[keen]

Hi Folks.

I thought a thread on the subject of machine' levelling' and accuracy would be of interest to some of us.

I start the ball rolling with this video. Please note I only touch lightly on a couple of aspects of this subject....please note my 'disclaimer' at the end of the video.

Please post your thoughts and experiences. Cheers Cliff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYMfvXzbOM8&t=72s

[wildwhl]

Well done, thank you.

WW

[CL_MotoTech]

Excellent information, thank you very much. I am slowly and surely working things out on my machine at home. Long ago i set the machine up on a three point setup just out of intuition, no real reasoning, I need to revisit it all and fine tune it according to your information. It have to believe I will see a true improvement in my machine performance.

[philbur]

How does the position of the table, especially in the x axis, impact on the 3 point contact with the 2 shimmed outriggers during set-up.

Phil

[keen]

Hi Phil !

Yes I have noted over the years extreme X travel generates quite a bit of flex and accuracy issues in all the milling machines I have tested.

All that weight off center causes sag and flex - you have probably done the dial indicator tests too - it is surprising how much things move.

With really solid steel frame stands as per my recent build the X travel generated flex is not primarily transferred to the stand, so lighly preloaded outriggers work fine.
( I have not done extensive testing on this, but have concluded this from various peripheral tests and other feedback)

But the mill sitting on top of the stand itself will still flex and sag at extreme X travel. Especially when a 4th axis or heavy work/vise or Rapidturn etc is added to the equation.

Cheers Cliff