I knew a man that worked in a machine shop next to a railroad. Passing trains would throw off the surface grinders enough to show up in the work.

I'm amazed that I haven't heard the cussing clear across the state, honestly.

Lol! Never even thought of that.... That is what apprentices are for maybe?

He needed it leveled to get the straightness measurements. He's got those now, so even if he does move it again, that would only require a re-leveling, which is not a whole lot of work.

If you have a manual specific to that machine, I'd like to get a copy. Anything online is for a much newer one. Mine was supposed to have been "re-scraped some 30 years ago, and used little since then." I bought it for basically scrap price plus the road trip (KC area - Tulsa) to fetch it. We pulled the table and main motor to get the weight down for loading, and I was quite pleased with what I seen. Replace the pump motor, chase leaks in the hydraulics, a few wiring puzzles to solve (making sure controls were off of the wild leg of the converter), and it's usable. Haven't tried to grind the chuck in yet ... not going to open that can until I have too!

@infoanorexic I've been asking around for a manual, too. All I've got is one for the G series. I'll share a copy if I find one. Let me know if you track one down. My story is similar. $400 for the machine, just needed new hydraulic lines and cleaning. I disconnected all the wiring and put on 3 VFDs. Bed was rusty, but I've got that almost completely ground flat. I should have taken video, it's a super cool project.

He does many things off camera. He's been doing machine leveling and calibration for decades, I'd give him a bit of credit in knowing how it needs to be done.

Good point, the Kingsway tool might be influenced by this...

I was thinking about changes in the super-accurate level and wondering if it would change as you drive a forklift nearby, or even the floor jack or your mobile crane. Just as I formed the mental question, you explained that just walking by can make the bubble move, and you told about the scraping class. Yup - question answered!! Thanks Keith.

Errrrr…. ‘toe’ jack 🤪

Not a pro, but my instinct tells me if the machine is a perfectly solid structure, then 3 points are enough. But a big and long machine is not perfectly solid, and can have twists and sags that might not be able to be removed with just 3 points. I've seen a lot of 15 foot lathes that sagged in the middle and needed to be raised at particular points.

You know of any videos of that product?

Good point- 60 gallons of oil plus coolant- maybe another 400-500 pounds? Of course that should be pretty much be spread evenly over the machine footprint.

Yes, and when the table is installed and ground in...

Interesting point. Some of us are hard wired to get it as good as humanly possible with the tools that we have.

I think his OCD is kicking in...

Quite a bit (results in a "striped" pattern). That's why surface grinding wheels are frequently dressed, which takes out the error.

Haha. I've wondered the same thing. The only thing I can think of is the precision of the bore on the glass tube. I suppose if the glass is thicker on both ends of the tube, the bubble would always want to gravitate to the center. I don't actually know if this is the correct answer to your question, though.

With master precision air.

It's all about the shape of the inside of the tube or flask or whatever is holding the bubble. I do not know, but I would guess that they have to figure out how to make the glass a very uniform thickness, and then they allow it to form itself into an outside mold that precisely determines the curves. Then... do that all day, every day, and make lots and lots of tubes. Then think some more, and tweak the machine and your process to make it more accurate, and do that for decades, while you learn a lot about forming glass! :)

The tube is ground on the inside for a uniform diameter slightly larger in the middle. A smaller difference makes the level more accurate, better said, more sensitive.@@buckinthetree1233

Exactly!

He mentioned that gravity can pull the table down a hair if it is moved to a far end, especially if the workpieces is very heavy. It's not a lot, but the whole point of this machine is to create as perfect as possible surfaces in other parts and machines, so this is often the 'ground zero' of subsequent precision operations. He also mentioned he's a 'nerd', which is kinda saying he has a bit of OCD.

@@kindablue1959 Thanks for the response. Some people say I have OCD. But I say I have actually have CDO (which is OCD in alphabetical order).

I know they use lathes onboard ships , how do you level a lathe on a ship its never still , question do they have surface grinders on a ship maintenance dept

@@stuarthardy4626 There is information about maintaining lathes and such on ships if you google it. The bottom line is: they level them the best they can while in port, they don't use them when seas are rough, and they don't attempt to do precision work higher than 0.001" accuracy while out of port.

What do you do when you need a prop shaft while out in the middle of an ocean during a hurricane? @@kindablue1959

He explains it in the video.

​@@kindablue1959maybe he will do it eventually but it seems like it is most important that the grinding wheel is perfectly perpendicular to the table in all locations, or that the distance from the bottom of the wheel to the table is identical.

@@kailuagarage He's been doing this kind of work for decades and he's a very smart man, I have confidence he'll do whatever needs to be done.

He can't help himself, OCD. My view point exactly!