When you work with exotic equipment, sometimes you need to make special tools.
My handmade tool mounted on the lower lens section of a Transmission Electron Microscope, ready to do some lifting
This electron microscope had some issues in the lower half of its column and I had to pull the thing off and get into it. This TEM is outfitted with it's own jack for splitting the column at different sections, however pulling out the lower section required a new tool. This lower section has 4 large electromagnetic lenses and lots of other hardware and weighs about 200 lbs. So I made the tool so two people could lift with out a whole lot of difficulty. Minimal difficulty and safety are very critical, because if this thing were to drop it could easily break some metatarsals, and cause irreparable damage to the lower optics.
Another perspective
Top view of tool, after we pulled the section and set it on my desk
So I made this lifting bracket out of 3/16 x 1.25" steel bar and some 11 gauge 1" steel tube. Not my prettiest work, but I went with function over from. I also needed to make it expeditiously. The 2 bars I cut, then drilled and placed on top of the lower lense section. One of the drill holes was a little off because I eyeballed it. Hahaha. No problem tho, I just drilled 2 holes to a bigger diameter later, and made heavy duty "washers" for them. Once I had them lined up right, I clamped the lifting bar to them and then pulled the whole assembly off and welded it with a Miller 200 MIG.
Close up of one of the 2 oversized holes I drilled
Over all I am pretty happy with it. Its stronger than it needs to be, but I prefer to over build. Besides, it was made mostly from scrap!
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I like that you have a book called Machine Tool.
From trade school days :-). You probably like these books too
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