PM1340GT vs PM1440BV

I've Sent Matt a deposit on a 1340GT with 3 phase motor planning on adding a VFD to it. BUT, noted later that the switch between high and low range requires change of the belt drive which the way I read it is a significant hassle. Also talking to my electrician friend who will wire it up for me it's going to run me close to a $1000 by the time I run power, add the VFD, box for the VFD, make the internal wiring changes required to take advantage of the VFD. The 1440 is chinese not Taiwanese and I'm sure not as nicely done but does come with a simple plug into my existing wiring, DRO, variable speed drive, a lever to change from high to low range and a 2" spindle bore. I've a friend with a chinese 1236 and one with a grizzly 1440 both are happy with them.
I'm a bit anal about stuff, like it neat and nice but am having second thoughts about giving up spindle bore, and DRO and over $1000 difference in the end to end up with a "nicer" but perhaps somewhat less capable lathe
Thoughts anyone? AND, thanks for the time to read this far.
Alex

These are always difficult and controversial questions. Fact versus fiction and personal opinions always makes for much discussion. I personally don't think I'll ever buy another Chinese machine, The few I have bought I have always regretted. Sure the Taiwanese price is usually about 25% higher but I think you get at least 50% better quality and therefore value.

I ended up buying the Liang Dei 1216, which is apparently made in the same factory in Taiwan as the Taiwanese PM machines in fact the LD1340 appears identical in every way to the PM1340. Just a different name on the face plate. The PM brand does not appear top be available here in Australia, the local dealers just bring in the LD brand.

Prior to buying my lathe I looked at numerous Chinese machines, but was always disappointed in the quality or lack of, particularly in the finish and feel of the machine, so ended up with the Taiwan model, and don't regret the extra cash, quite happy with it.

Single phase or 3 phase. mine is only single phase 1.5 HP. I certainly don't need any more power. VFD or not. I've never used one adn don't see the need and can't justify the cost. The braking with a VFD is not really fast enough to save your arm. so what's the point? Speed control , again I can't justify the cost. I've got enough speed as it is. DRO, again I've never used one and can't justify the cost. I thought we are supposed to be precision machinists here. A DRO appears to me to be and expensive and complicate way to compensate for lack of skill. I put it the same basket as CNC, great for production volume but the skill is programming not machining.

These are all personal choices and decisions here, and at the end of the day you will have to make your own, but and unless you need the extra swing and spindle bore, which you haven't said you do I'd put my money on the 1340, by all accounts it's a very nice machine
 
Depending on when you inquired, I think they shuffled the flavour of that particular style & apparently now settled on GH1440W model which goes for 12,974$C including DRO, taper, 3J & 4J chuck... It has more extended ranges but is heavier machine. Based on what I suspect are your needs & wants, you are going down the right path with PM. Look forward to what you end up with & particularly your VFD-ification! :)

The guy at Modern was good to talk to but I think too that I'm better off with what I can get from Quality Machine & Matt. After all the info I've received I am still a bit undecided between the two but given the info from Mark it would appear the basic VFD set up is simple enough to install and I think I'll go that way although they're still time to vacillate more!
 
These are always difficult and controversial questions. Fact versus fiction and personal opinions always makes for much discussion. I personally don't think I'll ever buy another Chinese machine, The few I have bought I have always regretted. Sure the Taiwanese price is usually about 25% higher but I think you get at least 50% better quality and therefore value.

I ended up buying the Liang Dei 1216, which is apparently made in the same factory in Taiwan as the Taiwanese PM machines in fact the LD1340 appears identical in every way to the PM1340. Just a different name on the face plate. The PM brand does not appear top be available here in Australia, the local dealers just bring in the LD brand.

Prior to buying my lathe I looked at numerous Chinese machines, but was always disappointed in the quality or lack of, particularly in the finish and feel of the machine, so ended up with the Taiwan model, and don't regret the extra cash, quite happy with it.

Single phase or 3 phase. mine is only single phase 1.5 HP. I certainly don't need any more power. VFD or not. I've never used one adn don't see the need and can't justify the cost. The braking with a VFD is not really fast enough to save your arm. so what's the point? Speed control , again I can't justify the cost. I've got enough speed as it is. DRO, again I've never used one and can't justify the cost. I thought we are supposed to be precision machinists here. A DRO appears to me to be and expensive and complicate way to compensate for lack of skill. I put it the same basket as CNC, great for production volume but the skill is programming not machining.

These are all personal choices and decisions here, and at the end of the day you will have to make your own, but and unless you need the extra swing and spindle bore, which you haven't said you do I'd put my money on the 1340, by all accounts it's a very nice machine

Must say virtually everyone has indicated the 1340GT is the way to go and your thoughts are consistent. If I do go that way and am leaning that way I will go VFD as it does not sound all that complicated after all and does offer some very real advantages. I'm a bit in your camp with regards the need for DRO but have not read anyone who has it that doesn't like it.
Alex
 
There are different preference based on ones experience and what they are looking for. So a few things to clarify, the braking on a VFD system can be very quick when you consider it will stop my 60lB+ chuck in one second from speed. It is good enough that many manufactures use a VFD brake on their lathes instead of a mechanical. Nothing is fast enough to stop a chuck if your shirt/arm are caught in a lathe. In most accidents it is someone else that hits the machine kill button. Braking adds consistance to the stopping distance and is advantageous to assure quick predictable stopping quickly, like when threading.

