# Poor man’s machine footings



## Janderso (Nov 9, 2019)

I wasn’t happy with the 3/8” machine swivel mounts I got from McMaster.
My lathe is a Clausing Colchester 15, I think it weighs in around 2,300 lbs.
It has eight footings, four on the head and four on the tail.
Maybe it’s my imagination but I swear I could feel movement in the base at times when turning larger parts with aggressive cuts.









I chose to use 5/8” carriage bolts, flat washers and good quality nuts.
I used aluminum scrap and some tar paper under the footings.
It didn’t take me long to align the bed and lock down the new mounts.
I cut a test piece to verify I had no twist in the bed.
My method is not as scientific as some, it works for me.
I ended up with .0001” in 4.25”.
One of these days I’ll borrow a better 12” level.


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## seasicksteve (Nov 9, 2019)

Janderso said:


> I wasn’t happy with the 3/8” machine swivel mounts I got from McMaster.
> My lathe is a Clausing Colchester 15, I think it weighs in around 2,300 lbs.
> It has eight footings, four on the head and four on the tail.
> Maybe it’s my imagination but I swear I could feel movement in the base at times when turning larger parts with aggressive cuts.
> ...


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## seasicksteve (Nov 9, 2019)

Doesn't your base have threaded holes. I've had a couple 15" colchesters and a couple 13" as well they all had threaded holes in he base for leveling screws. I have a hard rubber pad with a steel cap under each leveling foot on mine


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## Cadillac (Nov 9, 2019)

I would think without having a female type of register on your plates the lathe will vibrate/walk itself right off those pads. the lathe is on minimal surface area being carriage bolts. What was the rating on the swivel feet your replacing 500#?


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## Janderso (Nov 9, 2019)

Oh great, now I need to rethink this.
Yes, they are threaded. I never saw those threads until I got down on my hands and knees with my cheaters.
Being blind sucks.
 think i’ll use it like this for a while and see what happens.
You May be right about walking.


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## RJSakowski (Nov 9, 2019)

I made cups for the feet on my lathe.








						On the Level: Further Adventures with the G0602
					

When I built the stand for my G0602 lathe, I made leveling adjusters for the four legs.  They were simple in design; a 1/2-13 bolt  and jam nut threaded into a plate at the bottom of each leg.  However, in trying to precision level the lathe, I ran into some issues.   When adjusting the height...




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## benmychree (Nov 9, 2019)

You could just sink a drill point onto the pads for the carriage bolts to bear into.  If it were me, I'd make screws to fit the existing threads with a point to fit the divot in the plates and just use a lock nut on top, the screws could be milled with a hex on top for adjustment.


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## Tim9 (Nov 9, 2019)

I would get it leveled... and the weld the head ofbolts to the plates. Then recheck the level.


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 10, 2019)

With the lathe right there you are risking putting a stain on your garage door with oil and swarf that might (will) come flying off the lathe.  An easy fix would be to go to Lowe's or another store like that and get a 4X8 foot sheet of masonite paneling that has a bright white smooth finish on it.  Looks like a white dry erase board.  1/8 inch thick so not too heavy to move.  Just glue a couple 1X2  8 foot boards on the back to keep it flat and stand it up right behind the lathe against the garage door at the headstock end.  Would look nice and be easy to wipe down.


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## Janderso (Nov 10, 2019)

Cadillac, funny you mention the stain, there is an oil mark that goes right up the door to the ceiling.
Gives it character.


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## Choiliefan (Nov 10, 2019)

I was pretty close to ground zero when the '94 Northridge earthquake hit.
My 15" lathe walked a few inches through the garage door.
It was leveled on bolt heads without pads though.


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## Jay-z (Nov 27, 2019)

Have you ever thought about using hockey pucks as feet? They work great and are very cheap.


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## Choiliefan (Nov 27, 2019)

Don Rickles would approve.


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## ThinWoodsman (Nov 27, 2019)

At the risk of hijacking this thread a bit, did you use that bottle jack to hoist the machines up?

Been considering adding levelling feet to my bridgeport and 14x40, but do not have a hoist and the prospect of using wedges is a bit daunting considering the 3" or so the machine has to be raised.


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## Tozguy (Nov 27, 2019)

Janderso said:


> think i’ll use it like this for a while and see what happens.
> You May be right about walking.



The same approach was used on my lathe weighing 1200 lbs and having 8 feet.
My carriage bolts are threaded into the stand but your way should work well too.
The bolt head sits on a washer which sits on a soft aluminum shim for traction on the floor.
The aluminum shim also serves as a feeler gauge to feel tension on the feet.
The aluminum shims are slightly larger than the washers. They are circled with a sharpie so any walking would be easy to detect.
Since the cement floor is very stable I did not want anything soft in the system like a hockey puck or tar paper.
It has proven to be practical. No walking whatsoever after several years of service.


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## BtoVin83 (Nov 27, 2019)

Nice lathe!
Company I worked for made "coned valve disks" rubber bonded to a coned piece of metal. I would gather up defective ones every once in a while and I use those. I like to anchor my lathes to the floor for rigidity but sadly the flimsy cabinet doesn't help. My dad had a 60" Tuda that we couldn't get the chatter out of with it bolted to a 10" concrete floor.  Cut and dug the floor up and poured 22 yards of concrete in the hole and bolted the lathe to that, worked pretty good after that.


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## Choiliefan (Nov 27, 2019)

A Tuda!
I had a 15X42 which was a wonderful machine.
It had leveling screws in the cast iron base and walked through the garage door in the 94 Northridge quake.


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## 38Bill (Nov 27, 2019)

I did hockey puck feet for my PM932. The 932 has four feet and weighs 1100 lbs. Been a year and they still  look like new. I milled out part of the center to inset a 3/8" thick washer/plate.


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## raven7usa (Nov 27, 2019)

I also used hockey pucks for my G4003G lathe. Machine does not move around.


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