Moving the Big Box

The lab space is large, light, airy, and spacious. We've only had one problem with the space: the Big Box in the corner of the room.



The landlord gave us a great deal on the space because he had three old plate printing machines in that box, and he was insistent on not moving them. But as the last few weeks progressed, it became clear that we really really needed to get rid of them. We'd been trying to make a deal with him, and yesterday he finally agreed, so today we moved it all out!

Lots of photos here; as always, click to see a larger version.

Taking the box apart:





What was in it?



Yikes. It didn't look as bad once it was uncovered:



There were boxes and boxes of of spare parts too:



We hired a crew and a lift loader to lift the machines out:







My camera battery went dead just before things got exciting. I missed photographing the lift-out of the largest machine - it weighed slightly over one ton (we think) and the harness they used to lift it was unbelievably frayed. I did get a photo of the frayed harness while they were lifting the first machine though. IMHO it's definitely worth clicking on the image to see the fray in its full glory.



To make sure it didn't tear further, they ripped up a couple of cardboard boxes & stuffed the cardboard between the fray and the machine. I would love to show photos of that, but oh well.

After some time of camera battery recharging, the box is out and my students have cleaned the room!



The students after cleaning...



... and helpfully posing in the now-clean Big Box corner.



This was a very satisfying day.