Thread: Lathe Levelling

As long as he knows the thickness of the cap no reason why he cant use that or anything else to work out the correct amount of packing/ lift required to level.
Although in that case it should standout like dogs bolls without having to use the level so soon.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

As long as he knows the thickness of the cap no reason why he cant use that or anything else to work out the correct amount of packing/ lift required to level.
Although in that case it should standout like dogs bolls without having to use the level so soon.

mornin pipeclay

Now if that was me....after I'd devoured the contents of all those stubbies and cans I would'nt be able to even read any sort of measuring stick let alone a micrometer to be able to determine the thickness...could he?......

I rest my point

Depends how well you hold your grog.

If I drank that much beer, my lathe could have fallen over and I wouldn't have noticed...probably because I would be face down in the concrete anyway

Phil

If I drank that much beer, they'd both be level.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

Depends how well you hold your grog.

He is not holding it, it's on the lathe, LOL

Dave

Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer

If I drank that much beer, my lathe could have fallen over and I wouldn't have noticed...probably because I would be face down in the concrete anyway

Phil

Me too,
I was working in the shed a few Sundays back and my son lit a fire to sit around after doing a hard days work in the yard. I got the idea to join him and another guy. So I grabbed a bear off my son. I enjoyed it sitting around having a chat, but after I got up I felt like I was half gone, LOL My son is not much better and only holds 6-8 before it's sleepy time, LOL So when he goes out he limits himself but still has fun, and thats what it's all about, not filling up until you cant move or walk.
I remember around 6-8 years back and the mate and I would do up 3-4 cartons a weekend, never did feel good on a Monday, LOL

Dave

stop it...i'm getting thirsty

LOL, and it's a Friday arvo as well.

Dave

I've been meaning to ask a few questions about Phils levelling apparatus.

First of all, the round bars that straddle the V ways, do they need to be precision ground or will stock standard BMS round be OK?

Also, how precisely parallel do the round bars need to be to each other? Can this be achieved by using an appropriate sized piece of HSS as a spacer when drilling and tapping or do you need a more elaborate approach to get them more precisely positioned?

I do know that they should ideally make contact in the midpoint of the V or there abouts?

Cheers,

Simon

Going from memory here, but the pieces of round were ground dowel pins that had the case removed locally so that they could be tapped for screws. If you ground a flat on them you had to rely on the grinding being uniform for the axis to be parallel, where as if you left the diameter untouched except for where the screws went in, they would be parallel. The theory was that they would then be spaced out using a precision something - whether that be ground tool steel, a parallel or even a slip gauge. The screws were then tightened and the two dowels should be parallel.
Because Phil's set up was adjustable for various size machines the pictures show extra holes that may confuse a little bit.

Michael

Hi Simon,
I doubt the sideways levelness matters much(within reason, you wouldnt want the level sliding off ). But couldnt you put the level on a flat way, take a reading. Then put "Phils levelling apparatus" on the way in the same place and see if you get the same reading. If not move one end of one bar in or out until you get the same reading. The flat bar will twist and roll so you get two line contacts on the pins and one point on the bolt........... I think.
Though I'm likely over complicating things

Stuart

I thought that I would replace the 40 x 8 flat bar with stiffer 50 x 12 and fit the lower Flexliner feet in an attempt to reduce the chance of jellylike wobble that was a feature of the A-justa feet I had on the shaper. So with 8 feet in place I commenced levelling this morning. An exercise in frustration.

The floor has a fall of about 10mm over the length of the lathe. I have a pair of small Mitutoyo vee blocks which fitted the bed vees perfectly and enabled the 98 level to staddle the bed and also facilitated checking level lengthwise. It didn't take too long to have the lathe level but then I pushed from the tailstock end pedestal and the lathe rocked backwards and forwards. Adjusting 4 feet on two separate pedestals on an uneven floor has proven more difficult than I expected.

With the lathe "level" I chucked an 8 inch length of 1214 and took a light cut over about 6 inches. It tapered a bit over a thou, the small end outboard. I cranked up the rear side of the tailstock pedestal by about half a turn of the adjuster's nut. A slight reduction in taper. Winding the rear of the pedeststal up so that the level's bubble was only half visible reduced the taper over six inches to 0.0001". Further adjustment reduced the taper to something I can't measure with my tenth micrometer.

I'm now thinking I may need to bolt the headstock pedestal to the concrete and come up with a variation of the adjuster Hercus used on the 260 between the bed foot and the cabinet. I now know I can remove the twist but with the current set up, having a lathe that shakes and wobbles is useless.

BT

I think you where wise to go up the the 50 x 12mm flat bar.

I had my lathe bolted down for about 5 years before moving it and not wanting to drill holes there, and I will say it was really great having it bolted down. I didn't realise how much the lathe moved around when doing unbalance work etc once it was just on feet.

If you bolt it down it will feel and act twice as rigid, well it feels that way to me, LOL

Dave