Lathe leveling - do you do it with the lathe fully dressed or just the headstock and ways?

I remember when I was a new guy and everything was confusing. So many bits of conflicting advice. What I did was to assume/believe nothing and test everything until I figured out what worked best for me and have been doing it that way ever since. I'm sure you'll eventually settle on what works for you.

I have a Kinex level sensitive to 0.02mm/M. It is way too sensitive to use by itself, which is why I concurrently use a 98-6 sited right next to it. I use the latter to get close and the Kinex to finalize and it works really well. You have to be sure your levels are properly calibrated, which is why I included that doc for you to read. If your level(s) are off you will be chasing your tail so I would spend the time to get it right.

None of this is hard except for the first time you do it. Once you find what works for you, assessing your lathe will be simple and routine. Hang in there.
 
Yes, going through beginners hades. Everything that could mess me up is happening. At this point, I'm stuck on level calibration. Seem to be getting nowhere. The document you attached assumes that the surface plate is flat and level, or at least level to the measurement range of the level. At the moment, I can't guarantee that, not with 0.02 mm/M. That would require the slab be level to within 9 divisions * 0.02 mm/M, or 0.002" over 1ft. The counter is level to a mm over a meter, I'd guess.

Have a small 9 x 12 surface plate, and a 6" level. Right now the surface plate is sitting on the kitchen counter, because it's a bit warmer than down in the basement. I know about letting things settle thermally and mechanically. The counter isn't particularly stable, but 71F in the kitchen is a lot nicer for me than 61F in the basement on a similarly unstable surface. I use the cross level to indicate roughly where the level plane might be, then rotate the level 90 degrees to search for a candidate area.

What confuses the daylights out of me is the following situation. Say we pick 0 degree rotation and it reads high on the left side. Right side of bubble is on left side. Then rotate the level by 180 degrees. Now the bubble is high on the right side. Does one adjust the bubble towards the center? It doesn't seem to help the way I'd expect.
 
I don't have a precision level so I came up with the idea of using my laser level. I set a piece of flatbar across both ways and put the level on it and shoot across the shop and mark a point there. Approx 25 feet away from the lathe as it turns out. I move down the bed shooting from several places and level the stand to where it hits the spot across the shop from anywhere I put the bar and level. It greatly tightened up my taper on a cut and I tweaked it just a little since and got it even better.
 
Are you using one level only? Doesn't matter about the calibration.
 
ddickey said:
Are you using one level only? Doesn't matter about the calibration.
Click to expand...
Just one level. One touchy, highly sensitive level. It would be good to calibrate it, that's if I could actually do it. So far, haven't found the magic line on the granite flat that is level enough to be able to calibrate the level.

Prior to yesterday, I was just attempting to set the bubble the same. Wasn't having a whole lot of success, but at least it was a consistent plan.
 
No reason to but I understand the desire. Slowly rotate, you will find a level spot. But to then turn 180° you'll never get it back to the same position. You need to rig up something that will keep the level exact in position. I tried using a rotary table but even that proved difficult.
 
ddickey said:
No reason to but I understand the desire to. Slowly rotate, you will find a level spot. But to then turn 180° you'll never get it back to the same position. You need to rig up something that will keep the level exact in position. I tried using a rotary table but even that proved difficult.
Click to expand...
I can find a level spot for one orientation. Used painters tape to mark a corner on the granite. It helps to relocate the level. I find if I remove the level and put it back the same way (nestled into the tape corner) the level repeats ok. By ok, I mean within a 1/2 division. But the adjustment is making little sense to me. If the bubble is level in one orientation, at 180 to that it is off the rails. Adjusting the bubble off the rails at 180, makes the bubble off the rails when at 0. I cannot tell if this is because the actual incline of the granite is off by 0.002" in the axis that was chosen, OR I'm doing something wrong, OR the level isn't working or adjusting correctly. It is definitely testing my patience and sanity.

I checked and the painters tape comes off with no detectable residue - at least if the tape is peeled off within an hour.
 
Find the level place. Tape your corners. Rotate 180°. Now the bubble is all the way to one side? Adjust your leveling screw to half (the bubble) or lest than half to the center position. See if that helps.
 
ddickey said:
Are you using one level only? Doesn't matter about the calibration.
Click to expand...
Unless of course you inadvertently flip the level end for end between measurements.
 
ddickey said:
Find the level place. Tape your corners. Rotate 180°. Now the bubble is all the way to one side? Adjust your leveling screw to half (the bubble) or lest than half to the center position. See if that helps.
Click to expand...
Yes. It seems even it I get it off the peg at 180, then at 0 the bubble is pegged.
 
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