- Joined
- Oct 13, 2013
- Messages
- 20
I have finished the first round of set up on the the PM 932 mill and PM1236 lathe. I have only had a slight bit of time on a friends Bridgeport, and no lathe experience, so you know I am starting from square one.
Checking the taper on the lathe, with a 1.3 inch diameter bar between the tailstock and the chuck, there was only 1 thou difference in the diameter over 22 inches. I think that is pretty good, any thoughts ?
On the mill, I had previously aligned the spindle to the column, and then got the column close ( 3 thou tilt diagonally in one plane in a 16 inch span) in the alignment with the table, and was able to square up a 1x2x3 block of aluminum to with a half a thou, so now back to fine tuning and trying to understand more clearly what all is going on with the mill as far as being all squared up and what affects what as far as squared up is concerned, and getting it squared up as perfectly as I can within the limitations of my tools and the machine.
It was such a good feeling to make some chips. Both machines work incredibly well. Matt and his manufactures got the important things right.
Gibs: The table gibs are easy to figure out, and I tried to achieve the balance I wanted, understanding the tradeoff between accuracy & repeatability to ease of cranking the handles.
The Headstock gib I am not sure about. hard to feel anything cranking the heavy headstock, so much friction with that drive train. First, I am not all that positive I have the direction of the gib taper figured out. I measured the width and thickness of the gib top and bottom as best I could, and I got the width to be the same, around 1 inch, but the top of the gib was about 1/10 inch thicker. If that is correct, then screwing in the top adjustment will make things tighter.
I loosened the bottom adjustment set screw, screwed in the top adjustment the same amount or so until it felt right, then cranked up and down. I did this until I thought I could discern the effort to crank was changing, and stopped adjusting the gibs when I thought the cranking effort " felt right" .
The gib on the headstock ended up poking out 1/2 inch below the structure, and with the adjustment screw head, the chip shield will not go back on the upper right corner, and now is held on top by only the left and socket head, and tilts at an angle.
With the dial test indicator ( by the way, I found this really neat shop, Long Island Indicator service, http://longislandindicator.com They have allot of good information you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. They compare the different types of equipment and the companies that make them.
They also sell them, and they have some of the Interrapids on sale at the moment, and are just about the lowest price when I price checked. I will pay a certain amount more to support good businesses, especially pros like Long Island Indicator who have provided such good info, :soapbox: though this time it was the lowest price except for one place, and that just a few dollars.
I had busted my cheapy one, please do not ask how
It shipped the next day, so they are quick. They of course can service most of the tools worth repairing.
Hopefully I will not break this one !! According to the Tool and Die Guy, the Interapids are worth paying more for. He has a good video on You tube. ) hung off the spindle and checked the change when I locked down the headstock. There was a lot of movement. Since then I have moved the headstock up and down allot, and last night I checked again, and locking down only changed the table 1/2 thou at 8 inches from the spindle. Is that pretty good? The gib must have worn off its high spots. And I am thinking that with the light cuts in aluminum I am going to do, no need to lock the headstock ever?
I have noticed that the table cranks allot easier now. So the gibs needs some working in time apparently. And it could be aided by the lubrication method I employed. The screws and sliding surfaces are all accessible on the mill, and after cleaning, I coated everything liberally with my favorite lubricant, Fel Pro C5-A Anti Seize ( copper paste ) This is my favorite mainly because there was a lifetime supply left in the shop when I bought it !!!
Anyway I think it works, and you can tell where it is and is not because of its color. Any thoughts on using this lube? I will still apply oil to the crank handles and other non reachables. Do those oil cans that came with the mill and lathe work, what do you use in them ?
Should I post this in the General Section as most of my questions apply to all mills and lathes ?
Thanks,
RH
Checking the taper on the lathe, with a 1.3 inch diameter bar between the tailstock and the chuck, there was only 1 thou difference in the diameter over 22 inches. I think that is pretty good, any thoughts ?
On the mill, I had previously aligned the spindle to the column, and then got the column close ( 3 thou tilt diagonally in one plane in a 16 inch span) in the alignment with the table, and was able to square up a 1x2x3 block of aluminum to with a half a thou, so now back to fine tuning and trying to understand more clearly what all is going on with the mill as far as being all squared up and what affects what as far as squared up is concerned, and getting it squared up as perfectly as I can within the limitations of my tools and the machine.
It was such a good feeling to make some chips. Both machines work incredibly well. Matt and his manufactures got the important things right.
Gibs: The table gibs are easy to figure out, and I tried to achieve the balance I wanted, understanding the tradeoff between accuracy & repeatability to ease of cranking the handles.
The Headstock gib I am not sure about. hard to feel anything cranking the heavy headstock, so much friction with that drive train. First, I am not all that positive I have the direction of the gib taper figured out. I measured the width and thickness of the gib top and bottom as best I could, and I got the width to be the same, around 1 inch, but the top of the gib was about 1/10 inch thicker. If that is correct, then screwing in the top adjustment will make things tighter.
I loosened the bottom adjustment set screw, screwed in the top adjustment the same amount or so until it felt right, then cranked up and down. I did this until I thought I could discern the effort to crank was changing, and stopped adjusting the gibs when I thought the cranking effort " felt right" .
The gib on the headstock ended up poking out 1/2 inch below the structure, and with the adjustment screw head, the chip shield will not go back on the upper right corner, and now is held on top by only the left and socket head, and tilts at an angle.
With the dial test indicator ( by the way, I found this really neat shop, Long Island Indicator service, http://longislandindicator.com They have allot of good information you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. They compare the different types of equipment and the companies that make them.
They also sell them, and they have some of the Interrapids on sale at the moment, and are just about the lowest price when I price checked. I will pay a certain amount more to support good businesses, especially pros like Long Island Indicator who have provided such good info, :soapbox: though this time it was the lowest price except for one place, and that just a few dollars.
I had busted my cheapy one, please do not ask how
It shipped the next day, so they are quick. They of course can service most of the tools worth repairing.
Hopefully I will not break this one !! According to the Tool and Die Guy, the Interapids are worth paying more for. He has a good video on You tube. ) hung off the spindle and checked the change when I locked down the headstock. There was a lot of movement. Since then I have moved the headstock up and down allot, and last night I checked again, and locking down only changed the table 1/2 thou at 8 inches from the spindle. Is that pretty good? The gib must have worn off its high spots. And I am thinking that with the light cuts in aluminum I am going to do, no need to lock the headstock ever?
I have noticed that the table cranks allot easier now. So the gibs needs some working in time apparently. And it could be aided by the lubrication method I employed. The screws and sliding surfaces are all accessible on the mill, and after cleaning, I coated everything liberally with my favorite lubricant, Fel Pro C5-A Anti Seize ( copper paste ) This is my favorite mainly because there was a lifetime supply left in the shop when I bought it !!!
Anyway I think it works, and you can tell where it is and is not because of its color. Any thoughts on using this lube? I will still apply oil to the crank handles and other non reachables. Do those oil cans that came with the mill and lathe work, what do you use in them ?
Should I post this in the General Section as most of my questions apply to all mills and lathes ?
Thanks,
RH