Ordered A 1340gt, How To Support It Temporarily?

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Alan H.

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Thanks to this forum and all the great info here, I was nudged over the line to get my PM1340GT on order. I ordered it this morning and it is shipping today. I have my tracking number already!

The lathe will arrive without the stand since they are out of the stands at the moment. The stand should arrive in about three weeks. So in the meantime I will be working on the VFD install and I'll want to get the machine up off the floor for ease of access to the electrical for the conversion.

So I am looking for ideas of how you might have similarly supported it temporarily. Of course there are all kinds of ideas running through my mind but I am hoping for some experience by others to consider.
 
Seems to me the shipping pallet was very large & quite sturdy. Shouldn't be too difficult to support if you have a way of raising the whole thing (like a gantry crane).
I only had my cherry picker, & so I needed to remove it from the shipping pallet to move it around. With no base the footprint of the lathe is very narrow, may not be a good idea to place it too far off the ground without some sort of lateral support. They can tip very easily (ask me how I know :eek:)
Mark
 
Honestly, for something of that size and weight I would not trust the shipping crate for anything other than sitting on the ground, as that's all its really designed for. The only thing that I think I would be comfortable being under/around would be some kind of welded steel tubing base. Depending on the gauge of tubing used, I'd probably add in diagonals to prevent any kind of racking issues.
 
I'm with Dan. Other than yelling at it to get a job and support itself, any work would be done with it sitting on the shipping pallet.
 
Just as easy to work on the electrical conversion on the floor, there is nothing you cannot get two whether it is on the stand vs. the floor. More a function of where you want to mount the VFD. Obviously if you want to put it in the headstock cabinet, you will need to wait. Depending on how you want to do it, you can at least get started on ordering the parts, tach, etc. I wouldn't want to go through all the effort of rigging it and getting it off the pallet temporarily, only to have to repeat it in a few weeks. Maybe ask for the cast iron stands, not sure on their ETA.

A few thing to do if you get the standard cabinet, at a minimum, people have drilled/tapped the headstock cabinet for 4 mounting feet in the corners. Otherwise you may get some flex just using the stock two mounting holes. It will also be less wobbly when you are putting everything together. When you get ready to put the lathe on the stand, make sure to use some sealant around the bolt holes. Be sure to remove the chuck and lock down the tailstock (you can move the carriage to improve the balance) and add strapping to either end to the hoist hook so you can adjust the machine tilt, I would use the main hoist support strap through two of lathe bed holes as opposed to around the outside of the bed. I subsequently got a Jergens center pull hoist D ring that mounts through the bed.
 
Do you have access to any heavy duty steel saw horses? I think the lathe only weighs 1000 pounds so if you can find horses rated for more than that you should be good. Did you get the heavy cast base?

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic
 
Brian,
I ordered the regular cabinet not the cast one. No, I do not have any heavy duty saw horses but thought this might be the reason to buy some.

I like your signature and can relate to it.
 
mksj said:
Just as easy to work on the electrical conversion on the floor, there is nothing you cannot get two whether it is on the stand vs. the floor. More a function of where you want to mount the VFD. Obviously if you want to put it in the headstock cabinet, you will need to wait. Depending on how you want to do it, you can at least get started on ordering the parts, tach, etc. I wouldn't want to go through all the effort of rigging it and getting it off the pallet temporarily, only to have to repeat it in a few weeks. Maybe ask for the cast iron stands, not sure on their ETA.

A few thing to do if you get the standard cabinet, at a minimum, people have drilled/tapped the headstock cabinet for 4 mounting feet in the corners. Otherwise you may get some flex just using the stock two mounting holes. It will also be less wobbly when you are putting everything together. When you get ready to put the lathe on the stand, make sure to use some sealant around the bolt holes. Be sure to remove the chuck and lock down the tailstock (you can move the carriage to improve the balance) and add strapping to either end to the hoist hook so you can adjust the machine tilt, I would use the main hoist support strap through two of lathe bed holes as opposed to around the outside of the bed. I subsequently got a Jergens center pull hoist D ring that mounts through the bed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips Mark, they are helpful.

I will put the VFD in a separate wall mounted cabinet. So yes, I want to begin gathering stuff up and doing what makes sense in advance of the new

I am told the next batch of stands will have 4 feet in the headstock cabinets and they are made of thicker material than in the past.
 
H&A said:
I am told the next batch of stands will have 4 feet in the headstock cabinets and they are made of thicker material than in the past.
Click to expand...
Super, thanks for the update. I think that will be a significant improvement. One thing I must say about QMT/Matt, is they are able to make spec changes in their machines to make them better, this is rarely seen in this industry.

It is a very nice machine. Quite a few of us have converted this lathe to use VFDs, makes for a real sweet machine at this price level. If you need some guidance on parts let us know. I can also provide you with WJ200 program parameters. Probably need to give some thought on how you want to wire your control system. You can do a simple conversion that keeps the contactors and converts them over to relays to operate the VFD inputs, replace the control board with a single relay system, or a full multi relay control system. You will want electronic braking, so you will need a 300-500W 50 ohm braking resistor for the VFD. It often takes several weeks to get all the parts and then start wiring everything up. Having the VFD in a separate cabinet gives you a lot more flexibility. It can be mounted either behind the lathe on on the side of either cabinet. Minimum cabinet size is probably 12 x 12 x 8" deep. A 500W resistor may need a 14" tall cabinet. Cabinets either need some form of passive ventilation or a fan unless it is bigger.
Mark
 
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