Cart with lift assist for accessory tools

[AKTroy]

I'm curious if anyone has constructed some kind of a lift assist cart for help with mounting the various shop Smith accessories, bandsaw, jointer, etc? At nearly 60 pounds the joiner is a bit too much for me, and the bandsaw is not too far behind at 45 or so.

I would think something like a linear actuator would be able to handle the job. I'm thinking a cart with wheels that would bring the tool close to the machine, and than a linear actuator or some kind of a jack to lift the machine up the 4 inches or so required to set it on the shopsmith and drop it in place. The process would then be reversed to remove. Surely somebody has come up with something for this? I've got some ideas floating around in my head, but no sense in going crazy if somebody else is already designed something.

I guess the other option is some kind of an overhead hoist and the shop Smith could just be moved to the hoist to lift things on and off. Perhaps a cart with a machine on each side that could be rotated? Just thinking out loud here.

All comments welcome.

[Ed in Tampa]

Hoist have been used and if you search this site you should be able to see examples.
I memory is correct one guy mounted the hoist on rails so he could slide the actachments into place.

Personally I build storage for each machine at the correct height to more or less slightly lift and slide and drop into place. My biggest problem is the jointer too high and it becomes a chore to get down too low and it takes extra effort to lift.

[thunderbirdbat]

IIWM, I would build a mobile stand for the SPT, put the same size pulleys on both the SPT and SS. Push the stand next to the SS to align the pulleys, run a belt to the SPT to power it. No lifting involved just have to adjust distance for correct belt tension before locking the stand in place.

[robinson46176]

At this point I usually just lift stuff but a couple of years ago I was somewhat weakened and often looking for mechanical assistance. Of course that "just lift it" thing only goes up to about 60 to 75 pounds these days. For about all of my life on the farm I have used a hanging pulley and a rope to lift a lot of stuff up into various lofts in the barns. Anywhere you can easily attach a pulley overhead it works well. In my case in the basement woodshop I have the above floor joist all over where I can attach in any number of places, not just one spot. You can of course always use either a "large" screw eye or a heavy "J" hook screwed into the bottom of a joist or rafter but I tend to prefer using a clevis and a pin through the board, at least 2+" from the bottom. Make the pin hole a very loose fit so it goes through easily. In case everybody is not sure of what I am talking about here is a picture of the kind of clevis I use. Note that this picture is upside down of the way you attach it. It's already a long week and I am too lazy to turn the picture over.

Clevis.jpg (9.82 KiB) Viewed 13525 times

Here is a pic of the most simple block and tackle setup.

Simple block and tackle.jpg (42.95 KiB) Viewed 13525 times

I own a building in the next county that was a village garage / gas station (built about 1934) and it had a piece of barn door box-track (you can Google that) about 10' long with welded on brackets attached to about 5 joist that had a short carrier hanging from 2 sets of door rollers about 2' apart with a hoist ring in the center. If they said that it had pulled a thousand engines I would believe it. They would pull the engine and roll the carrier in the track to one side of the car and sit it on a special bench for rebuilding, reversing the process to re-install it in the car / truck.

There are many possibilities...


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[GoNavy]

What about using an engine hoist, moves around easily, won't have any problems with weight, mechanical advantage should be super easy, any SPT is way under what an engine wgt is...since it can lift an engine high enough to clear a motor bay, should have no problem with the SS height. HF has cheap one for $159, might even find a cheaper one on the net..

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-cap ... 69512.html

[AKTroy]

Thanks for the reply. Suitable places to hang a hook are not a problem. I'm in a basement shop, so plenty of floor joist that can easily handle 60 pounds. Admittedly the only item that's a real problem is the joiner. The bandsaw is a little bit on the heavy side, but still manageable. I've actually got the eccentric tubes for it, so it stays in place most of the time, but the offset tubes allow me to use the SS for drill press without having to remove. I put the lift assist on the machine a while back, so that part is a piece of cake.

