"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , artfulbodger says...

What say you?

Go get a copy of "How to Run a Lathe" from south bend, and perform
their two collar test. It's all you need to do, and takes
nothing besides a micrometer and a piece of stock in the chuck.

Jim


Well and good, I'm sure, but *start* with a properly leveled machine so it
isn't leaning in any direction. While lathes will run fine out of level,
if you have yours established properly before you make any fine adjustments,
you will be able to rely on the machine being level for certain functions.
Chucking irregular objects in a 4 jaw, using a level for setup, for example.
The minor amount you may be out when you do your final tweaking would be far
better than to have it out a few degrees because you sought a straight cut
without concern for level setup.

Harold