I bought the lathe from a used equipment dealer out of state, so I had to get it from the trucking depot to the house.  I found through necessity that you can slide a 500 pound crate from a standard loading dock into a mini van on a sheet of 3/4" ply supported by two 2 x 4s!!  Of course this particular shipper did not have a ramp to the ground at the depot!  I really should have rented a small truck, but I was trying to save money.  Everything went OK, but for a heavier or bulkier piece of equipment, that would be the proper way to go.

    Once I was home the lathe had to get out of the van.  As it refused to crawl out on its' own (they can be so stubborn), I had to find another way.  I made (well had from a previous similar situation) the pieces needed.  I built a ramp in two parts.  The first was fabricated from two long (about 4') 2 x 4s with two shorter crosspieces holding them about 2' apart.  One crosspiece was set back from its' end such that the long 2 x 4s hung out past the edge of the hatch opening when the crosspiece was against the inside lip.  The other section of the ramp was made from two 8' landscape timbers also 2' apart, spanned by a piece of 1/2" plywood for the ramp surface.  The two sections of the ramp were connected together by steel strapping bent to the proper angle and secured by 1/4 - 20 bolts.
 
    The lathe crate was elevated with a crowbar and scrap wood and the 2 x 4 assembly was slid under.  With the help of a come-along and my sons the lathe made its' way to the garage floor.
 
    After it was uncrated and partially disassembled, the lathe bed and headstock assembly was winched up onto the desk/bench using the landscape timber portion of the ramp.  This was secured to the desk by the steel straps and 1/4 - 20 bolts in holes drilled through the desk top.  I wedged and secured a length of 2 x 4 between the underside of the desk top and the floor to additionally support each upper end of the ramp.  This later setup could have been avoided if I had also separated the bed and headstock, but at the time I did not know if it would go back on in proper alignment (it would have).  Be careful before separating these pieces though, not all lathes have fixed alignment of the headstock built in!!
 

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