Machine leveling

Getting the base level and equally on all feet is a good idea just for its own sake. It is not necessary, but it is "best practice." It is especially important that the base bears evenly on all feet otherwise it can cause issues with the finish.
Bolting the machine to the floor is often good, but some folks have had to unbolt theirs because of local vibration from a freeway, trains, etc. and put the machine on rubber machine feet. Mine is bolted down, and it improved my finish quality.

"leveling" a lathe is a bit of a misnomer. The object is not so much to get the beds level as it is to get the machine setting on the base with no stress. Having the beds level can make other set ups easier since you can use a level to see if your work is in the machine right at times. But as already stated, Army mobile machine shops, and navy machine shops are anything but level. The reason we call it leveling is because using a level is the easiest way to remove twist. Short of using a level, you would have to resort to some other complicated method.

A "leveled" lathe will have no twist in the beds. This is accomplished by using a machinist level over the beds and adjusting the feet until the ways are free of twist (as measured by the level). if the machine cuts a taper with untwisted ways, the headstock is out of alignment. If it is very minor, many people will twist the bed to compensate, best practice is to loosen the headstock and align it.
Only after the headstock is made to be in alignment should the so called "two collar" method be used to center the tail stock.

So, level the base, level the lathe, align the headstock, align the tail stock.

There are tons of threads hear on it, and plenty of videos on the internet.
Just use your common sense, there is also a lot of poorly informed info out there.

-Josh
 
this is the best way IMHO. And its easy to do.

Karl
 

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Josh thanks for the very clear explanation of the mechanics. I was wondering about the distinction between being level and having the ways coplanar. I can see the convenience of having a level reference. Presumably on a lathe like mine one has to have reference spacers to get above the V ways to measure the bed for level.
 
Richard S said:
Josh thanks for the very clear explanation of the mechanics. I was wondering about the distinction between being level and having the ways coplanar. I can see the convenience of having a level reference. Presumably on a lathe like mine one has to have reference spacers to get above the V ways to measure the bed for level.
Click to expand...

Not really. Just remove the compound and set the level on your cross slide.
 
Why would you need to remove the compound Mike? Just lay the level along the cross slide.
 
ddickey said:
Why would you need to remove the compound Mike? Just lay the level along the cross slide.
Click to expand...

My level is almost 12" long with a relieved section in the middle. It has to sit on the ends of the level and there isn't enough bearing surface with the compound in place. Most precision levels are similarly relieved in the center so ... the compound has to come off.
 
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