[Newbie] Help Installing Grizzly G4003g

[alphapygmy]

Hi all, I need advice on bolting the legs to the floor before I position the lathe on them. The leg under the headstock has about .050" rock to it and the leg that will be under the tailstock has about .085" rock. I used a level on the floor to check the concrete for flatness and it looked pretty flat so I'm assuming there just some wobble in the legs from manufacturing. I used washers under the legs to remove the wobble then measured the thickness of each washer. Do I need to have the lathe bolted on first and then see where the wobble is? What's the best way to deal with the rocking? Thanks

 

[JimDawson]

I guess I would not bolt it to the floor. Just use jack screws on 3/8 or so steel plates under the screws. Here's a picture I grabbed from the Internet. I normally use 4x4 or 3x3 steel plates, not the small ones in the picture. Put a divot in the top of them so the screw can't walk off.




I use machinery mounting pads under my 13x40 like these

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=500&PARTPG=INLMK3&PMITEM=827-9215
.
.

 

[coolidge]

Jim someone cut that stand down and welded those tabs on it. Here is a couple quick pics of my G4003G and my 2 cents worth on this topic. First the stands are far from precision, look at the left stand below my headstock rests on, its like trapezoid welding project gone bad. Next consider is the bottom of the lathe casting actually ground flat and true head stock and tailstock on the same plane, unlikely. That's why the two stands are independent of each other. If you suspended the lathe in the air with the stand bolted to it I'd rather imagine the two stands going in several different directions from one another. Remember a tiny bit out at the bottom of the lathe casting is a lot out by the time you get to the bottom of the stand.

Okay so lets assume the stands are wonkers like mine are. I just recently removed the leveling feet from my G4003G, as you can see in the first pick if you bolt level feet on this considerably shortens the footprint of the stand front to back which is already too shallow imo and tippy.

Here's what I did, I set mine on the floor and leveled all 8 corners of the two stands independently using my Starrett precision machinist level making sure all 8 corners were in contact with the floor and not floating above it. No two corners were the same in terms of shims and my garage floor is flat, its new construction only 3 years old. I have more shims in the front of mine because my garage floor like many are sloped towards the door for drainage, e.g. building code.

If the OP really wants to bolt the lathe to the floor what I would do is set the lathe flat on the floor and shim it level as a first step. Then take a couple lengths of steel tubing, weld or bolt one to the outside bottom of each stand, then bolt that to the floor. I'd cut them a few inches longer than the depth of the stand to give it some more depth and stability front to back.

Parting note, unless you are pretty tall 6 foot plus you don't want to add any height to the lathe its already too high as I recall its 4 inches higher than the RML 16x40 lathe I have been looking at.

 

[Tozguy]

I did not bolt my 12x36 lathe to the floor. It is not a 4003G but the same principles apply.
After a preliminary leveling of the stands, a gasket material was put around the bolt holes in the top and the lathe was lowered onto the stands. The lathe was tightened solid to the stands.
The 8 leveling feet similar to the ones in Jim's picture were used to eliminate any rocking and to get even tension on all the feet.
I also find the original location of floor mounting holes in the stands to be close together. I added some weld to strengthen the corners then drilled and tapped each corner for a carriage bolt.
From time to time I check the tension on the feet by tapping them with a box wrench. A lazy foot will thud and a tight foot will ring.

 

[NoobCanuk]

I was curious what is an average height for a bench to be that you are mounting a lathe on? I'm 5'10" tall so about average height and curious if people prefer to look down on their lathes while working (so you have a low bench ) or do people prefer to have the lathe fairly high up? I got a 1030V precision matthews lathe just arrived but was planning on building a workbench to set it on. I was wondering how high you guys prefer your lathes when you are working on them?

 

[planeflyer21]

I was curious what is an average height for a bench to be that you are mounting a lathe on? I'm 5'10" tall so about average height and curious if people prefer to look down on their lathes while working (so you have a low bench ) or do people prefer to have the lathe fairly high up? I got a 1030V precision matthews lathe just arrived but was planning on building a workbench to set it on. I was wondering how high you guys prefer your lathes when you are working on them?

High enough that lifting heavier work pieces isn't a strain, low enough that you aren't bending at the waist to reach controls.

Mine was about ideal, the top of the bench being 3" or so below my navel. I'm 5' 11".