darkzero

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I'm here to stay so I figured I would document a few of the mods & accessories I have for my PM1236. I got it in Nov 09 & it's been great to, no problems at all, & Matt has always taken care of me, even today. I originally purchased a PM1127-VF (no LB model at the time) but changed my mind & i'm glad I did.

(Most of these pics are copied from a thread on another forum when I got the lathe.)

Here it is when it got delivered.
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The day I got it standing next to my mini lathe.
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No mill at the time so great machinist friend Barry from Precision Works milled the T-slot for me. I went with a Dorian SQCTP Wedge Lock BXA.
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Bison chucks on both ends. The 5/8 drill chuck I scored on ebay new for $56 shipped.
The 5" 6-jaw is from my mini-lathe.
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Got a Square D 2510KG2 manual motor starter on ebay for $20 to cut power.
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I got a bit tired of using a hex key for the carriage lock so like some of the larger lathes I wanted to make a lever for it.


The old method
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After a bit of looking around I found a bolt on solution. I chose a Kipp adjustable (multi position) lever. These would probably be great for mills, after they are locked/tightened you can pull the handle up to disengage it from the splines & move it into any position to keep it out of the way. As I find more applications for these I will definitely be getting more. They come in different shapes, sizes, & materials. The stainless ones are nice but are very expensive, I choose one to match my lathe the best.

All I used aside from the Kipp lever is a small spacer so the lever doesn't come in contact with the carriage. I'll probably add a spring to it to give it some resistance when not locked down.
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Removed the old bolt, simply screwed in the new lever.
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Here's the lever lifted up which can be moved into 20 different positions after it has been tightened down.
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Positioned out of the way, probably will rarely ever get in the way on the lathe.
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Overall view
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Probably not a common solution but like my 8x14 I decided to change the compound bolts. On the 12x36 the original studs & bolts did not strip like the 8x14 but I got used to using hex head bolts & find it much more convenient.


M10 bolts with some heavy duty washers from Mcmasters
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Used some Grade 8 bolts that I threaded the heads then cut them off & ground down to use as the nuts.
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So now with the carriage lock lever the old hex key still gets use for the compound. Much more easier than using a wrench.
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For a while I have not been happy with the Mason mounts. Not the mounts' fault, my lathe is just not heavy enough. If I rocked the lathe pushing on the headstock, I can easily get the lathe starting to rock back & forth. That's not good! So I decided to make some solid mounts.


Here's how it sat before, overkill with 8 Mason mounts.
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The materials. 5/8" threaded rod. My Mason mounts are 1/2"
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Made four mounts with threads.
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To make things easier & keep costs down, I threaded all the way through. To prevent the studs from threading past the bottom, I deformed the edge of the thread to create a "stop".
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The finished mounts.
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Installed. I'm still using four of the Mason mounts on the outside to help keep the lathe in place. With just the solid mounts, I can move the lathe if I give it a good push.
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After I got it all leveled, I adjusted each Mason mount 1-2 thou.
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The solid mounts made a huge difference, well worth it, & the lathe has a whole different feel to it now. Still need to make some bigger lock nuts for the base & will replace the cheap all thread.
 

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After coming to my senses that I will never be able to afford the Fagor 40i that I fell in love with, I pieced together a kit & I'm pretty happy with it. It's a true lathe display so there's no useless mill functions to worry about.

Here's my install....


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Made a back plate for support since the display is mounted to the sheet metal control box.
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Installed a cable grip/strain relief.
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Wired the display directly to the lathe's 220v power so it turns on when I power up the lathe.
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Scale installed on the cross slide (X axis).
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Was a bit tricky at first drilling & tapping for these two holes. Had to use a very long extension for the drill bit & the tap since they were so close to the ways. Luckily I didn't fubar it.
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Chip guard for the scale.
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Mounting bracket for the bed scale (Z axis). The cross slide scale also uses one of these, forgot to take pics drilling the cross slide to install it. It was done on a drill press.
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Bed scale mounted.
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Mounting bracket for the bed scale.
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Put the lathe partially back together to make two little spacers.
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Chip guard.
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The mounting arm for the display.
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Wasn't too happy with the quality of the 4-jaw that came with the lathe so I replaced it with a Fuerda direct mount 8" 4-jaw. The stock 6" 3 jaw I am keeping though.

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The chuck key is a safetly type key just like the Bison key but I can't stand those springs so off it came. This key fits the stock 3-jaw too but not the Bison.
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My dog plate after I cleaned it up.
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Too bad this lathe dog is so offset heavy. Makes my lathe shake at higher speeds so I got some conventional ones that work much better.
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My Exair Cold Air Gun.
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Back then there were no separate packages, it was pretty much the Preferred package with chuck guard. Eventually I couldn't stand that damn guard so off it came. Man what a big difference it makes!
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Haven't used the flood coolant system yet so I just made a bottle holder where the nozzle used to mount.
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All that damn flex conduit that was put up really bothered me so I took it all down & replaced it with EMT.

Before:
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After..... I installed a drop for the air compressor & later added an extension for the mill.
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Great looking job so far. It's never really done it is?

I still can't see what anyone would want with a chuck guard?

That's a big compressor, but I imagine you need it using your cold gun at full presure. I have the loudest compressor I have ever heard. I keep
it in another room with the door closed and it's still loud as hell! Thankfully I have a new one coming on Monday.
Only 60db. That's going to be a very nice change!

Gary
 
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Great looking job so far. It's never really done it is?

I still can't see what anyone would want with a chuck guard?

