are on the same level as the basement, you can see I can back a semi truck down the driveway, unload equipment and then roll it through the garage into the basement/wood shop. Removal should be pretty straight forward. The jointer weighs approximately 2,150 lbs (975 kg) but it can be disassembled into smaller pieces so it's somewhat manageable. The planer on the other hand, doesn't readily come apart. It weighs around 1,900 lbs (862 kg) and I can only shed a few hundred pounds from it by removing the platen. It's pretty much a solid chunk of cast iron. Those machines, the disc sander and I have a very nice Delta 20" band saw (also 3 phase but 220V) are the main reasons I decided early in the design process of the new house to install a machinery lift/elevator to move equipment into the basement. I haven't designed that machinery lift as yet. It will be either 4' (1.2 m) X 4' or 5' (1.5 m) X 5'. If anyone has some ideas on the matter, please let me know. I'm completely open to design at this point.

Thomas

 

[Amitygravel]

Hello Thomas !
First off , stay warm in this crazy weather !

That Yates .... WOW. I've never seen anything like that , very cool !

For a lift , wouldn't you literally need to adapt an automotive 2 post lift just because of the sheer size and weight ?!

Craig

 

[Stuart in MN]

So, your planer and jointer are running on 440vac three phase? If so that's pretty unusual these days, particularly in a residence. 440 is pretty much a 'dead' voltage; utility companies may still support old 440 services that have been in place for decades and decades, but I haven't come across one that will install a new 440 service anymore - 208vac or 480vac are the typical voltages for three phase services these days. Having said that, every electric utility has their own standards so you'll have to research the issue with your local utility. If you can get a three phase service at the new place, you still may end up having to add a transformer to get the proper voltage for the tools.

 

[BB767]

Well drat. spent a fair amount of time composing a reply and the server threw me out. Apparently the login must time out at some point.

Anyway, I'm not deliberately trying to be a know it all, but I've been in charge of the railroad's electric motors for the last 20 years, so I have some experience in this kind of thing.

Your Yates machines are trading RPM's for size. Smaller, but faster. The sander is a lower RPM, larger size for more torque to spin that disc. Larger motor also allows the motor to be part of the machine, rather than tacked onto the machine.
The electrical equivalent of a small displacement high RPM engine, think F1, and an engine with lots of displacement and a long stroke, but no RPMs, think old tractor.
This:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rotary-Phas...604?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4170a3e99c
should give you an idea of budget numbers for when that time comes, that is also a good converter and the size I would recommend.
I noticed that the sander can be wired for 220 volts. If the Yates machines have nine wires in the motor connection boxes then they can too. Which would allow you to not have to use the transformers in the circuit, which would make a lot of things simpler and more efficient.

As always:
FWIW
YMMV
Steve aka 71 MKIV
"never underestimate the perversity of an inanimate object"

Thanks Steve for the input. First off yes, the server will log you off after a few minutes. While you're composing a reply/post, every few minutes just hit the "preview post" button on the bottom of the reply box. That way you not only check your work but it refreshes your login so you don't get logged off. If you do get logged off when you try to submit a reply or post, the page that tells you you're no longer logged in will provide a log in spot and that should take you back to where you were before submitting. I've lost a few posts until I learned that myself. Hope you'll find that helpful.

The disc sander GE motor is presently wired for 3 phase 220V and runs off the normal shop 3 phase, 220V outlets.



None of the shop equipment is hard wired. We put plugs on everything. These 3 plugs are for the disc sander, the shaper and the 3 phase Delta Uni Saw. When Dad and I were working together we never ran more than 1 of those machines at a time so could utilize the same outlet. The bulk of the time we were using the table saw, so that's what's plugged in all the time.

There are several 3 phase 220V outlets throughout the shop.







These are just a few. We ran all the wiring, both 110 and 220 through the same conduit. Using plugs gave us flexibility so the machines could be repositioned easily if necessary.



Even the dust collector uses an outlet and a plug. even though it would never be moved. It's single phase 220V.



The Yates machines cannot be wired for 220V so I'm stuck with 440V, hence the transformers to step up each leg of the 220 to 440. The machines are in the middle of the room, concrete floor, brick walls made getting power to them a little challenging. Ultimately we installed the outlets on the ceiling and ran the plugs up there. They are the push in and twist type plugs so they stay plugged in. Never had a problem in over 30 years use.

