Leveling the Mill

[kstrauss]

Tormach has a new document on mill setup: https://www.tormach.com/document_dir...ml?doc_id=1098
They suggest first putting a precision level on the mill table and using the stand's adjustable feet to level the table. So far so good. They then say to "Determine which corner of the two front corners of the base is the lowest." I'm probably just being dense but how is this to be done?

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[Steve Seebold]

When I put mine in my garage, I made the stand and the chip pan parallel to the floor to make certain the coolant in the pan ran back to the tank. Then I leveled the machine independently from the stand. It works beautifully.

[Kenny Duval]

Since mine is not on a 3 point stand I do the following. I set the machine slightly off level front rear with the rear being a very small increment lower. Essentially 1 tick mark on the machinist level. I then take a set of 123 blocks and place it at the rear of the Y axis ways and level across them. I then move the blocks to the front of the Y axis ways and again level them. That in theory alleviates any twist in the Y axis front to rear.

[kstrauss]

All good comments. I think that I understand the intent and I have a Starrett 199 so I am all set. My question was how to determine which of the front supports is the shorter and therefore should be released from the securing bolt.

[Kenny Duval]

I'm not sure what procedure they use to determine that. They certainly don't explain it in their documentation. My guess is the level is placed at the rear of the stand during the initial leveling procedure and leveling the stand is done from that rear position. Once the stand is level I would bring the table all the way forward and check the bubble for the X axis with it in that position. That should show you if one corner is lower than the other. Then shim as necessary to bring the bubble back to level.

[Stigoe]

The have released a YouTube video on how to do it:

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[syscore]

Originally, I leveled the stand (without the mill on it), and once I installed the mill, I shimmed one of its feet (between the mill and the stand) to remove any errors in the perpendicularity between the column (Z-axis) and the X and Y axes. Later, after I got hold of some actual shim material (I used a feeler gauge the first time, and left it under the foot), I saw the Tormach video and decided to try it their way. I removed the shims and leveled the mill using a Starrett level just as in the video (using the stand feet), and once that was done, I added shim material under one of the mill feet (between the mill and the stand) to remove an perpendicularity errors as before. The Tormach way I think was easier, as most of the error was gone by the time I go to the shimming step. As Keen said, the mill is supposedly constructed and adjusted on a very level base at the factory, and the idea is, if you recreate that same situation in your garage, your mill should be in tram. I found it pretty close, but I still needed to add some shim under one of the feet. Btw, my garage floor slopes towards the garage door, so making the stand parallel to the floor would be bad for me.

[mountaindew]

Since mine is not on a 3 point stand I do the following. I set the machine slightly off level front rear with the rear being a very small increment lower. Essentially 1 tick mark on the machinist level. I then take a set of 123 blocks and place it at the rear of the Y axis ways and level across them. I then move the blocks to the front of the Y axis ways and again level them. That in theory alleviates any twist in the Y axis front to rear.

Im going to also try this in the next few days. My machine needs a complete clean and inspect. I always check this each time and tune it a little . seams like my base cabinet is relaxing also . In the past I always used a combo of keens advice and turbo steps advice this will work well combined with their methods. Couple years ago I even went out picked up a 125$ machinist level to get better results

Good info thanks!

btw nice pic. Do you ride a wide bike ?
Every year I look forward to cringing while I watch the isle of man race on tv!

[Kenny Duval]

I am actually retired from racing. Haven't thrown a leg over one in anger for the last 3 years.