Leveling a Lathe the Easy Way

[INTJ]

You sure Bruce wasn't just using a good excuse to get out of the shop where some crazy guy was wanting him to help level their lathe?

You guys and your old fixed datums. New CNC machine center on a ship that auto compensates for alignment error.

From 7-9 PM? Bruce isn't exactly looking for more to do. No one asked him to come by either, it was his idea. I was going to have our new lathe operator level the Kingston.

Bruce is just a good guy, but like you mentioned, probably a little crazy, like most of us who do this stuff..........

 

[xr650rRider]

Your using his actions, so he's just taking care of bidness. If he reads this forum, he was probably making sure you didn't have an oil-soaked crumbling 2x4 under one end. That's bad for bidness.

 

[spitfire_er]

I wonder how all those machines on ships get leveled?

They right themselves!

 

[Steve morgan]

Always wondered about this. There is a difference between level and twist. Figure how much taper for 1 inch tenon with a slight
twist in the ways. With a floating pusher the reamer gonna follow the hole pretty much no matter.

You Don't want twist in a lathe.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I have leveled ”a few” lathes in my day, and the only requirement that a lathe be level with the earth is to insure proper oil drain back in the parts that are lubricated from a sump.

The real term is level with it’s own self, or in machinist terms, the lathe has to be truly straight and square with it’s own self.

It is easier to go on ahead and work off of “dead level” because that provides a constant, being as there is only one “level”.

We have to level our machines from time to time, because even though all of our large machines have their own reinforced pad it sits own, Houston is still basically a reclaimed swamp.

here is our 38’ lathe being leveled with a precision Starret transit And level when we installed it a few years back.

 

[TylerFromMS]

You've apparently never been on a warship.

The extent of my maritime experience includes jug fishing for catfish on ponds and renting a jet ski in Gulf Shores once. I have also floated some of the Chickasawhay River.

@jackieschmidt how do y’all get a machine like that in place? Meaning- does a truck deliver it or does it come in by rail? Your posts with the big machines always amaze me.

 

[INTJ]

But what about lathes on planes? How do G forces affect taper?

 

[tac284]

When you have time I would like to see some pictures of the new Kingston. We are considering one of them as a replacement in the future.

 

[Sniperhandle]

But what about lathes on planes? How do G forces affect taper?

You have to tie the lathe down very securely with "G STRINGS"

 

[338 Mollett]

The real term is level with it’s own self, or in machinist terms, the lathe has to be truly straight and square with it’s own self.

Plus 1

 

[GenePoole]

The level of shipboard precision is probably dictated my the skill of the Machinist Mate.
just the change of temperature n humidity in the compartment would be a challenge to maintain any sort of precision. Iron men and wooden sh

Oddly enough, Machinist Mates (MMs) are not the ones who do machining in the sense we think about. Machinery Repairmen (MRs) are the ones who work the lathes and mills on ship. I was a MM (Nuke) on a Guided Missile Cruiser and I worked in the engine room doing things mechanics do, not things that machinists do.

 

[762plinker]

I wonder how all those machines on ships get leveled?

on a sub they are welded in place..and yes steel moves, but we do not chamber bbls on them.repair machinery when no parts on hand

 

[jackieschmidt]

The extent of my maritime experience includes jug fishing for catfish on ponds and renting a jet ski in Gulf Shores once. I have also floated some of the Chickasawhay River.

@jackieschmidt how do y’all get a machine like that in place? Meaning- does a truck deliver it or does it come in by rail? Your posts with the big machines always amaze me.

This came in on a 40’ truck. We hire a professional machinery mover to unload the machine and put it in place.

They use huge fork trucks, and work like a fine choreographed team.

We set it on steel pads and level it.

 

[Bamban]

Debunk this one.




Another he asked me to try.

Face off a bar stock, no knob? Extend it the whole length, face it off, if no knob... GTG

 

[LVLAaron]

This came in on a 40’ truck. We hire a professional machinery mover to unload the machine and put it in place.

They use huge fork trucks, and work like a fine choreographed team.

We set it on steel pads and level it.View attachment 1404554View attachment 1404555

... and it took a bigger machine to make that one. Are the main ways 1 piece?

 

[Ksracer]

Am I the only one who sets a precision level crossways on the carriage and cranks it back and forth? Assuming your ways aren't trashed, if both ends read the same you should be twist free.

We had an old South Bend something or other at work. The tailstock end of the bed was attached to the foot with what looked like a single pivot bolt. I don't think you could have twisted that bed if you tried.

 

[LVLAaron]

That's how I leveled mine the first time. Like you said, depeneds how the ways are, how what rides on what, etc. Gave me literally zero tenths runout over a 12 inch bar. Felt lucky... but I'm glad I have the machine on 14 inches of concrete.

 

[tobnpr]

Fun to get in the weeds a bit on this stuff, but at the end of the day doesn't have much to do with barrel work unless you're contouring a barrel (and even then, a few thou from end to end no one would know but you). You can have a bed that's twisted AF and it will have zero effect working on a barrel through the spindle. Turning long stock between centers for mandrels, shafts, etc. you betcha.

 

[jackieschmidt]

... and it took a bigger machine to make that one. Are the main ways 1 piece?

The main carriage ways are bolt on hardened steel.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Am I the only one who sets a precision level crossways on the carriage and cranks it back and forth? Assuming your ways aren't trashed, if both ends read the same you should be twist free.

We had an old South Bend something or other at work. The tailstock end of the bed was attached to the foot with what looked like a single pivot bolt. I don't think you could have twisted that bed if you tried.

As you can see in the pictures I posted, we use a precision level across ways at each foot to get the twist out.