Bolting a mill down vs leveling feet

jmarkwolf

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I'm considering putting leveling feet under my new Acer 3VSii mill (full size Taiwanese Bridgeport clone) much like the pic below. However the feet will be spaced a little farther apart to also allow rolling a pallet jack underneath from the front occasionally. The leveling feet are rated at something like 4500lbs each. The feet would be adjusted "low" for the leveling and then adjusted "high" for rolling the pallet jack under. The steel tube is 2" x 3" thick wall, oriented flat wise

I'm anticipating some setups where the leveling would be advantageous.

So they would serve two functions: leveling, and "adjustable cribbing" for the pallet jack.

There are lots of pics on the web of people doing similar but not much discussion of how well it works over time. Can anyone advise first hand experience doing something similar?


Bridgeport_leveling_feet1.jpg
 
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Not many professional shops bolt them down and some never level Knee type turret milling machines. I like them level so I can use a precision bubble level on the work when setting the part on the table or vise before traming it in. Do they have hard rubber pads glued to the feet? If not I would suggest setting them on some thin leather or hard rubber to eliminate and vibration. Many times machine will never move so I glue the vibration pad to the floor. How thick is the concrete floor by the way? ? In advising you on weather to bolt it down would depend on weather you will be turning the ram / head around or advancing it past the center of gravity and it could turn over. That would be your choice. We can't advise you to do something dangerous, or I won't anyway. I suggest you follow the manufactures recommendations first.. There are all sorts of free downloads on the net with Bridgeport manuals. If I owned the mill I would secure it to the floor and have a vibration pad under the feet.
 
set them on vibration pads that is all you need , worked machine repair for 37 years that is all we ever did
 
What ever you do stay away from Mason brand leveling pads, they ought to rename them Shakeamatic feet. They may work for conveyors and the like but for lathes and mills they are a disaster.
 
I have also seen those cheap ones that are real cushy move. For years we set the machines on steel plates and no rubber at all. Oh and I have been rebuilding, leveling and aligning machines for over 50 years which doesn't matter because technology changes. I still suggest reading manuals and use what the machine builder suggests. Vintage machine has several copies of machine manuals that you can get for free or do them a favor and donate a few bucks. Be sure to read the weight capacity of the thick rubber ones before wasting your money.
 
I just bought these last week for my lathe (haven't yet gotten them installed). I'll report back when I do.

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/86435021

Those are the ones I was referring to. I have never met anyone who has happily used them on a lathe or mill. I tried for months to be happy with them on a quality lathe. Finally gave up and mounted the machine on grade 8 bolts with nuts , washers and homemade small pad of steel, no cushion of any kind. I respect and defer to Mr. King and his wealth of experience on the subject, but those Mason feet are a waste of money for a lathe or mill IMO.
 
OP here:

Below are the ones I have, but I can't find any Mfgr name.

They are extra long because they would need to reach through the steel tube and be extended to roll the pallet jack underneath. The rest of the time they would be retracted.

Now I'm having second thoughts about the steel tube possibly "drum heading", with the mounts separated by approx 34 inches, and the point pressure on my 4inch reinforced concrete floor.

My Bridgeport used to shimmy a little bit on it's blocks and shims. My Acer is a heavier machine, but these mounts have 4500lbs capacity each and are quite stout, but they might conceivably collapse under lateral loads.



McMaster_leveling feet.jpg
 
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