Rigging Lesson, 800 lb Gloat (many pics)

[Bill Simmeth]

Rob, great score! Looks like you got some nifty electrics with that as well! I have a WT like Lou's and am jealous of the 6" stroke on yours. The WT's like Lou's and mine are limited to 4" which I find confining on occasion. You're gonna love it - enjoy! (Good luck with the move downstairs!)

Bill in Delaplane, VA

[Rob Russell]

How 'comes you didn't by that big-butt blower, too??

My wife already has a hair dryer.

It's 'cause he lives up there where it ain't hot enough to need on of those big-butt blowers.

Yeah, I guess in the 90's with high humidity is a piece of cake for you Arkies. We do usually hit a 100 a couple of times in the summer. Of course, we also hit 0 a couple of times in the winter and usually have a week in the single digits.

Wonderful find. If you ever want to dump it, give me a call.

Alan - you're on a waiting list behind Lou. He would take this as a upgrade to his Walker-Turner because it has the Rockwell drilling head with a 6" stroke.


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If anyone is interested, they have a regular Rockwell drill press for sale too. Look at pic#2. It's only a 4-speed, but with a new motor and VFD you could get all the speeds you wanted out of it. I'm sure it would go pretty cheap.

[John Renzetti]

Hi Rob, How are you doing. Great find and deal you got on that drill press. I think I saw a 460v sticker. Can you wire it for 230-240.
take care,
John

[scott spencer]

That's pretty cool Rob.....I thought at first this was gonna be a story about a surplus P&W jet engine you strapped on your Binford TS!

Looks like a great DP. Ever see Grizzly's version of the heavy duty radial DP?

[Mike Cutler]

Nice find Rob.I had no idea that Pratt and Whitney surplused to the general public. I'm going to find out more about that!.
Have fun cleaning it up and converting it over to something other than 480. It's a nice piece of machinery, we have one just like it at work.

[Rob Russell]

John/Mike,

The motor is dual voltage, so switching it back to 240v 3-phase should be a fairly simple matter. I'll probably lose the saftey switch and go to a normal twistlock plug.

Mike,

The P&W store is open to the public. I'll warn you that right now things are a bit sparse from a machinery perspective. It can be a good place to get Vidmar or Lista drawer units - if you're there when they come off the trucks. Those get snapped up very quickly, and you're definitely in competition with the Pratt employees who head over at lunch to check out the newly arrived stock.

They always have a lot of computer stuff, most of it nothing I've ever been interested in. It's gear that's been depreciated, so it's 3+ years old. There's office furniture.

There's some shelving and racking type stuff outside.

For a while they had a lot of surplus fasteners (nuts/bolts), but that's pretty much gone. It's been a bit slow recently (last 6-12 months) it terms of neat stuff coming in that wasn't related to metalworking.

For all of those who commented about getting this down to the basement, I'll simply setup a frame with some Unitstrut, attach my winch as support and pull the top head off (the part that moves out). LOML's concern with this and some of the other machinery I've bought and moved to the workshop hasn't been the cost (who can argue with a deal like this?) - it's been "How does this stuff get OUT of the basement if something happens to you?" I'll end up writing some notes down on that - it's only fair. For anyone else who's thinking about moving large and heavy machinery - it's pretty simple once you decide to use the "basic machines" (levers, pulleys, etc). and don't try to lift things manually.

[Dave Avery]

Hi Rob,

Nice find. Sounds like you're diligent enough to get to the surplus store on a regular basis. Closest I came was a 3hp delta shaper (3 ph.) that was NEW - but had been sold about 1/2 hour earlier. I've stopped going on a regular basis for the reasons mentioned in your last post.


Does your wife work at P&W? I've been there 21 years, most currently as CFO of Pratt's International Aero Engines joint venture.

Good luck getting that beast down the basement stairs, but we know you've move bigger. Dave.

[Rob Russell]

Hi Rob,
Does your wife work at P&W?

Nope - she just works in the area.

I hadn't been there for awhile and just wandered in on a lark - literally 5 minutes before they closed. Sometimes you get lucky - like this time!

[Lou Morrissette]

Rob,

Is the store located in the East Hartford facility? I served my apprenticeship there in the 60's.

Lou

[Rob Russell]

Rob,

Is the store located in the East Hartford facility? I served my apprenticeship there in the 60's.

Lou

Yes. Go in the Silver Lane entrance - it's at the intersection of Roberts Street and Silver lane. The Surplus Store is the first building on the right, about 1/4 mile in. It's before you get to the guard station that would let you into the "inner" part of P&W.