Ordered Grizzly G0704 Mill

[Paradox123]

My mill is ordered and will be delivered Tuesday. I was fortunate to find a 10% off coupon which incented the purchased now versus later.

I have a couple of questions about mounting the mill:

>If I mount it on the supplied stand, what are some options for leveling the stand? My garage/shop has a significant slope from back to front.

>I have space limitations in my garage/shop and have my larger woodworking machines on rolling bases. I've seen that some people use roller bases with mills, but it doesn't seem like a good idea when the objective is precise work. Can someone with first-hand experience comment on the use of roller bases? Other comments or opinions welcome as well.

>i've also seen seen where some mount the G0704 mills on benchtops. i'd appreciate any comments on benchtop mounting, e.g., top thickness, supports, size of the benchtop problems you've had, etc.

Thanks. This forum has been very helpful.

 

[wrmiller]

Well, it's not exactly a rolling base, nor is it a work bench. It's kinda a hybrid. May not work for your space requirements, but thought I'd offer it up as a possible choice.

Bill

 

[dave2176]

On my Grizzly I bolted 3/4 x 5 plate front and back that is wider than the stand and added leveling feet to it. The main thing is that there is no twist in the mounting. As I understand a mill can be unlevel a little as long as it doesn't twist.

BTW, congratulations on your mill.
Dave

 

[kd4gij]

Congrats on the new mill. I have had mine for about 2 years now and I have been real happy with it. Mine is on the stand sitting on the floor. I wouldn't put the stock stand on rollers. You would be chaseing it all over when you rase or lower the head. If your floor is angled that much I would build a low SOLID platform some what level bolted to the floor and the mill stand bolted to the platform

 

[Smudgemo]

I made a simple platform out of angle iron, but I switched out these feet to solid ones because they made things feel far less solid than I cared for. This would solve the problem of a sloping floor and it gives a wider base, but I'd make it heavier if I did it again. Maybe some box or heavier stock.

-Ryan

 

[kizmit99]

I started off by adding rubber feet (exactly like those in the post above) to the supplied stand - I hated them. They made the whole machine so tippy that raising or lowering the head was an adventure. I removed those feet immediately. After that I went straight to studs driven into the concrete floor. My floor was reasonably level, so a few washers of various thickness were enough to get it reasonably level. Good luck with your install - I predict you'll be very happy with the mill.

 

[LEEQ]

I mounted a lathe stand via threaded anchors in the concrete floor. You have a mill and maybe a lathe so making one piece shim blocks to a given height should be easy. Drill your 4 holes and set your studs into the anchors and shim the mill level temp like. Now measure up and make some one piece spacers to slide over the studs replacing the temp shims. Similar or maybe even identical to Kizmets mounting.

 

[flutedchamber]

I made a base for my 12X49 Bridgeport much like the base Smudgemo made, except it's made out of two pieces of 6 inch heavy wall channel iron. The piece for the back of the mill is 2 feet wider than the mill base, the front piece is 1 foot wider. I mounted the isolation pads just fare enough in that they don't extend past the end of the channel iron.

After everything was drilled, I painted the pieces red so they would be noticed. I've never stubbed my toe or tripped over them. It makes the mill very stable.

 

[Paradox123]

Thanks guys. You've given me some ideas to think about.

 

[Paradox123]

I ended up bolting the stand to the floor. I needed a small amount of shim to level up north to south; east-west was right on. I removed the table and head and was able to lift the base and column onto the stand. Tomorrow I'll clean all the gunk, re-oil/regrease and reassemble. Hopefully have it trammed and then go to work.