New Shopmaster 3:1 Machine. Also- Fill Old Shoptask W/ Resin-crete?

countryguy

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Hi everyone. Been a busy few months but I've had some play-time in the shop the last week.
Two quick items in the 3:1 forum.

1) The new Shopmaster looks pretty neat and was recently lowered by $1000.... Wondered what anything thought of this new design. www.shopmasterusa.com Anyone here have one?

2) My 2010 patriot is still humming fine- But suffers from the usual lack of rigidity. I have done a few things and I'm happy with the unit for small tasks -but wondered about filling the hollow cavities with some type of mix popular w/ you guys? I've seen a few posts on different things. Heck, I could even stack and tack actual steel plate under lower bed/X and upper Z horiz arm. Just wondered if you think it would even help some?
- I need to rip the unit down as I have a new X and Y ball screw assy's to put in when I have some time... So I may as well put some weight in it. Just need to determine what to use?

thanks and TGIF!

shopmaster-hollow.jpg
 
I thought about a lathe/mill once... Then I looked at how many orphan machines there are where the seller no longer supports the parts leaving you with nothing. I would never get one, loss of the use of one machine is bad but both at the same time...
 
I'd get a proper milling vise first, then work through all the gibs and then think about modding the machine. Given that the milling head is cantilevered some distance from the column, is there any way you can brace it from the tailstock end? From what I've read about filling columns with concrete epoxy, it works well for reducing vibration but doesn't do much for rigidity. It'll also make it a ***** to move :)
 
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