How I move around my heavy DIY CNC

[Doddy]

rather than lie on the floor winding up machine castors like these would hasten the pay back!

Ah, I've been there - brilliant machine feet, but a complete bugger when you've got a bench & mill weighing in at over 200kg and you're trying to get to the foot at the back. We need someone to design a wrench for the cog for these - my thumbs ain't what they used to be.

A_Camera - like your idea, but over complicated. Why not build a multi-purpose jack-plate (basically what you have... but you can place it under any machine to lift it)

[A_Camera]

Ah, I've been there - brilliant machine feet, but a complete bugger when you've got a bench & mill weighing in at over 200kg and you're trying to get to the foot at the back. We need someone to design a wrench for the cog for these - my thumbs ain't what they used to be.

Exactly what I got tired of, crawling on the floor, reaching the rear two was never an easy task with my previous solution. Doable in case I had to do it, but was not very comfortable and took some time to lift all four corners and pull out the machine. Now I do it with the flip of the switch, standing on my feet, and the machine is moved out in less than a minute.

A_Camera - like your idea, but over complicated. Why not build a multi-purpose jack-plate (basically what you have... but you can place it under any machine to lift it)

Thank you. Yes, it might look complicated, but I think actually that to build a multi purpose jack plate is worse and would take as muck time as this one. Once I figured out how to do it, it took only about one day (8-10 hours of work) to complete the work, from start to complete installation. Not included the time it took to make the control box, that was a few hours extra. Now to make a jack plate would have been more complicated, especially since I don't have a welder or any material which could be used for that. I also wanted a permanent installation, not something I have to store elsewhere. I think it is better this way, it is always available and ready for use. As I said before, using a simple two pole ON - OFF - ON switch would make it a lot simpler, but in my case, it was a choice I made to use things I had at home readily available.

It's a hobby for me, so the extra time is no big deal and the complexity thing is really nothing for me. But yes, definitely over-engineered for one who wants to keep it simple. As it is a hobby, I don't have to think about failure, or that some solutions take more time than others.