Import Machinist Level Worth The Money?

[wrmiller]

Got my 98-12 for $45 at a flea market. And a case of butt-burn as the wallet cleared my pocket.

Nice find! I quickly forgot how much I paid for mine, and don't want to remember.

 

[wrmiller]

I think people are getting the reason for leveling a lathe confused. The lathe itself could be at a 45 degree angle and still cut true. The reason to use a precision level is to take and twist out of the bed from the head stock to the tail stock.

If the bed is twisted and you start a long cut from the head stock and you are dead on centerline of the work piece then by the time you get to the tail stock the cutter will either be above or below the centerline causing the accuracy to be a couple thousands off. Some lathes actually have an adjustment at the tail stock end to twist the bed so you can make sure it is perfect.

Here is a cool pdf file from southbend that has a good explanation of why and how to level a lathe.

Starting at page 16 talks about leveling.

http://www.wswells.com/data/howto/H-3.pdf

This is exactly what I did/do, except I was cutting the full length of a 2.25" piece of stock instead of two raised areas at each end. With today's tech I can use razor-sharp carbide cutters to literally cut 'fuzz' off a large chunk of aluminum (I have a one micron/.00005" scale on the cross slide).

 

[Ebel440]

I use an import to level cncs its not great but works. Always turn the level to average any error it has. Also mines a polish import I believe so may be better then Asian imports.

 

[DKD228]

To clarify I leveled to establish a reference. In theory you can level a lathe but that doesn't necessarily guarantee it will cut a straight cylinder. You need to tweak the leveling feet slightly so that your lathe will cut straight within acceptable limits. This is not my analogy as I read it somewhere else but a great example of not needing to level a lathe is one on a ship. As you know ships are rarely level and if they are they don't stay there very long. So as long as it cuts straight level is irrelevant. Back to my point, level is only a reference and is not necessary to accomplish accurate work. My lathe cuts within .0005" over 8 inches. Plenty close for me. Not trying to be a wise a** just offering up my approach and results.

Tom S

It seems to me if the lathe is leveled perfectly in the transverse ( across the ways ) direction it will cut a PERFECT test bar, excluding bed and or carriage wear of course.
Longitudinal leveling, while not really affecting accuracy, is the "workmanlike" thing to do as this places the lathe in its original " as manufactured" attitude .
I have heard the "lathe on a ship" analogy before and it is usually completely misinterpreted. Lathe setup on shipboard is the same as anywhere else. The LATHE BED must
be totally flat in the TRANSVERSE Plane over its full length. Also, parallel to the spindle of course, but not necessarily " level ". " Leveling " is the easiest and best way of
aligning the bed to a single flat plane. Enough hot air from me, the link placed by 737 mechanic to the W. S. Wells site is a great and clear explanation from S. B Lathe Works,
I recommend reading it through completely ; http://www.wswells.com/data/howto/H-3.pdf …my two cents, thanks.

 

[TomS]

It seems to me if the lathe is leveled perfectly in the transverse ( across the ways ) direction it will cut a PERFECT test bar, excluding bed and or carriage wear of course.
Longitudinal leveling, while not really affecting accuracy, is the "workmanlike" thing to do as this places the lathe in its original " as manufactured" attitude .
I have heard the "lathe on a ship" analogy before and it is usually completely misinterpreted. Lathe setup on shipboard is the same as anywhere else. The LATHE BED must
be totally flat in the TRANSVERSE Plane over its full length. Also, parallel to the spindle of course, but not necessarily " level ". " Leveling " is the easiest and best way of
aligning the bed to a single flat plane. Enough hot air from me, the link placed by 737 mechanic to the W. S. Wells site is a great and clear explanation from S. B Lathe Works,
I recommend reading it through completely ; http://www.wswells.com/data/howto/H-3.pdf …my two cents, thanks.

I agree with you that the lathe bed should be in a single flat plane but not necessarily level. That's the point I was trying to make.

Tom S

 

[The Liberal Arts Garage]

Not mentioned ------ although the fact of levelness ???? Is not in fact important
in cutting a true cylinder, if your machines are, BG level, you can check all sorts
of odd set- ups just using the level...........BLJHB.

 

[rick9345]

Another subject beat to death by expert "opinions"

Trust the literature from the very early machinists/manufactures

 

[mws]

My level saga:
Once upon a time...
I found replacement vials for Starrett 98 series levels can be found cheap. $25 or so. I bought one and mounted it to a nice block of steel, reasonably flattened the bottom and adjusted the vial for equal bubble when turned 180 degrees. Worked fine. I'd like to mount it on a properly scraped grey iron casting one of these days.
In the meantime I found a surplus surveyor's level, very cheap. It's so sensitive it will easily show the head flexing the bed when I lower the drive motor under the machine and snug the belts up. Did that help make the machine cut better? No, but it did give a good reference for tweaking the bed and tailstock later. Lately, Ive been playing with one them new digital angle gauges. Reads to 1/10 degree, references to whatever surface you zero it upon. Works great! $30 from HF.