On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 03:18:32 -0500, john
wrote:

A lot of chinese stuff is not set up or aligned properly. An alignment
and leveling might make a good machine out of it. If you bolt the thing
down it will make it run even better. You've just added about two tons
of concrete to the base and got more mass and rigidity.

I have a new 12 x 36 chinese lathe that's still in the crate. I have
the cabinets also, which are about 1 1/2 - 2" shorter than what I'd
like them to be. I also didn't want the metal cabinets sitting
directly on the concrete due to potential rust stains. I was thinking
of laying down the correct level of plywood under the cabinets. This
thing weighs about 1,200 lbs and I'm concerned about the level
gradually changing and/or twisting the bed as the plywood compresses
over time.

Is it a bad idea to lay some plywood down under the cabinets? Figure
if I'm going to learn how to run this machine, I'd best start off with
it set up correctly. Sorry for the newbie questions.