I admit...I did it...PM 1640E-LB

johnwell said:
John...lemme think...................yep, you really need it! Trust me!
Especially you with the gyro...all the nice things you can make just for that!
I'm jealous, cuz I've been looking at them, on and off, for a long time and they seem awesome!
(in my ...richer..days, I owned a Hiller 12D and had 8 hours on it)
Still own a bunch of rc helis, but they are collecting dust now for awhile.
Go from this 'thinking line'...."If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing".....so true :))
You already have awesome machines so staying on the path of 'awesomer' only makes perfect sense.

John
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Hey John,

First... you have a good name... :D

Since you mentioned gyro's... they are a LOT of fun! They fly mostly like a FW (fixed wing), however a few things are different, and a few things are opposite... so some flight training is mandatory to not 'get in trouble'.
For the sheer fun of having the wind in your face in an open (stick frame) aircraft... they cannot be beat.
And once one understands flying a gyro... they are a LOT less sensitive to shifting winds than a FW... other than one time... landing.
As in most small aviation craft... landing is the most dangerous thing... it is in reality a controlled crash. Gyro's, when they transition from the rotor carrying the weight>>to the wheels carrying the weight... are VERY sensitive to a quick gust of cross-wind. Careful and deliberate rotor management is the key.
A cautious pilot who is paying attention can avoid this potential issue... most gyro accidents happen in this phase of flight (other than newbee pilots who get behind the power curve and fall out of the sky... OUCH... :( ).

If you want to learn more about gyro's and flying... I can post a bunch of links.

Enjoy your new lathe...

As to my choices for machinery... I am kinda a perfectionist... getting the Taiwanese machines was just 'one of those things'... :)
 
johnwell said:
What if I do it reallllllly careful? :lmao::lmao:

You are probably very correct, but it's all i have for now to destroy.
My wife's brother is supposed to bring me some alu and mild steel but he has ...uhhh.. different timelines or universal dimensions even than most people.
I have no idea on the grade of these big bolts...all I know they put in a bunch to connect tower sections. remember..I just lift the tower section and never touch the bolts:)))
Would there be a grade indication on bolts and if so, how to identify?
All I know they test the 'pulling' strength on them with like 4600 psi pressure in a hydraulic device. That's quite a bit.
Oh, and they are grey.:thinking: :lmao::lmao::lmao:

John
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IMO they are hardened... and will make a mess if you attempt a big (deep) cut.
If you want to play with them:
SLOW chuck speed,
Shallow cut,
Lots of lubricating oil (heavy oil, not WD40),
And fiddle.
Might try an extra 5 or 10 thou's... and see how it goes.
You will develop a 'feel' for when the material is cutting properly... and when you are pushing things.

And read your chips.
If the chips do not dis-color, you can CAREFULLY increase your cut a little
If the chips are amber to dark amber... be extra careful
If the chips are turning dark blue to black.... you are about to break something... so back off your DOC (depth of cut)

Remember.... the harder the metal... the slower you want to run your material FMS (feet per minute of cut speed... may have said that wrong).
This does not always apply... however for starters it is a good rule of thumb.

Next time you are on a job... ask the guys who assemble the tower what the 'Rockwell Hardness' number is, for the bolts. If you have that... you can go to websites and get speeds and feeds and cut depths.

Now back to getting my mill set up. Pics when I get done... :)
So it 'DID' happen... :)
 
No reason to question your sanity on that purchase. Sounds like a perfectly sane thing to do and eliminate all the intermediate stops along the way that we all end up makin. Plus you did it cause you can and it was a good deal for both of you so what's to question really. If you had gotten a 7X14 or a 9X19 I would have asked why you went so small on your steps up, but you just cut all the middle men out and jumped where you probably needed to be anyway. It will be a much more powerful and rigid machine that will run super quiet as well as take real cuts not baby whiffs like you have to do on the venerable 7X's. I have a 7X and a 9X20 so that's why I questioned that. I wish I could have afforded to do it like you did, but being disabled on a pension makes those kinds of jumps impossible for me. Enjoy the new tool and have fun getting to know your new machine.

Bob
 
No reason to question your sanity on that purchase. Sounds like a perfectly sane thing to do and eliminate all the intermediate stops along the way that we all end up makin. Plus you did it cause you can and it was a good deal for both of you so what's to question really. If you had gotten a 7X14 or a 9X19 I would have asked why you went so small on your steps up, but you just cut all the middle men out and jumped where you probably needed to be anyway. It will be a much more powerful and rigid machine that will run super quiet as well as take real cuts not baby whiffs like you have to do on the venerable 7X's. I have a 7X and a 9X20 so that's why I questioned that. I wish I could have afforded to do it like you did, but being disabled on a pension makes those kinds of jumps impossible for me. Enjoy the new tool and have fun getting to know your new machine.

Bob
 
Rbeckett said:
No reason to question your sanity on that purchase. Sounds like a perfectly sane thing to do and eliminate all the intermediate stops along the way that we all end up makin. Plus you did it cause you can and it was a good deal for both of you so what's to question really. If you had gotten a 7X14 or a 9X19 I would have asked why you went so small on your steps up, but you just cut all the middle men out and jumped where you probably needed to be anyway. It will be a much more powerful and rigid machine that will run super quiet as well as take real cuts not baby whiffs like you have to do on the venerable 7X's. I have a 7X and a 9X20 so that's why I questioned that. I wish I could have afforded to do it like you did, but being disabled on a pension makes those kinds of jumps impossible for me. Enjoy the new tool and have fun getting to know your new machine.

