Setting Up My PM935 Mill

[Highpower]

(01-03-2016, 03:59 PM)EdK Wrote: Hi Willie,

I would be concerned how you have your mill mounted on the leveling feet. All of the weight is on the small areas around the four bolt holes in the casting instead of being distributed along the bottom edge of the mill base casting. I'd be concerned about cracking the casting.

My basement floor has a severe slope in it toward the floor drain and it would have taken one heck of a heck of a lot of shims and grout to get the mill level, and it would have not been pretty. Have a look at the gap between the pad and the right rear corner on my mill. Plus using the pads means nothing is permanent if I ever move things around. But I had the same concerns as you do Ed. I kept finding countless pictures of lathes and mills all set up in the same manor when I was looking for the machine pads and thought they can't all be wrong - can they?

The base casting is pretty thick where the bolts go through compared to the thinner corner "legs". I just found the largest O.D. washers that would fit in the corners on the underside to help spread the load out as much as possible. I worried about it for quite some time, and eventually forgot all about it because I haven't had a single problem. As far as stability goes, I think I could take a running start at tackling the mill and wouldn't even budge it. Which is why I wondered about the weight of your mill because the spec sheet on mine says 1650 lbs., and your mill is bigger than mine.

Bottom line is I say go with whatever YOU feel comfortable with. But I have a feeling once you see that 1/2" plate sag with the weight of the mill on it you won't feel so comfortable.

I am not an engineer, nor do I play one on the Interwebs....