Should I put leveling feet on my lathe?

[Pcmaker]

My PM1127 lathe just came in this afternoon. The table top isn't flat, so the lathe wobbles when I push it. I was going to bolt it to the table top, but now I"m thinking of adding leveling feet on all the holes on the feet, in between the lathe and the pan. Would this be a good idea? Seems like it's a lot easier fix than bolting to the table, and shimming to level.

There's 6 holes on the feet of the lathe.

 

[BROCKWOOD]

Levelling feet can make life easier. I'd want to secure it to the table as well for stability.

 

[darkzero]

If the lathe is not very secure I personally would bolt it down. But it depends, does your bed have any twist in it? I used to have an 8x14 lathe & it was small enough where the bed didn't really twist much on fairly flat table top.

I would check your bed for twist & shim if needed along with bolting it down. With just leveling feet it still might not be secure enough but only way to know is to try.

 

[Pcmaker]

I don't think the bed is twisted, it's brand new. I do know the table is not flat because the 4x4 top holding the plywood is warped. I don't want to just bolt it down to the table and have the bed twist to match the table.

 

[darkzero]

It doesn't matter if the lathe is new or not, it can have bed twist just by the weight of the lathe sitting on an uneven surface. You need a machinists level to check. You can also check bed twist by seeing if the lathe cuts a taper. There are plenty of videos on YT showing how to check for bed twist.

 

[darkzero]

The reason I think bolting & shimming is the better solution is cause putting mounting feet on the lathe's mounting points will be a very narrow foot print. It'll probably make the lathe more unstable. Lathe's aren't normally leveled from those mounting points with just leveling feet.

 

[Tozguy]

I don't think the bed is twisted, it's brand new. I do know the table is not flat because the 4x4 top holding the plywood is warped. I don't want to just bolt it down to the table and have the bed twist to match the table.

Agree, no reason to think that the lathe is twisted. I would consider bolting only the headstock end to the table and leave the tailstock to float on the table. Put levelling feet on the table legs if necessary.

 

[bill70j]

the 4x4 top holding the plywood is warped. I don't want to just bolt it down to the table and have the bed twist to match the table.

If your 4X4 top is stable, you might consider using winding sticks to plane it flat. Then reattach the plywood top, shim the bed level and thru-bolt it securely to the top.

The only issue I see is that with a soft plywood surface, your leveling effort will be complicated because the lathe feet will sink into the wood as you tighten the securing bolts.

 

[BROCKWOOD]

You could make really big fender washers to go under the feet. I really believe you will want to anchor to the table - if not now, eventually. See, my table top lathe, to this newbie at 600 lbs wasn't going anywhere, so I set it on a piece of 5/8 steel plate I had that covered the footprint beautifully, leveled the table & let the chips fly. Not sturdy enough. Now it has 5/8" bolts going through the steel plate & steel table into 2" square tube running front to back. Now my chips are much closer to Abom etc...

 

[ttabbal]

Mine is anchored with the levelers I made and it's super solid. With a wood bench like ours, they can drift a little over time. Being able to adjust them helps to keep the lathe from getting twisted from that. I've read a few people say that they adjust their lathes on metal benches too, though I don't know how common that is.

The leveling feet I made are super simple and there are photos in my wood bench thread I've linked to you before. The only slightly more difficult to find parts were the fine thread adjustment bolts and nuts. The big box stores around here don't stock fine thread. I just got them from the local Fastenall branch. Loads of online sources are also available. A decent tap is highly recommended. Tapping steel with a HF tap is not something I ever want to do again.