Thread: Precision level adjustment

Taking that cover off will reveal all.. Some levels have adjustment in two planes... up/down and sideways...

It is a very sensitive one @ 0.02mm/m

Are you planning on buying some shoes as well Simon?

Dean

Hi Simon,

Adjust so that the bubble is centered when you reverse it 180 degrees on a flat stable surface. I know that sounds easy... but trust me it's not. If the surface isn't flat or stable you are going to struggle.

First thing you need is to make sure the bottom of the level is flat, Blue it against a known flat surface, like a surface plate, and if need be scrape it in.

Then start the end for end reversal.. when you get that right, you can check the scaling by putting shims under one end and seeing how far the bubble moves. One division should be 0.02 mm per meter

Have fun... !

Ray

Thanks guys. Ill remove the cover and have a look. Yes its very sensitive, probably more than I need as I have a Starrett 98 which serves me well but.....

Anyway ill blue it up and put it on my small plate tomorrow. The base looks reasonable.

Ha! Shoes. I wondered if anyone would pick up on any background stuff!

Simon

Hi all,

I removed the the cover and took a look. A rather simple arrangement consisting of aluminium tabs that attach to the vial. I was expecting something a little more elaborate. Given the sensitivity of the level, I would have thought a more temperature stable type of mounting system. It shows signs of being mucked around with in the past since no two mounting screws are the same! In any case, I can't see it affecting my type of use. I'm sure it will produce repeatable results, yet I have not tested for this yet.

I blued up the base and checked it's flatness. A good result it seems. The base shows consistent contact across the entire contact surface. At first I thought it may have been a false reading from too my blue on the plate, but several tests showed the same result.

20140902_140137.jpg20140902_135939.jpg20140902_135951.jpg

Thanks for your help guys,

Simon

You do appear to have a lot of bluing compound there Simon, but I will wait to see what some of the more experienced scrapers have to say, rather than pass judgement myself. It may pay to try a very light coating, perhaps only 10% of the compound that you have shown in the photo, because you need to be able to see the cast iron under the blue to establish how even the surface is. What have you used as bluing compound, and how thick is it in the viscous sense? If it is pretty stiff, you may be able to thin it down with some petrolium jelly, and try it again, but in your photo it looks like it could be slathered on half a mm thick±. I have very limited experience in bluing and scraping so it will be interesting to see what the gurus like Phil Machtool and some of the others have to say. I hope that it all ends up tickety boo for you though. Cheers,
Rob

Thanks Rob,

I thought the same thing as you so I did it several times with the blue thinned out more and more yet I got the same results. Maybe I still have too much, I'm a bit rusty! I also find that blueing a ground surface is harder to get a good result compared to a hand scraped surface.

The blue I used is my own mix, or should I say it's Marco's mix. It may need a tad of oil to thin it down.

Cheers,

Simon

Hi again Simon, the ground surface from what I understand certainly could be part of the problem in getting a good reading of your bluing. As I recall from my time at scraping class, Phill Machtool said hat the first operation was to do a quick all over scraping of a ground surface followed by a quick wipe with a stone to remove any burrs, just so you could read the bluing. Marco's blue mix would be good, although it may still be a little thick, but I feel the most likely issue that you have is trying to read a ground surface. Of course it may already be in good nick, if so there will be no gross irregularities which stand out like the proverbial sore thumb. Hopefully some of the more experienced boys will jump in with a comment to help you on the way. Good luck with it anyway,
Rob.