Mill to Basement is a series of pictures on how I moved a Supermax 
CNC milling machine into my basement.  This machine is more heavily 
constructed than a standard series I Bridgeport.   The total weight
with CNC system is around 3000 lbs.  The head is directly attached 
to the ram for a stiffer assembly.  If I could have handled the head 
and ram individually, I could have moved them on a two wheel cart like 
the knee and table. So hopefully this should answer the age old 
question of "can I move a Bridgeport into my basement?"  This at 
least is one way to tackle it.


01 Mill to Basement
Picture of moving the knee strapped to a two wheel cart.  The table 
which is 9"x49" went down the same way.

02 Mill to Basement
Base of mill being moved to front door

03 Mill to Basement
Base of mill at the bottom of the front porch.

04 Mill to Basement
Base of mill on the front porch.  

05 Mill to Basement
Head and Ram Assembly lifted to porch

06 Mill to Basement
Base of mill slid through the front door and into the foyer.  

07 Mill to Basement
Mill base and head/ram assembly in my front foyer.  I laid 4'x8' sheets of
hardboard down to protect the hardwood floor.  It also provided a low
friction surface which allowed us to slide the mill base into position 
for the ride down the stairs.  Kind of unusual seeing big pieces of 
cast iron and a crane in my foyer.

08 Mill to Basement
Head/ram assembly going for a ride down the stairs.

09 Mill to Basement
Head/ram assembly at bottom of stairs.  A couple guys were able to position the
assembly onto the dolly cart for easy movement.

10 Mill to Basement
Two guys were able to slide the base into postion to ready it for
the ride down.

11 Mill to Basement
Everything it hooked up and ready to go. Load was transmitted to the
chain by slowly sliding the CG of the base to the edge of the stairs.  By 
slowly  letting out chain, no abrupt load shifting was encountered. 

12 Mill to Basement
Base taking the ride down.  Full steam ahead with the lever hoist took about
twenty minutes cranking.  Power hoist would have made short work of this.
  
13 Mill to Basement
Base of mill at the bottom of the stairs.  At this angle the base is almost
balanced at it's CG.  By me sitting on the end, I was able to provide enough
leverage to to get it upright by simply letting out more chain.  

14 Mill to Basement
Base in the upright position.

15 Mill to Basement
All the major pieces successfully moved into my basement without incident.

NOTE: Usual disclamer applies about moving heavy objects that can crush you like
a little bug if you do something stupid.  Moving a mill into your basement is 
stupid enough to some people.  Much effort when into planning and preperation to
ensure nobody got crushed like a little bug.  No people or bugs were harmed in 
the process.