Fadal VMC 15 XT crane lift

[MatGermany]

Hello I wan't to buy a used fadal VMC 15 XT CNC mill.

Can someone tell me if it is possible to lift the mashine with a crane? And If yes, how to do this?

These mashines a very rare here in Germany and I can't really find some informations about how to transport it.

Thank you very much!

 

[Bobw]

Fadal Tech Documents.

Maintenance Manual.

Specifications chapter..

All the VMC's have a hole in the back where you put a bar through, and then if you
pull the front way cover, there are 2 holes for eye bolts.

Of course, the ONLY machine the manual doesn't show those holes on is the VMC15, but
that is the machine where they point out the hole at the top of the column to lift
it from..

I honestly don't know if there are holes there for eye bolts or not.. And if there
aren't, there has to be some way.. It is a weldment, so not as easy to tap deep
into a chunk of cast iron.. I'd wager there is a hole that goes across that you
can slide another bar in down there.

 

[RC Mech]

Bob, there’s no real way to lift a VMC 15XT from the weldment, I was just climbing on mine to check it out. There are cross holes in the column near the top but they’re so far back (in line w/CW thru holes) that the machine would hang forward.

There are 2x’s 4” x 6” pockets in the base running front to back. I’d make some spreader bars out of 2” x 4” heavy wall tube and drill for eye bolts on the ends. 6 ft long tube should do it.

Then you can have the doors open and as far as I can see, the enclosure wouldn’t interfere w/the slings at all.

 

[Bobw]

Probably how I would do it..

Its fresh in my head because I have a 3016 coming, and need to move out a 4020, and my forklift hydraulics
are a little un-happy.. So I was digging to see if I could have it done with a big ass tow truck.

Turns out my hydraulic problem is DUST.. Never realized how stupid super simple a hydraulic pump is.

And yes, I'm moving one out.. She's being put out to pasture.. She hasn't run in 4 years or so..
She was giving me BIG problems.. BIG problems, both electrical, and mechanical.. And then I got
one of those new fangled power supplies to try and fix some of it, and I didn't exactly hook it up
right. Apparently there are 2 different 7's and 8's on there. Pushing 120AC through 12DC doesn't
do good things.

I've played with it, bought some stuff.. She'll still pop on, but she's not happy. The physical stuff
is just not good. Bore a hole and the head knocks over so far that its .020" oval, with a BORING HEAD!!!

She was a good girl.. I went to the pound and payed the adoption fee for a l3 year old dog. She cost me
less than half of any other dog at the time. Her ways were scored BADLY. .005 of slop in part of the X
ballscrew. .019 of lost motion in the Y. Thrust bearings were trashed. Only had 13 bellevilles that
were in tact. Even the f'n drawbar was destroyed, I have no idea how that happened (I didn't do it).

I took her in.. I loved her, I took care of her... I gave her a new lease on life.. Cleaned up her life lines
(lube lines), changed some of her jets. Fixed up her couplings at the motors. Tightened up her gibs and straps.
Changed out her thrust bearings. Spent a lot of time setting up her back lash.. At the right end of the table,
even with 5 thou of slop in ballscrew, I could interpolate a hole within .002 without any witness marks. She
was tight on the other end..

She had a really really really really really hard first 13 years of her life.... I took her in, and gave her another
good 10 years.. I'll love her forever, she was a good girl.. And then I started cannabalizing her.. She's getting
stripped, and going out to pasture.. At this point just to get her back running would cost me almost as much
as another machine, and her structure is just trashed.

And for the record... YES!!! I do talk to my machines. I figure the worst thing that can happen is
people think I'm crazy and leave the me F' alone (or is that the best thing that can happen?)

I'm going to miss her.. But I'm sure her replacement will end with some parts from her, so she
can live on.

 

[MatGermany]

Thanks for you answers. So i can put big tubes into the forklift pockets to make them longer and use them with eyebolts to lift the mashine? At the Back of the mashine i can use the holes at the top of the collumn?

 

[matt_isserstedt]

I think that is what I would do. Its essentially a large "L" shape as far as the structure. Solid round bar thru the top of the column, ideally core a hole in some heavy flat bar to attach the swivel ring or lift eye, and slip that hole over the solid round, get it tight to the sides of the column.

If you could make a weldment like the Greek letter "pi" that would help move the lift points out from the centerline some, always good to get some distance to keep it stable.

The next question would be about the crane and its crew - does it come with a rigging crew and their own spreader bars or just a single hook (?) You might need to make your own spreader bars to get past the coolant enclosure.

Then there is the question of where the center of gravity lies, it would be somewhat of a guess but I'd put it somewhere around the vertical axis of the spindle..

It is definitely a machine purposefully designed to be moved with a forklift