Lathe Leveling Problem

[Richard King]

The question was asked about leveling a lathe, and I saw the picture with the yellow pads under the machine that are used as levelers. I apologize for not making it clear what I was saying in my last post as I was rushed. I am giving you my professional opinion on leveling a lathe, I find those rubber feet to flex with the weight of just leaning on the machine or as the saddle moves and the weight changes to another area of the bed they will change, and so goes the tool path, as the machine is allowed to flex. That's why I said if the wood block was used as it does not flex the machine got better. My 63 year old family owned rebuilding and machine alignment company has always used steel plates or steel wedge levers and have had no issues. If the machine walked or skated on the plate, they person (owner) who made them did not have a spot faced hole in them for the leveling bolt to set in. I some extreme cases I have had to place a thin layer of leather or a super hard plastic square pad under the steal plate. I would estimate 2% we anchored down (drilled holes in the floor) the lathes were 10' + beds because they were worn and we needed to twist them straight or they had interrupted cuts and the machine vibrated. I think they are a waste of money. You may love those leveling feet dark, that's your opinion, but In every instance I have seen them used they failed one way or another. I replaced them with steel plates and fixed their issue the owner had. Have a great weekend! Rich

 

[epanzella]

The question was asked about leveling a lathe, and I saw the picture with the yellow pads under the machine that are used as levelers. I apologize for not making it clear what I was saying in my last post as I was rushed. I am giving you my professional opinion on leveling a lathe, I find those rubber feet to flex with the weight of just leaning on the machine or as the saddle moves and the weight changes to another area of the bed they will change, and so goes the tool path, as the machine is allowed to flex. That's why I said if the wood block was used as it does not flex the machine got better. My 63 year old family owned rebuilding and machine alignment company has always used steel plates or steel wedge levers and have had no issues. If the machine walked or skated on the plate, they person (owner) who made them did not have a spot faced hole in them for the leveling bolt to set in. I some extreme cases I have had to place a thin layer of leather or a super hard plastic square pad under the steal plate. I would estimate 2% we anchored down (drilled holes in the floor) the lathes were 10' + beds because they were worn and we needed to twist them straight or they had interrupted cuts and the machine vibrated. I think they are a waste of money. You may love those leveling feet dark, that's your opinion, but In every instance I have seen them used they failed one way or another. I replaced them with steel plates and fixed their issue the owner had. Have a great weekend! Rich

Ah, now I get it, you're referring to the leveling feet. Dark zero asked a question about the tailstock lever so when you mention "levers" the tailstock was the first thing to pop into my head. I welded on extensions to my bases to widen the footprint and then used eight leveling feel rated at 800 lbs each. I only have the inside four in play right now but I can see what you mean. If I lean against the machine I can see .0002 deflection on my precision level. One a good note, I got the ways dead level and then when I did what you said about taking the level for a ride on the carriage that was dead level too. I had to do a lot of blasting to build my house and that usually results in basement floors settling and cracking for years to come. This is why I went to the yellow feet instead of bolting the machine down in the first place but your point is well taken. Can I use all metal levelers without bolting the machine to the floor?