The New 1340GT from PM

[tmarks11]

... I will be setting up the lathe first as it will be the furthest into and against a wall.....

I would strongly recommend that you keep it 20-24" from the wall if you can swing the space You will want to get behind it often enough for maintenance and cleaning to make it worth it.

Anyone else want to chime in with their experience on positioning?

 

[zmotorsports]

Re: Underwhelmed with new 1340GT

I would strongly recommend that you keep it 20-24" from the wall if you can swing the space You will want to get behind it often enough for maintenance and cleaning to make it worth it.

Anyone else want to chime in with their experience on positioning?

Just out of curiosity, what kind of routine maintenance is there that must come from behind? I simply do NOT have the space to waste 2' from the wall. My last 12x39 lathe/mill combo sat in the exact same spot as this one will go and never had to get behind it in the 16 years I had it in place. I did have a piece of sheet metal on the wall that met with the chip tray to keep swarf and anything from falling behind it. The new lathe has a built in backsplash so I don't see that being an issue.

Our 13x36 lathe at work is also against a wall and has been since I installed it in 1988. Never been moved since.

I would be open for reasons why as in my experience I have not had to get behind these machines so if I am missing something, please explain.

For my knee mill, I wanted it either in a corner configuration, which is not possible, or in an open area to get 360 degrees around it. This I was barely able to afford to give up some space to accommodate.

Mike.

 

[Ray C]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of routine maintenance is there that must come from behind? I simply do NOT have the space to waste 2' from the wall. My last 12x39 lathe/mill combo sat in the exact same spot as this one will go and never had to get behind it in the 16 years I had it in place. I did have a piece of sheet metal on the wall that met with the chip tray to keep swarf and anything from falling behind it. The new lathe has a built in backsplash so I don't see that being an issue.

Our 13x36 lathe at work is also against a wall and has been since I installed it in 1988. Never been moved since.

I would be open for reasons why as in my experience I have not had to get behind these machines so if I am missing something, please explain.

For my knee mill, I wanted it either in a corner configuration, which is not possible, or in an open area to get 360 degrees around it. This I was barely able to afford to give up some space to accommodate.

Mike.

Some brands of machines have chip trays that only remove from the rear of the lathe.

On the current models of Asian lathes, the motor is back there and access to the electrical panel is back there. Mine is 8" from the wall and if I should ever need to access the electrical panel I'll need to use a stubby screwdriver to remove the panel cover and use a mirror to view the components. Virtually all of the mechanical work I do on yachts requires working this way so, it's not a big deal to me.

Using extension wrenches, I swapped the 3phase motor out of my machine (when I converted it from single to 3 phase) while it was 8" from the wall. Fun? no. Do-able? Yes. Took an extra 15 minutes...

Of course, daily sweeping of the floor is not as convenient when it's close to the wall.

Ray

 

[TFC]

Ray,
You said earlier in this thread (on 7/22) that Matt indicated to you that all the 1340GT's would be done this week (realizing that done/prepped does not mean shipped). Is that the case (including mine)?

In the confines of my shop, I use my shop-vac with an extension tube to clean behind the equipment that must be no more than 8" from the walls. I have an old Dirt Devil upright in the closet for sweeping the open floor area. That helps keep the dust, sand from going airborne via broom stroke.
Thanks.
Tim

 

[Ray C]

Ray,
You said earlier in this thread (on 7/22) that Matt indicated to you that all the 1340GT's would be done this week (realizing that done/prepped does not mean shipped). Is that the case (including mine)?

In the confines of my shop, I use my shop-vac with an extension tube to clean behind the equipment that must be no more than 8" from the walls. I have an old Dirt Devil upright in the closet for sweeping the open floor area. That helps keep the dust, sand from going airborne via broom stroke.
Thanks.
Tim

As far as I know, ALL 1340 machines are going to be finished. I know that Matt is working alone at this moment now on just those machines. To the best of my knowledge, it will be done.