That's interesting to know about the motor sizes. I figured as much since the Yates motors run approximately twice the speed of the GE motor. When I'm jointing and especially when I'm using the thickness planer I avoid taking heavy cuts to prevent working the motors too hard. I'd rather take several light passes to prevent bogging the motors. The disc sander is completely different. It is indeed a torque monster. Nothing could slow it down.

Thanks again Steve for your comments and input. That's what this thread is for. All of us friends gather in my shop via this thread and share information. It's worked pretty well for the last 4 years thanks to everyone's input. We've all learned a pretty wide range of subject matter here.

Thomas

 

[Stuart in MN]

The Yates machines cannot be wired for 220V so I'm stuck with 440V, hence the transformers to step up each leg of the 220 to 440.

In that case, disregard what I said earlier as you already have the transformer issue covered.

 

[71 MKIV]

Then it all depends on the engineer from the power company. The shops power, where it comes in from the street, is there one wire on the pole, or three? If there's only one, I gotta fried chicken TV dinner that says your outta luck on the three phase coming in from the utility. They aren't going to run the other two phases to just one customer.

Which means you get to pull that lovely electrical installation off the wall in one piece and put it back up in the new shop, with a pretty converter to run it all.

I'll be fascinated to see how this all shakes out. I'll go back in my corner and lurk and watch for updates.

Steve aka 71 MKIV.

"I hate running out of airspeed, altitude and ideas all at the same time."

 

[71 MKIV]

PS. Dunno what it is, but in the fourth picture, the cord in the right hand outlet, take the opportunity of moving it into the new shop to give it a new cord.

Ok now I'm going back to lurking.

Steve aka 71 MKIV

 

[BB767]

Hello Thomas !
First off , stay warm in this crazy weather !

That Yates .... WOW. I've never seen anything like that , very cool !

For a lift , wouldn't you literally need to adapt an automotive 2 post lift just because of the sheer size and weight ?!

Craig

Being retired this weather doesn't bother me at all. I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow so once it finally stops blowing and snowing, I'll dig out. For those who don't know we're suppose to get up to 10" (25 cm) of snow, winds up to 39 mph (63 kph) and temps -17º F (-27 C). Pretty dangerous stuff. Chris and I very comfortable and the shop and barn have been sealed up to take a lot of punishment without a problem. The tool shed on the other hand may have a bunch of snow blowing in around those sliding doors. Nothing that hasn't happened in the last 50 years or so though. In fact the following are a series of pictures taken out behind the old shop and tool shed after a snow storm in the 1970's.



This is a picture taken of the tool shed and you can see the sliding door was left open. In fact, I think it was always open. It was never closed that I can remember. That is the shop welding truck used after the '48 Jeep shop truck had gone to it's own reward. I'll bet a lot of what you see in the background inside the shed is still out there. The area to the right of the shed is somewhat clean now, but not to the back and left.



To help orient you looking at the tool shed, that sliding center door with the angle 2 X 4's at the top is the one open in the first snow picture.



Same storm, this is behind the old shop looking toward what is now my barn. The tool shed is out of frame to the right.



A little further view behind the end loader in the previous picture. Bunch of junk under that snow, and I mean junk.



The area around the end loader in the two snow pictures above is roughly the area seen beyond the backhoe in this picture. I had cleaned most of the junk up when this pictures was taken in spring 2006.




This is the smoke house...



...and here's the smoke house as I started my outside cleanup in 2005. This is just a few feet behind the old shop which is out of frame on the left.



This is the east side of the shop. I think that is copper pipe curled up sticking out of the snow.




The spot with the pipe was here just to the left of where this picture was taken.



This is the last picture taken of that storm. This is looking at the two car garage. Note the red Chevy pickup with a topper over the bed, in front on the left.




That same red Chevy pickup, topper and all, was still parked in the same spot in front of the two car garage, 25 years later when I bought the property and started my clean up.

So we'll have to wait and see what it looks like out there tomorrow. It'll be an interesting comparison with those old pictures.


And speaking of the jointer yes, both those Yates machines are my pride and joy. Those were the first two really serious restoration projects that I'd done by myself and they turned out exceptionally well. It took time but it was well worth the effort. They look great and are such a pleasure to use. Stable and accurate, they make jointing and planing a safe, enjoyable operation.

Craig it occurs to me in all the times you've been out to the old shop we've never come out to the wood shop. I think we should do that next you're out this way don't you?

For the machine lift I was thinking of around 4,000 lbs (1814 kg) capacity. That would be a nice safety margin since the planer is the heaviest object I can imagine using it for. I thought about using cables in all 4 corners and winching it up or down. It'll be in a corner so I could use tracks on 2 sides to keep the platform level and just slowly raise or lower it. We'll have to give it some thought.

