Hi Jason,
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That is pretty typical. The squareness of the square tubes that form the frame dictates how perpendicular the legs will be. As you can probably guess, ERW square tube is never perfectly square. When you build the shelf, build it so that it straightens the legs out. 1/4" is not much deflection over that distance.
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The fact that there is play in the bearings and that the torch mount is not square to the table leads me to believe that it was shifted during shipping. The process to correct it is pretty straightforward. Check out this thread for the process: Torch square to table adjustments