The Pm-1440gt Has Landed

jbolt

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Well 6-1/2 months later it has finally arrived. It was supposed to have been delivered yesterday but UPS messed about and didn't deliver until today. They gave me a 4 hour window today and showed up 45 minutes late.

PM put the factory crate on another pallet so it sits really high. I had to cut away the middle section of the pallet and crate to get my engine lift under it. Between an engine lift, a floor jack and a toe jack it took me, my wife and daughter about 2 hours to get it undone and in place in the garage. I got the leveling feet on after chasing the 1/2-12 whitworth with a 1/2-13 tap.

Here is a quick picture. The back guard is still off from the move. I will put that back on after I get it cleaned up and the DRO on.

More to come.....

PM1440GT01.png
 
Congrats, you did great if it took you only 2 hours to get it in place. I think it took me the better part of a day to get mine tucked into its slot. The multi-level crating certainly added to the fun and games.
 
Agonizing wait, but expected given it is a new machine. The wait was well worth it. Great it is finally home and we can get a first hand review. Looks like a wonderful machine for those that need a bit bigger work envelope. :chunky:
 
I got the lathe mostly cleaned up this morning, enough to get going on the DRO install. I got the lathe wired and running so while working on the DRO it has been doing spindle break-in. When I first ordered the lathe way back at the end of February I had originally asked for a single phase machine. At that time the first shipment was not supposed to include single phase machines, only 3 phase. I agreed to the 3 phase and went about collecting all the bits and pieces to do a mksj VFD conversion. I guess so much time passed the single phase machines were available and that is what Matt had built for me. He offered to find a motor but I had him send what he had not wanting to further delay the machine. I have a huge backlog of customer work that needs to get done. The bright side is I can get to that now and worry about the VFD conversion after. FYI - The single phase machines are 2HP, not 3HP as shown in the specs. The 3-phase machines are 3HP. The only other anomaly so far is the shipping weight was shown as 1430 lbs. The machine specs are 1750 lbs. Not sure if this was a typo or not. No way I could verify.

The stand is plenty stout and just sitting on the adjustable feet the lathe is rock solid. All the levers work real smooth from the get go. The ways look awesome. Some real nice castings on the bed. The belts are throwing copious amounts of dust so those will get changed soon. To my pleasure there are no lockouts on the gear cover nor is there a shield. The spindle bore is 2.060" which is perfect. I had fears it would be 50mm and not be able to get a 2' round stock in. The D1-5 spindle nose is a beast compared to the D1-4 I had on my old lathe.

For anyone getting one of these lathes and installing a DRO PRO magnetic system the read head bracket for the X axis will not work. it is too narrow for the two flat spots on the side of the saddle. I just finished making a wider one. Hooray for home shop CNC! Not sure about the Z yet.

I will post more as I get to it. Sorry for the blurry picture.

DRO X Bracket 02.png
DRO X Bracket 01.png
 
Got the X-axis scale installed. I had to make a drill extension to drill the holes for the read head mount. Of course that meant cleaning, mounting and adjusting the 3-jaw chuck ( set-tru type), and cleaning and mounting the tail stock. I swear there was more comoline on the inside of the tail stock barrel than on the outside, not fun. So the lathe has officially made one part by drilling a hole. :D

DRO X Bracket 03.png
Drill Extension.png.jpg
 
Had to do the same for my 1340. Hurried job, but it worked. :)
 
Day 3....

The DRO is installed and working. The Z has 37.1" of travel and the X has 6.5". I ran the Z back and forth through the full travel several times to a TDI and it returns to dead nuts zero each time. Same with the X. The kit supplied universal drop leg for the Z read head mount was not usable so I made a replacement out of some 0.5" x 2" aluminum bar stock. Instead of drilling new holes on the back of the saddle I placed it under the coolant riser mounting block with longer screws. Works great. The DRO display is temporarily mounted to a piece of bar stock attached to the side of the back splash. This may change after the VFD conversion...or not.

Z-Scale01.png
Z-Scale02.png


Cover installed. DRO display and LED light (Thanks for the light Matt)
Z-Scale03.png
LatheSetup02.png




Whoever installed the back splash needs a refresher in measuring. The side attached to the head stock is 1-3/4" too far back compared to the tail-stock end. This left a gap that would allow debris to fall on the floor behind the machine. I re-drilled the holes an inch further in and installed a 3/4" spacer on the tail-stock side. This keeps the back as far out as possible and still able to contain debris. There is still an open gap between the ways and the motor so if that becomes a chip magnet I will add a secondary guard to cover. The back splash is made from 1/16" steel and is very stout.

Back Splash02.png
Back Splash04.png




The T-nut slot for the stock tool post turned out to not have been machined parallel to the top of the compound. The T-nut I machined for the Aloris QCTP is was higher on one side than the other. My T-nut was machined within 0.001". The Slot is about 0.008" out of parallel over 2". The stock T-nut was installed and ground with the compound. If you turn the stock t-nut around it wont sit flush. I used some stainless steel shims to bring everything true and parallel when cinched tight.

QCTP01.png
QCTP02.png




Here are a few shots of the stand. It is made from 3/16" steel with reinforcement in strategic places. It is very sturdy and rock solid without being bolted down. Matt did a good job on the specs for this one.

Stand01.png
Stand02.png
Stand03.png




Electrical for the single phase version. Nice and tidy with easy access. FYI when the machine is plunged in the transformer is powered regardless of the e-stop position so beware.

Electrical01.png




And finally the coolant pump and reservoir. I'm not thrilled about the access from the inside. PITA the deal with. there really should be an access panel on the outside. The get the pump and reservoir out the drip funnel must be removed. The drip funnel is kind of funky and I suspect will not contain any splashing. I will see if the tray can be replaced with a hose and still allow the chip pan to pull forward.

Coolant01.png




Almost ready to be put in service. Next up will be final leveling and some test cuts!

LatheSetup01.png
 
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