Thomas

 

[Amitygravel]

Hello (again) Thomas !

I would love to see the woodworking shop !
Its seems like forever since London and I have been down to see you.

Craig

 

[charlief1]

And those pics of the snow storm is just 1 of the reasons I live in Texas. While we may get ice and snow once in a while those brutal temps don't happen down here. Stay safe and warm Thomas and Ms Chris.

 

[BB767]

And those pics of the snow storm is just 1 of the reasons I live in Texas. While we may get ice and snow once in a while those brutal temps don't happen down here. Stay safe and warm Thomas and Ms Chris.

I understand but this is highly unusual weather for us. We haven't had intense cold like this in several years. It's not my favorite but I can endure it for a short while. We've had some winters with no snow at all and only a few days below 32º. Two years ago I didn't even mount the snow blower on the John Deere all winter long. By the end of this week it's going to be in the mid to high 30's. All in all it's home to me. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a spare guest bedroom where a retired airline pilot and his sweet wife could bunk down for a few weeks, say early March?

Thanks Charlie for the warm thoughts.

Texas, it's a whole 'nuther country......

Thomas

 

[Boosted1]

It's cool you have so many old photos of that place.
Always interesting seeing the Then and Now.

 

[9C1]

Thomas,
There might be some way to adapt a 4-post lift into an elevator for your new digs. Just brainstorming here.
Terry

 

[rmalkow2]

Thomas and Chris,
As one of those silent majority readers for the past 4 years it has been truly fun and educational. Congrats on the retirement and I will be looking forward to many new shop projects on these pages in the future.
Thanks for being such a good steward of this piece of American history.

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

I heard on the radio the unless you were over 40, you would not have experienced this type of weather in Illinois.

 

[Vernmotor]

3deg here today. But we have not had much snow. I have not shovel any.. suppose be cold tomorrow then warm up a little. Like Thomas said we Have not had any bad winter's in years. Need a good freeze to rid of all them bugs/nats/ anyhow !

 

[BB767]

Here's what I'm tying to do. These are the first floor and basement layouts.





Circled is the corner of the garage I want to install a machine/material lift/elevator of some design.
At present it's shown as 4' X 4' area but I might expand it to 5' X 5'.
I envision a moveable platform that will be flush with the garage floor and when lowered into the basement, it will be flush with the basement floor.
That way material or equipment can be rolled onto and off the platform with ease.
I think I'd like the platform to have at least a 4.000 lbs capacity.
The basement will be poured, concrete walls.
Since it's in a concrete corner, I have two concrete walls to secure some sort of track mechanism to keep the platform from tipping side to side to keep the load from shifting.
The loads will be ratchet strapped to the platform to prevent them from shifting.
A simple design solution is usually the best.
I thought I could use an overhead electric winch, bolted permanently and installed near the ceiling of the garage.
This winch would be mounted on appropriately reinforced bracing, framed into the home framing during initial construction to support the load.
Using cables attached to the moveable platform in all 4 corners, the platform could then be lower into the basement or lifted up to the garage.
When not in use, these cables would detach from the platform and be stowed away but still be attached to the winch.
Since this lift when will used very infrequently, I don't need something too elaborate. Just a way of lowering or lifting material about 8'.
I need to devise a way for all 4 cables to operate together in unison.

That's the heart of what I'm trying to accomplish.
I haven't looked into cable or lift ring capacities but I don't think that's a problem nor should winch capacity.
Small details like securing the platform into place when it's not in use should not be a big problem either.
I'm not familiar with boat lifts but that's essentially what I'm do here isn't it?

To sum it up, how to get heavy "stuff" from here to down to there, safely. Easy right? What would Mr Johnson do?

Further comments.

Thomas

 

[Spareparts]

What about a Rotary Lift like in your shop with a 5'X5' platform, sometimes these can be had for the removal.

 

[BB767]

It's cool you have so many old photos of that place.
Always interesting seeing the Then and Now.

I've been so fortunate that the Johnson family has been willing to share all those many pictures. I have more, I just need to scan and post them. I myself love the before and after pictures too.

Thomas

Thomas,
There might be some way to adapt a 4-post lift into an elevator for your new digs. Just brainstorming here.
Terry

Thanks Terry, that's what I'm looking for, some brain storming. That's why I just posted #7630 to show what I had in mind. Maybe there's a better way, I'm all for it. There are multiple solutions for what I'm trying to do, I just need to examine the positives and negative with each and arrive at a solution that's best for me. I hadn't thought of your suggestion, it does have merit.

