I also have a Sanford surface grinder. Nice and cute little grinder. I would not jump in and grind the table or chuck just yet. I would first run/use it for a while. If it has been sitting, it may have to settle in so to speak. If you grind it true now it may not have found its sweet spot for table travel yet. From your pic on the table that grinding finish looks just like mine. Coarse/ruff finish but on mine is dead flat an true. I left it alone, mounted the chuck, ran it for about a month then lightly surface ground the chuck. It’s been about 3 years now and the chuck is still with ~0.0001” flat and true. If you have any other Sanford question please PM me, no problem…Good Luck, Dave.
Dave, I basically retroactively took your advice here- I have been running the machine quite a bit for a month now, with a grinder's vise clamped to the table, just to work on practicing finishes.
My table looked nothing like the pic before I ground it! That pic is after the first rough grind. It looked like a muddy dirt-bike trail before I ground it. It took .010in just to get as far as the pic, and you can still see divots there at the back edge if you look. I performed that grind 6 hours ago.
I just took a bit of all your advice, and a few minutes ago I took rgray's advice and relieved the center of the wheel and did a really light cut again (since that first pic, I will post an updated one here). I will find a way to not move the wheel much and dress it again for a final "skim cut".
I will use a Lufkin .0005 in/ft level I have to check the table for squareness- probably my most square possession besides the granite surface plate.
Do you guys have any other ideas to test this surface?
When I get the table flat to my satisfaction I will try to remount the chuck and see if it sits without rocking at all. If so, I'll bolt it down and check the top surface again.
I look forward to testing the limits of this little guy on the surface plate later. So curious how the ways etc have been effected by use, and if this will make flat parts in it's full range of motion,
Bernie
Bernie