Adjustable feet SFM10

Adjustable Feet SFM10 are movable leveling feet for rectangular structural tube, with hex socket adjustment in the top and a threaded insert that grips in the sheet metal of the tube. The series is made for frames and bases of rectangular tube with a 2.0 mm wall thickness; the foot is fitted in the end of the tube and all height adjustment is then done from above, through the tube, with an ordinary hex key.

There are two versions, one for tube with a 50x25 mm section and one for 70x25 mm, and you pick the design as a variant on the product page. Both have a foot diameter of 25 mm, an M10 thread and a 50 mm long adjusting screw, which gives plenty of range for floors that slope or bulge. The foot part is in polyamide PA6, the adjusting screw in zinc plated steel and the threaded insert made in sheet metal.

Adjustment from above is the big practical point of the series. A finished machine table or frame never has to be lifted or tipped to set the feet; you reach the hex socket of the screw through the opening of the tube and turn until the leg carries. If the frame is already loaded with equipment the difference shows straight away, because crawling under a heavy base with a wrench is neither quick nor ergonomic for the person doing the work.

That the foot is movable means the foot plate does not stand stiffly at right angles to the screw but can set itself against the surface. The whole contact face then carries even when the floor is not flat, and the leg stands still instead of resting on one edge of the foot. On concrete floors in older industrial buildings, where a fall toward floor drains and worn patches is more the rule than the exception, that makes a noticeable difference to stability.

Fitting comes down to knocking or pressing the threaded insert into the opening of the tube end, where it grips in the sheet metal. Check that the tube holds the 50x25 or 70x25 mm section and the 2.0 mm wall thickness, since the grip of the insert is matched to exactly those dimensions. After that the foot is screwed into the insert and the frame can be raised; the fine adjustment you do when everything stands in place and is loaded as in operation.

The nylon in the foot part is tough and takes both knocks and point loads without cracking, and a plastic foot is kinder to the floor than an untreated steel tube set straight against the concrete. PA6 takes up some moisture over time, but in this application that affects neither function nor stability in a normal industrial environment.

Rectangular tube is standard material in Swedish machine builds and fittings: table bases, conveyor legs, packing tables, frames for control cabinets and machine frames are built from it every day. SFM10 gives a factory finish to the tube leg instead of a solution with a welded in nut, which both takes longer and means the welder has to be brought into the project.

Remember that the 50 mm length of the adjusting screw is the total length; how much of it you can use as adjustment range depends on how deep the foot is screwed in to start with. Always leave enough thread engagement for the load. A rule of thumb is never to wind the foot out further than leaves at least half the screw still carrying in the insert. Full dimensions for each version are in the manufacturer's data sheet, together with the detail dimensions for the insert.

In maintenance work the solution is just as useful as in a new build. Worn or damaged feet on existing frames are replaced by winding the old foot out and screwing a new one in; the insert stays in the tube. That makes SFM10 a good standard item to keep at the maintenance department, both for your own machine builds and for bought in frames built from the same tube sizes. A bag of feet in the store solves many small jobs before they have turned into cases.

Do you have a specific frame design in mind? We will help you pick the right version.