Using a hoist attached to joists in basement?

[bagged89s10]

I’m clearing out my garage for an addition and new garage build and need to lift a 10” atlas lathe onto a bench. I prefer not to have to take it apart to lift it again. I was using it on the floor for a quick part I needed to make but now it’s time to get it onto a bench. This is down in my basement. I have a hoist. Is there a safe way to hang it from the floor joists?

 

[Kev442]

I would probably put some blocking in using joist hangers to spread it out among 4-5 joists. I've used this method to lift 2000 lbs using chain falls.

 

[Innovate1]

Attach a beam to the bottom of the joists. Then put support posts at the ends of the beam. The posts support the beam so the load doesn't transfer to the joists. The joists just hold the beam from moving horizontally.

 

[Shiftless]

That lathe probably weighs about the same as 3 big guys..what maybe 750 pounds?
I think you’d be fine with a 2x4 screwed into 3 joists. Use good sized screws at least 3 inches long. But this is GJ after all...upgrade as you see fit. Good luck with this move and be careful, bagged! If you’ve got some extra lumber laying around, go with the excellent suggestion from Innovate1.

 

[finn]

I would sister 2x8s or 2x10s to a few joists, then screw the beam of your choice into those sisters joists.

The highest stress on your floor joists is along the bottom cord, so you always want to minimize damaging that part of the joist, when possible.

 

[Shadowdog500]

How heavy is that lathe? It almost looks like two or three guys could put that on the bench by hand. The 12” atlas lathe without the base is 350 lb so i imagine that 10” atlas lathe weighs 250 to 300lb.

 

[Kaizen]

No engine hoist you can use or borrow?


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[Spareparts]

That was my thinking, rent a cherry picker and pick it up, do you have room under the bench for the legs of a cherry picker????

 

[theoldwizard1]

Sister a piece of 2by the same height as the flor joists spanning the entire width of the lathe. Jam TWO 2x6, one below each end of your sistered piece, between the floor and that doubled joist. Hoist away.

You can use this trick in a garage, just put sisters on each side of the joist and you could lift the entire front end of a car ! The load is going down to the floor.

 

[bagged89s10]

Well look at this hoist I have. I got it from my wife’s grandfathers when he passed but never tried to use it. I just dig it out. Good thing I grabbed it because it would have gone to the dump.

It works free standing. I can make it taller and stabilize it with the top hook. I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

[Kaizen]

Use cribbing as you lift it with that until you are at height. Honestly think I’d try lifting one side and cribbing and work up. Depends what you can lift I guess. All those buckets might support it.


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[matt_i]

I would screw a 2x6 to a couple of joists. Loop a roundsling over it although a chain can be used. Use GRK-RSS screws of 4+ inches x 4 fasteners in total. This is very adequate for the ~300 lbs.

I have to point out, trying to be respectful since you are getting started, that using the bare chain directly on the ways of the machine as you've shown it would make a toolmaker pale as its something slightly short of outright abuse. Use layers of old jeans, pieces of thick cardboard, wood, or an old bathmat to cushion the metal-on-metal contact. Along those same lines hooking the crane hook back to the load chain has been done for ages but its a recipe for a disaster when the loading gets higher.

Another point to keep in mind is that the yellow hoist-post is very unstable.

The Atlas lathe is inherently top-heavy because of so much mass above the ways. In my youth I cobbled this setup together to lift the machine safely. Just 1/2" dia cold rolled solid round. Aluminum where it touches the ways of the machine. Adjust carriage to suit balance and lock down the tailstock.

 

[CraigStu]

Attach a beam to the bottom of the joists. Then put support posts at the ends of the beam. The posts support the beam so the load doesn't transfer to the joists. The joists just hold the beam from moving horizontally.

Bingo. Anything else is a waste of time and materials. All these pieces can be reused in your new garage construction.

 

[firebirdparts]

Yes. Quick and easy and harmless.

 

[bagged89s10]

Sister a piece of 2by the same height as the flor joists spanning the entire width of the lathe. Jam TWO 2x6, one below each end of your sistered piece, between the floor and that doubled joist. Hoist away.

You can use this trick in a garage, just put sisters on each side of the joist and you could lift the entire front end of a car ! The load is going down to the floor.

