Copied from elsewhere:

http://www.gorillagripper.com/

The GorillaGripper is fine for those with puny 4' wide boards, but a 9x6 puts that gripper at the top of your head before lifting the board. Here are some more ideas:

http://www.drywallpanellift.com/cata...+handler/0/0/1
(http://web.mac.com/mphcj5/The_Troll/The_Troll.html)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28402214@N07/2651687993/

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/ar...ywood_Carrier/

http://www.drywallpanellift.com/prod...UDN8/Tools/0/0

I suppose one could use the GorillaGripper on wide boards if you had stilts. :)

When I started thinking about the MM, one of the 1st things that came to mind was a device similar to the one in the popular woodworking article, my idea missed the tip angle, but for the most of the parts was a similar device.

I wonder whats the best (one man) way to load a full sheet without breaking it over the MM table.

Maybe one MAN one WOMAN could work.:D

or without breaking one's back :)

Recently when I was repositioning the MDF sheet over the table - I underwent a "para spinal spasm" - very painful - and still recovering - things like these definitely help preventing things like these.

RGDS
IRfan

I think this seems a clever idea
http://www.gorillagripper.com/videos/legup.html

Seems like something a clever DIY'er could implement.

Roll the sheet up to the mill using the popular woodworking cart, directly onto the "MechMate loading hook"™

PEU, If you don't have any back problems like Irfan this way can work for you :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe0GH...layer_embedded

Yes Jeff, I also thought the "LegUp" was smarter than the "gripper". Realise that the direction of the hinge pin does not have to be perpendicular to the table - we sometimes have the approaching board at an angle and get only one corner on the table before lining it up and then sliding it on. So, one can dangle a legup off the end of the table, about in the center, with its "claw" facing about 20 degrees to the Y axis. Come to think of it, even a rope and hook would do the job.

Found this, this morning in my usual forum crawl..

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/mes...tml?1242663944

Consider using a sliding door system for handling boards. If the boards are lying flat, a double track sliding door system configured like an overhead gantry will do the job. One rail can support up to 400kg. (little bit more than the boards we cut) Use slings or hooks to lift the board.

http://www.hillaldam.co.za/product_detail.php?p_id=10

These guys sell standard components which can be easily assembled to fit the shop. You can join the rails, add stops etc. I used this to carry rolls of barbed wire. El cheapo!

If you really want to go fancy, you can use suction cups to lift the board. A vacuum is created using a vacuum motor (very efficient) driven by compressed air. Much cheaper than a vacuum motor and no moving parts.

http://www.piab.com/Templates/Page.aspx?id=61

They have a branch in JNB.

At Timber City, (our local board dealer) they use a two wheel trolley to carry the boards in a tilted, upright position. (Guess 15 deg. from plumb) It has a simple round tube bent like a U (upside down) welded to an angle to support the board. Can load up to 5 board at once and handled by only one person. The bigger the wheels, the easier it handles.

As usual, no endorsement of the companies intended, but I had good service from Piab

http://www.liftmate.co.uk/getimg.php?id=650&type=thumb
http://shop.walden-mh.co.uk/walden.n...ILE/DBT200.jpg
http://www.furnitureatwork.co.uk/WC/...log/i16213.jpg

That must be the right cart...it's MM Blue! :D

Looking at the bottom of that we should have some off cut c channel left from the MM to build some.

You could mod that design and place a pivot frame that rotates from the handle of the lower half so you could actually tilt the board once you get close to the table. I would also put 4 casters on instead of unidirectional wheels. Sort of like this MM blue :) cart with a tilt like the wood panel cart.

panel cart
 

Pretty basic.
I sized it to use materials I had on hand and to suit a harbor freight "movers dolly"
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93888

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/pho...3899/93888.gif

Cheaper than casters.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...jeff/007-3.jpg
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...jeff/006-2.jpg
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...jeff/005-3.jpg

The attached zip file is the cut drawing. The hole is sized for 1/2" pipe. The tilting tabletop is drilled slightly (1/2") off center to allow the top to rest vertically, unless a sheet of material is loaded, in which case it tends to rest horizontally.

My cart was sized to be precisely the height of my MechMate.

Jeff,

Great design. Simple, inexpensive, BUT, obviously, very effective.:D

Jeff, You had nailed it. I'll certainly build one to save my back.Thanks for sharing.

Cart / Loader.... I only see a Suzuki GS in the background....:D

Thanks guys. If you have plywood or mdf on hand, all the better. Maybe even paint. :)

Be sure to check the dimensions so that the sheet will be the same height as your machine when horizontal. Also check the width of the slots to suit your material.

I love how the MechMate makes simple stuff even simpler.

The design is a working prototype. The next couple of upcoming projects require handling about 80 sheets of marine ply, so I needed to do something.

on edit:
I thought you'd notice that Kobus, :D

An embarrassingly dusty Suzuki in the background. I'm a fair weather pilot, I'm afraid, and here in the north, it's very not.

You guys are working to hard. You will need to make a few vacuum pods from joewoodworker.com pick up an electric winch and a air cylinder and then some easy sheet moving. Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpodbTyCNI

But what about the cost?

Heath I think it would be a matter how much effort would you be willing to put into it. If you wanted to purchase one of these lifts from the company in the video I no doubt would think 20,000 USD. But your here and not on a shopbot forum so here is a few ideals on how to make this work.

You will need a venturi

You can make your own its not all that hard. I think you could build it without a lathe but I know it would make it easier.
You could also purchase this one for 16.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96677

You will need a electric crane 139.00
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2954

You will need a Gantry to move the material. Now I dont agree with this price (649.00) and if you built your MM table you can easily build one of these.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=41188

You will need a air cylinder to go from 90 deg to 0 deg. 27.95
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.a...12&catname=air

You will also need a vacuum pad that you can make on the MM with HDPE for around 20.00, various hardware and tubing another 80.00. I think you could probably off the shelf make it for 1,000.00

Make gantry yourself and I would have to say 500.00

When you vacuum lift MDF boards, you have little control over the number of boards lifted - the vacuum goes through the mdf and can lift more than one board at a time.

I prefer Jeff's tilting dolly. Cost effective & small foot print, can double as a ping pong table as well. :)

Gerald what if you installed a manual control valve for the vacuum, with it all the way open, lift the sheet(s) maybe an inch, then slightly back it off until it released the extra sheet(s), then open it all the way open again.

That should work. I think the guys maybe lift about 3 sheets and then "peel" the excess sheets off the bottom, because the board edges are not sucked together.

If you think it someone will build it. This is what I had in mind but only with a vacuum pad for lifting.

Link to description of the build http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=39929

This might not work for everyone's situation.......

Here is a perfect example of what I meant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V60S...eature=related

www.woodmotion.com and its the right colour