Thomas

Thomas and Chris,
As one of those silent majority readers for the past 4 years it has been truly fun and educational. Congrats on the retirement and I will be looking forward to many new shop projects on these pages in the future.
Thanks for being such a good steward of this piece of American history.

Hello rmalkow2 and welcome to our growing circle of friends. Thank you for your comments and interest in my ramblings here. It's been fun for me and if you're having fun doing something, it's not work then is it? I'm really impressed with all the folks who have started saving and restoring floor jacks or other vintage pieces of Americana themselves. I find that very gratifying. We are only here but a short time, however with care, much of this equipment can live on and be useful for the foreseeable future. That's pretty cool.

Thomas

 

[70 140]

To sum it up, how to get heavy "stuff" from here to down to there, safely. Easy right? What would Mr Johnson do?

Anchor the mast of a reclaimed forklift to the wall - with the basement slab floor bearing the weight. Run the hydraulics off of an electric pump - like the type used for those portable mid rise lifts. Build a removable platform to slide on and off the pallet forks.

When not in use, close off the hole in the floor, and slide the pallet forks off to one side- no need to recess anything into the floor

 

[Vernmotor]

I was also thinking about the forklift mast. But with a floor/platform welded to the forks

 

[Lotusnut]

Anchor the mast of a reclaimed forklift to the wall - with the basement slab floor bearing the weight. Run the hydraulics off of an electric pump - like the type used for those portable mid rise lifts. Build a removable platform to slide on and off the pallet forks.

When not in use, close off the hole in the floor, and slide the pallet forks off to one side- no need to recess anything into the floor

Thomas

I was having the same thought as I read today's posts in your great thread.

I have seen 2 different forklift masts for tractors sell for under $500 in the last year at farm auctions. I have been thinking of bolting one to my garage wall as a single post hoist to store a second Lotus Europa on to save space.

If you recessed the basement floor for the forks and platform and add 4 corner posts with a ceiling the ceiling could overlap the garage floor to seal it in the down or stored position. This would help keep the heat in the basement on the cold winter nights at the centre of the universe and would require no set up and storage procedure between uses. This will only work if there is sufficient headroom in the garage. I would also consider going with a 4' x 5' platform as it will have less impact on your drawings for the foundation walls and still handle sheet goods.

Just adding thoughts for your consideration for an economical, safe and stable lift with minimal fabrication.

Rob

 

[IMCA38]

Thomas
A couple of thoughts for your proposed lift.
When I was a kid, my family lived in the local mortuary. We had a lift to move caskets (and their occupants) up to the chapel from the basement.
As it's been about thirty years since we lived there, some of the engineering details are fuzzy, but the basic premise was this.
The lift part was a section cut out of the chapel floor probably 3' x 7' or thereabouts. The cut out section was mounted on top of a steel framework and as I recall, the framework extended out beyond the ends of the floor. Attached to the framework was an electric motor with a three position switch. The motor ran a couple of belts and pulleys to achieve some sort of speed reduction. This fed to a chain sprocket and a very long roller chain that went around four chain sprockets, one mounted on each corner of the framwork. The inside bores of the sprockets were threaded and they rode on long threaded rods (I'm guessing about 1" diameter) that were mounted verticaly from basement floor to basement ceiling. The lift wasn't particularly fast, about 5 minutes per trip as I recall. I have no idea about weight capacity, but I assume you could keep beefing up components to get the desired capacity.
Another idea would be to check out some old line, small town type furniture stores. Most of them were multi-story affairs and had some kind of lift to move merchandise from floor to floor. You might gain some insights there as well.

 

[Lippyp]

Thomas

I was having the same thought as I read today's posts in your great thread.

I have seen 2 different forklift masts for tractors sell for under $500 in the last year at farm auctions. I have been thinking of bolting one to my garage wall as a single post hoist to store a second Lotus Europa on to save space.

If you recessed the basement floor for the forks and platform and add 4 corner posts with a ceiling the ceiling could overlap the garage floor to seal it in the down or stored position. This would help keep the heat in the basement on the cold winter nights at the centre of the universe and would require no set up and storage procedure between uses. This will only work if there is sufficient headroom in the garage. I would also consider going with a 4' x 5' platform as it will have less impact on your drawings for the foundation walls and still handle sheet goods.

