"billh" wrote: (clip) I think the proper terminology should be that the
base is sitting flat (ie, in the same plane) at all contact points.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bill, you are exactly right. We don't have a good work in the language for
this, so everyone says "level." However, one good reason for making any
machine LEVEL is that is a reference angle that is easy to measure. You can
put a spirit level on a lathebed, printing press or forklift, and easily see
whether things are in line. This question comes up from time to time on the
metalworking group--they work to much closer tolerances than we do--and it
comes down to this: if a metal lathe is too far out of level, the coolant
wants to run out.