Home made lathe/mill adjustable feet (with pictures)

[Davo J]

Hi,
I made these adjustable feet a while back and since Nelson wants some more articles, I thought I would post them up.

There made from materials I had on hand. I started out with only making 6 for the lathe because I have just finished moving it, and can't bolt it down were it is. Then I decided to make the 4 for the mill and 4 for the shaper while I had the lathe set up to do them, and saves doing them latter.

They are made from 50mm mild steel I had, cut to around 25mm in length on the band saw, with a 14mm hole drilled in the centre on the lathe then shaped up to what I thought looked good.
I cut up some old chemset thread rod that I had as well. That why 6 have a hex in the end.
The thread rod is metric 16x2mm machined down to 14mm diameter on one end 15mm long to go into the bases. I used the vise to press them together and then plug welded them from the bottom.

The machined recess on the sides were the black is, is only to give the look of factory machine mounts, these are made of one piece of 50mm, not 2. For a lathe your better off with solid mounts to stop movement after it's leveled.

The other pictures show the feet the feet installed on the extension bases I made when I got the lathe. The Chinese just don't make these lathe stands high enough, so I made the extensions out of 75x75x4mm square tube cut down the middle to make C sections.

Dave

 

[Davo J]

The machined step is just painted black to give it that factory type look, they are just one piece of steel.

Dave

 

[nolo]

Very nice. They look a lot nicer than the ones I made out of Hockey pucks, washers, nuts and bolts.

 

[Davo J]

Very nice. They look a lot nicer than the ones I made out of Hockey pucks, washers, nuts and bolts.

I usually over do things cosmetically, but they all work the same in the end.

Dave

 

[Davo J]

Thanks for the compliments.
I just wish I had of had enough Chemset threads so they all had the hex top. LOL
The Chemset threads are supposed to go into a drilled hole in concrete as an anchor. A glass chemical filled cartridge is inserted in the hole first, then a drill drives the hex drive which breaks the glass and mixes it in the hole. The chemical reaction works really quick, then the nut can be done up.
A mate of mine picked them up somewhere because they where out of date as he is a truck driver that delivers to building sites. I would hate to know the price of them as it came in a kit.

Dave

 

[Davo J]

This is the cartridges and the system. You can see the ends of the studs have been sheared so they leave a sharp V to help break the glass (I think they are glass) tubes.
http://www.rudd.com.au/fasteners-fixing/anchor-bolts/ramcs16190ss.html
http://www.spec-net.com.au/press/0609/ram_100609.htm

Dave

 

[Fishchips]

Nice work.

 

[hq308]

Nice work Dave.

 

[george wilson]

I don't know if you have a gear head lathe or not. I have found that just sitting my gearhead lathe on oak pads made it cut a LOT smoother. Now I have it on neoprene padded mounts that were about $9.00 each.

Plus,my 16" lathe is about 4" higher with them on. The trouble is,for a largish lathe,you need several. Mine takes 6 pieces,and the cost adds up. At least,put some hardwood blocks under a gearhead lathe.

The expensive,old American made lathes might not need the padding,but my 16" Grizzly definitely did not like being on bare concrete. It practically knurled the work before I figured out years ago,that the wood made the chattering go away like magic. You wouldn't think that hardwood would offer such relief,but it did for mine.

I'll bet that even belt drive single phase lathes would also benefit. My 16" is 1 phase,which isn't as smooth as 3 phase. I will never buy another 1 phase lathe. My earlier lathes were all belt driven,sitting on a wooden top bench.

 

[Davo J]

Thanks guys,
Hi George,
Thanks for the tip, I have had this lathe bolted down to the concrete floor for around 5 years before this, and had these feet on for around 2, in both setups I don't have any problems. It is a geared head but has 2 belts running from the motor to the headstock. I would rather solid mounts because you spend all that time leveling that you don't want it moving.

Over the years I have done everything on this lathe from high precision bearing fits to machining fly wheels and have never had a problem with surface finish (other than your regular blunt tool etc).
I am glad I bought this lathe where I did because it has been spot on in every department. Other guys over here have bought lathes elsewhere and had lots of problems.

Dave