Bob
Click to expand...

Well Bob, you nailed it...exactly my thinking. On my 7X12 the slightest overpressure with a tool threw it off and I wasn't very happy with that. I had that little lathe for like 7 years doing nothing but I paid, if I remember correctly, only $100 or so for it..new in the box. Your guess is as good as mine which truck that thing fell off...:))
Once using it I (re)fell in love with metal stuff and there it goes...it qualified as a hobby again...hehheh.
You are so right..I did consider all sorts of 'steps' to take, for quite a while and searched my butt off on craigslist and ebay for a long time, to no avail.
Since I got some time on my hands at the moment I decided the famous 'now or never' thing and simply called Matt at machinetools and asked if he had any used machines...in the back of my mind already thinking a big machine, but they are expensive quickly as size goes up...even in small increments. Initially looking at a pm1236 I hoped for used around that size and guess what....For the same price for a 1236 with a dro Matt offered me the 1640....dro and all, shipped. What would anybody do? The 1640 was not an educated choice but it took me about an hour to decide on that one and now it's sitting in my garage I don't regret it whatsoever!
About your pension and such...I see where you come from, but don't think I'm rich or something.....But luckily for me I can work in my profession most of the year and be comfi.
Not that many would be interested but some may know where I come from too is that 'now or never' thing....I already had open heart surgery almost 6 years ago and your mortality gets rubbed in in a nasty manner. Who knows how long I'm going to be around? Long story short...this was also a deciding factor. Not complaining here though cuz I'm not physically, kinda, hindered by it. I feel pretty good and still smoke like a retard! :nuts:
So much for my ....sanity....:lmao::lmao::lmao:

And I wasn't going to discuss it...geeeez

John
 
Thank you for posting. I deffinately have enjoyed hearing about your new machine.

I too bought "way to big a machine" - 15x60 Enterprise lathe - that was 32 years ago and I've been glad to have exactly that machine many times. I can't count the number of times (in otherwords, some value larger than 21), the machine has been just large enough to do the job I'm trying to complete.

It also makes getting more metal (basically, you have started a tidal wave) much easier - anything smaller than the first real machine is "really not that big". Everything else is just adding on.

Enjoy.
 
Congrats on the new lathe, looks awesome! That pic of someone in the fall zone of the lathe on the lift gate was a bit scary though.

For scrap to play with, any machine shops or mechanics in the area? They often have a metal recycling bin full of scrap steel or drops. A case of beer will get you an awful lot of goodwill :)
 
Scrap metal...

Here are a few suggestions:
In my area, there are a couple of metal sellers. They have scraps they sell by the #... price is good for project metal.
Also, there are a couple of metal recycling places... they buy metal by the #. I suspect if one offered them a bit over what they buy it for... you could get some scraps.
Then there is always the scrap bin at a welding shop, a machine shop, an auto repair shop, etc...
Scrap metal is not that hard to find... just need to start hunting for it.

John
 
Well, folks....
Almost time to make first (test) cut. All seems well, but I need to take care of some additional heating first...freezing my nuts off in the garage...sorta.
Let me put it this way...last night I licked the compound slide, and my wife had to bring hot coolant fluid (can't use just water) to get me loose....
I figured that it's more of a hobby and not a polar expedition so a wall has to be put up to make the "room" smaller and more manageable heating wise. I have baseboard heating all over the house and one 1500 watt isn't even putting a dent in the temp. Now I know that some of you may think..."it'll grow hair on yer chest"...but due to my age (I think) I became a comfort creature...:))
So a wall and some reflective alu 'foil' (amazon) to 'lower' the 11 ft ceiling and it's a done deal.

ALSO!!! Listen carefully.....

As mentioned before I became an expert machinist by watching Youtube vids and low and behold...I remembered I had a lil video cam I bought years ago and found it! Not to scare the crap out of everybody, but I may post a video (or two) in the very near future on my PM1640. There is nothing out there on that specific one and it's about time.
Already have some footage in fairly decent quality though not HD. Went and 'borrowed' an editing proggy and as soon as I can throw a Youtube video together it'll be on there.
I may even include that test cut if I do not embarrass the hell out of myself! :footinmouth:
For those interested in my babblin and the 1640...stay tuned,

John
 
Alright...last post...

First off...think I'm gonna love the lathe.
Second...I guess I'm one of the few who's not too happy with who sold it to me. I fully realize that to them it's just another cheap machine, but to me it's actually a little more so I thought I was a (a tiny) customer.
Some say email to contact, some say call. Well..maybe I made the mistake of not calling for small stuff (but maybe bigger to me) like another machine (mill)...I tried email only.
Several, probably small things, made me loose interest in the whole shebang and I will stop posting/promoting PM stuff.
I do wish to thank all who congratulated me with my lathe and I'm still very happy with it.

Happy machining! :))

John
 
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