New Pm-727m!

[Justplanecrazy]

Hi all! To preface, I caught the machinist bug early on. I was fortunate enough to have a high school with a metal and wood shop. The metal shop was fairly small. We had an old Bridgeport mill and Cincinnati (I believe) lathe. My shop teachers had a really open policy with students who wanted to learn. Many times they would give up lunch hours to teach us how to use different machines or encourage us to make new things. I credit them for introducing me to this world, and for sparking my interest in engineering (what came to be my major). Long story short, I have always gravitated toward the vertical mill. Thus, my recent purchase naturally had to be a mill! While I did learn a lot about machining in high school, I am by almost every means a beginner!

Wichita has huge history in the aviation industry and thus, there are old Bridgeport's that can be had on Craigslist for around 2k. However, I mostly found the machines in any sort of reasonable shape to be more in the 5 to 6k range. Unfortunately, those mills aren't within my price range. Also, the weight was a pretty big factor in my decision. I currently rent a house with a few roommates and know that moving a 2000lb machine in let alone out would be a problem. Plus, I'm also limited in the power department as well. The best I have is a 20 amp outlet in the garage.

I had actually known about Precision Matthews for a little while. I had initially been looking into the PM-25MV, and happened to stumble upon the 727M. In my research I found a lot of people recommend buying the biggest machine they could afford/fit. The 727M at 500lb seemed to fit a happy medium between the lighter 25MV and something like the 932M. I figured I could still move the machine to a new apartment if/when that happens without too much hassle. A few other notable items were the increased z travel and y travel over the 25MV. I think the more square work envelope will fit my needs better. Who knows though, maybe one day I'll have to get a little more creative.

After waiting for an excruciatingly long week, the mill arrived on a huge UPS freight truck! Everyone throughout the whole process was great to deal with. John, my driver, was also kind enough to wheel the pallet into our garage! Looking back at it, with the way our driveway slopes, I don't think I would have been able to get the thing into the garage with only a cheater bar and dolly!

I've since been able to power up the machine, clean it, change the oil, and fidget around with a few pieces of aluminum and barely test out some steel. I didn't order the base and will have to build my own. A couple things I noticed:

1. Bending over to turn the hand dials and work really stinks! I didn't think I'd have back problems at 24, but hey, sometimes Christmas comes early lol.

2. My surface finishes are pretty bad right now. From what I've read so far, I'll have to adjust the gibs and maybe do a more thorough cleaning. I'm mostly running the machine based off feel, so that could be to blame.

For now though, my next task will be taking the machine off the pallet and getting it onto a temporary fixture. One of the feet on my crate walked off in transit and I think that is causing a lot of instability. I hope to post more in the next several days. I'll also be sure to take more pictures. And for those of you who read my whole spiel, thank you, have a box.

I'm not sure if I inserted the images correctly. Please let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

TLDR: Bought a mill. Super excited. Some initial problems but too early to tell. More to follow!

 

[Bob Korves]

Welcome to the forum! Enjoy that new mill...

 

[tweinke]

I also have a 727 sitting on the floor waiting for me to finish the stand. Welcome to the club!

 

[mrbasher]

Nice. Congrats on getting the UPS guy to wheel it into the garage. I wasn't quite so lucky.

Take the table off, and the saddle. Remove the lead screws and everything holding them in there. Clean all of it with kerosene or WD40, then wipe them off well. Really get in there and get the gibs, ways, dovetails, all the parts that are metal on metal when moving. Then lube it all up and put it back together. THEN adjust your gibs. Trust me, it's night and day between before and after cleaning thoroughly. Once the gibs are adjusted, things will be smoother. Also, read up on feeds and speeds. You'll have to go by feel still of course, but it will give you an idea of how fast you should be moving and how fast you have the spindle running.

 

[wrmiller]

:+1: What mrbasher said.

I personally take it a bit further when I get a new machine in that I inspect the ways and gibs for flatness and deburr all edges on all mating/sliding surfaces. Depending on surface finish, I'll even lightly stone the sliding surfaces, but if you've never done this you might stay away from that. "Lightly" is the key word there.

Enjoy that new toy...err...mill.

 

[thequietman]

Very nice. I'm also in the same boat. My new 727 has been sitting in the crate in my garage waiting for me to set up the stand and then find the time to take it apart and take it down to my basement shop. I'm sure I'll get it done this year

 

[Justplanecrazy]

Thanks for the replies guys, and sorry for the long delay! It's funny how much time work seems to take up. I know I have time once I'm home, but it always feels so short. Tweinkke, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one! Mrbasher, thank you and noted. If I use the machine for the time being do you think I'd have any problems with wear down the road? My resources are pretty limited at the moment. I was going to build a stand for the mill, but now I'm thinking a workbench out of 2x4's is in order first. That way I'm not resting the axis on hard dirty concrete floor! I think prior to the mill I had an angle grinder, hacksaw, and welder! I've been looking into other tools like surface plates and hand scrapers, but that's way down the line.

I also have more of an update on the machine. The other week I was able to get her off the pallets and onto a more mobile and sturdy setup. The plan was to rest the machine atop a moving dolly. I don't have a crane, and want to save renting one for when I the stand is built. That way I wouldn't be making two trips out to rent an engine hoist and I'd save money.

I calculated that the machine could easily rest on two 2x4's with enough margin to be safe. However, having not seen the base of the machine and how much thickness was there for the feet, I quickly changed my plan to incorcorporate a wider base. I had used the mill on the pallet and noticed moving the x axis fast would cause it to wobble. Having anything even 6 inches off the ground wobbling around didn't sound safe to me. I opted to use 2x8's to pad the top of the dolly. The 2x8's ended up working quite well. They extend far enough out to match the width of the dolly while having a gap down the center to adjust the y axis backlash if needed.

The 2x8's were supported on one side by the pallet and on the other by stacked 2x4's. The height was set so the dolly could be rolled under the machine after and lowered using a hydraulic jack. This ensured the 2x8's wouldn't rotate or sway around as I slid the machine backwards and into position. In hindsight, the 2x4 stack on the other end of the machine probably wasn't the smartest choice. I did have some extra precautionary measures in place, and if anyone has any questions, I can detail my full process in a later post.

I have to say rolling the machine on some tubing like the ancient Egyptians felt pretty cool!

I did do a more thorough clean of the machine. I took off all the axis covers I could, wiped down the ways and leadscrews with acetone, and lubricated everything back up. I also attempted to adjust the gibs and everything feels more precise. I still plan to take the whole machine apart once I can get a workbench together, but that's going to take some time. I did notice some gaps in the between the ways, but I assume some of those aren't meant to be touching. I also had a look at the gibs and just looking at them and running my fingers over them, they don't feel flat. I'm not positive if that's by design or not. Everything I've read tells me it's not. So that might be a future project!

I also have a few side notes on the machine and some things I noticed which I will detail later. I will also go through my process for adjusting the gibs and what effects that had. I still need to take a few more pictures before I can do that though. Expect an update within the next couple days! Thanks again for all your comments. Much appreciated, and very helpful to a new guy like me!

 

[T Bredehoft]

I know that work height is a personal thing, I find that if I put my right palm under my chin, I have to lift my elbow about half an inch to get it on the machine table. This was not by design, I had a semi-permanent work bench I put my MP25 on, and that's where it really works well. I can see the work in the vice easily and the handles are easy to turn. I can crank the right hand X wheel simply by rotating my wrist. It works out at 44 1/2 inches from the floor for me, but I don't know your height or preference.