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4th Jul 2021, 09:21 PM #1Philomath in training
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Location
- Norwood-ish, Adelaide
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 6,541
Getting into the spirit of the thing
Some time ago now I bought an adjustable level for use in the workshop. I later discovered that it was used for setting up aircraft gun sights, but that was not why I got it. The idea was that I could use it by zeroing it on my mill table and then using that same setting to make sure the item being milled was parallel to the table.
However, when I finaly pulled it out to use, I discovered that the vial was leaking and needed to be replaced.
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It sat for a while and then one day while on Amazon, I put in spirit level bubble or some such thing and got a hit that made me think I could replace it. Digging the old one out was interesting - it looked like the ends were secured with sulphur. It melts at 112 degrees C, so possible I suppose. The tube is brass and I originally thought that the paper scraps pictured below were just packing , but not quite.
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The replacement vial came in a 3D printed case that securely held the vial. Clever way of doing it.
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The new vial was slightly longer than the old one so I had to do a minor adjustment to the end stops. That piece of paper mentioned earlier turned out to have the dual function of packing the vial up, but also providing a light surface for the bubble to be seen against. I used a piece of redundant business card, which worked well for both purposes. To hold the vial in place, I used plaster of Paris, made up to a pouring consistency. This was then pushed into the cavity with a close fitting piston. The second photo is after putting the plaster in. The tape is just to stop the vial moving so much in the tube.
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Once the plaster had flashed off, I assembed the level and tried it out.
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The only thing I have to do now is grind the base I made up so the level works 'end for end' when on zero
Michael
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4th Jul 2021, 09:38 PM #2Golden Member
- Join Date
- May 2020
- Location
- Willowbank QLD
- Posts
- 517
I have the same level. The zero position on mine is not zero it is about 5 minutes out. I cannot work out how to adjust it. Do you have an insight on a making an adjustment?
Thanks
Steve
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4th Jul 2021, 09:47 PM #3Philomath in training
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Location
- Norwood-ish, Adelaide
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 6,541
If I've mis-understood you might have to post some pictures showing what you mean -
If you loosen off the top screw you can move the cylindrical dial around through the window. Retighten and it should be good, although the act of tightening might move it a little. Bit of trial and error might be needed.
Michael
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