Lathe/Mill leveling feet; which ones to get?

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Searching on eBay for leveling feet, I see there is a couple types. Would steel feet be better or would the rubber feet be better for a Bridgeport Mill or SB 16" lathe on concrete?

TIA!

 

[justanengineer]

I'm not sure it matters either way, I've seen both used successfully. JMO but I'd get whatever works best with your method of moving the machines, if you use a pallet jack make sure they work with it, pipe rollers the same, etc. My Bridgeport sits on 6x6s for stability and bc I'm 6'4, I level it occasionally with wedges but its not really necessary. I level my lathe regularly but I dont bother with the base cabinets which sit directly on the floor, most half decent floors should be flat enough that you can just level the lathe bed itself.

 

[beakie]

guess it depends on the machine, no idea about the BP, but the table I built for my lathe (Myford ML7) I added leveling bolts under each attachment point.
you can level your table and still find your lathe beds may be just a touch off.

each lathe mount has this setup under it, to level each individually


can see front 2 in this pic
I will add casters to the table eventually, and can then relevel the lathe if any "tweaking" occurs during welding.

 

[astroracer]

The base is threaded right? The Cincinatti base on my FrankenMill was threaded for 7/8-9. I just bought some threaded rod from McMaster Carr to make my own leveling bolts. Cut the rod to length, weld a nut to the top and thread it down to the floor. I'll have about 20 bucks into them when done. And all of the work is done from the top, no raising the machine to install feet.
Mark

 

[bmk]

These are the style of machine mounts we use at work on the Bridgeports. http://www.grainger.com/product/MAS...eling+Mount,1000+Lb+Max+Cap&suggestConfigId=8

 

[larry_g]

Search out and study a bit on Machinery Mount, as BMK suggests above. Those are the proper item to use.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[JoeFin]

You HAVE a mill and lathe

Build your own

 

[jmarkwolf]

Do a google search on hockey puck feet.

That's what I'm going to put under my Bridgeport. Use big thick machine washers to spread the load.

A lot cheaper than "store bought".

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Search out and study a bit on Machinery Mount, as BMK suggests above. Those are the proper item to use.

You HAVE a mill and lathe

Build your own

Thanks everyone!!
Joe, someone once said "Just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should do something!" For me, making a set which would likely involve several hours of time in addition to material costs doesn't seem prudent when I can purchase these for about what the materials costs would be.

I guess where I was coming from in this project is that I am presently using hardwood to level my machines but since I need to relocated them, now would be a great time to upgrade. On Practical Machinist I found a couple of pictures of a lathe identical to mine with the rubber feet adjusters which got me to thinking. As ya'll probably know, these South Bend lathes are known for bed twist which is the main reason I am going from using wood to an adjustable leveler. Each machine weighs about 2,200 lbs, so any adjuster with a weight-rating of 600lbs or more should be satisfactory, I would think. Neither the Bridgeport nor the SB have threaded holes. Thanks again everyone and any additional thoughts are welcomed.

 

[Steevo]

These are similar to what bmk recommended above, but only a fraction of the price, and with much higher weight rating.

I used them on my workbench legs, and on my lathe bench.

http://www.jwwinco.com/products/section7/wn9000/index.html

I used this one:
https://estore.jwwinco.com/default.aspx?itemcode=8T4WP2&Page=item+detail

They have even larger/heavier ones listed on the page, too.

 

[JoeFin]

Thanks everyone!!
Joe, someone once said "Just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should do something!" For me, making a set which would likely involve several hours of time in addition to material costs doesn't seem prudent when I can purchase these for about what the materials costs would be.
.

That SouthBend sure is purdy - a truly "**** Lathe"

I had a SouthBend 14" I bought from the son of the owner. Guy had stripped it down and sent the bend in to be rescraped to original spec by the factory. Due to Alzheimer's he had forgot he had even had it when they shipped the bed back to him. Every known attachment came with it too


Those mounts seem sufficient but they wouldn't work for my LeBlond. LeBlond incorporates 8 leveling bolts into the base and they hold it down as well as level the machine.

I get 5/8" x 5" Hard Neoprene pads at one the local supply houses for $2 ea and just use left over materials for the rest. Not that I was looking to save money - just wanted some thing that would do a proper job


Here is my Leblond when I finished it

 

[black00lightning]

I bought these on ebay for use on my 800# wood lathe and it is very easy to move and can be locked in place and leveled.
Item: WoodRiver Machine Leveling Caster Plate Mounted 4 Pack

URL: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=252241513759&alt=web

 

[MushCreek]

A mill doesn't need to be leveled, except to keep stuff from rolling off the table. The machine base is plenty rigid. We used to use heavy rubber pads, about 1/2" thick for mills. Lathes, on the other hand, have to be carefully leveled to prevent twisting the bed, which affects accuracy. Threaded pads are best for this, and use a precision machinist level and check it at both ends of the bed. My Starret level is accurate to .0005" per foot.

 

[matt_i]

I'm still using 2x6s laminated to raise the height of my Bridgeport and Monarch EE up off the floor. Seems to work just fine from what I can tell. I'm probably violating the 3 point kinematic mount on the lathe that the designers intended, but it seems to do ok

The BarryMounts seemed to be the older standard for more sensitive stuff like surface grinders, I think those have been knocked off a lot of different times.