Abom79 Installed his PM-1660TL!

[Tipton1965]

It's not my lathe but I still cringed when they were using the forklift to unload the lathe off the truck. That part is more stressful than spending the money.

 

[Oldvetteman]

I met Adam and his wife a couple of years ago. They're great people. He seems to be doing really well. I just hope he's not making payments on all that new equipment. I wish him the best.

If you watch his uncrating video, he just keeps looking at the camera and grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

 

[LVLAaron]

It's not my lathe but I still cringed when they were using the forklift to unload the lathe off the truck. That part is more stressful than spending the money.

I had a similar telehandler when my 1440 showed up a few weeks ago. The truck guy was like "oh good you can get it out of the truck with that!" - Having never used a telehandler before I wasn't about to even think about trying. I talked him into using the lift gate and I am certain it could not have lifted 1lb more than was on it.

 

[MtnBiker]

At 3750 pounds, I can't imagine that it will be as rigid as a 1660 lathe could be. Most Euro/Japanese/Korean lathes in that size range are in the 5000-6000+ pound range with a beefier D1-8 spindle. It has cast iron plinths, which is great, but they can't be terribly thick at that weight. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. Will have to tune in to see how it runs. Used to subscribe to his channel, but in the past year or so, the episodes have become like mini infomercials. I understand it's a business not a charity, but there are enough ads inserted in YouTube already, I don't need the content itself to be one big commercial.

A bunch of folks using the 1640/1660 PMs are holding super tight tolerances but maybe not doing super aggressive cuts at the same time. Horses for courses. D1-6 sits in this really versatile size range. Go look at the chuck/collet holder sizes available in this format. Impressive. I feel very comfortable sinking a few more of my paychecks into D1-6 tooling.

 

[mksj]

Agree with MtnBiker, The sunmaster lathes in the 1340-1660 range are light industrial, they do make heavier lathes as well as CNC. Been very happy with my ERL-1340, the limitations is more me than the machine. I have also worked with/used the heavier RL/TL versions and they are very stiff and accurate, even at 3400+ lbs. I like the one piece cast iron base, also makes moving them with a fork lift much easier. They are very quiet and testing the run out, they have all been spot on from the factory. I went with the ERL version because I did not want to replace my D1-4 chucks and BXA tooling, but if I were starting out I would have gone with a 1440 or 1640TL. It would have mostly been for the increased spindle bore, as opposed to rigidity. A D1-6 chuck is mostly manageable up to 10", and still within a reasonable cost window. Bigger machines bigger costs. Since Abom79 already has some heavy hitters for removing big time metal, the 1660TL is probably slated for lighter duty projects. The next step up in weight and capacity for lathes have higher Hp, bigger chuck mounts/tooling along with higher delivery/setup costs. If you have the space/need then there is bigger old/new heavy iron out there.

 

[akjeff]

A bunch of folks using the 1640/1660 PMs are holding super tight tolerances but maybe not doing super aggressive cuts at the same time. Horses for courses. D1-6 sits in this really versatile size range. Go look at the chuck/collet holder sizes available in this format. Impressive. I feel very comfortable sinking a few more of my paychecks into D1-6 tooling.

I'm not knocking a D1-6 spindle, that's exactly what I use as well. ( on a 1440B Summit ). As I said, it'll be interesting to see what he thinks of it after he uses it a bit. Hopefully it works great for him! JMO that is kinda light for a 1660 class lathe.

 

[sr71xjet]

At the day of : 30 Oct 2020, it would cost like $16 000 without any accessories. It was quite a price change from that day and now.

Shipping has almost quadrupled since then. It used to cost around 5000$ for a shipping container from that part of the world, now its in the neighborhood of 20K to 25K. Same container. Got to add the cost somewhere........right!!!

 

[Janderso]

His first new lathe!
Abby and Adam have made a great team.
He’s no dummy, creating a channel and enjoying a Patreon site must provide adequate additional income for them to venture out.
Good for them!