Leveling a solid bed lathe compared to a split-bed V type.

Is it less of a concern to hlvh owners?I'm ready to take it seriously.

In other words... another PITA obstruction to real goals.
Remember someone who was a knowledgeable sort said that machine surfaces wear un-evenly if the iron is not level.
(I bought leveling feet years ago but never used them yet


Link does not imply I would ever user ebay. I think I paid $35. I remember going into the surplus places and seeing
some guys buying large amounts. They are the middle-men of the internet. Thank you ebay.

From my new-old stock. The Hardinge feet are circular disks about 2" in diameter and are about 1/4" thick.
The pad on the top is 2 1/4" in diameter. More than perfect. As you can see the height can be raised more than one inch.
Bad idea for me in earthquake country....

His opinion isn’t bad, but the design of Hardinge lathe bed casting supports, with three spherical support points tensioned with springs, pretty much takes that concern out of the picture for those lathes.

Any machine with but 3 positions that accommodate leveling apparatus, that signifies engineer's concern for stability. At this moment, only two come to mind. 10EE & HLVH. Add fact one is split bed, and reputation both those machines earn nails the question.
If padding is thought important, I use felt under steel plates. 3/8" is ok under a Bridgeport, a serious lathe, say 16" x 54" I'm looking for 1/2". Using those as guidelines, it might prove dividing 2500 pounds with 4 feet againt 9500 with 8. It's worked so far. The real difference is whether load is a rigid column or finitely flexible bed.
Will say, this approach is inadequate for machines with 2 or 3 axis capable of rapid traverse.