Send the Wife and Kids Out of the Room

I know nothing whatsoever about Sterling Machinery, but I have to congratulate them on this Youtube video.

That’s what a milling machine is and what it does.

The earth moved while I watched that.

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I bought plans for a mobile base for a Bridgeport. I was worrying about rearranging the garage, but then I realized that with a mobile base, there was no point. Shove it behind the Powermatic 66, and you’re all set.

I don’t like the plans, though. I have a neurotic fear that the mill will tip. The plans are for a base that raises it up, and the base is only slightly wider than the mill.

I had an idea, based on a couple of brilliant dollies a guy made. You get 4″ by 6″ angle iron half an inch thick. I know this stuff exists. You cut it so it’s longer than the side of a Bridgeport base. You drill two holes in it, and you thread them for big bolts. You lift each side of the mill high enough to scoot the angle iron under it, and you run bolts down through the base of the mill (pre-drilled holes already exist) into the iron.

Then you take short pieces of the same angle iron, and you weld them to the sides of the angle iron you attached to the mill, so the flat 6″ parts extend horizontally to the sides of the mill, high enough for casters to fit under them. Actually, you might be better off using long pieces of angle iron, since the length won’t hurt anything, and it will make the thing more rigid.

You drill holes in the horizontal tabs and attach swiveling casters. If you can find places to weld in gussets, do it. You probably can’t use casters with brakes, because they’re too big to swivel under the 6″ tabs. So you add tabs close to the floor, threaded for bolts that screw down and anchor the machine.

This should work. The pull on the bolts won’t be much, because of the small moment arm against which the mill presses. The casters can be a foot in front of the mill, which adds up to stability. The anchor things should keep wobble to a minimum. And you don’t have to lift a one-ton mill six inches to get it onto the base. You can do it with a crowbar and some scrap wood or small pipes.

Tell me why it will be a disaster.