New Purchase of, Leveling and Moving the S315 and other ?'s

[Chris Livingston]

For those of you that read the MiniMax forum I apologize for the duplicate post but I know SMC gets read much more frequently.

I just purchased the S315 from the sale flyer so I haven't received it yet but going through the manual I don't see how to level the machine. My garage floor is very uneven so I'll need to level it. Is there some way to do this or will I need to add something?

Also since I'm in a garage being able to move it once in a while may be needed. Would it be better to purchase a used pallet jack or will the Zambus casters mentioned elsewhere work on this machine without modification?

Looking through the forum Jim Becker's posts have been invaluable but was wondering if the machine has changed in 2 years?

Lastly are there Sketch Up models of the Mini Max tools? I'm trying to readjust my shop layout and didn't want to reinvent the wheel with those.

Thanks,

Chris

[Mark Hubler]

First, welcome to the Minimax club!

Unless things have changed, there are not adjustable feet to level the machine. A few wedges, made from scrap 2x materials, work great. Cut the wedges on a 1 in 6 slope (or so, not critical) and raise the low corner. You can also find shim kits in the Door Department of your local Home Depot.

To move the machine around, the factory mobility kit is OK; just not great. This is speaking from experience from a CU300 and now a CU410. I have gone back and forth on whether the Zambus leveling caster is a great application to this size and weight of machine; I think that the wheels are too small in diameter to overcome some imperfections common to garage concrete floors. I would not suggest raising the machine higher off the ground (i.e. installing the casters under the saw), which means finding a way to attach to the frame of the machine. Brackets could be fabricated to directly attach to the sides of the chassis, or build a custom frame angle iron frame that the machine rests on and the casters attach to. Either way, the idea is that the machine rests on the floor until it is time to move, then the leveling caster raises the machine off the floor. The challenge is finding a location on the machine that won't interfer with the movement of the slider, or be a tripping hazard.

Another option is a pallet jack. As it happens, there is one "on sale" at Harbor Freight Stores for about $220, model 39939. There is a discount coupon in the current issue "Home Shop Machinist" magazine which drops the cost to about $180. More info here http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...o?itemid=39939 Some leave the pallet jack under the machine fulltime, but I would suggest to still have the machine firmly supported at the corners. It appears that the handle can be unbolted, so nothing will be higher than the table of the saw.

As an alternate to the Zambus, you could use a combination of regular castors and adjustable feet and build a custom setup. Grizzly has a nice line of castors http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2009/Main/301 , and ENCO-USA has some Mason leveling feet (MLS) http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?P...MITEM=325-6671 These casters are much larger in diameter (I would vote for using 6"), and have grease fittings on the shaft and on the swivel ball bearing race. The threaded rod on the Mason works well when combined with a coupling nut (weld the coupling nut to a bracket, adjust height by threading in/out of the coupling nut).

I have toyed with modifying a standard floor jack to aid in moving my Minimax. A "Z" bracket would be made to replace the standard swivel, such that the lower section of the Z would rest on the floor. (The Z would be made from two pieces of steel angle welded, or bolted, together.) Slip the Z under the machine, pump the handle, and easily lift the frame off the ground!

[Jim Becker]

Chris, IMHO, the pallet jack is probably the best idea if you really feel you
need to move a 1500 lb machine around in the future. As to leveling, I had to
put 3/4" shims under the "front feet" to bring mine level as my shop building
was designed as a garage by the previous owners and the floor slopes. I do not
intend to move it, nor would my shop support any repositioning, anyway, so I
didn't bother to buy a pallet jack of my own. (Rented one for "installation
day")

BTW, congrats on your new saw