Moving Shopbot

[stephen]

Hi all,
I've bought a second hand shopbot - howmuch disassembly should I do to move it to my workshop ??
Many Thanks

[bill_lumley]

Stephen , I would say as little as possible to try and reduce the time to get it running again but then again you need to check everything over anyway so you may end up taking things apart even after moving it . Don't assume all the alignment is correct . I had to realign the X and Y rails on mine as they were not setup properly from the previous owner . I had a current shopbot owner help me with the reasemmbly which really helped . There are 'tricks' to getting things aligned that are not in the instructions . For example the X-rails we lined up using a piece of string ! The folks at Shopbot told me about the method but even then we needed to refine that method to make it work . Basically we used a piece of string along the first X-rail and large flat washers to gauge the distance to the string along it's length . Sounds simple but it wasn't . We ended up using drill bits to get the spacing betwen the X-rail and the frame consistent and then for final tuning used the string method . Getting the X and Y rails straight and parallel and true to each other is criticle and was the hardest part .
The Y rails we got perpendicular to the X-rail using the old 3,4,5 traingle method my partner developed .

Good Luck and feel free to ask questions of Shopbot staff and the forum . Both helped me get it running again but having a Shopbot buddy with me helped enormously as we were able to talk through every step as we went .

[gwilson]

Stephen,
Here is a link to past talks about moving a bot. If you can use the harbor freight jack idea. Mine is set up that way and works great.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/312/18867.html?1174021813

Gerald

[robredick]

I just moved mine from SoCal to the Bay Area. 4 $25 trailer jacks & a U-Haul car hauler is the way to go... I even unloaded it by myself.

[jhicks]

Folks are moving these tools all the time into new shops or new owners. Its really not too bad BUT a word to the wise, take great care and sufficient time to dial in all level and square calibrations.
If you think the last owner had it perfect, or the move will not impact the tightness, level, or squareness, you are probably mistaken.
Just take a look at posts about out of square after shutting down, bumping the gantry, or trying to remove too much stock too fast.
Once you spend time on set up to check, verify, adjust, and reverify, you'll know a whole lot more and better understand what to look for or adjust when someday you find it's not square or depths appear to drifting across the table.

Trust me that day will come and you'll be happy you're familiar and know just what to look for and how to recalibrate.

I like to review every inch, nut, bolt, and shim and find its always a bit less true than I think after any move but to each his own.
Once your set, either bolt it down or set blocks to hold the feet so you know its not walking or moving under vibration over time.

[jamesgilliam]

Rob, Glad to hear the move went well. We moved ours on the 10th and it went great.

Stephen, Disassembly is relative to putting it all back together. For sure raise the X car off the rails to keep from putting dings into them. I blocked mine up in the center of the machine, tied it off with strapping, and lowered the router onto a foam block. I also used wooden blocks on it just to be sure it would not move. Before I set it down on the x rails I went back through everything as if I was assembling it for the first time, and with the car off the rails they are easier to shim and square up if they need it.

[stephen]

Many thanks Everybody,
I moved it on Saturday, and did as James & Jo-Anne said - I lifted the car off the rails on blocks and strapped everythiing. I lowered the router into some dense foam block and taped up the Z travel with packing tape, braced the Y travel with wood also and strapped everything. I seemed to go fine altough I had access to forklift trucks at both ends.

I'll be a couple of weeks before I have the time to set the machine up properly and find out how well or far out the alignments are - but I can't wait.

Many Thanks from Sunny N.Ireland (well today anyway),

Stephen