I think that’s what I’ll do so I have posts carrying the load to the floor. That’s a good idea which like you said I can use in the garage as well. I’ll need longer posts in the garage but it solves the problem of trusses not being able to carry a load from a hoist and a little easier than having a large gantry taking up space. I will probably end up getting a cherry picker once the garage is built but I don’t have room for one right now.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, a lever and cribbing will do what you need, and when you have finished the job you will have the price of the hoist remaining in your bank account.

 

[matt_i]

IMHO, a lever and cribbing will do what you need, and when you have finished the job you will have the price of the hoist remaining in your bank account.

Imo this is not good advice and here is why:

- The lathe has to go up approx 3 feet off the floor. On 2 stacks of cribs. If it were 4 inches then I wouldn't worry about it but 36+" is a longg way up.
- Then you get to twist each end one at a time over to the table-stand on which it sits, and if its an OEM cast-leg stand its not independently stable either until its all bolted together.
- The lathe probably is on the order of $1000 replacement cost.
- Any small mistake made with a prybar is going to drain your bank account of another $1000 as the machine crashes to the floor and is rendered un-useable.
- Its your money, and so you are your own warranty, so when you get into moving expensive stuff its my advice to take no chances and cut no corners.
Imo, you need to do it correctly and lift from overhead, with some kind of stability enhancer for the top-heaviness that I mentioned earlier. Even a top shelf Coffing LSB lever chain hoist is ~$300.

 

[rsanter]

First off...
Do not wrap a chain around a lathe like you have in the picture. It can damage the ways and the lead screw.
You want to loop the chain through the webs of the bed between the ways.

Next. When lifting a lathe it is advisable to remove the easy to remove items like the tail stock, chuck, covers, and compound

 

[nadogail]

Imo this is not good advice and here is why:

- The lathe has to go up approx 3 feet off the floor. On 2 stacks of cribs. If it were 4 inches then I wouldn't worry about it but 36+" is a longg way up.
- Then you get to twist each end one at a time over to the table-stand on which it sits, and if its an OEM cast-leg stand its not independently stable either until its all bolted together.
- The lathe probably is on the order of $1000 replacement cost.
- Any small mistake made with a prybar is going to drain your bank account of another $1000 as the machine crashes to the floor and is rendered un-useable.
- Its your money, and so you are your own warranty, so when you get into moving expensive stuff its my advice to take no chances and cut no corners.
Imo, you need to do it correctly and lift from overhead, with some kind of stability enhancer for the top-heaviness that I mentioned earlier. Even a top shelf Coffing LSB lever chain hoist is ~$300.

Point taken.

 

[justanengineer]

That lathe is only ~300 lbs, no biggie. I’d just clamp a pair of C-clamps solidly onto a joist over the front edge of your bench, hang a comealong from them via a short loop of chain or strap, put a ******** the machine, and hoist away. 5 mins effort tops.

If the bed casting webs aren’t conducive to balancing the weight end-end, you might also fit one end of a strap or rope around the spindle behind the chuck and the other end around/underneath a locked tailstock.


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[TractorJeff]

That lathe is only ~300 lbs, no biggie. I’d just clamp a pair of C-clamps solidly onto a joist over the front edge of your bench, hang a comealong from them via a short loop of chain or strap, put a ******** the machine, and hoist away. 5 mins effort tops.

If the bed casting webs aren’t conducive to balancing the weight end-end, you might also fit one end of a strap or rope around the spindle behind the chuck and the other end around/underneath a locked tailstock.


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Kind of like "Point Loading" a Joist when a FAT person is standing in one spot!

 

[bagged89s10]

Kind of like "Point Loading" a Joist when a FAT person is standing in one spot!

Haha [emoji23]

 

[justanengineer]

Kind of like "Point Loading" a Joist when a FAT person is standing in one spot!

Yet big folks never go through the floor except in cartoons and haylofts. My wife used to joke about that actually bc my favorite test when buying homes is the 220-lb jump test - I go upstairs and jump while she’s downstairs. If it sounds like the house is falling down around her then we shop elsewhere. We had a rental years ago so cheaply built you’d mistake her cat jumping for me. With me losing 40 lbs recently tho I might have to hire that test out, tho I’ll definitely feel safer the next time I’m up in one of our old barns.


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[sreeb]

Floors are much stronger than roofs. And your lathe is very light.

You could easily lift a much heavier lathe on a single joist.

If you can lift it near a support wall, it will be much stronger.

If not add a quick and dirty post. A 4x4 wedged (gently) into place would be fine.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Like has been said, make a simple gantry and no worries, here's what I did to set up my new lathe, 2 posts, a beam & braced it to the ceiling joists.