# Pm1236 Or Craftex Cx707 Near Kamloops Bc



## HBilly1022

Looking for a member near Kamloops (or a few hours drive) that has one of these machines and is willing to let me look at their machine in operation and just to go over the quality of it with them.

Reason being I recently purchased a King 1236ML (Grizzly G4003 clone) and have some concerns about the quality. I have considered returning it and getting another brand but if all the Asian machines in this price range are of similar quality, then there is no point and I will just work with what I have.

Lets compare machines. This could benefit a lot of people in this hobby.


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## Kamloopsendo

HBilly1022 said:


> Looking for a member near Kamloops (or a few hours drive) that has one of these machines and is willing to let me look at their machine in operation and just to go over the quality of it with them.
> 
> Reason being I recently purchased a King 1236ML (Grizzly G4003 clone) and have some concerns about the quality. I have considered returning it and getting another brand but if all the Asian machines in this price range are of similar quality, then there is no point and I will just work with what I have.
> 
> Lets compare machines. This could benefit a lot of people in this hobby.


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## Kamloopsendo

Hi, I'm in Kamloops and a friend of mine has a 12x36 Sharp lathe (for a few years) and i checked with him, he'd be happy to talk to you (if you're still interested) or have you see his lathe and shop.  His Name is Terry Schultz in westsyde - cell is 250-851-1182
Hope this helps, 
Alex


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## HBilly1022

Kamloopsendo said:


> Hi, I'm in Kamloops and a friend of mine has a 12x36 Sharp lathe (for a few years) and i checked with him, he'd be happy to talk to you (if you're still interested) or have you see his lathe and shop.  His Name is Terry Schultz in westsyde - cell is 250-851-1182
> Hope this helps,
> Alex



Thanks Alex but what I was really looking for is either a Craftex or Precision Mathews lathe as these are the same price range as the King lathe I have. From my initial search, I found that the Sharp lathe is a LOT more expensive (around $10,000) than the King and I suspect it is therefore much better quality. I was more interested in comparing the Chinese lathes in the same price range to see if the quality of these are similar to the King brand.

Is Terry's shop a hobby shop or business? If it's a hobby shop I may give him a call just to visit the next time I'm in Kamloops. It would be nice to talk to someone else with the same interests and to share experiences.

John


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## Kamloopsendo

John:  Terry's shop is both, pretty low key from a business point of view but he does do commercial small stuff - typically one off general small machine/fabrication stuff.  A VERY social good guy, I met him a while back and noted we had common interests - he's retired and plays in his shop full time, I still work full time so fantisize about it!  I'm surprised at the Sharp lathe cost 'cause I'm pretty sure that his lathe is a mainland chinese product although sharp may have changed suppliers and I could easily be wrong.   I'd encourage you to talk to Terry as he really is very social and ain't in business in the usual sense, it just helps to pay for toys as far as I can see!
I read the other thread on your lathe and understand the issues, I'm playing with a little grizzly lathe my son has and have had every part of it apart to clean it up, upgrade bearings, smooth gibs etc and it is OK but sure as heck not great.  Did you deal with KMS to purchase that lathe? Just wondering as I do plan to purchase a lathe in the next year or two in that same 12/36 or 14-40 range and service is critical especially as I'll be buying Chinese as well.
Alex


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## Kamloopsendo

HBilly1022 said:


> Thanks Alex but what I was really looking for is either a Craftex or Precision Mathews lathe as these are the same price range as the King lathe I have. From my initial search, I found that the Sharp lathe is a LOT more expensive (around $10,000) than the King and I suspect it is therefore much better quality. I was more interested in comparing the Chinese lathes in the same price range to see if the quality of these are similar to the King brand.
> 
> Is Terry's shop a hobby shop or business? If it's a hobby shop I may give him a call just to visit the next time I'm in Kamloops. It would be nice to talk to someone else with the same interests and to share experiences.
> 
> John


Also, John, I read the issues your wife is having and sure hope that the recovery is continuing, stroke recovery can be as I understand it very slow and unpredictable, hopefully it is going well.
Alex


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## HBilly1022

Alex, which Grizzly lathe does your son have? I started with the King 1022ML which is the same as the Grizzly G0602, which has a very large following. I had a long thread about that lathe and the issues I had with it. I still have it and worked through most of the issues. Like you said it is OK, not great but OK and it does work, after a lot of fixing, adjusting, etc on my part. I have another thread on the King 1236ML I bought a few months ago and still have a couple of issues with it. It is a much more robust lathe than the 1022 and the movements are smoother too.

There are 3 issues with the 1236 lathe. 1) My new lathe was built in Jan 2015 (2 years ago). The 2 older machines I got from KMS are both newer than the one I bought a year later. 2) the saddle clamp is missing from this lathe. The clamp is shown in the manual that came with the lathe and on the parts diagram on the King website but it is not on this lathe. 3) the tailstock moves after being locked down. I talked to KMS about the issues and they referred it to the local King rep and he referred this to the head office in Quebec. After some back and forth with King, I ended up talking the Vice President of King and explained the situation. He offered to send me a new current lathe and asked that I set that up with KMS. It is in the works right now.

As far as KMS Kamloops goes I think they are great to deal with. The owner, Rod, worked with me through all the issues I had with the 1022 lathe and was very helpful, even though I don't think he has a good understanding of lathe mechanics and operations. After I had that lathe for 3 months and went through all kinds of work to get it operating decently, I had enough and told him I wanted my money back. He reluctantly agreed, but did agree, to give me full refund. I ended up keeping it because I couldn't find anything better and after reading some reviews about the Busy Bee Coquitlam store I decided to avoid them, like the plague. Their rep for after sales support is not good. Eventually I decided I wanted a bigger lathe and went to KMS Kamloops to check out the 1236 but they did not have one in stock, so I drove to Kelowna and looked at one there. Decided I wanted one and set it up with KMS Kamloops. I wanted to get it through them because of the after sales support I got before. It was the right move. After getting the new lathe there were some immediate concerns but KMS backed their sale by giving me a 6 month trial period on the new lathe. These guys know how to treat their customers. I have no reservations in recommending them. Just be aware that the lathes they sell are Chinese and not top of the line but I believe they are comparable to other Chinese lathes in that price range. From my investigations the King lathes are identical to the Grizzly lathes and King has told me they are made in the same factory.

My wife is on the road to recovery but it is a slow one. We go into to Kamloops 2 or 3 times a week so she can exercise in the swimming pool. Unfortunately she is not interested in sitting around waiting for me while I talk machining with Terry. So it may be some time before I get the chance but look forward to it.


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## Kamloopsendo

John - he has a G0765 which is 7 by 14 and part of the issue is what I know about running a lathe can be summarized on the head of a pin.  The lathe does seem to work better having gone thru, cleaning, adjusting smoothing surfaces etc.  but still not remotely a great tool.  We bought it for him for christmas one year as he putters with RC aircraft and cars so figured it would work for aluminum and plastic which to be fair it likely will.  He's away at school so dad gets to play with it and hence when he comes back this fall he'll inherit it back running much better than new.  Time will tell!  I've bought a lot of stuff thru Rod and KMS over the years and have had good luck and good support so good to hear your read on the same issue, I may well look at their stuff when I go to purchase a lathe given your experience.  I'm in Juniper ridge if you're up there and want to drop by you're more than welcome cell 250-319-9086

Alex


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