# PM25mv Stand is wobbling around on the floor help



## rmachinist (Mar 12, 2019)

Hi,

I'm new here I have a new pm25mv with stand I have it in the basement on a 3/4 plywood and been trying to use shims see in picture I can't seem to stop it from shaking I don't want to drill hole in the cement new house, I'm looking for a solution other idea's I would appreciate very much
Thanks


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## Firstgear (Mar 12, 2019)

get rid of the plywood, use metal shims...


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## ThinWoodsman (Mar 12, 2019)

Also, put some tar paper (think it's also called roofing felt, the stuff you put under shingles) under the shims, or between the mill and the floor. Should reduce sliding a bit. Can't tell if you've tried that already, that black rectangle could be sandpaper.


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## pstemari (Mar 13, 2019)

McMaster sells leveling shims for machine tools made of a hard rubber that work well.









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## mikey (Mar 13, 2019)

You will be much better off with leveling feet or leveling casters. If the sill plate on your wall is straight then you mill is sited in a dip and it may take a lot of shims to get it stable. Leveling feet are faster and more stable. It may even be a better idea to build a base to go under the stand so the leveling feet are outboard of the base for stability. If the mill is shaking now, just wait until you use a boring head - it may walk across the floor!

Search Amazon or ebay for machine leveling feet or leveling casters if you think you may need to move the mill.


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## rmachinist (Mar 13, 2019)

mikey said:


> You will be much better off with leveling feet or leveling casters. If the sill plate on your wall is straight then you mill is sited in a dip and it may take a lot of shims to get it stable. Leveling feet are faster and more stable. It may even be a better idea to build a base to go under the stand so the leveling feet are outboard of the base for stability. If the mill is shaking now, just wait until you use a boring head - it may walk across the floor!
> 
> Search Amazon or ebay for machine leveling feet or leveling casters if you think you may need to move the mill.


how would you mount them to the stand/base?


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## mikey (Mar 13, 2019)

Does your stand not have holes for mounting leveling feet underneath? Almost all stands do. If not, then there are a number of options. You can weld up a base so that the levelers are outboard of the machine stand; see post #7 here for some ideas. It doesn't have to be that elaborate but you'll get the idea. Or you can mount them on the sides directly to the machine stand or even mount leveling casters either to the bottom of the stand or on a base you make. Search for ideas on the net. 

My mill sits on 4 Carrymaster casters so I can move it at need. Easy to move but stable as a rock when it is place. I highly recommend you consider these if you think you may need to move the mill from time to time.


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## macardoso (Mar 13, 2019)

Maybe not the most helpful because it was a random find for me and wouldn't be cost effective, but I have my G0704 mounted to a 2' x 3' x 3/8" steel plate which has some wood pads on the bottom. The plate weighs roughly 125lbs and keeps the center of gravity a bit lower.  In addition, the CNC electrical cabinet (200lbs) is mounted to the rear of stand and adds extra weight. It doesn't shake much at all now. I wouldn't hesitate to load the stand up with sandbags. You can level that thing as flat as you want, but if it doesn't have enough weight to keep it there then it will always rock. 

Old pictures showing the black painted steel plate.


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## jdedmon91 (Mar 13, 2019)

You can shim it. When I had the same mill I lag bolted it down after I shimmed it up 


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## Nyala (Mar 14, 2019)

I just set up my PM-25 in January.  I was concerned about the factory stand in that it only weighed about 70 lbs.  That seemed a little light-weight to me so I went to Harbor Freight and bought one of their medium sized tool chests.  It weighs in at 174 lbs and will hold another 1000 lbs.  I made a top for it consisting of three layers of 3/4 plywood, glued and screwed together.  The top was bolted to the chest then the machine was bolted through the top and the chest.  The only thing that I had to do was put about an .080" shim under the right rear corner and it was rock solid.  Now, after adding most of my tools, I doubt that I could even move the stand by hand, at least not without some disassembly.


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## TakeDeadAim (Mar 24, 2019)

I had a similar issue with my lathe.  The cabinet's supplied for the stand had the leveling screw holes several inches in from the edges of the cabinets which, In my opinion, were two narrow to start with.   I made a set of extension legs from 4"x 1" x .187 wall steel tube, made angled cuts and raised the ends high enough to allow the use of some 3" diameter aluminum feet under 5/8 fine thread leveling screws.  I made threaded bushings and welded them into the tube for strength where the leveling screws went and also where the factory screw holes were in the cabinets to allow them to be bolted to these extension legs.  The added width and ability to get pressure on all the aluminum feet made the machine much more stable.


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