Moving a Challenge Cutter
I found a Challenge Cutter close to me for $600. It appears to be in great condition and comes with extra blades. I am going to get it but I am worried it will not fit through the doorway. the seller said its about 40” wide, about 48” deep and 24” tall. The actual cutter can be removed from the stand.
Does anyone have this one? Or any ideas about moving it? I was thinking take it off the stand and have a couple guys move it sideways through the doorway?
I am VERY new to this so maybe my idea is totally ridiculous.
Please let me know what you think so I can get back to the seller.
I recently moved one out of my basement. Two hearty guys can disassemble it. The bed is one piece and very heavy. It can be disassembled in a few hours. Once taken apart the pieces can be moved through most doorways.
At $600 bucks you got a really good buy for your hobby letterpress shop. This Challenge cutter is my all time favorite for lever cutters. These days I use a full power cutter - no side lever, however I did start out with one of these and I loved it. I used four of my “biggest” friends to move my cutter thru the door - just look out for that extremely very sharp blade when working with it…
Make certain to remove the blade before the move. A slight slip can be disastrous.
John Henry
Good Point about the blade. Blade removal uses 2 handles. If you don’t know how to take the blade off don’t guess, find someone that knows. It is not hard to do and I have done it many times in my 40 years working with my challenge cutter.
The seller showed me how to safely remove the blade and gave me a walk through of operating the machine.
…. it’s currently sitting on my covered porch because we are having a hard time disassembling it enough to get it through the door lol
will keep you all updated
After you re-assemble the cutter, make sure the blade is always above the paper clamp and not below the clamp. A simple safety measure here. These blades are so sharp you could cut off half a finger tip and not even feel it…
I got lucky in my move, there were three (3) big Amish teens who lifted it up into my pickup truck. Then when I got home neighbor lifted it out with a skid loader and chains. A heavy duty cart got it in the shop. Then a hundred dollar engine hoist from Harbor Freight got it where I needed it.