Machine Feet for my lathe

[cncJim]

Thanks for the replies! :)

What about a steel dolly underneath with a foot at each corner;

like this only DIY version and not castors ; http://www.axminster.co.uk/heavy-duty-machine-base

I generally find machines are too low for back comfort so raising them is a good thing for me, it woud also give some height allowing use of a recycled pallet duck board

That's an interesting idea....I will give that some thought. At 6'3 the idea of the lathe being raised up a little sounds very good!

I've used those feet on my bandsaw and milling machine and they work well for levelling. Lathes can be a bit fussier, though. How stiff is the cabinet - would it be happier supported at 6 points rather than 4? Will the cabinet itself distort? How many mounting points did the manufacturer provide? I would be inclined to go for 4 as that makes the levelling and calibration easier. Not that I can talk - my lathe sits on thin MDF and ply packing...

Well the cabinets are 4mm welded steel, so I think they pretty solid. There are 4 holes in the base of each cabinet and I was thinking about just tapping these but looking at there location they seem a little to close to the centerline (along the length of the lathe) for me to feel comfortable. I was thinking I would drill and tap some new holes further out.

Worth saying the lathe is currently not on the cabinets (still sat on the floor after picking it up!!) so drilling and tapping the holes is less of of a problem.

I also just read that I should be levelling the lathe by shimming where the lathe attaches to the cabinets and not try and level it by adjusting the cabinets alone??

So I guess I would level the cabinets first, stick the lathe on and then shim it to take out any twist in the bed?

Thanks,

Jim