# I ordered a PM-940M-PDF



## Dan_S

It won't be my first mill, but it will be my first new mill, so fair warning I'm sure I will have a few questions. Besides the basic mill I got the hardened table & ways option, and a 4" Homge vise. Even before I placed my order with Ray, I started ordering some accessories, If I can get out from under my Christmas present making duties, I'll take some pictures and post them.


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## wrmiller

Congrats Dan!  

In talking to Matt, this mill you are getting is very similar to my 9x39 (rounding down, the table length on mine is 39.5) and we can compare notes when you get it. Is this mill going to be black like my Charter Oak? Other than the obligatory fitment/install warts common of these Chinese machines I am very happy with mine. It's a bit larger than my PM25.


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> Congrats Dan!
> 
> In talking to Matt, this mill you are getting is very similar to my 9x39 (rounding down, the table length on mine is 39.5) and we can compare notes when you get it. Is this mill going to be black like my Charter Oak?



From my conversation with Ray, and what I found on the website, It's basically a re-designed  & enlarged 932. It must of been a substantial design change as well, because the head is different, and it has more travel in all 3 axis's, and an extra 200 pounds of iron to go with it.


To me the big selling points where the extra y travel, and the option to get a hardened bed and ways.


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## GA Gyro

IMO a good move for Matt and QMT!

The complaint I hear repeatedly on the RF45 clones... is the short Y travel.  Sounds like that has been fixed on this machine...

I notice also that the max weight on the table has been raised from 300# to 400#... that represents a bit more beef in the mill table... always a good thing to have more beef in the castings.  

Now for a 2HP or even 3HP head... and it would be a serious game changer in the RF45 clone market.


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## Dan_S

GA said:


> Now for a 2HP or even 3HP head... and it would be a serious game changer in the RF45 clone market.



I don't think the machine is rigid enough to really utilize 2+ hp. 3 hp puts you into the Wells Index, and small K&T ballpark. If Matt was taking suggestions, I'd recommend he drop the complexity of the gear head and go the brushless dc motor and pulley route like he did on the new pm25s. If that could be coupled with bearings that could get you into the 4k rpm range, he would have a pretty serious home shop machine.


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## wrmiller

My max spindle speed will be in the 5k range with the belt drive conversion.


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> My max spindle speed will be in the 5k range with the belt drive conversion.



What bearings are you going to go with?


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## wrmiller

I can find out the specific ones for you if you want, but I'm fairly sure it was NSKs that Charter Oak put in when they installed the 3hp VFD conversion. Paul says they will go to 7k, but will run all day long at 5k.


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> I can find out the specific ones for you if you want, but I'm fairly sure it was NSKs that Charter Oak put in when they installed the 3hp VFD conversion.



I'd be interested in knowing, because when I looked as bearings of the correct size (30 - 35mm) for a rf45 clone, They wore super expensive if they had a decent precision rating and could take some real load.


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## johnwell

Congrats!!!
That looks like THE Xmas present to me!
If you have it up and running and are in a great mood, I'd love to come and see that beauty! PWEEEEEZE?
I'll shave  AND take a shower! Scouts honor! :congratulations:

John


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## Dan_S

It won't arrive till late March or Early April, but when It does arrive, for sure.



johnwell said:


> Congrats!!!
> That looks like THE Xmas present to me!
> If you have it up and running and are in a great mood, I'd love to come and see that beauty! PWEEEEEZE?


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## Dan_S

Since the holidays are over and it's back to reality tomorrow, I thought I should post the photos I promised.


a 2" Criterion boring head




A 1/2" integral shank Vertex drill chuck



I picked up a range of endmills, they are all YG, Niagra or Union Butterfield. This 7/8" 5 flue rougher was a steal I found on amazon.



I purchased 4 of these 1/2" x 4" leveling feet for the base I'm going to build. 



I brought this 18" x 24" surface plate the 700 miles back from Christmas vacation in central Pennsylvania 



I finally picked up a nice set of Bondhus hex wrenches to use on the mill and my lathe



My girlfriend got me a nice Starrett adjustable parallel set .





The one important thing I didn't get a photo of was the 6" phase II horizontal/Vertical rotary table. It and the tail stock and indexing plates that go with it, are locked away in the bottom of a tool cabinet until I can make a decent storage case for it.


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## Dan_S

A small set of these little beauties were waiting for me when I got home from work today. They don't have the embossed back to back Cs like they used to, but the fit & finish still looks very good.


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## Dan_S

The 1.5" 45 degree seht/sehw face mill I order arrived yesterday, and I have to say I'm very please with its quality. The machining and black oxide finish looks very good considering the price. I would go as far as saying the one I got looks better than the one pictured on their website. I'v ordered some inserts for it, but they are on a very slow boat coming from China/Hong Kong.


