[PADG:2263] Re: moving lab equipment

[Jacob Nadal <jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

We've had three charming experiences moving board shears in the last 
few years, and I think the collected wisdom from these comes to:

1) Find the smallest dimension (floor to table? across the table? front 
to back?) on the shear.

2) Find the dimensions of smallest door between point A and B, and hope 
that the smallest dimension of the shear is less than the smallest 
dimension of the door (presumably its width). And once your hopes have 
been dashed in this regard...

3) Consider some disassembly - all of our shears had a removable 
counterweight on the cutting arm that, once off, greatly reduced the 
awkwardness of the whole process. The cutting arm is also generally 
removable. Unfortunately, getting these back on and getting the shear 
swinging properly takes some time and fine tuning.

4) I think moving season is a great time to send blades out for 
sharpening, too. If you can have your sharpener pick the blade up 
before the move and drop it off at the new location you can save your 
blade from possible handling mishaps.

5) After our first experience (see below) we required our crew to do a 
walk through of the move with us so that we could make up a list of all 
the equipment we would require them to have on the day itself, 
determine how may people needed to show up, and explain which pieces 
had to be handled with particular care.

In case they can be of any instructional value, here are the stories of 
our recent shear hauling:

1) A cast-iron Challenge shear we were transferring over to the School 
of Fine Arts book arts lab. This was the heaviest of the bunch, and it 
had to be disassembled into as many pieces as we could manage. 
Essentially, if there was a bolt, we undid it. The moving crew still 
took one look at it, said "it's too heavy," and left. Fortunately two 
of our preservation alumnae were in the Fine Arts program, and their 
professor had a quarter ton truck and a vision. I believe that they 
moved it by force of will or divine right more than anything else.

Incidentally, the weight ratios went something like 3 book artists + 
their pickup = 1 mover = 1/2 board shear. Make of that what you will.

2) Our big Vagelli had to move from the basement of our Main Library to 
our new lab. This involved removal of the cutting arm, guides, and 
counterweight, but at that point the table could be turned sideways 
onto a wheeled platform and rolled into a truck fairly easily. There's 
a moment, of course, where the point of balance shifts over and the 
table moves very quickly to it's new orientation. I find that table top 
and the legs can be pretty intimidating as they get up to speed. This 
shear is 33" floor to table-top, so without too much trouble we could 
get it through the single doors (32" x 80" - standard interior door 
size) between the old lab and the loading dock. I think that we left it 
on the moving platform during transport and just strapped it down to 
the truck wall, rather than turning it back down onto its legs, to make 
unloading easier.

3) Our little Vagelli had to move from under the eaves of the Lilly 
Library to the new lab. Again, guides, the cutting arm and 
counterweight were removed. This table was kept in its normal 
orienatation, since it's taller than it is wide, and it had to make a 
pretty nerve wracking and tedious trip through the Lilly stacks without 
doing any collateral damage to bibliographic history. We posted staff 
at each end of the table to help guide it, as well as additional staff 
leading and following to watch out for the collections.

--Jake

---------------------------------------------
Jacob Nadal
Head, E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory
Indiana University Libraries
(812) 855-6281 | mailto:jnadal@xxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------

On Feb 10, 2004, at 4:12 PM, Drewes, Jeanne wrote:

> I am interested in hearing from anyone who has recently moved lab 
> equipment.  We are getting ready to move into new lab space and have 
> to move our  board shear.  Any advice on how best to move it without 
> damage?
>
> Jeanne Drewes
> Assistant Director for Access & Preservation
> Michigan State University Libraries
> 100 Library Room W-108A
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1048
>
> 517 4326123 ext. 147  FAX 517 432 1010
> drewes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.lib.msu.edu/drewes