Lift Assist

[stew]

Let's see if I can help. My first goal in my design was to not change anything about the SS so that if I ever wanted to remove it from the wall I could put it back to its original form.

Mine is mounted on 2x6 studs 16" on center because my wall is this size. I pocket screwed the two studs into the top and bottom plates to make sure these were secure. This would be a good time to see if the 2 wall studs are plum and if not and you can replace them it will make things a lot better later on.

I started by taking the headstock and carriage off the tubes and removing the legs to make everything lighter and easier to lift. Be sure to put the tie bar back on. All the wood pieces I used are 3/4 in plywood.

Cut (2) pieces of 3/4 plywood into 17 1/2" (width of stud spacing) x 12" and another piece 17 1/2" by 2 3/4". I cut French cleat angles on the narrow piece and ONE of the other pieces along the 17 1/2" side.

I had 1 1/2" x 3/4" metal angle brackets that I needed to bend slightly to form to the angle of the Headrest and Pivoting Base Mount ends. I then attached the angle brackets to the holes where the SS legs attached with bolts, lock washers and nuts.

Attach the 17 1/2" x 12" piece of plywood that has the French cleat cut to the Headrest side and center it on the board close to the top edge of the plywood, maybe 1/2" from the top. Again bolts, lock washers and nuts through the board. Do the same with the board on the pivoting base mount side. There are two holes at the top of the Headrest that I also put a couple of bolts through and mounted to the plywood. Make sure both boards are in line with each other and parallel to the tubes. This is important so the system hangs plumb.

Decide how high you will mount the SS on the wall, my ceiling is low so I had it as high as I could. Measure down from that point 12" and mount the small 2 3/4" French cleat board. Make sure when this is mounted that it is level.

Now you can pick up the SS with the tie bar locked down (still no head stock or carriage) and set it on the French cleat which will hold it in position. Check plumb and this would be the time to do some shims if needed.

Drill straight holes through the plywood face into the middle of the wall stud for a bolt. Intersect that hole with a larger hole through the side of the wall stud close to the middle of the stud where you can then add a lock washer and nut to secure the plywood to the studs. Do the same for the Pivoting Base mount at the bottom. I did 4 bolts on each plywood end. The French cleat was only used to set the SS in position so you can line up the SS before drilling and bolting to the studs.

At this point the SS unit should be very secure on the wall. If so unlock the headrest from the tie bar and lower the tubes and rest them on a saw horse. Take off the tie bar and slide the carriage (without the table) onto the tubes first. Make sure it is facing down followed by the headstock facing down then secure the tie bar back onto the tubes. Make sure everything is locked down.

It will now be heavy to lift the headstock back up to the vertical position just like moving to drill press mode. The closer to the wall the headstock is the lighter it will be to move the tubes up into the locked position. That being said you now have the task to push the headstock all the way up to the top while in the vertical position. It might be easier to have the headstock further from the wall before moving to vertical. MAKE SURE ALL LOCKS ARE SECURED BEFORE YOU LIFT TO VERTICAL.

I keep my headstock all the way at the top and move the carriage when I need to get closer or farther away. The carriage is easy to move if you take the table out. For a final safety measure I secured a split tube lock onto the tube under the headstock.
This has worked out great for me. If you have any other questions or need more pictures just ask. Hope this helps.

[masonsailor2]

Thanks for the input Stew. I will get to doing mine this weekend with luck and that really helped.
Paul

[cham-ed]

Just to parallel stew's comment, the machine I use as a permanent drill press also has the split ring to guarantee the headstock does not move. They are called 2 piece stop collars by suppliers like McMaster.