Leveler feet for sliding table saw

[mark mcfarlane]

The floor shims I am using to flatten my sliding table saw top aren't working out great.

The machine eventually moves off the shims, possibly due to vibration, probably due to flinging the slider too hard to the end of its range. The machine can also tilt off the floor onto two legs if the slider and feeder are are both swung all the way to the outfield side,... Then maybe the saw doesn't sit back down in the exact same place.

I've exhausted my brain looking at various types of feet/pads for something that will fit my CU300 Classic - max weight is about 1700 lbs with the feeder arm, feeder, and a full sheet of plywood onboard. Threads for mounting bolts are M12 * 1.75, but the mounting bolts look just tack welded onto the frame and I'm not sure how reliable the attachment is.

Anyway, anyone ever try the Airlock wedge-type adjustable height antivibration pads. They seem like they would work well and they would only lift the machine 1 5/8" off the floor. I don't really want a 4.5" lift that something like Zambus casters would apply.

https://www.zoro.com/airloc-leveling...SABEgJ6CfD_BwE

[Kevin Jenness]

Can you bolt your machine to the floor, or fasten some locator blocks to the floor around the legs and shims to keep them in place?

My Paoloni is lighter than your saw and it stays in place on shim plates. Maybe less "flinging" the slider and reeling in the power feed head for less leverage are in order. I would be nervous if my saw were tilting up on two legs.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Mark,
Just put these under my SCM, and couldn't be happier. They are nice, large, good looking levelers and are M12 thread. Price is super friendly. Just ordered another set for my wide belt sander:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you're willing to try these with the original welded nuts, or have someone reinforce the welds, you really cannot go wrong. At the lower setting, they lift the table less than 2".

jeff

[Pat Rice]

E4DEFC00-5887-4423-8ABF-C503C42685D9.jpg
I got mine from McMaster-Carr

[Tom Dalabon]

Mark,
I have the same machine and tried the Zambus castors. Had 3 of them bolted in and the 4th nut was not tack welded very well and snapped right off. I don’t want to weld them as the paint will get destroyed during the process.
I was thinking along the same line as you, but the cost is a little hard to swallow. It will be interesting to see the responses that you receive.
Good luck with your decision.
Tom

[mark mcfarlane]

E4DEFC00-5887-4423-8ABF-C503C42685D9.jpg
I got mine from McMaster-Carr

Thanks Pat. FWIW, these aren't metric.

[mark mcfarlane]

Mark,
Just put these under my SCM, and couldn't be happier. They are nice, large, good looking levelers and are M12 thread. Price is super friendly. Just ordered another set for my wide belt sander:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you're willing to try these with the original welded nuts, or have someone reinforce the welds, you really cannot go wrong. At the lower setting, they lift the table less than 2".

jeff

Thanks Jeff, that certainly is a good price and I like the idea you can get them with a shorter 2" bolt, that would require less lifting of the machine, although I'd probably have to lift it 5" anyway to recut the threads, there is a lot of 'crap' in the bolts. Maybe from the weld, maybe from the finish.

Do you know what the thread pitch is on these legs?

Thread pitch isn't specified on Amazon. M12's come in 1.0, 1.25 and 1.50 thread pitches.

I am still worried I may have the same result as Tom with the bolts snapping off, they really weren't attached with care.

[Warren Lake]

tons on the net of people who make them out of hockey pucks and threaded rod. Going to have to deal with it just have wood below most now and the table saw was hard to level. Frame below is stiff and ridged so had to get many types of shim material. Feet would be better as finer adjustment. The feet up above that pivot will that work? Ive put used hockey pucks under machines and they feel good.

[mark mcfarlane]

Can you bolt your machine to the floor, or fasten some locator blocks to the floor around the legs and shims to keep them in place?

I could bolt it to the floor but would rather not. That would require some kind off hoist that I don't have access to, ... I guess I could epoxy some bolts into the slab outside the machine base and use some brackets to attach the machine... Thanks for the idea.

My current shims are a combination of materials, including some sheets of paper. I got the machine top very planar when I first leveled it.

...Maybe less "flinging" the slider and reeling in the power feed head for less leverage are in order. I would be nervous if my saw were tilting up on two legs.

True that.

The stock feeder mount attaches at the outfield side of the saw. Add a hundred pound sheet of plywood on the slider at full extension and you have a few hundred pounds on an 8 foot long lever arm.

I tried very hard over the last 3 months to not slam the slider but the machine still moved a couple inches. Could be vibration, I don't really know.

[mark mcfarlane]

tons on the net of people who make them out of hockey pucks and threaded rod. Going to have to deal with it just have wood below most now and the table saw was hard to level. Frame below is stiff and ridged so had to get many types of shim material. Feet would be better as finer adjustment. The feet up above that pivot will that work? Ive put used hockey pucks under machines and they feel good.

Thanks Warren. Hockey pucks or old tread tires would probably help lateral movement of the machine but I'd really like to get a better leveling solution, as you suggested with "Feet would be better as finer adjustment"

Can you expound a bit on what you meant by "The feet up above that pivot will that work?" ? I missed something.

[Warren Lake]

I guess pivot a better word. The ones pat posted above thought I saw pivot on them. I have to wonder if the base of the machines can flex, even some of my shims will have compression when stacked with other stuff. I dont think my saw base flexed much as each time I added a shim if it was too much then the saw would rock. I guess it could be tested to see i it does translate to the top at all.

[Charles Coolidge]

Counterweight the saw and discover McMaster-Carr

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/128/1582/

[mark mcfarlane]

I guess pivot a better word. The ones pat posted above thought I saw pivot on them. I have to wonder if the base of the machines can flex, even some of my shims will have compression when stacked with other stuff. I dont think my saw base flexed much as each time I added a shim if it was too much then the saw would rock. I guess it could be tested to see i it does translate to the top at all.

Thanks Warren, The frame on my cu300 is pretty rigid, it rocks if I shim incorrectly.

[mark mcfarlane]

Counterweight the saw and discover McMaster-Carr

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/128/1582/

Thanks Charles. I went through McMaster, that why my head hurts. That's where I found the Airloc wedge pads that I am asking about in this thread. I posted the link to Zoro because they were ~$15 cheaper at Zoro.

[mark mcfarlane]

My original question for this thread was:

... anyone ever try the Airlock wedge-type adjustable height anti-vibration pads?

https://www.zoro.com/airloc-leveling...SABEgJ6CfD_BwE

Lots of great feedback here but I guess I hijacked my own thread by providing too much information.