5 Attachment(s)
Some tips on "raising" a big bandsaw
Hello everyone. Thanks again for all your advice earlier in the month about moving heavy equipment. I thought I'd take an opportunity to post some pictures on my recent "bandsaw raising" exercise in case it might be of interest to another neophyte machinery rigger.
Last week I took delivery of a new Agazzani B-24 bandsaw, which is certainly a huge upgrade from my previous 14" Rikon (which was a nice saw, by the way). Had a great experience with Jesse at Eagle Tools, who helped a lot with the planning and answered a lot of dumb questions on my part. But I digress.
The bandsaw arrived unscathed in a crate suitable for shipping a full grown, live (and upset) bull rhinocerous to Antarctica. This was no skimpy crate. It took me quite a while to break into this thing using all the tools at my disposal (notice relative scale of large crate and tiny crowbar). The folks at Eagle tools ship the bandsaw in a horizontal position, so the first order of business is to tilt this 600 lb beast upright and put it onto its mobile base.
Lacking the easy availability of 4 burly friends willing to lift for beer, I decided to focus on technology. Various misguided attempts using come-alongs and a lift table were unsuccessful, mostly since I have nothing high up in the garage to attach the come-along to (i.e. exposed beams or rafters).
After nursing a few bruises (mostly on the ego), I looked into the option of renting a forklift to accomplish the task. Not such an economical option, not to mention the looks from the neighbors I was envisioning (and my lack of forklift skills). I ended up buying a 2 ton shop crane at HF for about $150 (which I will likely eventually sell although I'm having fun with it). Using this device, I was able to lift the bandsaw upright and put it on its mobile base in about 20 minutes by myself without breaking a sweat (or anything else). Easy as pie. Not a bad option and an even better one if you have a friend willing to lend you the crane. It's come in handy for a lot of lifting tasks over the past week, as well (moving a heavy 9 foot workbench, lifting dust collector onto wall bracket, moving lazy dog from couch).
I will say that there is something quite satisfying about being a "crane owner," particularly since I had never envisioned being a member of this exclusive club. I've had a lot of these conversations over the past few days:
Sally: "So...how was your weekend. Did you watch the Texans preseason game?"
Me: "It was ok...did I mention that I own a crane? Have anything you need lifted?"
Anyway, I'm sure this phase will pass. At any rate, if you have a large bandsaw that needs to stand up, this shop crane approach is pretty easy and safe and requires little effort.
Rick
