OK,
So last evening, I got moving on leveling the lathe. Something that I'd noted was that even bolted to the floor, the lathe still had movement front to rear. In looking at the base of the cabinets, I can see why. The mounting bolts are in the center of an open span of metal with no structural support. So, solution was to get some 1/4" aluminium, cut four 9- 3/4" lengths of flat bar (1"x0.25"x9.75") and then loosen the mounting bolts, lift the lathe stand, and slip one bar under the front and rear of each side of the lathe stands. Then I tightened the bolts down again, so there's some tension holding the lathe down now.
Good.
It no longer rocks front/rear anymore. (I'd say that before doing this, I had at least a 1/2" of travel pushing the lathe towards the wall and away from the wall.)
With that done, I can now action the process of leveling it.
A quick check with a precision level showed that the front side of the lathe needs to come up, and when I put some brass shims in, it looks like it's more than .015" out of level...so I'm going to get some more shimstock, and then see what I can do with it to get things level-er.
I never leveled my old lathe...even at the old house where I had it really running and setup. This one, it's going to get done right.
So - question about shimming. Should I place the shims under the base of the lathe stand, or under the lathe itself (between the lathe and the chip-tray?)
Thanks!
NS