I've had my eye on the cheap Porter cable joiner over at Lowe's. At 35 pounds and a built-in motor, it's been smiling at me. The reviews seem to indicate the tables are coplanar, and it's about as long as the SS jointer. It's not as though it's going to take up any more space.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I already have a rope pulley I've used to pick up a boat motor in the garage. They work quite well. As far as convenient, that's another story.

[AKTroy]

IIWM, I would build a mobile stand for the SPT, put the same size pulleys on both the SPT and SS. Push the stand next to the SS to align the pulleys, run a belt to the SPT to power it. No lifting involved just have to adjust distance for correct belt tension before locking the stand in place.

This sounds good in theory, but have you actually done it? I would not think there would be enough offset in the shafts to use a pulley and still maintain a good working height. The shop Smith coupler would seem to be a better option, but I don't think it can extend that far away from the machine. It seems like alignment would be a big issue. Intriguing idea though.

[AKTroy]

What about using an engine hoist, moves around easily, won't have any problems with weight, mechanical advantage should be super easy, any SPT is way under what an engine wgt is...since it can lift an engine high enough to clear a motor bay, should have no problem with the SS height. HF has cheap one for $159, might even find a cheaper one on the net..

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-cap ... 69512.html

I would say the biggest issue (other than cost) is the size of an engine hoist. I think the reason most of us have ShopSmith's to begin with is limited space. Maneuvering an engine hoist around the shop I would think would be like having a bull in a china shop. Not sure if it could extend high enough to reach the top of the band saw either, which would probably be the best place to put some kind of an attachment hook to lift.

So far the best solution seems to be an overhead rope pulley, which is easily removed when not in use, and doesn't take up a lot of extra space.

I still think there's a better mousetrap out there, but simple is good sometimes too!

[thunderbirdbat]

IIWM, I would build a mobile stand for the SPT, put the same size pulleys on both the SPT and SS. Push the stand next to the SS to align the pulleys, run a belt to the SPT to power it. No lifting involved just have to adjust distance for correct belt tension before locking the stand in place.

This sounds good in theory, but have you actually done it? I would not think there would be enough offset in the shafts to use a pulley and still maintain a good working height. The shop Smith coupler would seem to be a better option, but I don't think it can extend that far away from the machine. It seems like alignment would be a big issue. Intriguing idea though.

No I have not done this. I do have a friend who ran his SS from a motor bolted to a bench when the SS motor died on him during a rush project so do not see why it would not work.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I'm curious if anyone has constructed some kind of a lift assist cart for help with mounting the various shop Smith accessories, bandsaw, jointer, etc? At nearly 60 pounds the joiner is a bit too much for me, and the bandsaw is not too far behind at 45 or so.

I would think something like a linear actuator would be able to handle the job. I'm thinking a cart with wheels that would bring the tool close to the machine, and than a linear actuator or some kind of a jack to lift the machine up the 4 inches or so required to set it on the shopsmith and drop it in place. The process would then be reversed to remove. Surely somebody has come up with something for this? I've got some ideas floating around in my head, but no sense in going crazy if somebody else is already designed something.

I guess the other option is some kind of an overhead hoist and the shop Smith could just be moved to the hoist to lift things on and off. Perhaps a cart with a machine on each side that could be rotated? Just thinking out loud here.

All comments welcome.

Below is a very good, and popular, solution for your problem. Especially if it allows you to leave your jointer mounted on the left end of your main machine ... otherwise you’d need a motor-reversing switch/conversion to run your bandsaw on the right side of the “mini”. It saves you not only the heavy lifting, but also the changeover time. Plus it doubles as an SPT storage rack.

59786A88-6615-471B-94E9-24F67B0AE34B.jpeg (78.15 KiB) Viewed 13474 times

This particular mini is going begging in Dayton, OH, at an asking price of only $275.

https://dayton.craigslist.org/tls/d/sho ... 21164.html