I have been turning large bowls for the last two years, ever since I bought a VB36. When I say large I mean 24" in diameter was the largest, the average being 16". Using the McNaughton Center Saver, I am able to make a lot of bowls. Handling the big blanks has become a major problem. I use a hand truck to bring them into the shop, and a one ton shop crane to mount them on the lathe.
The problem is outside. I can bring the logs home and cut them up into sections equal to the diameter, and using a peavey move them around. I roll the sections onto pressure treated (PT)
4x4's. Since each section weights over 70 Lbs., I cannot stack them. The problem comes when I rip them in half and round the halves into bowls blanks. In order to do this I am bent over using a chain saw with a 20" bar. It was killing my back even with a weight belt on. What to do? I needed to get the sections up on a saw buck. Given the wieght of each, how was I going to do this?
I remembered seeing boats put into the water and taken out at a local marina using a mobil gantry crane. I googled mobil gantry crane and there were pictures, plans and dimensions of cranes used in factories to move heavey objects between work stations. I reduced the size to 4' long, 3' wide, 6' high and built one using PT lumber that I got out of dumpsters at a local town house construction site. HF had 10" pneumatic tires with fixed and swivel brackets for $14 each and a 1 ton chain hoist for $50.
It works better than I imagined. No back strain and more accurate cutting.
The problem is outside. I can bring the logs home and cut them up into sections equal to the diameter, and using a peavey move them around. I roll the sections onto pressure treated (PT)
4x4's. Since each section weights over 70 Lbs., I cannot stack them. The problem comes when I rip them in half and round the halves into bowls blanks. In order to do this I am bent over using a chain saw with a 20" bar. It was killing my back even with a weight belt on. What to do? I needed to get the sections up on a saw buck. Given the wieght of each, how was I going to do this?I remembered seeing boats put into the water and taken out at a local marina using a mobil gantry crane. I googled mobil gantry crane and there were pictures, plans and dimensions of cranes used in factories to move heavey objects between work stations. I reduced the size to 4' long, 3' wide, 6' high and built one using PT lumber that I got out of dumpsters at a local town house construction site. HF had 10" pneumatic tires with fixed and swivel brackets for $14 each and a 1 ton chain hoist for $50.
It works better than I imagined. No back strain and more accurate cutting.
