I crushed some corners on my mill stand

[WobblyHand]

I’ve never had a garage floor the was perfectly flat or level. It’s why I put leveling feet or the ability to level the castors on my mill/drill and all my other machines.

My floor was off by 3/4". That's why I made my own leveling feet for my PM25 out of hockey pucks, bolts and washers. Nice and solid now.

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

Yeah, I moved my PM727m and it wasn't flat where I moved it. Not a great stand for leveling. I haven't bolted it to the ground and shimming it is a bit wonky. Wish it had leveling feet, One corner needed about .200" after that it was too difficult to play with shimming/removing/re-leveling...decided to stop there before I crushed myself.

 

[Reddinr]

My RF45 type mill (that didn't come from PM) is on a big table with wheels. The table wiggles some times during fast CNC moves/direction changes. It moves easily when I want to sweep under it every couple of years or so. Suggest not worrying, maybe add leveling feet, matching blue paint and bondo maybe. I hear tell that bolting it to solid granite would make it work better but my land is all glacial till so I can't try it. I'm ducking now to avoid any bottles lobbed at my head. Cheers.

 

[WobblyHand]

You might make a variation of this. Just used the stuff I had on hand for the rectangular tubing.

You can get color matching paint at Home Depot. It's a Rustoleum paint. You'll be able to touch up your scraped paint without a problem. Of course, I made these feet, before I mounted the mill. Fortunately, the PM25 isn't that heavy. The tubing is bolted to the stand in two places for each tube. The tubing is cut at an angle so one can get a wrench in easily. Yes, I had to learn that the hard way. Once leveled, the mill is very sturdy. No rocking, no moving, no vibration. Looking back, the only thing I would change is the bolt size. Using 3/8". Might want to use 1/2". But I had a big box of 3/8" bolts, (and a lot of 3/8" hardware) so that's what I used.

Your mill needs to be level. You don't want your tooling to roll off and hit the floor do you? But if you only need a 1/4" or so, just use shims. It's far easier. In my case, I couldn't get away with that.

 

[erikmannie]

You might make a variation of this. Just used the stuff I had on hand for the rectangular tubing.
View attachment 338132View attachment 338133
You can get color matching paint at Home Depot. It's a Rustoleum paint. You'll be able to touch up your scraped paint without a problem. Of course, I made these feet, before I mounted the mill. Fortunately, the PM25 isn't that heavy. The tubing is bolted to the stand in two places for each tube. The tubing is cut at an angle so one can get a wrench in easily. Yes, I had to learn that the hard way. Once leveled, the mill is very sturdy. No rocking, no moving, no vibration. Looking back, the only thing I would change is the bolt size. Using 3/8". Might want to use 1/2". But I had a big box of 3/8" bolts, (and a lot of 3/8" hardware) so that's what I used.

Your mill needs to be level. You don't want your tooling to roll off and hit the floor do you? But if you only need a 1/4" or so, just use shims. It's far easier. In my case, I couldn't get away with that.

That is a really nice set up. I’m surprised that the machine and stand are heavy enough to run without vibration.

 

[erikmannie]

My floor was off by 3/4". That's why I made my own leveling feet for my PM25 out of hockey pucks, bolts and washers. Nice and solid now.

The first time that I ever did business with a machine shop (1998) was to have them make me hockey puck shims of various thicknesses. This was to level a bed on a pickup truck with a bent frame. They sent me to the ice rink to buy several pucks.

That machine shop (McCann Machine in Santa Rosa, CA) is no longer in business. I would have never thought that I would be machining rather than them (although, as far as I know, the guys could be still be out there machining in some capacity).

 

[NortonDommi]

Quick and easy would be bolt it down through a piece of 1/4" plywood while you are making some levelling feet and cutting those pieces of waterpipe that you will use next time you want to move it.

 

[fixit]

Another option is to use self leveling grout.
Level the base with shims, so you have about a 1/8 to 1/4" gap. Build a dam around the base and pour in the self levelling floor grout. The grout will take up the space and give you a solid foundation.

I vote for this fix 100%

 

[WobblyHand]

The first time that I ever did business with a machine shop (1998) was to have them make me hockey puck shims of various thicknesses. This was to level a bed on a pickup truck with a bent frame. They sent me to the ice rink to buy several pucks.

That machine shop (McCann Machine in Santa Rosa, CA) is no longer in business. I would have never thought that I would be machining rather than them (although, as far as I know, the guys could be still be out there machining in some capacity).

The hockey pucks were easy to machine. Stuck them in my lathe and drilled them for interference fit for the bolt head. Then made a recess for the big washer. Honestly, was quite fun making them. Was a satisfying little project.

 

[WobblyHand]

I am much more concerned about eliminating the shaking than I am about having the table level.

If the table is level (using levelers) then the shaking should be nearly eliminated. The mill stand is probably rocking on a high spot of your stand and the floor. Another thing could be that the door of the stand is vibrating. You could put a piece of rubber between the door and the stand.

One good thing about the pucks is that minor shaking is damped by the rubber. If I take a very heavy cut, there is some vibration. So I back off some and continue with my work. A PM25 is not big iron. So you work within its limitations.