Lathe Leveling Fixture

[GlennW]

Made some parts

Assembled them

Placed it on the Lathe bed and added a precision level

And it works!

Fully adjustable via the 15/32-32 TPI legs with lock rings to secure it after the level is, well, level.

Move it from end to end of the bed ways, or any position in between, and read the level to determine if any twist is present.

Slide it along the bed to check for wear as the contact points contact the bed ways in the high wear areas.

The top plate is aluminum right now, but a nice steel one will be in the works soon, and will probably go for a swim the next time I have a batch of Black Oxide to do.

The rest of the parts are 304 stainless with a chrome steel ball and a 4130 steel tube "foot".

I checked the bed ways for twist, and it was out a few thousandths in 10" from end to end. It's a VIS (Polish) 8" precision level that is graduated .0005" in 10". Corrected the bed to be good on each end, and the bed ways are out just under .002" in 10" in the center. I'm OK with that...

Getting ready to do a bit of work on the old girl and needed a good starting place. It's a mid 1980's lathe of Brazilian manufacture that I have only owned for six or seven years.

[mars-red]

That is really slick! Nice work.

[ken572]

Glenn,

Very nice lathe leveling fixture you have made.

I now have another project to add to my to do list.

Ken.

[GlennW]

Thank's Gentlemen!

Ken, sounds like you are a busy man!!

It seems that for every one of these silly little projects I complete, I dream up three more to do.

This little fixture is leading the way to a re-scrape of the carriage and cross slide of the lathe...

[SteveM]

How do you calibrate it?

Steve

[GlennW]

Hello Steve,

I am using it for comparative readings on the lathe bed, so I just place it on one end of the bed and adjust the leg with the ball on it until the bubble is centered. Then move it long the bed and check for error by watching the bubble.

I did check the level itself as well, and it appears to be out about .0002" in 10". Place it on a surface plate, level the plate with it, then turn the level 180 degrees. The error will be 1/2 the bubble reading. You then scrape the base of the level to eliminate any error. I haven't scraped it, yet, as .0002" error at this point isn't a problem for the way I am using it.

[GlennW]

Ran out of time on the above post.

To further calibrate the precision level, after you get it to where it reads the same after rotating 180 degrees, you place a known thickness shim under one end and do the math to see if the bubble movement matches the slight tilt.

[RCW]

Your work is always beautiful. [At least the stuff you post?]