? for table meachanics, leveling table

[DaveK]

So it's about time I re-leveled my table. It was set up professionally years ago when my house was new. Unfortunately in Saskatchewan we have pretty violent freeze/thaw cycles, powerful enough to heave my basement floor a bit. Now of course my table is not level , but I think (hope) that the movement is done for now. I do not have a good enough level, but the balls tell the story. The table is an 8'er, and it rolls off about 3/4 of a diamond on a ball rolled the length of the table (the worst direction, one corner is definately higher than the rest of the table). I've made a little stimp-meter ramp to contol the path/spin/speed of the test ball, so this is fairly accurate and repeatable.

My question is what thickness of shim should I start with in an attempt to get the table 'level' again ? Also, what thickness of shim should I add/subtract while iterating ? I'm trying to keep the number of itterations reasonable, but I have no feel for what the thickness of shims should be (I have a nice selection of brass shimstock in 0.002" - 0.020", and micrometers to measure other flatstock as needed) ...

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have for me.

Dave. who drools over Starrett 98s, but does not own one (yet)

 

[Troy]

I would start with the leg levelers.
If the slate sections are still off-level, I suggest using tapered wood shims that can be slowly tapped into place until the section is correct. Playing cards also work, but they are almost impossible to tap into place. Obviously you'll need to be very careful NOT to pop the slate seams.

Troy

So it's about time I re-leveled my table. It was set up professionally years ago when my house was new. Unfortunately in Saskatchewan we have pretty violent freeze/thaw cycles, powerful enough to heave my basement floor a bit. Now of course my table is not level , but I think (hope) that the movement is done for now. I do not have a good enough level, but the balls tell the story. The table is an 8'er, and it rolls off about 3/4 of a diamond on a ball rolled the length of the table (the worst direction, one corner is definately higher than the rest of the table). I've made a little stimp-meter ramp to contol the path/spin/speed of the test ball, so this is fairly accurate and repeatable.

My question is what thickness of shim should I start with in an attempt to get the table 'level' again ? Also, what thickness of shim should I add/subtract while iterating ? I'm trying to keep the number of itterations reasonable, but I have no feel for what the thickness of shims should be (I have a nice selection of brass shimstock in 0.002" - 0.020", and micrometers to measure other flatstock as needed) ...

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have for me.

Dave. who drools over Starrett 98s, but does not own one (yet)