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Levelling feet

140mower

140mower

Don
I have been meaning to come up with some kind of levelling feet for the lathe, and being as it's me, they also had to be free......
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A little dive into the tickle trunk and I have some hockey pucks, and some cut offs from an old hydraulic cylinder and some steel discs cut from a bent up underbody plow mount off a highways plow truck.......
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Some pretty ugly welds and a 60 degree divot on the top of each one......
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Thread up a few adjusting bolts...
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Turned up some nuts and attempted to knurl them.....
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All that is left is to put a small hex on the end of each bolt and slip them under the lathe.....
 
....... Well, I want to say that I came down to the shop yesterday and flawlessly whipped up a few hexes and got things all levelled up. I'd also like to say that I won the lottery last night and the girlfriend is not pregnant, unfortunately, only one of those statements are true.
I broke out the calculator and figured what I would need for a 7/16" hex, centered the part with my new coaxial indicator, set over the table the required distance and proceeded to cut the first hex..... WTF, it's a perfect 3/8"..... Okay, should have put my glasses on or cleaned the lenses or or or.... What I dialed in sure wasn't what I calculated. Oh well, I think I like the smaller size better anyway, so off to cut the second one........ WTF!!!!!! First side looks pretty good, the second side suddenly looks a little bit deeper....... I swear, the next project is going to be table locks on this fine piece of offshore engineering. :rolleyes:




Btw, there's no girlfriend either, so I didn't even get the pleasure of a failed pregnancy out of the damned day. So, I guess not much of the first paragraph held any truth at all aside from the "I want" part. ;)
 
140mower said:
So, I guess not much of the first paragraph held any truth at all aside from the "I want" part. ;)
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Too funny!

I like the space before your last paragraph....


140mower said:
A gratuitous picture for @Susquatch with the shop library in the background.
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My kind of shop! I could be real comfy in there Don! Everything in its place - in the pile. Love it. And love the library too!

Nice job on the parts too.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Okay, a question for you engineer types, armchair and otherwise......
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I love the new hight, as it was a little bit low, but I am not sure if I like how it sits under the leg...... Is this going to be okay?
 
I’m assuming the lathe legs are cast iron, which means they weren’t flat to begin with, and your floor isn’t flat either. So the legs should be strong enough to handle any offset force generated by the new adjusting pucks. The only thing I’d do is tighten down a hex nut onto the 5/8” stud to prevent the stud twisting off vertical. Feel free to disagree.
 
140mower said:
but I am not sure if I like how it sits under the leg...... Is this going to be okay?
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Can't say for sure, but looks like it will live because one side of the washer is under the main leg. Prolly be better with a formed top washer under a nut. Mostly, I'd be worried about what happens if one side fails. How stable is it sitting on just one foot front or back? Would the machine fall over or just rock around? If it would fall over, I'd change the design to support the entire leg from the bottom up. Otherwise, it just looks funny. Hide it with a black cloth bootie so visiting members never see it....
 
Yes cast iron and at least a half inch thick, and the floor definitely leaves a little to be desired ...... I do plan on sandwiching the foot with a top nut and healthy washer......
 
140mower said:
I do plan on sandwiching the foot with a top nut and healthy washer......
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That's ok if the top of the foot is flat. If not, you can take up the play with a heavy rubber grommet. The only purpose of the top nut and washer is to keep the threaded stud vertical. It has no structural role other than that. Otherwise rubber would be a no-no.

It's not an ideal foot Don. But I don't think it's a disaster either. It's also ugly, but not as ugly as me so.....
 
Susquatch said:
That's ok if the top of the foot is flat. If not, you can take up the play with a heavy rubber grommet. The only purpose of the top nut and washer is to keep the threaded stud vertical. It has no structural role other than that. Otherwise rubber would be a no-no.

It's not an ideal foot Don. But I don't think it's a disaster either. It's also ugly, but not as ugly as me so.....
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These might wind up under a mill or shaper instead..... I have some 8" well casing and 5/8" plate out in the tickle trunk, maybe I can find some bigger hockey pucks..... :rolleyes:
 
140mower said:
These might wind up under a mill or shaper instead..... I have some 8" well casing and 5/8" plate out in the tickle trunk, maybe I can find some bigger hockey pucks..... :rolleyes:
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Sounds like a better plan. Win win.

I did rather like the bootie idea.... You could have even added laces for the fun factor.....
 
....... Been noodling on this while cleaning up around the dump truck project and I think I have a plan..... Going to have to dig pretty deep into the tickle trunk looking for scraps, but once I get a little time....
That last bit kinda sounds like the infamous "the rent cheque is in the mail" , but hopefully not .... ;)
 
I think it is hard to say from these pictures. At least part of the main foot seems to be directly supported, but it will introduce complex stress in the perpendicular part of the leg. In cast iron, that's a crack waiting to happen, but it is doubtful that you will ever load it enough for that to happen because no matter how hard you work the machine, it is only the self weight (plus some asymptotic loads) that will flow to the floor through these legs.

Those tabs are clearly meant to hold (for lateral displacement; not uplift) the machine rather than to lift it up. And there are a couple of features in those legs that might not be obvious to the casual observer. They are curved, but in a very specific spiral. And tapered with a spiral too. This is a way of using less metal while improving the stability and maintaining strength

I agree with Susquatch that these are probably adequate, but not ideal

BTW, In my mind, winning the lottery and having your girl _NOT_ pregnant, are at two opposite ends of the spectrum ;) My wife and I have three, but it was unsafe for her to have any more pregnancies, so we have only three. And there are millions of reasons in everyone's personable circumstances are different
 
In my internet searches for levelling feet most only have a hex nut and measly washer to hold the machine up and I really didn't like that, so I made up a 3"dia round nut for it to sit on thinking it would be better, and it is, but I didn't like it right off the hop and you guys agreed, it might be okay, but I wouldn't....... The new plan forming in the grey matter I think will address the issues. In the meantime I am going to consider it to be out of service until I put the new plan into action. Looks like I am dragging home a little distraction in the near future that has the better half being slightly less than half right now. :rolleyes: So shop time is likely to see some limitations while I try and get a few things ticked off the honey do list and see if I can earn my place back into the dog house again. ;)
 
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