Just adding thoughts for your consideration for an economical, safe and stable lift with minimal fabrication.

Rob

Theres a guy here in the UK who writes for one of the car mags who uses an old forklift mast as a car ramp/lift. He has it mounted up outside and as his project car is a Rover SD1 with a 27 litre Rolls Royce Meteor V12 in it they are capable of lifting a fair weight if you get the right one!

 

[Hugo L.]

Happy belated new year to Tom, Chris, and all the faithful followers of this amazing thread.

 

[harley jim]

http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/spacesaver_high_rise/images/spacesaver.jpg
what about a die makers cart. set into a recess in the basement floor and put a set of sidewalk doors in the garage area floor (trap door like they have downtown Chicago for freight deliveries)

http://www.liftproducts.com/lifttables.html?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=standard

http://www.boltontool.com/hydraulic-lift-tables-stackers-pallet-trucks/

 

[BB767]

There are some very interesting ideas being presented, thanks everyone. I'm engaged in a project right now that might take another day or some before I have much time to respond. Keep in mind I need roughly 8' (96") - (2.4 m, 244 cm) of lift height. I'm going from the basement floor, lifting to the garage floor above.

harley jim, the lift tables are especially intriguing.

http://www.boltontool.com/hydraulic...ulic-electric-lift-table-2200-lb-etw1001.html

This one has 94.5" of lift, with decent load rating of 2,200 lbs. That's a little light but perhaps workable.

The fork lift mast idea also has merit. That's something I hadn't thought about.

Thanks again everyone. Now I'm off to battle a frozen boiler line.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Where 35 years ago a snow storm left the shop area looking like this...



...after our recent storm...



...here's the tool shed with a drift about 2.5' high closest to the camera but it's only a few inches deep right by the tool shed itself.



Looking out behind the old shop and...



...this is the same area now with snow drifts.



The front of the barn wasn't too bad but it still took about an hour of hand work to dig it out.



The Terraplane was a 50 - 50 proposition with a cool snow drift curving up to it.



About 50% was seen and...



...about 50% was well covered up. Everything is dug out now and 40º + (4ºc ) weather is headed this way in a day or so it'll all melt fairly quickly.

Now I can get back to a small shop project I've started.



I found several dozens of pairs of Mr. Johnson's leather gloves of all sorts in the shop and tool shed.



After I sorted through them, I discarded the really worn out or nasty ones...



That left me with over a dozen pair of very nice gloves.



Most of them were welding gloves, gauntlets really.



They are in pretty good shape but dried out. If they were used in their present condition they'd crack and would wear out quickly. To prevent that they just need to be reconditioned. For that...



...I use this leather rejuvenator that I get from Griot's Garage. I have successfully reconditioned leather that had been hopelessly dried out using this product. It really works! It's fairly thick as it comes in the bottle so I put the bottle in the microwave (you knew I did that, right Chris ) and heat it up for just a few seconds. That warms it up, makes it flow better and I'm better able to rub it into the leather. I'm looking forward to having his gloves back in the shop.

To be continued.

Thomas

 

[markviii]

There's a perfectly good microwave in your shop, so it's all good (as long as you used it instead of the one at home).

Chris

 

[gasgas17]

There are some very interesting ideas being presented, thanks everyone. I'm engaged in a project right now that might take another day or some before I have much time to respond. Keep in mind I need roughly 8' (96") - (2.4 m, 244 cm) of lift height. I'm going from the basement floor, lifting to the garage floor above.

harley jim, the lift tables are especially intriguing.

http://www.boltontool.com/hydraulic...ulic-electric-lift-table-2200-lb-etw1001.html

This one has 94.5" of lift, with decent load rating of 2,200 lbs. That's a little light but perhaps workable.

The fork lift mast idea also has merit. That's something I hadn't thought about.

Thanks again everyone. Now I'm off to battle a frozen boiler line.

Thomas

Typical home construction with a 8 foot finished ceiling in the basement and a typical 2 x 10 wood joist floor will land you pretty handy around 107.5 finish floor to finish floor. Of course this would depend on your floor construction and at what level your garage floor hieght is relative to the main floor of the house.
What about a track hoist placed over a set of trap doors as mentioned in a previous post. Then just build a pallet lifter. http://www.globalindustrial.ca/c/material-handling/hoists-cranes/cranes-overhead-hoist-pallet-lifters

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

Thomas,

Will you be able to recondition that many old welding gloves, without thinking back to spending time conditioning your baseball glove? I could not.