Lathe Leveling feet

rodm1 said:
I have foot master casters on my air compressor they are grate but expensive get the ones with extending ratchet handles! I made a prototype foot for my lathe today that I think will work well for me. I used 3 inch round bar stock 4 inch long drilled and tapped one end for a 1/4 bolt this end will have a hockey puck bolted to it. The other end I drilled a 1/2 hole to for studs to drop into will use washers and nut for leveling adjustment.
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I opted not to do those due to size constraints and small bolt diameter.
I need to find some round stock that will be strong enough to hold the weight without deformation and I also need to find a way to take measurements to find “Level” on my floor. It is FAR from it, with leans and dips right where I have my lathe. Plus the whole section is leaning away from the headstock.
 
I took measurements from the floor to the bottom of the stand at the red dot locations.
Starting from left to right for the front I have as follows:

Headstock, Front, 4 points
0.75"
0.687"
0.812"
0.875"

Tailstock, Front, 2 points
0.5"
0.437"

Headstock, Rear, 4 points (starting from spindle end)
0.9375"
0.812"
0.875"
0.875"

Tailstock, rear, 2 points - from spindle side to tailstock side:
0.687"
0.687"

So, in all actuality probably not that bad off.



1681487667790.png
 
Have you considered levelling the floor with grout? The grout will probably be much more durable than the existing floor surface. Make the grout at least 1" thick at the thinnest point. A good grout will be stronger than the floor, so don't worry about it chipping off. Make sure the old floor is clean and prepared to bond with the grout.

If you level the part of the floor that the lathe sits on, start at the wall and make an area flat beyond the mounting points of the lathe. Perhaps even extend it to the area you stand while operating it. One big benefit of this is having an area that is easy to clean. Sweeping up chips of an uneven, rough concrete surface is difficult.
 
This thread reminded me that I have extra poly mounts on hand from an ordering mistake. I decided to put them to use on my handy vise pedestal. Now it's nice and stable on my shop concrete, which was coincidentally poured on dollar day at the liquor store.
PXL_20230415_222819159.jpg
 
pontiac428 said:
This thread reminded me that I have extra poly mounts on hand from an ordering mistake. I decided to put them to use on my handy vise pedestal. Now it's nice and stable on my shop concrete, which was coincidentally poured on dollar day at the liquor store.
View attachment 444722
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Sounds like my garage floor…. Well, whole house build actually…
 
Provincial said:
Have you considered levelling the floor with grout? The grout will probably be much more durable than the existing floor surface. Make the grout at least 1" thick at the thinnest point. A good grout will be stronger than the floor, so don't worry about it chipping off. Make sure the old floor is clean and prepared to bond with the grout.

If you level the part of the floor that the lathe sits on, start at the wall and make an area flat beyond the mounting points of the lathe. Perhaps even extend it to the area you stand while operating it. One big benefit of this is having an area that is easy to clean. Sweeping up chips of an uneven, rough concrete surface is difficult.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure I really want to go through moving the lathe across the garage again. Didn’t go so well the first time. Kinda have PTSD from it.
 
jareese said:
I took measurements from the floor to the bottom of the stand at the red dot locations.
Starting from left to right for the front I have as follows:

Headstock, Front, 4 points
0.75"
0.687"
0.812"
0.875"

Tailstock, Front, 2 points
0.5"
0.437"

Headstock, Rear, 4 points (starting from spindle end)
0.9375"
0.812"
0.875"
0.875"

Tailstock, rear, 2 points - from spindle side to tailstock side:
0.687"
0.687"

So, in all actuality probably not that bad off.
Click to expand...

It would seem something like 3" round maybe 1.25" thick with a .25" deep hole sized for the M16 bolts would do the trick. You'd be around 450lbs per pad, so nothing crazy.

I used four 2.5" round steel pucks about 3/4" thick with 1/4" holes sized for 5/8" bolts when I leveled my Sheldon (13x36 so half the weight of your lathe) and that made it rock solid. With only 4 pads and a smaller diameter I'd bet the actual loading in PSI is similar to what you'd have with 6 larger pads.

I'm planning to do the same for my 14" Logan and 14" Clausing but maybe go up to 3" diameter since I've got plenty of that available now...should be about 400 or a little bit more pounds per pad.
 
jareese said:
@pontiac428 if I may ask, why did you drill the pucks out so much in the center?
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I wanted a conical recess that the tapered bolt head would sit in and be laterally locked from movement. The tapers are different, so they virtually have full contact all around at several degrees of misalignment. It's a crude ball and socket.
 
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