My PM45M-PDF

[tc17]

Great info! My PM45 is supposed to arrive today.

Darkzero, all the quality little upgrades your doing on the pm45 and 1236 are really nice. If you have any extra's please let me know. I would be interested in all your custom made upgrades.

Should i have bought the variable speed version if i plan to do a lot of tapping? i figured i would be doing a vfd or 3 phase later, so i figured it was better to get the regular motor for now.

 

[outsider347]

darkzero
noticed that you have a Glacern vise on your mill table.
I'm shopping for a vise and I 'm wondering what you think of the vise offered by PM below

http://www.machinetoolonline.com/VisesHighPrecision.html

thanks for your response

 

[darkzero]

Great info! My PM45 is supposed to arrive today.

Darkzero, all the quality little upgrades your doing on the pm45 and 1236 are really nice. If you have any extra's please let me know. I would be interested in all your custom made upgrades.

Should i have bought the variable speed version if i plan to do a lot of tapping? i figured i would be doing a vfd or 3 phase later, so i figured it was better to get the regular motor for now.

Congrats! Don't think I have any extras except for misc hardware, I'll keep you in mind if I do happen to find something. If you go vfd no real need for variable speed option as it's essentially the same. You may have better options if converting yourself.

darkzero
noticed that you have a Glacern vise on your mill table.
I'm shopping for a vise and I 'm wondering what you think of the vise offered by PM below

http://www.machinetoolonline.com/VisesHighPrecision.html

thanks for your response

Don't know much about the Homge but GaryK should be getting one soon so be on the lookout for his comments about it. I am pretty happy with the Glacern though & would buy it again.

 

[darkzero]

So darkzero, What did you find when you tramed your mill???

Nothing to be too concerned about that I can remember. Not sure if wrote down my readings anywhere but I'll be checking again soon with the Noga holder. I basically just trammed the head since I removed when hoisting. Nod was a bit off I think but there's no adjustment for it. I need to check again soon so I know if I need to plan on shimming to column.

Your "clean machines" don't offend me at all! I'm just wondering what your secret is -and I think you answered the question. Clean metal. I'm working with a lot of basic steel and do a lot of re-work on old parts. Lot's of rust and scale from the bay waters around here. I don't normally do much with cast iron but I had a project of my own then, 2 more sheaves came my way that were cast iron. (Customer was converting a onboard generator from 55 to 60 Hz and the original sheaves had enough meat to simply turn them down). CI creates a mess of epic magnitude.

I sweep constantly. Vaccuum cutting areas after every significant cut... Still, everything looks dirty...

... Mid late 70's I worked 4 years at a local auto garage then, a dealership. Apprentice mechanic (PT in high-school) then NIASE certified. Both places were FILTHY!!! I was the only guy with a clean bay. I hear you loud & clear about detesting filth. My shop desparetely needs a spring cleaning. I do a good 2-3 day cleaning in spring and late fall. -Still though, it's never as clean/organized as I would like.

I hear ya, I haven't machined a whole lot of cast iron at home. At the shop I turned brake rotors & drums often. But I don't remember the chips being that fine. At home the little CI that I have turned turns into dust & gets really messy! I'm not familiar with different grades or whatever for CI if any. The stuff I machined at home were mostly just chuck adapters & faceplates.

 

[darkzero]

The power "LED" indicator on my X axis power feed sucks. It's dim & isn't very noticeable from even a short distance so I keep forgetting to power it off. My power feed is 110v so for now it will powered seperate from the mill's power.


Here it is new.

(The following pics are from my cell phone)


A while back I tried to pull on the "LED" to see if I could pull it out without disassembling the unit. Well that wasn't a good idea & I broke the dome off.

Here's a close up of it on.

So I decided I was going to change it for a brighter LED with a wider viewing angle. The case was very easy to open up. To my surprise what I assumed was a LED is not a LED. It's a neon bulb with a long lens. No wonder it was so dim & makes sense for it's simplicity.


