my new project a gantry crane

[Scott Kneisel]

Nice Job Dave, very impressive. I love figuring out how to do stuff myself and you have done a terrific job of that.

[David Luciani]

thanx Scott ,
 but i did cheat a little on the design concept it wasn't mine.
ever since the internet came along i look around at other peoples ideas that are posted then design something.
alot of the gantry crane design was by a fellow that used 4x4's as the base.
 i didn't agree with that part at plated wood is stronger.
 otherwise i swiped his main idea of a i-beam with 4" square tube.

i'm also lucky to work with heavy and stupid alot and theatre and road sets have to be simple light and portable so i have a few years of seeing lots of great ideas put into practice.
 now if i could only scrape together the time to rebuild the roof, fix or replace the floor and wire the whole mess.
THEN maybe i can start making some metal chips! 
d

[Gary Wlodarsky]

wow....I just followed this all the way thru.....you got some nice toys there.....ole buddy ole pal ole friend,,,LOL...one thing I was really impressed with,,,you did not burn a hole in the beam for the chain( and destroy 80% of its capabilities...)

interesting world up in Conn,,,

gw

[Jim Donovan]

Next time please take a video.  Going from picture to picture was like watching "Game of Thrones".  I was waiting for the final picture with a collapsed crane from all the weight as it was lowered, the weight seems to increases with distance.  Looking at how many boats slip off cranes when lowered into a lake got me nervous looking at each picture.   Great job Dave, next time give me a call and I will drive my lift truck up to make it a simpler job.  The lift trucks needs some hours on it and the drive will do it good and I always like a parade.  Wonder how many tickets I could get on the drive and they wouldn't be for speeding.   

Jim

[David Luciani]

thanx for kind words.
a video would've been hard as i was working alone a big sin but unavoidable.
plus if it went south i didn't want evidence of why!!
i do rig for a living hanging from 40 to 140 feet in the air or standing on a beam setting chain motor points so i do know a little about picking a load up.
here's a pix of a riggers point of view in case you're wondering what the heck i am talking about

  uk riggers but same as where i hang out during work hours.jpg (Size: 221.55 KB / Downloads: 16)

  pretty good idea of the points we hang here..png (Size: 1.13 MB / Downloads: 15)
the gantry set up seemed a little dicey and i wasn't totally sure it was safe as i didn't bother looking up load bearing ability of everything.
  i was copying a design that someone else used successfully and improved a few building points i figured i was ok.
of course i was still nervous. 
Jim, i'd like to see this lift truck but i'd need the gantry anyway.
i still have to move the other machine tools .
plus , at some point this year i am replacing the bed on my pickup truck with the new to me one. 

i'm hoping that the cement floor in the garage is salvageable with some grinding .
otherwise i'll need to go to phase two and build the addition before i get the mill into operation.
i considered replacing the rough floor if the floor can't be ground flat and level enough for the mill.
but it's probably easier just to start with a spec built floor in a new section.
trying to break up old floor and re-pour it would require removing everything first for at least a couple of weeks. 
a horrible idea imho.

anyway nothing can be done for next couple of weeks , am in middle of stupid level of work .
been working every day for last seven , i get tuesday wendsday off this week. 
then almost solid hours till tuesday next week. 
might get enough time to sleep some but that's gonna be limited. 
feast or famine as a stagehand!
later
d