Tailstock scratching ways

[FTlatheworks]

How old is the machine? Is it still under the 3 year warranty? You don't have to be a Machine Rebuilder to see and know those scratches are not normal. If you just bought a new Diesel engine and it came with a big scratch in the wall of a piston What would you do? I would think Matt would do anything not to see this inside his sponsored forum. I have also never heard a person call leaving the tailstock domed> Can you slide in a .0015 feeler gage under it? I see your south of KC. I might be driving to Tulsa later this summer. I could stop by and look at it. I would also ask Matt did they forget to install way wipers on the tail stock?

I’m glad you agree with me. I understand that Im guilty of confirmation bias here, but I’m not asking for them to take a huge loss. I would be fine with it being fixed if they have the capabilities. I’m not overly excited to hone it. I can’t remove .0020 and one of those lines goes all the way to perimeter, which in my mind acts as a guide for material to glide right into. I know I said that is not what cause the scratches, but I just thought about that far side gouge in the tailstock allowing material to flow right into it. This isn’t the imperfection in the tailstock surface that coincides with the scratch in the ways, so that indicated to me it wasn’t guaranteed that a chip caused this.

For what it’s worth, I did not intentionally try to put this in the sponsored forum. It’s probably where it technically goes, but I would be happier with it being in the beginners forum, if a mod can move it. I did not go to the precision Matthews board to post this. I was browsing for precision Matthews tailstock threads, then hit post new topic. I will be sure to pay attention to that next time.

By the way I don’t see wipers. The carriage does, but the tailstock does not.

 

[FTlatheworks]

That would be quite a way out of your way. I have only had the lathe 2-3 months.

 

[fursphere]

By the way I don’t see wipers. The carriage does, but the tailstock does not.

I noticed that on mine too. No wipers on the tail stock.

Not sure if there is a company that makes, or maybe I need to design the parts and 3D print some out of plastic. Have to be careful its works as a chip wiper and not a chip collector though.

 

[FTlatheworks]

I noticed that on mine too. No wipers on the tail stock.

Not sure if there is a company that makes, or maybe I need to design the parts and 3D print some out of plastic. Have to be careful its works as a chip wiper and not a chip collector though.

Ya, that’s a good idea. Let me know how it works.

 

[Ken226]

I noticed that on mine too. No wipers on the tail stock.

Not sure if there is a company that makes, or maybe I need to design the parts and 3D print some out of plastic. Have to be careful its works as a chip wiper and not a chip collector though.

That's what I did.

I printed them as replacements for my carriage wipes. Then got the idea to drill/tap the tailstock to take the same wipes.

The silver is PLA. The black is soft TPU. Printed separately then epoxied together.

 

[ShawnR]

@FTlatheworks I just read through this whole thread. I received my PM1236 lathe about 6 weeks ago. I had a couple of issues so far and the resolves by PM were ok and very good. The first was very noisy gears when engaging the gear box (for carriage feed) in forward (left to right), like, really noisy! The tech told me this was normal, he had the same lathe. I did not feel good about the answer so posted on another forum and got some input. Turns out, the problem was two fold. I (I hate it when I am the problem! ) was missing my indent position and pushing the engage lever too far (the side of the gear box stopped it in the other direction so this was not an issue). But, also, my indents were set to very low pressure. I turned them up, but even so, I know that I need to find that sweet spot. I had to look inside the headbox and operate the lever to see what was going on before it made sense. Pretty simple once I looked at it, but it made it obvious what was going on. I was a little disappointed that the tech was not able to point me in that direction and he had been living with the same issue himself instead of asking what is going on.... but with help on the other forum, we figured it out. QMT is very good at getting back to emails and in today's world, that in itself, is satisfying, to a point.

The second issue showed up a couple weeks later. The spindle would not start in higher gears, similar to a start capacitor issue, but the lathe is new! I emailed tech support again and then I got busy for a few hours. By the time I checked email again, they had already shipped me a new start capacitor and had shipping info for me. I asked if they had had troubles and they said no but it happens. I received and installed it today and the spindle start is like night and day from before, on all speeds! Does not matter what speed I am set to. The cap I put in was slightly larger in value. Either the old one was, indeed, pooched or the motor needs a larger one.

My new lathe options in Canada are limited but I don't think any company in Canada, that deals in these China built machines, would be able to support a customer like that. I just don't think they are set up to stock parts and jump so quickly.

So the reason I post my story is that I think they (QMT) have good service and support but if you are truly unhappy with your concern, then I think Matt will do something to make it right for you. Even with closed borders due to COVID and the logistics of international delivery and after purchase support, I am really happy with the machine and the company, so far. But I am going out to look closely at my ways tomorrow! I suspect I will be honing as @Dabbler suggests. I have not really looked at the sort of stuff that closely. Now that that new girlfriend feeling is relenting, time to get to know her....

Good Luck!

 

[FTlatheworks]

@FTlatheworks I just read through this whole thread. I received my PM1236 lathe about 6 weeks ago. I had a couple of issues so far and the resolves by PM were ok and very good. The first was very noisy gears when engaging the gear box (for carriage feed) in forward (left to right), like, really noisy! The tech told me this was normal, he had the same lathe. I did not feel good about the answer so posted on another forum and got some input. Turns out, the problem was two fold. I (I hate it when I am the problem! ) was missing my indent position and pushing the engage lever too far (the side of the gear box stopped it in the other direction so this was not an issue). But, also, my indents were set to very low pressure. I turned them up, but even so, I know that I need to find that sweet spot. I had to look inside the headbox and operate the lever to see what was going on before it made sense. Pretty simple once I looked at it, but it made it obvious what was going on. I was a little disappointed that the tech was not able to point me in that direction and he had been living with the same issue himself instead of asking what is going on.... but with help on the other forum, we figured it out. QMT is very good at getting back to emails and in today's world, that in itself, is satisfying, to a point.

The second issue showed up a couple weeks later. The spindle would not start in higher gears, similar to a start capacitor issue, but the lathe is new! I emailed tech support again and then I got busy for a few hours. By the time I checked email again, they had already shipped me a new start capacitor and had shipping info for me. I asked if they had had troubles and they said no but it happens. I received and installed it today and the spindle start is like night and day from before, on all speeds! Does not matter what speed I am set to. The cap I put in was slightly larger in value. Either the old one was, indeed, pooched or the motor needs a larger one.

My new lathe options in Canada are limited but I don't think any company in Canada, that deals in these China built machines, would be able to support a customer like that. I just don't think they are set up to stock parts and jump so quickly.

So the reason I post my story is that I think they (QMT) have good service and support but if you are truly unhappy with your concern, then I think Matt will do something to make it right for you. Even with closed borders due to COVID and the logistics of international delivery and after purchase support, I am really happy with the machine and the company, so far. But I am going out to look closely at my ways tomorrow! I suspect I will be honing as @Dabbler suggests. I have not really looked at the sort of stuff that closely. Now that that new girlfriend feeling is relenting, time to get to know her....

Good Luck!

Thanks for the input, I haven’t asked them for anything and don’t think I’m going to. I haven’t had time to work on it much lately, but I think I’m gonna hone it and see. New scratches and pitting are appearing on the ways every day and I may ask about that because I couldn’t keep this thing oiled and cleaned anymore than I am. I’m getting worried that I got a machine with inadequate metal used for the ways. Idk how they make ways, but it looks like there are a lot of bubble inside cause these pits show up on the tailstock ways, which is the least used surface.