Don't worry you can do the job with your level, it can be just a bit longer in time. Be sure also that your level is not what the seller said a .0002/10 inch, these type of vial are a way more expensive, I know what I'm talking about.
Machinist Level
- Thread starter CGM
- Start date
Price is always the first thing I look at.
Me too, Starrett have great tools but you can do the same job with tools a way less expensive.
After reading this thread I was curious what your leveling measuring tools looked like. I checked a prior thread you started that I vaguely recall reading a few months back and all/most of your posts on that thread were edited and deleted by you. What gives? Do you have any pictures to share? You are sure as shit on everything you write, (and so is Glen), but at least he has professional experience of installing countless tables over many decades. You are claiming your method is far superior to precision machinist levels, but have literally zero to show for it.
BTW, in the machine tool world, machinist levels are used to level everything from small engine lathes, to big CNC mills, to CMM equipment. Its pretty much the standard. They use the same levels the pool table mechanics use. These levels get the machines within tenth's (inch units), in flatness, twist, bend, etc. The same exact issues pool table mechanics deal with.
Just what i have to say, is that I have posted photos of my levels on a past thread that you talk about, after the shit started I erased all my messages, and I'm not interested to show any of my innovations again here.
I will ask one thing to you and I will amplify the thing to make that more easy to understand: If a pool table would have 30 feet long, do you think that leveling that with 8 inch level reported many times to reach each end would be very accurate??
Don't compare pool table and machinery, machinery have perfect frame, you put the level on the lathe bench on the milling table, etc...
Answer my question please.
Yes it would be level if you used the 8” level over the 30 feet. As long as you moved the level in small increments. The level is the fundamental tool for machine accuracy. The second is the surface plate, which can be made by 3 plates and dye.
Good you think that and I will not start an other discussion about that
IDK, at least with this thread, you and Glen were bickering at each other, and you are claiming your method is far superior, and the levels suck. And that you are an expert. That's the way its reading to me. If you had gone about it something like "hey guys, I have an interesting way of leveling a table. Let me show you. What do you guys think?". You would probably still get the same response from Glen, as that's how he responds to ideas he thinks are not good. But at least you won't look like a fool, and only he would. Now you both look like fools.
If you said
I've been doing the same job for more than 38 years, and I'm a fool?
I asked the same question about matching up the seams of the slate if they were flush on the outside and center, but not a third of the way in, how would you correct that, back on 2006, and no one answered it correctly back then, and no one can answer it correctly now unless they learned that answer from me first... and, I'm a fool?
Since no one here answered it either, I'll share what you do to flush up the seams. You don't drill holes in the slates and use screws to pull down the high side of the seam, and you don't need to shim the low side of the seam up, that stresses the seams you already have super glued together. And you don't build in a cross member if the table don't have one at the seams.
You place a bottle jack at the center of the high side of the seam, then run a ratchet strap around the table and over the bottle jack, tighten it up a little so it's snug. Then raise up the bottle against the strap, and push down the high side of the seam until its flush with the lower side. Once flush, super glue it in place. Once dry, take the strap off and the slates will cancel out the high and low leaving you with a perfectly flush seam.
You place a bottle jack at the center of the high side of the seam, then run a ratchet strap around the table and over the bottle jack, tighten it up a little so it's snug. Then raise up the bottle against the strap, and push down the high side of the seam until its flush with the lower side. Once flush, super glue it in place. Once dry, take the strap off and the slates will cancel out the high and low leaving you with a perfectly flush seam.
Attachments
Only in the bickering. Not the knowledge. Fool was probably the wrong word to choose.
But you know I love all the unwanted attention I can handle
Man I'm so glad you posted this. I was about to pull the trigger on one of these but wasn't sure. Thanks for the input.starret = overpriced, these do the same, i have a few
8" Master Precision Level in Fitted Wooden Box For Machinist Tool 0.0002''/10'' | eBay
Specification: 8'' Precision level Adjustable main vial 0.0002"/10" Size: 8'' Base with V-groove. With cross test vial. With insulating grip Accuracy: 0.0002"/10" Wooden case INCLUDED Quantity: 1 Product Function Description: This product has undergone rigorous quality testing Durable and easy...www.ebay.com
<== not a mechanic
Careful with this one it’s much more sensitive than the Starrett, 8 times more sensitive (if I did the math right in my head).
I looked for knockoffs of the starrett 98-12 and similar and they didn’t exist 2 years ago. The knockoffs are only of the “master precision” that is 8 times more sensitive. You might end up chasing your tail.
I bought the 98-12 on the advice of the mechanics here. It was $189 shipped brand new on Amazon in 2017, I just checked my receipt. Now it’s $100 higher
. I also bought a second used one later from a member here last year for $120 or so.I also have a knockoff “master precision” level I had bought 15 years ago for my metal lathe and it was too sensitive for my skill level on a pool table.
ymmv.
Edit corrected difference to 8x more sensitive.
I recall you did answer this in 2006 (or so). You had either had a written description or a similar picture you posted in this thread of a jack pushing against a strap. It’s funny I think I remember most of your posts over all these years. But I don’t remember what I did yesterday. Ha ha.
You will have to edfit an other time, a level of .0002/10inch is 20.83333 time more sensitive than a .005/12inch<== not a mechanic
Careful with this one it’s much more sensitive than the Starrett, 8 times more sensitive (if I did the math right in my head).
I looked for knockoffs of the starrett 98-12 and similar and they didn’t exist 2 years ago. The knockoffs are only of the “master precision” that is 8 times more sensitive. You might end up chasing your tail.
I bought the 98-12 on the advice of the mechanics here. It was $189 shipped brand new on Amazon in 2017, I just checked my receipt. Now it’s $100 higher
I also have a knockoff “master precision” level I had bought 15 years ago for my metal lathe and it was too sensitive for my skill level on a pool table.
ymmv.
Edit corrected difference to 8x more sensitive.
