Club build...

[Janger]

I just bought a new used lathe. C0635A 14x40. John C. ( @Dabbler ) gave me a hand getting it loaded on the crane truck ( @kylemp Kyles suggested guy Joe, $250, used him twice now). Thank goodness for John - he took charge cause there were way too many guys (7). We used the timeless Egyptian pry bar, fulcrum, loads of wooden blocking and steel bar roller approach. Thanks @Jimbojones for providing the extra rollers at the last minute. Surprising how well that works. It is slow though. It got me thinking about machine dollies then of course google noticed and has started showing me ads. Look at these german moving skates. I'm sure they're a fortune. Beautiful.

http://toolwell.com/?gclid=CMa-34GH2dECFQMtaQodYYkL-g

Let's make a set of machine dollies. It can be a forum build and forum 'owned' - any forum member can borrow and use. I'd love to design them with forum input and work on part of the build. Maybe we can team up on materials and labor. If it goes well we could also build toe jacks...

???

 

[Jwest7788]

We have that tool library section of the members only area, I could see building it up to include group made projects. Just requires one of us to make the first one!

I would be interested in a making a toe jack, we could make one from a simple car bottle jack, I assume relatively easily. Dollies like the work @Alexander did with the aluminum plate and a few dozen casters, but on a small scale, seems like a safe bet.

Group tools: Either one day when I have enough for an investment property, or if I win the lottery, I want to rent a space, maybe a small garage, and make it members access only. With smart locks and wi-fi cameras, it should be easy enough to have a safe space with people we know from the forum. (Maybe use dedicated key codes and ask for a picture of a drivers licence to prevent theft, or something) Small garage rigged up properly would be all we need to have a communal space, with communal tools, etc.

Good place to start it is with group projects though, build up the tools, then find a library for them.


Hey, How about a competition? We could have like a for fun farmers bet, "make the best for the group tool" "This month's objective: Make moving equipment an easier process" Something like that?

Just a thought anyways.

 

[Dabbler]

Yer right a toe jack is a pretty simple project - oxtoolco on youtube has a great series of videos on just that.

Thanks, @Janger for the dollies link - I've never seen ones with a handle before; seems obvious now, but ...

A set of machine skates has been on my radar since the summer, but with the new machine, etc, it has fallen down in priority! Machine skates are a lot easier to make, and work very well - ref

 

[Alexander]

You can rent Hilman skates and toe Jacks at Hertz rent all if your ever in a spot. The 2 foot by 4 foot aluminum carts I made are good for about 10000lbs each and the reason I prefer them is you can go over big bumps with them with out much risk. eighteen 700 lb casters give it a theoretical capacity of over 12000lbs. The carts are also cheap when compared to Hilman skates. These are easy to make all you really need is a skill saw an electric drill and a wood router. The plate is .5 aluminum and the casters will run you about $25 each at castor land.