PRT disassembly and transport

[ron_churches]

Hi,
I'm buying a 2005 PRT96 on Thursday and will need to move it 600 miles. Having never seen a shopbot in person before, I'm wondering what tools are needed to remove the gantry to transport the machine safely.I intend to rent a 6x12 u-haul trailer and have 4 guys lined up to help load,any guidance regarding moving one of these things would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron

[bill_lumley]

Ron , welcome to the shopbot family . A full set of Allen Keys and open ended wrenches in American sizes should be enough and maybe vice grips and a set of screwdrivers . The current manual is online and they have a set of tools identified there that should not be too far off what you need . It is really not that tricky to take apart . More time should be taken however when assemlbing to be sure it is lined up properly . Never assume the last guy had everything perfect
4 Guys is plenty of help . The gantry will be the heaviest part and no issue for a few guys . Take some scrap wood to be sure the gantry wheels do not touch the ground . Also some wire cutters to remove any tie wraps that hold the wiring harness' together .

Bill

[ed_lysne]

Also... make careful notes of any wiring you disconnect and add tape to the ends of the wires with notes on connection points. Wiring can be a big hassle.

[myxpykalix]

The most important tool is a digitsl camera. Take bunches of pictures from every concievable angle both establishing shot and closeup to show where everything is before disaaaembly so you can have a roadmap on how to get it back.

Not being familiar with your model you should be able to take the carriage offf the rails, turn it sideways and lay it in the bed of the table up on blocks (after router removal) and strap it down.
You can go to BigLots and get a set up those ratchet straps of 6 for like 10 bucks. Get 2 sets.
You can't use too many as far as i'm concerned.
You can loosen the drive motors (mine are tightened with a turnbuckle).

I would leave all my wire connected but i would take plastic bags and tape all of the motors, control box individually along with a double layer of plastic over my entire table.

For the cost of plastic $40.00 (heavy gauge) its worth the protection.
You may want to ask others about whther it would be advisable to detach the control box alltogether and carry inside vehicle for any potential damage from bumps.

[blackhawk]

Ron - I also bought my PRT Alpha used about 250 miles away. I rented a 6X12 Uhaul exactly as you intend. You definitely don't want anything smaller. I left the spoilboard attached to the 5 or 6 angle braces. The braces made good handles to carry it around. We had to angle it quite a bit to fit through the trailer door, but once inside we were able to lay it flat. We then laid everything on top of the spoilboard. The Y carriage will slide right off of the X rails once the X motors are disengaged, but watch out for any prox sensors. I left everything attached on the Y carriage. I tied up the X motors to keep them from swinging around. You also want to lock the Y carriage in place to keep it from sliding back and forth during transit. I used a bunch of super long wire ties to hold everything down. The Y carriage is a beast. I did it with two people, but I wouldn't do that again.

[michael_schwartz]

Make sure to have a good socket set, and a cordless impact driver is nice if you have one. I used both a 1/2" and 3/8" drive socket wrench frequently when setting up my bot. A few extensions are useful as well.

Bring something to clip wire ties.

A set of allen wrenches is also a must have, and a dead-blow mallet and block of wood are useful.

I would also bring something to deal with stripped screw, or rounded bolt heads just incase. Not likely to happen but just in case.

When you rent the truck stop by home depot and grab some 2x4's, some 1x pine, and a few sheets of 5/16" OSB and some drywall screws. Bring a cordless drill, and a skillsaw.

[bcondon]

Grab the instruction manual off the SHopbot web site and READ IT... Then think about the reverse operation.

The manual is a good reference.

if you have a pocket labler, or masking tape and a sharpie to label all those pesky wires!

[porscheman]

I moved a 4x8 PRT machine 300 miles, using many of the suggestions above. As Brad points out, once the X motors are disengaged from the racks, several strong people can lift off the entire gantry. Before lifting it off, slide the Z-axis assembly (carriage??) all the way to one end of the gantry and then cut a piece of plywood that will fit inside the Y-rails (approximately 18" wide and about 3 feet long). This gives you a great platform on which you can coil up and lay all the cables that run from the machine to the control box/PC. You may even be able to lay the box/PC on that platform as well. Take a roll of 6" wide stretch wrap, which is invaluable for strapping down all the loose wires and other components that may want to flop around.

As Jack suggested, I took tons of digital photos before I disassembled the Bot and unhooked any cables. And finally, on my particular PRT machine, I left the two leg assemblies intact. In doing so, the big/heavy pieces were:

2 leg assemblies
2 long/heavy C-channels with X-rails attached
Misc cross braces, which can be left attached to the spoilboard if you're keeping it.
Bot gantry

Though it was a very full load, I got all these items into the back of a full sized pickup truck. If you do leave the X-rails attached to the big C-channels, take extra care not to bang anything into the tops of the X rails - any small dents or divots in the rails will translate into machine cutting inaccuracies (or a lot of hand filing to get rid of them). While I had then had to reassemble and resquare up the machine in my shop, that process was extremely helpful in beginning to familarize myself with all aspects of the machine.

Hope this helps.

John

[rb99]

Does the gantry need to come off?

Could it be blocked and clamped to secure it?

RIB

[jerry_stanek]

It is best to take the gantry off as it bouncing around could damage the rails.