Leveling a workbench.

[Twmaster]

Ok, I almost feel like a numpty for asking this. But I'll go forth anyhow!

I'm about to build another workbench in my shop to mount my Atlas lathe to. When I built the bench for my Taig mill leveling was, in a word, painful.

Raise here, raise there. Oh foo, now that's outta whack, lower this, raise that. Good golly.

Is there a recommended procedure to accomplish this with a minimum amount of keystone cop hilarity?

My new bench will have (my) shop made leveling feet to aide in the task. I have a decent 4 foot carpenter's level to aide me as well.

Something like, oh, start at high point... go to this corner... etc.

I did search the Great Google but all it came up with was well off topic drek. If I am making too much of this just smile, pat me on the head and set me in the corner....

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kermit]

I have a method that works. lay some two by four out and set the bench down on to that. the 2x4 being flat on the ground and made of soft pine will yield slightly and allow the high spots on the bottom of the legs to settle into it. after that you can level everything by putting a layer or two of flat cardboard under whichever end of the 2x4 indicated by the level.


Si?
Kermit

 

[techonehundred]

here is the way I do it. If I have four adjustable legs, I start with the back left or right corner(whichever is hardest to get to) as my starting point. I would go ahead and with the lathe on top of it. This ensures any movement from the weight of the lathe will not change the work you have done. It will also help to take any needed twist out of the table and keep the legs on the floor. Level the back edge of the table first. Then go from the starting corner to the front and finally the opposite side to the front. At this point you should be close. Once the table is level and solid, then start with the lathe. You may need to shim the lathe legs for it to be right.

 

[Stan]

You cannot level a four legged bench unless all four legs are the same length. You should only have to raise one side and one end. You cannot raise one leg.

Otherwise, it is like leveling a lathe. You only achieve level by twisting the table top. A lathe is made with the four feet parallel to the bed so that when you put shims under the feet you remove twist in the bed.

Your best bet is to get a reasonably level bench and then shim the lathe feet to get a level bed.

 

[compressor man]

You cannot level a four legged bench unless all four legs are the same length. You should only have to raise one side and one end. You cannot raise one leg.

This is true if your floor is very, very flat but... I will bet it isnt. Having an uneven floor will likely require each leg to be shimmed individually.

 

[Tin Falcon]

I work with scales . scales need to be level and have in most cases 4 adjustable feet. so unless you floor is on a real bad slope build your bench and make your leveling feet with 1/2' 20 bolts then level it out. I have seen lot of 5000 lb cap floor scales with 1/2 diameter leveling feet so plenty beefy for your work bench. you can use 1/2 -13 but you the finer adjustment with fine thread.
Tin

 

[shred]

And remember most garage and basement floors are intentionally sloped to allow liquids to drain... I wondered why my lathe bench was so far off until somebody mentioned that.

 

[Stan]

This is true if your floor is very, very flat but... I will bet it isnt. Having an uneven floor will likely require each leg to be shimmed individually.

You are explaining a way to level a floor, not a way to level a bench.

If you have a bench, lathe or any other piece of equipment, if you try to raise one corner only two things can happen. Either the whole end (or side) will raise or something in the structure will twist.

What you have to do, is raise the low end until it is level with the opposite end. Then raise the low side until it is level with the opposite side.
Now you can fill in the spaces that will exist below all the legs except for one that is touching the floor. If you have leveling screws, it is just a matter of screwing them down until they touch the floor.

 

[rake60]

I use shims to level my benches.

I use a bubble level to get them flat in the front and back, then corner to corner.
The shims are of my own special design to guarantee permanent accuracy.

Huh... That shim would "appear" to be a chunk of junk 1/4" flat stock with a bunch
of holes drilled in it.

Let me explain the logic.
Wood shrinks as it dries. Steel expands as it corrodes.
That particular piece of scrap flat stock was chosen because I KNEW it would
corrode at exactly the correct rate!
th_bs th_bs th_bs ( )

Truth is, you can spend a month leveling up. You WILL get it perfect in time!
Then check it the next day... What Happened?

Get it close and call it good!

I spent more time leveling up the kitchen stove than I spent on leveling my machine benches.
If I crack an egg into a frying pan and it runs one side of that pan, I'm unhappy and need to
adjust the level.

Machine bench level is much more critical. I do not adjust for that.
I just adjust my approach of manually guiding the tool path to fit the day's mood of level.

Rick

 

[Maryak]

Twmaster,

Having done single point threading for a 5" guns hydraulic system in a decent blow with the ship jumping around a fair bit, especially when the props got close to the surface. Level was one of the things I prayed for. Don't sweat it. ;D Nice to have but you can live without it as long as your machine is true within itself.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Foozer]

This is true if your floor is very, very flat but... I will bet it isnt. Having an uneven floor will likely require each leg to be shimmed individually.

For the lathe bench, light lathe, uneven floor. What i did

Anchors drilled and set into the floor, some angle attached to the bench legs. Floors high side is secured without any shims. Each leg is then shimmed (tapered cedar shake) top level with no discernible rocking. Measured gap tween each angle and floor, took up gap with washers and snugged it down. For a load bearing bench a more robust angle would be used. Thought some 1/2 inch al stock was a bit of over kill so went with the 3/16 inch stuff.

Robert

 

[Twmaster]

Thanks for the info folks. I've finished most of the wood work on the bench. I'm using mostly recycled lumber from a neighbor's remodel job and some walking board and hardware from a couple treadmills I dissected.

I'll be making a set of leveling feet out of some 3" plastic wheels, 3/8" nuts and carriage bolts. The wheels, bolt and nuts are all leftover hardware from dissected treadmills. The biggest blind nuts (T-nuts) I could get at Fastenal were 3/8" so they'll have to do.

I'll mill the hubs so the head of the carriage bolt clears the floor. I'll also mill the hole in the plastic wheels for the square of the bolt head to snugly fit into.

 

[Deck Dog]

Due to the size of my workshop and the number of tools and benchs (two) in it. I have decided to mount my mini lathe and mini milling machine (both from Micromart) on a cabinet mounted on wheels so that I can move it to a storage area when I am not using the lathe or milling machine. It sounds like leveling the machines is rather important. Would it be a good idea to also mount leveling screws at the base of the cabinet ( the small legs mounted on screws) in order to level the machines?
I am just new tio this hobby so I have a rather steep learning curve to follow.

 

[Stan]

As Bob pointed out, on a ship, it is never level. The term leveling a lathe is used because that is the easiest method to remove any twist in the bed. If your mini lathe is mounted to something solid that isn't going to change shape, then you just have to shim the legs of the lathe so that it doesn't cut a taper. If it is sitting on a level surface when you do that, you would find that the bed is level in both directions.

I notice that a lot of people mount small lathes on a piece of steel plate and then the steel plate can be set on any surface without affecting the precision of the lathe.