I just bribed the bride into letting me take over the storage room...

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

I need to do a lot of reconfiguring in the storage room before moving the lathe down there. Probably a month away. I'm still considering doing it myself, but am open to hiring it out. Any idea of cost?

[crokett™]

We gave away an old former player piano. Heavier (and larger) than a regular upright because of all the player stuff. A woman paid to have it moved. She paid 250.00. I imagine it would cost you ~ the same, possibly less since they are only moving it down the stairs. I would take as much (head stock, tail stock, etc) off as I could before it's moved.

FWIW, I turned on one of those in a turning class. I loved turning on that lathe.

[Rodneywt1180b]

It might be worth checking in at OWWM.org.  There are guys there with some truly massive equipment in basement shops.  They'll have some ideas on how to move it safely as well.
Rodney

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Yup, I've read a lot over there on OWWM. Some great solutions.
I think I like the idea of either hiring professionals, or using the concrete mounted d-ring (or eye-bolt) and a come-along.

One method I saw, that is useful for going up or down the stairs - everything will have to come back up in a few years when we build our new home - is to drill a hole in the concrete pad. Embed a pipe with internal thread into the hole (several inches to a couple feet deep), and then thread an eyebolt into that. You can use it as an anchor for a come-along or winch. After use, just remove the eye-bolt and screw a cap into the pipe to prevent dirt and dust from filling the pipe. With the equipment mounted onto a sheet of ply, it'll slide down pretty smoothly. I saw a video doing this somewhere a few years ago.