Laverda
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2014
- Location
- Riverside County, CA
First of all I do know how to level lathe and have all the tools to do it. I just moved my lathe to a new building and in it's past location as the floor was cracked and sinking a little bit over time, getting it level was a lost cause.
Now that it is moved to a new 8" thick reinforced slab, I am trying to get it perfect. The lathe is 16" x 40" about 4,600 lbs. After many hours I am stuck and can't get it perfect unless I think I bolt it to the floor. From one end to the other on my Starrett master precision level the best I can achieve is three divisions which would be .0015" to a foot. I see no other option but to bolt the feet to the floor to take out the twist. So the first question is this good enough? The lathe is 43 years old and has a small amount of wear so will never cut perfect anyway. And no, I have not taken a test cut yet to see how good or bad it is at the moment. Am I wasting my time trying to achieve better? Is it ever possible to achieve a perfectly level lathe when it is just sitting on the floor?
Now that it is moved to a new 8" thick reinforced slab, I am trying to get it perfect. The lathe is 16" x 40" about 4,600 lbs. After many hours I am stuck and can't get it perfect unless I think I bolt it to the floor. From one end to the other on my Starrett master precision level the best I can achieve is three divisions which would be .0015" to a foot. I see no other option but to bolt the feet to the floor to take out the twist. So the first question is this good enough? The lathe is 43 years old and has a small amount of wear so will never cut perfect anyway. And no, I have not taken a test cut yet to see how good or bad it is at the moment. Am I wasting my time trying to achieve better? Is it ever possible to achieve a perfectly level lathe when it is just sitting on the floor?