The New 1340GT from PM

[Ray C]

Thanks Ray, I am sure Matt is getting tired of hearing from me.

Mike.

Not tired of hearing from you per-se... just plain old tired. He's now on this 3rd straight week of 12 hour days x6 and part day on Sunday...

LOL: I crashed on the couch the other day and my son told me I was giving lathe instructions in my sleep. I've been on the phone anywhere from 6-10 hours a day giving "virtual lessons" and helping folks align their lathes and mills. I only have a small handful of my own clients but all Matt's guys are coming to me...


Ray

 

[zmotorsports]

Not tired of hearing from you per-se... just plain old tired. He's now on this 3rd straight week of 12 hour days x6 and part day on Sunday...

LOL: I crashed on the couch the other day and my son told me I was giving lathe instructions in my sleep. I've been on the phone anywhere from 6-10 hours a day giving "virtual lessons" and helping folks align their lathes and mills. I only have a small handful of my own clients but all Matt's guys are coming to me...


Ray

I understand the long days. Back when I first started wrenching I was working 10-12 hour days at my full-time job and then 6-8 hours and 16-18 hour days on weekends in my home shop trying to build a business and clientele. I promised my wife it was short term just until things come together.

Now 26+ years later thank God I don't have to put those kind of hours in very regularly any longer. Occasionally yes, but not all that often any longer. On those rare occasions that I do I will stop long enough to go for a walk with my wife or grab a bite of dinner before heading back out. Goes a long way keeping the marriage strong. Oh, having a very understanding wife helps too.

Mike.

 

[Ray C]

I understand the long days. Back when I first started wrenching I was working 10-12 hour days at my full-time job and then 6-8 hours and 16-18 hour days on weekends in my home shop trying to build a business and clientele. I promised my wife it was short term just until things come together.

Now 26+ years later thank God I don't have to put those kind of hours in very regularly any longer. Occasionally yes, but not all that often any longer. On those rare occasions that I do I will stop long enough to go for a walk with my wife or grab a bite of dinner before heading back out. Goes a long way keeping the marriage strong. Oh, having a very understanding wife helps too.

Mike.

Oh yeah... I know that score. In my early days of R&D, I sometimes didn't come home for 3-4 days. I'd get my mind wrapped around a problem and that was the last anyone saw me until I figured it out.

Right now, I've got my own shop work for some ornamental yacht parts and a few other small things. -Not too much going on though. To keep my friend from working himself to death, I'm doing yacht mechanic work 4-6 hours a day starting at O-Dark Thirty every morning. I actually like the work and the other guys there are cool dudes -too bad we don't get to work together very often. We all work solo on-site at different locations. How often do you get the chance to pull a 2 ton motor out of a big boat? -Anyhow, that side work pulls in a lot of side jobs -and I have a few good ones on the horizon.

Ray

 

[JPatMcConnel]

Hello, JPatMcConnel,
I'm expecting my 1340GT soon. I see that you've installed machine mounts on your 1340GT. Can you tell me what thread, English or Metric, the mount studs are? I want to install a set of the ball joint/vibration dampening type mounts due to my slightly sloped concrete floor. I 'd like to order them now from Enco so they are in hand when the lathe is delivered and set.
Good luck with your new lathe.
Thanks.
TFC

Ciao!
Really sorry to be two days out in responding. I put my PM1340GT on Mason MLS500 machine leveling mounts I bought on eBay for $19.64 each w/ free shipping from Zoro. At 5" In length the included all thread 1/2" bolts are too long for the fitting on the stand so I replaced them with 3" hardened bolts, which also gave me another place to put a wrench if needed. Otherwise, I used all the nuts and washers included in each leveling mount kit. Because I used the 3/4" hole in the base instead of the threaded hole as my mount point, I bought 3/4" nylon spacers with 1/2" holes to center the bolts. I used nylon because the hole is metric and the nylon has enough give you can tap them in. I used two spacers per hole, but you might even get away with three depending on how thick they are. Although this arrangement worked pretty well, you could, I suppose, use the Mason MLS1000 for a bigger foot print, but it is overkill. The arrangement is "springy" in other words it isn't like the unit is bolted to the floor. What I also did, after I had the unit level, was put a pair of two by fours under each stand side and then plastic shims (Home Depot) until they just touched the stand base. Very nice, and the level still checks out. if you have an ACE hardware near you they are a great source of metric and American standard bolts in stainless, hardened, and other grades.

Hope this helps,
Pat

 

[Ray C]

Thanks Ray, do you know for certain if the 935 mills showed up like he said they would last week? If so it is probably so close to just send them both as he said if would only be about a week once the mills arrived to get it prepped and ready to ship to complete the order, if not then getting the lathe within the next week and then the mill would be better than having to wait much longer.

I would rather get them both at once so I wouldn't have to juggle my full-time job around twice to meet the truck driver but if it is going to be much longer then at least having the lathe and getting it set up will get me one step closer to bringing in revenue.

Mike.

Here's the scoop...


Matt is finishing-up 1340's (lathes) this week. All outstanding orders for those will be done.