I have several shop vacs in my shop and suck-up most stuff with that. I try to wet mop the floors once a week and I usually sweep with a broom before mopping.

Ray

 

[zmotorsports]

I just received an email from Matt this morning stating that it is no inconvenience to ship my lathe prior to the mill, even if only by a couple of days. I hated to see in incur additional costs for only a couple of days but he said it was no problem to ship the lathe on Monday.

It would help to at least give me a couple of days to get the lathe setup and wired prior to the mill but again, I hated to see it cost him more money to do so. He said it would be beneficial to him to ship it on Monday so I said to go ahead and ship it. It would be great to see it by next Friday.

Mike.

 

[nickmckinney]

I would strongly recommend that you keep it 20-24" from the wall if you can swing the space You will want to get behind it often enough for maintenance and cleaning to make it worth it.

Anyone else want to chime in with their experience on positioning?

The single time I had to go behind my "wall mounted" lathe was when the motor contactor went bad and we pulled the machine back out to remove it. Otherwise I kinda prefer them against a wall when possible as you can put some small shelving for tooling right at arms length. My new lathe has a coolant pump access to the rear but I don't use it so......

 

[drs23]

I just received an email from Matt this morning stating that it is no inconvenience to ship my lathe prior to the mill, even if only by a couple of days. I hated to see in incur additional costs for only a couple of days but he said it was no problem to ship the lathe on Monday.

It would help to at least give me a couple of days to get the lathe setup and wired prior to the mill but again, I hated to see it cost him more money to do so. He said it would be beneficial to him to ship it on Monday so I said to go ahead and ship it. It would be great to see it by next Friday.

Mike.

Cool for you Mike and Cudos to Matt. Like you say, you can have your lathe up and running and them deal with the mill when it gets there. Win/win!

Sounds like Matt needs some operating room so you're doing him a favor. Again, you both win!

 

[zmotorsports]

The single time I had to go behind my "wall mounted" lathe was when the motor contactor went bad and we pulled the machine back out to remove it. Otherwise I kinda prefer them against a wall when possible as you can put some small shelving for tooling right at arms length. My new lathe has a coolant pump access to the rear but I don't use it so......

That has been my experience as well. The motor on our lathe at work has NEVER given us any issues, the only issue I ever had to address was a minor problem with the rotary/drum switch and that was easily addressed. I never had any issues with my Smithy either in the 16 years I had it against the wall. That is why I was asking for clarification.

My 1340GT is 3PH and the VFD will be mounted on the wall above the lathe so there should be no electrical behind the machine to have to get to other than the motor itself. I guess if I ever have an issue with the motor I will have to move it away from the wall and deal with it at that time.

Cool for you Mike and Cudos to Matt. Like you say, you can have your lathe up and running and them deal with the mill when it gets there. Win/win!

Sounds like Matt needs some operating room so you're doing him a favor. Again, you both win!

Yeah, it kind of sounded like it was in his way. I didn't realize that when I told him to ship them both together because that was the agreement we made upon originally purchasing it and I didn't want him to incur more charges after we had negotiated a deal. If it is doing him a favor by shipping it a couple of days before the mill then I won't complain.

Mike.

 

[Havoc]

I just received an email from Matt this morning stating that it is no inconvenience to ship my lathe prior to the mill, even if only by a couple of days. I hated to see in incur additional costs for only a couple of days but he said it was no problem to ship the lathe on Monday.

It would help to at least give me a couple of days to get the lathe setup and wired prior to the mill but again, I hated to see it cost him more money to do so. He said it would be beneficial to him to ship it on Monday so I said to go ahead and ship it. It would be great to see it by next Friday.

Mike.

Alright Mike,

Congrats, have fun setting up your new lathe, I am still jealous about your new Mill...I was thinking about a PM-45M-CNC....but that's still in the planning stages.

Danny