A 1.5Hp motor may be sufficient for smaller machine, but if you want to take a deeper cut and more material you need Hp. Everyone I know that has installed a VFD on their machine, has usually said they should have done it a long time ago for multiple reasons. I am not saying it is a must have, but it sure improves the user experience and adds some safety features. Same goes on a DRO, once you start using one, it is a time saver and makes repeat work much easier. DRO's are not complicated, you basically are reading two numbers on a screen, not any difference then reading dials (which at my age is becoming increasingly more difficult).

The question is always budget and what is important to you and how you want to quantify "quality". Both machines discussed here will do the same thing to near equal tolerance, but I still would not buy another Chinese mainland machine. Others may not have this options, and they do as good or better work on their machines. You need to decide what works for you given the information at hand.
 
I'm just a hobby machinist but I can say with 100% certainty I would sorely miss my DRO after having run several years without. It provides SO many benefits to lathes like being discussed. Its an independent, repeatable measure of travel on multiple axis. It saves me mental math errors. It helps mitigate (lets call it what it is) sometimes not-so-pretty dial graduation & reset-ability on many offshore machines. It sees backlash float & sometimes iffy clamping mechanisms which help with accuracy. Now I basically use the dials for roughing increments & rely on DRO thereafter for finishing & repeatability. You can mic your part & enter this dimension within a few seconds of button click effort, then away you go again. Temporarily switch between IMP/SI, no problem. Touch off to an arbitrary datum & enter this reference dimension, no problem. I actually don't use many other features myself. If this is 'compensation for lack of skill', guilty as charged. But I like it :)

Expensive is of course a personal decision. You can drop that or more on a decent chuck. I've seen some very cool mechanical setups using test indicators, verniers, fixtures... & have the utmost respect for those methods. But they also cost money & effort if its not in your current kit. Buying a lathe without DRO may not actually reduce cost significantly if its a package deal. Inquire about this. Some companies are standardizing on DRO bracketry, drill/tapping all the mounting holes at factory or dealer point.

Also consider - lets say a year from now you decide a DRO would have been nice in hindsight. Your lathe may well be parked adjacent to a wall. So you have to disturb the setup, pull it out to access the rear, disassemble lathe components to mount the scales, encoders, display, cable routing etc. And pay extra shipping to get the DRO landed as a separate item. I did this on my lathe so speaking from experience. Sure its doable, but only you can decide if its worth it. Just one mans opinion :)
 
The guy at Modern was good to talk to but I think too that I'm better off with what I can get from Quality Machine & Matt. After all the info I've received I am still a bit undecided between the two but given the info from Mark it would appear the basic VFD set up is simple enough to install and I think I'll go that way although they're still time to vacillate more!

I have DROs on both my mill and lathe. Love them, and won't own a machine without one. They don't make a machine more accurate, nor anyone a better machinist, but they do make certain tasks easier/quicker. Do they prevent me from making mistakes? Hardly. For me, they are just easier to use rather than squinting at dials, worrying about parallax, and trying to remember a turn count. ;)

Same for VFD... Just because something was done differently a half a century ago, doesn't make it better than a more modern technology that didn't even exist way back then. The ability to fine tune spindle speed for a better cut/finish is not something I'm willing to give up for the sake of saving a few bucks. But that's just me.
 
If I had to give up one, (VFD or DRO) on my 1340GT I would keep the DRO. I ran a 1236 lathe without a DRO for several years before upgrading to the 1340GT with DRO and VFD. The DRO made a bigger impact on my personal experience with the lathe making it a lot easier to "hit the number". I now could not get along without it. I do use the speed feature of the VFD very often, sometimes dialing the the speed during the cut. That and the braking feature are very nice to have.
 
If I had to give up one, (VFD or DRO) on my 1340GT I would keep the DRO. I ran a 1236 lathe without a DRO for several years before upgrading to the 1340GT with DRO and VFD. The DRO made a bigger impact on my personal experience with the lathe making it a lot easier to "hit the number". I now could not get along without it. I do use the speed feature of the VFD very often, sometimes dialing the the speed during the cut. That and the braking feature are very nice to have.
In this case given I want to go with the 3 phase and VFD, it's a decision that really has to be made up front with this lathe (as it's an expensive to change later) so I've elected to go that way and I'm sure will add DRO once I've got things set up and working over the next year. Thanks for the thoughts, I've not talked to anyone with DRO that does not love it.
Alex
 
Adding a DRO to your lathe later will not be that big of a deal. Plenty of folks here to help when you get to that point. :)
 
Adding a DRO to your lathe later will not be that big of a deal. Plenty of folks here to help when you get to that point. :)
Kind of my hopes too Bill, and did I ask if you're on the VJMC list - I recognize the line about removing warning labels
 
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