Leveling?

[Wongster]

Dave,
Where do you see the holes from? I have 2 slots for bolts at the bottom of the lathe which were used to bolt it down to the chip tray. The chip tray has only 2 holes in the form of a tube (on on each end). I assume the rubber feet you mentioned are those that have adhesive on one side to stick to the bottom of the flat surface?

Regards,
Wong

[DaveH]

Hi Wong,

The holes from the manual

Quote:Installation and setting up:
Note:
The machine must mot be lifted by the gearbox 23 (Fig. 1) or
by the cover cap of the motor when transporting. The plastic
caps could break.
The supporting surface must be flat and sufficiently strong to
absorb the vibration generated during work. The machine
must be fastened to the surface using the holes 12 (Fig. 1)
provided for this purpose.

I assume the rubber feet you mentioned are those that have adhesive on one side to stick to the bottom of the flat surface? yes that is correct


DaveH

[Wongster]

Hi Dave,

The "holes 12" are the 2 slots I mentioned, one below the spindle and one at the tailstock end. They are in use for the chip tray. I was hoping for some thread holes on the chip tray to simply fix up some feet. Maybe some rubber feet at the bottom of the chip tray would work.

On the chip tray, there are 2 tube like holes:

Spindle end, below gearbox cover


Behind Tailstock end


I think I should be able to do this. Use some elbow grease to remove the lathe from the chip tray, mark the 2 holes on the wooden board to drill through for bolts, and install the the chip tray with the rubber feet beneath.

Regards,
Wong

[DaveH]

Hi Wong,

I think that is the correct way to do it.

Those tubes allow you screw/ bolt the chip tray down to the board, so the coolant will not seep through. The screw/bolt down to stop it rattling.

The chip tray should be flat on the board - no rubber feet in between the chip tray and the board.


DaveH

[Rickabilly]

Hello Wong,
If you've not gotten around to finding the piece of kitchen benchtop yet, widen your search to include granite kitchen worktops as well, I have been having some success with this stuff and it is even easier to clean, more rigid, and longer lasting, it is just a little more difficult to drill, I have had success with a diamond core drill but was told you can use standard masonry drills if you go gently.
Regards
Rick

[Hopefuldave]

Quote: DaveH (that one):

I doubt whether there will be any twist in the bed with this lathe.

Ummm, I think there's always *some* twist! CVA got around it pretty well, though - their toolroom lathe had three feet and a massive cast-iron=box cabinet stand, so it was always stable and untwisted - but they recommended levelling, if only so the coolant ran out the drain!

My lathe's about 2 tons, for a fairly small capacity (6-3/4" centre height, 28" between centres) and probably upwards of 1/4 ton is in the base - a 1/4" or more thick cast-iron box, with ground surfaces for the bed to bolt to - but it still needs levelling under the base.

I have a WW2 gunnery clinometer (inherited from my grandad, who set the sights up before they went off to do battle) which reads to a few seconds of angle, without levelling there can still be some twist in the bed - with the clino' on the carriage I can see it can be twisted as much as 15 seconds (about 0.004 degrees) out of true...

Dave H. (the other one)

[Wongster]

Hello Rick,

I've yet to bolt the lathe down. Just did another shifting of machines around.

I asked my friend, who is a renovation contractor about granite and korian top. He told me that these can chip and crack easily. True? I've no experience in these.

Regards,
Wong

[Rickabilly]

Hello Wong,
Yes I suppose you could call it brittle, but brittle means stiff and stiff is ideal for this job, If you drop a piece from 3 or 4 feet onto concrete it will break, but so will the lathe.

If by Korian you mean reconstituted stone sheet? I have been using a white piece as a bench top for my mobile work station for about a year now, I have even used it as a makeshift surface plate for scribing lines when marking out on non critical jobs, which led to me doing some centre punching on it, no chips, no problems at all really, with this new found confidence when I was stripping my tool post grinder bearing cartridge,some more serious hammering was required, so I used a .75Kg ball pein hammer as required to wedge the cradle clamp apart, all done on my white "stone" bench top, still no chips or breakage.

The white stone cuts a lot like the granite bench top sheeting does, with a stone disc on an angle grinder so I figure it's properties are a lot like Granite.

If I were mounting a Lathe on a new base tomorrow and I was aiming for the best possible setup, I would definitely be using granite , no question at all.

I hope this helps.
regards
Rick

[stevec]

I believe "Corian" with a C is what I used for the wedges I made for my QCTP toolholder holders. I found it to be brittle, there are chips and broken corners on the wedges I made. The countertops in our kitchen haven't exhibited any brittlenes or fragility as yet but I think my wife is trying to "test" them in the hopes that a failure will accelerate the kitchen remodel.
when machining in a mill or with a saw, chipping will occur with rough cuts. Finishing with a shallow cut be it with a router or whatever will produce a beautiful sharp unchipped edge.

[Wongster]

Rick,

Thanks for sharing. Ikea sells whole slab with a minimum size that is still too big for me. The guy I aproached asking if they can help cut to size wasn't helpful. I may try again or talk to my friend to get a piece or 2.

(09-24-2012, 02:56 PM)stevec Wrote: The countertops in our kitchen haven't exhibited any brittlenes or fragility as yet but I think my wife is trying to "test" them in the hopes that a failure will accelerate the kitchen remodel.

I was hoping that my wife agrees to the change of the kitchen top to Corian. The cut out portion for the stove would be about right for the lathe or the mill.

Regards,
Wong