That's a big compressor, but I imagine you need it using your cold gun at full presure. I have the loudest compressor I have ever heard. I keep
it in another room with the door closed and it's still loud as hell! Thankfully I have a new one coming on Monday.
Only 60db. That's going to be a very nice change!

Gary

Thanks Gary. Yeah, tell me about it! People have told me but I had no idea my addiction would lead me this far & I know it only gets worse! But I look at it as a life long investment so & it keeps me happy.

I kind of liked the chuck guard at first as it was insurance to never leave the chuck key in. But I learned that lesson before I got the PM & finally one day it really started to get annoying! IMO it really serves no purpose as it really doesn't guard anything.

If you look at that last pic just above your post you can see that I also have a 17 gal tank sitting behind the lathe plumbed into the system. With 77 gallons I still want more air! But I don't think I can fit an 80 gal where the 60 sits. Maybe one day I'll upgrade to a 2-stage.

The cold air gun is air hungry! I don't run it at full recommended 90 psi. I run it at 50-60 psi & it still works well. That's my current alternative to flood coolant as I don't want that kind of mess in my garage yet. I mostly using it when drilling Ti which is often. Not nearly as great at a flood system but better than nothing. I have one for the mill too but haven't hooked it up yet.

Congrats on the new compressor! It's definitely a necessity & I can't live without one. I had a Craftsman/DevillBiss 20 gal which was pretty quiet but it couldn't keep up with my 1/2" impact & die grinders. Always had to wait for it to fill back up! Bought the 60 for $255 & sold the Craftsman for $200 so it was a nice upgrade. The 60 gal HF US General compressors are actually US made.
 
Congrats on the new compressor! It's definitely a necessity & I can't live without one. I had a Craftsman/DevillBiss 20 gal which was pretty quiet but it couldn't keep up with my 1/2" impact & die grinders. Always had to wait for it to fill back up! Bought the 60 for $255 & sold the Craftsman for $200 so it was a nice upgrade. The 60 gal HF US General compressors are actually US made.

Yea, the new compressor is only a 6.5 gal. but I don't use much air at all. It's a step down from the 14 gal. I now have. I do have a 10 gal. portable tank that I use to take out to the driveway to fill the tires
on the cars, so I can always use it for extra air storage. From the reviews I've read on the new compressor, it fills real fast. Just about a minute with the 2 cylinder compressor. I may look on craigslist for a
big tank for real cheap to give me a big surplus of air.

I just got a real inexpensive Spra-Kool Midget Mist system that I plan on using on the lathe and mill. It will work at 30psi. I don't even want to mess with the flood coolant system. I saw on another site that someone made his mister intermittent, .5 sec on 1.5 sec off. I plan on doing the same thing but make the on/off time adjustable with 2 dials. It will cut down on air and coolant use. I figure this will keep things cool and lubed.

BTW I think the only real reason for the chuck guard is to keep coolant from flying all over the place when using the flood coolant.

Gary
 
Will... What... You got Elves keeping that thing clean for you?
 
Will... What... You got Elves keeping that thing clean for you?

Nope, actually they're Smurfs! Hence the white & blue. :))

Most of this pics are from another thread when the lathe was new. But I do probably keep the lathe cleaner than most. I mostly turn Ti these days & dry, after the first lathe fire I get paranoid sometimes. Turning ferro rod can get interesting too.


EDIT:

Guess I forgot to include my radius turning attachment so I'll just insert it here (copied from another forum as well). Made this before I had a mill so I cheated by using parts from another unit.



Here's what I started off with. The Myford attachment & a 5" dia 30lb piece of CR1018.
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Mounted in the 4 jaw, making the base plate with this piece.
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Cut off the base plate & save the rest for another project (feet for the lathe).
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Cleaned it up, drilled a couple of holes, & test fit.
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Bored out the recesses on the top of the base plate for the tool post.
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Bored out the bottom of the base plate for the mounting/pivot screw.
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Base plate is done, on to make the post assy. 3" dia 1018.
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Machined the steps for the bottom of the tool post.
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Bored out the recesses on the top off the tool post for the cutter assy. Drilled a hole all the way through for a M6 bolt, then tapped threads the bottom for a M10 bolt.
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Tool post is done, time for a test fit.
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Tested it out on a piece of alum. Ditched the insert & screw that it came with for a TNMG 331 Cermet insert & Ti flathead/countersunk type screw for better seating. Chatter free & right on center line!
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Here's how I measured the cutter height.
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Here is the top mating surface for the cutter assy.
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Turned down a M6 bolt to fit through the M10 thread at the bottom of the tool post to bolt on the cutter assy.
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The mating surfaces of the post & base plate. Since this is where I made the tool post pivot I added some lube.
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The bottom of the base plate. This part is critical since the washer should only mate against the small step of the post that fits through the base plate. But if that step is too high you'll get unwanted play leading to chatter.
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All assembled.
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Time to give it a try, first up was a ball knob to replace the cheapo plastic one.


Threaded a rod & a piece of steel.
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The rod I was using to hold the stock was too thin & chattered a lot so I had to switch to a thicker one. After a little bit of sanding I ended up with this.
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Here's the new knob on the tool post.
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Thanks for looking.
 

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Lathe fire? Story!


Ray


Nope, actually they're Smurfs! Hence the white & blue. :))

Most of this pics are from another thread when the lathe was new. But I do probably keep the lathe cleaner than most. I mostly turn Ti these days & dry, after the first lathe fire I get paranoid sometimes. Turning ferro rod can get interesting too.
 
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