mark mcfarlane
03-22-2022, 10:57 AM
Just thought I'd share the process I used to recently add leveling feet to my 2017 Minimax CU300 slider.
I previously leveled the machine using wood shims which, over time, came out from under the machine.
The machine came with 4 factory tack-welded 12mm nuts in the corners. They were covered with paint/coating and needed to be retapped. Here is an example of one corner:
476305
I had some concern that these welds weren't sufficient to hold the ~1800lb weight of the machine (with stock feeder and mount. The base machine I think is ~1600lb). The inadequacy of the tack welded nuts was confirmed by someone else on SMC who tried to connect Zambus casters to their Minimax combo machine and one of the mounting bolts immediately broke off the machine.
My solution was to cut steel supporting plates for each corner of the machine. I cut the plates from an old 3/16" brick lintel I had stashed in the attic, and reminded my wife that hoarding building materials is good. I used paper to make templates for each of the 4 corners. All 4 'corners' on this machine are different shapes and sizes.
Leveling feet are from McMaster Carr, $13 each
6301K82 - Swivel Leveling Mount, Yellow Zinc-Plated Steel with Cushion and 51 mm Long M12 Threaded Stud
Rated at 3740 lbs per foot
https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/128/1583
The legs go through the home-made steel plates and into the 4 tack-welded bolts that came with the machine. I had to cinch the plates with 'just the right amount' of torque against the bottom of the machine: Too loose and all the weight is on the tack welded nuts. Too tight and I'm pulling the tack welded nuts down. My objective was to minimize the vertical forces on the tack welded nuts.
After re-leveling the machine I used a permanent marker to locate the corners of the machine on the floor.
Here are the feet:
476311476312476313
Observations:
It was tedious to lift the machine high enough to tap out the welded nuts using Minimax's factory supplied Johnson bar. Lots of small incremental lifts, placement of blocks, lift a little more, place another block,...
When lowering the machine one side at a time after installing the leveling feet the machine comes down at a slight angle putting lateral forces on the feet. The rubber 'vibration' pads on the bottom of the specific feet I used were applied with adhesive so they slide a little off the feet. This required me to lift just a tad, use a putty knife to remove and reposition the vibration pads, and repeat until I got the vibration pads almost back to their factory position...
I'm not sure that the nut/plate configuration I used will prevent the leveling feet from changing height in the future. I placed one bolt under the plate, then the plate, then the tack welded nut. You can see another nut in the pictures right above the foot. That is a fixed nut used to rotate and adjust the height of the feet. It is not touching the nut above.
It will be interesting to see how far the machine moves across the floor as I bang the slider with a full sheet of plywood on it.
In retrospect, it would be nice to have feet that have integral rubber pads rather than pads attached with adhesive.
I hope this is helpful to someone, some day.
I previously leveled the machine using wood shims which, over time, came out from under the machine.
The machine came with 4 factory tack-welded 12mm nuts in the corners. They were covered with paint/coating and needed to be retapped. Here is an example of one corner:
476305
I had some concern that these welds weren't sufficient to hold the ~1800lb weight of the machine (with stock feeder and mount. The base machine I think is ~1600lb). The inadequacy of the tack welded nuts was confirmed by someone else on SMC who tried to connect Zambus casters to their Minimax combo machine and one of the mounting bolts immediately broke off the machine.
My solution was to cut steel supporting plates for each corner of the machine. I cut the plates from an old 3/16" brick lintel I had stashed in the attic, and reminded my wife that hoarding building materials is good. I used paper to make templates for each of the 4 corners. All 4 'corners' on this machine are different shapes and sizes.
Leveling feet are from McMaster Carr, $13 each
6301K82 - Swivel Leveling Mount, Yellow Zinc-Plated Steel with Cushion and 51 mm Long M12 Threaded Stud
Rated at 3740 lbs per foot
https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/128/1583
The legs go through the home-made steel plates and into the 4 tack-welded bolts that came with the machine. I had to cinch the plates with 'just the right amount' of torque against the bottom of the machine: Too loose and all the weight is on the tack welded nuts. Too tight and I'm pulling the tack welded nuts down. My objective was to minimize the vertical forces on the tack welded nuts.
After re-leveling the machine I used a permanent marker to locate the corners of the machine on the floor.
Here are the feet:
476311476312476313
Observations:
It was tedious to lift the machine high enough to tap out the welded nuts using Minimax's factory supplied Johnson bar. Lots of small incremental lifts, placement of blocks, lift a little more, place another block,...
When lowering the machine one side at a time after installing the leveling feet the machine comes down at a slight angle putting lateral forces on the feet. The rubber 'vibration' pads on the bottom of the specific feet I used were applied with adhesive so they slide a little off the feet. This required me to lift just a tad, use a putty knife to remove and reposition the vibration pads, and repeat until I got the vibration pads almost back to their factory position...
I'm not sure that the nut/plate configuration I used will prevent the leveling feet from changing height in the future. I placed one bolt under the plate, then the plate, then the tack welded nut. You can see another nut in the pictures right above the foot. That is a fixed nut used to rotate and adjust the height of the feet. It is not touching the nut above.
It will be interesting to see how far the machine moves across the floor as I bang the slider with a full sheet of plywood on it.
In retrospect, it would be nice to have feet that have integral rubber pads rather than pads attached with adhesive.
I hope this is helpful to someone, some day.