Lathe leveling

[cannonmakerken]

How often should you level a worn 13" by 40" Southbend lathe. I leveled it once in 10 years.Thanks

 

[RJSakowski]

Are you turning a taper? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[cannonmakerken]

Oh ok sounds good thanks

 

[SLK001]

Just how hard is it to occasionally put a level across the tops of the ways? You say it is worn, but the tops of the ways are not a wear area (although they can become a "damage" area, if not properly treated).

And I DO turn tapers (purposefully), so keeping the lathe planar is desirable.

 

[cannonmakerken]

OK thanks for the advice.

 

[benmychree]

I would only re level if I noticed a problem with taper. Sometimes due to vibration a lathe can move around to a not so level part of the floor if not bolted down.

 

[Jake M]

How often should you level a worn 13" by 40" Southbend lathe. I leveled it once in 10 years.Thanks

IMO, it should be leveled about once every time the lathe is relocated. Level is not relevant o the machine's operation, rather it's a convenient datum to minimize the brain stress imparted on you during initial, coarse setup. In the end, and especially with a worn lathe, you'll probably end up "twisting" the lathe bed just a whisker to get it to cut the way you want it to anyhow.

If the floor has shifted, I might toss a level at it just for grins to see which end to adjust in which direction, to keep it averaging towards level instead of making it further from, and I wouldn't discourage that, but level or not level doesn't affect the performance at all. Final tuning of the lathe feet isn't with the level anyhow.

If whatever level of taper you're getting in your parts is not changing over that time, it's hard to improve on that...

 

[cannonmakerken]

Oh ok maybe I'll do the two collar test to see it it's got a taper. Ok thanks for the replys.

 

[rwdenney]

Yes to the testing. But that can show other problems, too.

For me, it would depend on the floor. These lathes were used in factory buildings with (strong!) wood floors, and wood moves constantly with changes in load, temperature, and humidity. Mine sits in 6” of concrete, but it would be wrong to assume that is so stable that losing or gaining a few thou at a leg is impossible.

But when going through the lathe, checking headstock and cross-slide alignment is the entry fee to correcting taper by releveling. But the lathe has to be level before checking headstock alignment. Once I’m confident in those other adjustments, then occasional level checks seem to me enough to keep it tuned.

But don’t expect alignment or leveling to overcome a wear dip in the near-side way.

Rick “looking for differences in lathe up and down the bed, not just at the legs or under the chuck” Denney

 

[cannonmakerken]

Ok thanks for the help I'll check all that.

Yes to the testing. But that can show other problems, too.

For me, it would depend on the floor. These lathes were used in factory buildings with (strong!) wood floors, and wood moves constantly with changes in load, temperature, and humidity. Mine sits in 6” of concrete, but it would be wrong to assume that is so stable that losing or gaining a few thou at a leg is impossible.

But when going through the lathe, checking headstock and cross-slide alignment is the entry fee to correcting taper by releveling. But the lathe has to be level before checking headstock alignment. Once I’m confident in those other adjustments, then occasional level checks seem to me enough to keep it tuned.

But don’t expect alignment or leveling to overcome a wear dip in the near-side way.

Rick “looking for differences in lathe up and down the bed, not just at the legs or under the chuck” Denney