There are three, 935 mills in the warehouse right now. They too will be completed this week and Mon/Tue of next week. Mike, it's possible one of those is your machine but I have no way to know. One of them goes to one of my clients whose been on order since Feb.

There are additional 935's in the rail yard in PA currently waiting to be released by the port authority. He expects they will be released early in the week of July 28.

All 932 machines are shipped -Don't know how many more are available.
Almost all 1236 machines are shipped. -Won't know until tomorrow how many more are available.


Ray

 

[Havoc]

Here's the scoop...


Matt is finishing-up 1340's (lathes) this week. All outstanding orders for those will be done.

There are three, 935 mills in the warehouse right now. They too will be completed this week and Mon/Tue of next week. Mike, it's possible one of those is your machine but I have no way to know. One of them goes to one of my clients whose been on order since Feb.

There are additional 935's in the rail yard in PA currently waiting to be released by the port authority. He expects they will be released early in the week of July 28.

All 932 machines are shipped -Don't know how many more are available.
Almost all 1236 machines are shipped. -Won't know until tomorrow how many more are available.


Ray

Yeah....
i just got an email from Matt, with tracking # and all .....My 1340GT should be at My House next week. Mike, did you get the same email?

danny

 

[zmotorsports]

Here's the scoop...


Matt is finishing-up 1340's (lathes) this week. All outstanding orders for those will be done.

There are three, 935 mills in the warehouse right now. They too will be completed this week and Mon/Tue of next week. Mike, it's possible one of those is your machine but I have no way to know. One of them goes to one of my clients whose been on order since Feb.

There are additional 935's in the rail yard in PA currently waiting to be released by the port authority. He expects they will be released early in the week of July 28.

All 932 machines are shipped -Don't know how many more are available.
Almost all 1236 machines are shipped. -Won't know until tomorrow how many more are available.


Ray

Ray, thanks for the update. I hope one of the three 935's are mine.

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

Yeah....
i just got an email from Matt, with tracking # and all .....My 1340GT should be at My House next week. Mike, did you get the same email?

danny

Nope, no email as of yet Danny. It still looks like the 935 mill is causing the delay is. I hope he is just getting one prepped and then the lathe and mill will go out together within the week.

Please make certain to take a lot of pictures and document the new lathe. We all like looking at pictures and drooling over everyone's "equipment".:whistle:

Mike.

 

[catoctin]

I hope my unit is in this lot of three (PM-935TV)..... It's been on order since February.

Thanks,
-Joe

Here's the scoop...


Matt is finishing-up 1340's (lathes) this week. All outstanding orders for those will be done.

There are three, 935 mills in the warehouse right now. They too will be completed this week and Mon/Tue of next week. Mike, it's possible one of those is your machine but I have no way to know. One of them goes to one of my clients whose been on order since Feb.

There are additional 935's in the rail yard in PA currently waiting to be released by the port authority. He expects they will be released early in the week of July 28.

All 932 machines are shipped -Don't know how many more are available.
Almost all 1236 machines are shipped. -Won't know until tomorrow how many more are available.


Ray

 

[TFC]

Mike, I agree with you in hoping (you know what Nietzsche says about hope "prolonging the torments of man") that the PM/QMT equipment is everything that it has been purported and/or reported to be. With all previously indicated "ship to customer" dates missed (i.e. April, May, June and now July 18) I must say that I'm a total skeptic at this point. Like you, had I known that delivery dates would have been missed like this, I'd have hung on to the old iron or proceeded in another direction. Like you, my floorspace limitations exacerbated the situation for sure (not QMT's issue). Other than certain firearms components, particularly in the immediate post-Sandy Hook/propsed so-called assault weapons ban market, I've never ordered/purchased anything and experienced such difficulty in obtaining it. Other gunsmiths and machinists I know, both retired and working, can't believe it. By now I could have had an old South Bend 10L long bed (perfect for gunsmithing IMO) completely overhauled, outfitted w/DRO, tooled and on line. I thought the 1340GT would be the quicker and better choice. Certainly, not quicker. Better remains to be seen. I hope my skepticism is for naught.

Ray, thank you for the info. re. QMT having all outstanding orders for 1340GT's ready by this week. Ray, I sincerely mean no offense to you but I'll believe it when I see it. I know you don't have your hands on the controls, so to speak. Funny thing happened this morning which sparked this entry. I had a regular customer tell me I was "full of s--t" regarding my purchase of a new lathe. Was he out of line? Maybe. Although, I have to admit, that's how it must look to him. Another customer, who was in, sort of smirked and laughed. So, I wonder how many other customers are thinking that I am "full of s--t" and are just not as honest or impolite, if you will. What is bad for reputation = what is bad for business.

Gigs, your report on the 1340GT being sent with Chinese chucks is disappointing to both of us. I wish that was indicated in the sales literature for the 1340GT. It is not.

Danny, it's good news to hear that your 1340GT has been shipped. May it arrive unscathed and without delay. I wish you well with it!

Lunch is over. Time to go. There's another customer calling. Hope that's not a new inquiry for barrel/lathe related work.... Hope that's not another "Hey, Tim, did your lathe come in yet?".... Maybe I won't pick up....