Can't power a LED directly off AC so I decided to build a very simple circuit. There's a number of ways to power an LED from AC. Flicker shouldn't be too bad & efficiency is not a concern so again I wanted to keep it simple, I followed this one. I won't explain what each component does since the link covers most of it.

I replaced the bulb with a header & the resistor closest to it with a jumper since I won't need it. BTW, that resistor is 33Kohm & drops voltage to 62V for the neon bulb.

It works!

Potted the bottom of the board to insulate the connections & mounted it inside the case along with a low profile diffuser lens for the LED.

Now the power indicator is much more noticeable & from a distance. I also replaced the original knob with a ball knob which I like much better.

 

[Rbeckett]

Will.
Glad this thread came back up, I missed it the first time around and those machines are awesome. Is the mill on casters ot solid feet? The ability to tuck it away when not in use is a great space saver in the shop. I put ,y CNC Plasma table monitor and controller on a rail that hangs from the ceiling. I can park the controller over the table when not in use and make quite a bit of clear floor space for other projects/ Your shop and your machines are both good lookin so I am a bit jealous.

Non

 

[woodrowm]

Nothing to be too concerned about that I can remember. Not sure if wrote down my readings anywhere but I'll be checking again soon with the Noga holder. I basically just trammed the head since I removed when hoisting. Nod was a bit off I think but there's no adjustment for it. I need to check again soon so I know if I need to plan on shimming to column.




I hear ya, I haven't machined a whole lot of cast iron at home. At the shop I turned brake rotors & drums often. But I don't remember the chips being that fine. At home the little CI that I have turned turns into dust & gets really messy! I'm not familiar with different grades or whatever for CI if any. The stuff I machined at home were mostly just chuck adapters & faceplates.

Good morning - Hey I received my PM-45 mill the other day and I was thinking about ways to hoist it up onto the stand (I have a 2 ton engine hoist).
You mention here that you took your head off before hosting. Well I guess my question is how did you go about hoisting your mill. I had no problem hoisting up my PM 1236 lathe but the mill looks a bit tricky.

Thanks,
Woodrow

 

[darkzero]

Will.
Glad this thread came back up, I missed it the first time around and those machines are awesome. Is the mill on casters ot solid feet? The ability to tuck it away when not in use is a great space saver in the shop. I put ,y CNC Plasma table monitor and controller on a rail that hangs from the ceiling. I can park the controller over the table when not in use and make quite a bit of clear floor space for other projects/ Your shop and your machines are both good lookin so I am a bit jealous.

Non

Thanks Robert! I have it on solid feet. For me stationary works fine, plus that area of the garage is not flat so the feet allows it to be leveled.

Good morning - Hey I received my PM-45 mill the other day and I was thinking about ways to hoist it up onto the stand (I have a 2 ton engine hoist).
You mention here that you took your head off before hosting. Well I guess my question is how did you go about hoisting your mill. I had no problem hoisting up my PM 1236 lathe but the mill looks a bit tricky.

Thanks,
Woodrow

My buddy's engine hoist would not clear the riser I made when the mill was hoisted up, the legs were not wide enough. Many people recommend not to hoist from the head & I would have to agree with their reasoning for that but Matt stated it was perfectly fine & I trust he knows his machines. So I did lift from the head without issues.

Since I had to remove the head (which means disconnecting all the electronics), I built a stand for the bottom of the head, lowered it onto the table, then unbolted it with support from the hoist. After removing it we hoisted the base/column assy from under the base. It was still tricky since we had to use rollers to get mill into place on the pan. After that was in place, we set the head back on the table, then used the X, Y, & Z feeds to line the head back up to bolt it back on. Like my lathe, I sealed the pan to the base around the mounting holes with RTV silicone.

Probably wouldn't have had to do all that if we had a larger/wider engine hoist. It was the same hoist we used for my lathe & the lathe was very easy.

 

[sanddan]

I modified the base of my engine hoist to clear the stand I made. I hoisted it by the head using straps.

 

[gotmax59]

So Sanddan, I see your machine in the background is it a PM45M??? It looks very blue to me. Are the new ones blue? My machine mite be hear tomarrow with any luck.