moving Windmill through 110 cm door?
Hello,
I am planning to open my letterpress studio and now looking at some suitable spaces. One that I saw today has a door wide only 110 cm/43,3 inches; according to the manual, small Windmill has width of 124 cm (I do not have the press physically with me yet). Is there any way to get it through the door of just 110 cm maybe after taking off some parts?
Unfortunately, not only is the door quite narrow, but there are some stairs as well. Height of the door is 185 cm.
Here is a video of the entrance to the space: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ag0A5T5J7hE1vkTheXJ2gOjGuRUG?e=0ZD76D
Thank you for any advice.
Usually, I remove the doorway. Having seen your video, stone won’t move. A Windmill person will have to answer for you. Otherwise, do you have other location possibilities?
One thing to factor for your future use will be the location of those stairs. Everything you move into and out of your building will be affected by them. I mean not only hardware but also supplies and visitors.
Another factor will be the narrow doorways in the location and the weird, winding passageways. The cuteness factor will get old quick when it comes to production work.
Personally, I would look for a much better location in terms of the process of work. This location wouldn’t even make it to my possibilities list. I like open rooms with space to move between equipment. I don’t like tight spaces and opportunities for equipment to snag and rip my clothes. But that’s my opinion.
If I were you, I would give more consideration to the suitability of this location for a work space. There may be more to factor here than the location of a press.
Hi,
It’s been a time since I worked with Windmills but I certainly remember moving one through a doorway that was less than 110 cm. Looking at the US manual, it says the width is 3’11”, which would be 119.38 cm. I assume that is when the right table is horistontal and as it can be folded that will probably solve the problem. Also, you can place the machine slightly diagonal on the pallet to lose some extra centimeters. Take measures on a physical machine before signing the contract for the premises.
Regarding the stairs, I wouldn’t worry too much. You have to build a ramp out of glued laminated timber and put extra planks along the edges of the ramp so the pallet doesn’t derail. Make the ramp longer than the stairs, as they look a bit steep. Crossbrace the ramp and put supports under each timber along the stairs. Rig a strong rope via a climber’s brake to the “street end” of the pallet and take it slowly. To decrease the friction between the pallet and the ramp I used mutton fat, typically used when launching wooden ships. For us, it was a very controlled descent.
Mats
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And another image.
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As well as lifting the side table I had my start / stop control under the table and by releasing the electrics that helps as well, one thing less to get in the way.
Hi and thanks to all of you for the valuable input and tips, I especially like the diagonal placement on the palette, I probably would not think of that :)
To briefly address some of the concerns:
No, it is not the only space I am looking into, but the other ones aren’t really much better in terms of accessibility (most are even worse) and there is not a ton of options unfortunately. Of course, there is a lot of other factors to consider like location, total floor space, price… This space scores quite high for many of them, at least in my subjective opinion.
Thanks again.