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## wrmiller

Nice face mill. I've been looking at the Shars mills as I have had no complaints about the stuff I've bought from them. Especially given the price.


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> Nice face mill. I've been looking at the Shars mills as I have had no complaints about the stuff I've bought from them. Especially given the price.



I'm skeptical about some stuff they sell, but for tooling like this about the worst thing that can happen is the insert pockets not all being at the same height. If that ended up being the case I could just remove all the inserts but one and use it as a fly cutter. )


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## Dan_S

So I took advantage of Enco's 20% of and free shipping on Tuesday, and picked up some more stuff for the mill, and shop (some Mitutoyo stuff I've been wanting for a while).

I picked up an assortment of smooth single cut Nicholson mill files for deburring. My old files where warn out and haven't really been used since I got a chamfering bit for the lathe.



I got 2 sets of these B&S machinist jacks, because they where so cheap ($22). 



I got several sizes of Thomson linear shafting to use for setting up the mill and general shop set up.



I've been wanting a Noga holder forever, so I picked up one of the new small models. It's a little bit bigger than the rare earth magnet versions Tom Lipton & Adam Booth use, but still small enough to fit just about any place, and it has a micro adjust.



Some of the Korloy inserts I ordered from Hong Kong a few weeks ago just arrived today. The are The high polish and rake SEHT inserts the Glacern sells for Aluminum. The funny thing about these inserts, is that if you try and look them up in Korloy's catalog you cant find them. However they are listed in TMX catalogs, and while searching eBay I noticed that some Tmx insert packs are listed as "made in Korea", and that triggered aha moment. Tmx is just a re-seller like Spi, so I'm pretty sure Korloy is making the inserts for Tmx, and somehow several people in China & Hong Kong are getting them and selling them.

I'm super pleased about the price as well, I got them delivered to my door for $56. Glacern wants $200 plus shipping.


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## compsurge

+1 on the hard-to-find-on-website-and-in-catalog Korloy inserts. I got some CCGT32.52 H01 for my lathe since I was so pleased with the SEHT1204 / SEHT43 X83 in my 3" Glacern face mill. I assume both are legitimate products - sometimes you never know if you have a counterfeit (my only fear from buying on eBay). I have lucked out so far at least. One thing that bothered me on close inspection is the packing did not stamp the box for the material type or put in feeds and speeds. The lathe inserts both had speeds and feeds present.

You can't complain with the absolute mirror finish the Korloys leave on aluminum though.


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## zr8cnc

I don't see why you feel the machines are not rigid enough as charter oaks is putting a 3hp motor on theirs. I have a PM45 CNC and I am considering a belt conversion and a 3hp motor. 



Dan_S said:


> I don't think the machine is rigid enough to really utilize 2+ hp. 3 hp puts you into the Wells Index, and small K&T ballpark. If Matt was taking suggestions, I'd recommend he drop the complexity of the gear head and go the brushless dc motor and pulley route like he did on the new pm25s. If that could be coupled with bearings that could get you into the 4k rpm range, he would have a pretty serious home shop machine.


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## Dan_S

compsurge said:


> +1 on the hard-to-find-on-website-and-in-catalog Korloy inserts. I got some CCGT32.52 H01 for my lathe since I was so pleased with the SEHT1204 / SEHT43 X83 in my 3" Glacern face mill.



My X83's Came yesterday, and 2 packs of the 21.51 CCGT AK came for the lathe today.







compsurge said:


> I assume both are legitimate products - sometimes you never know if you have a counterfeit (my only fear from buying on eBay).


I always buy from sellers with a high raking that sell a lot of product. My hope is that they would get a lot of negative complaints if they sold counterfeit stuff, or that the manufacture would put a stop to someone selling a high volume of counterfeits to protect the brands reputation.

I also assume, that this is just someone from Hong Kong, who is buying in bulk and has a really low profit margin. I've been told inserts are like diamonds, in that they have a huge markup, as in 2 to 5 hundred percent buy the time it gets to a retailer. 





zr8cnc said:


> I don't see why you feel the machines are not rigid enough as charter oaks is putting a 3hp motor on theirs. I have a PM45 CNC and I am considering a belt conversion and a 3hp motor.


They have to put a larger motor on it when using a vfd to maintain a reasonable amount of power (using this term loosely) at the spindle. 

The graph part way down this page shows what I mean.
http://www.pumpsandsystems.com/topics/pumps/motor-horsepower-torque-versus-vfd-frequency




What I meant, is that Imo none of the rf45 clones are rigid enough to have more than 1.5 or 2 hp at the spindle. Much more than that, and the column will start flexing and lead to poor tool life and a bad surface finish.


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## Dan_S

I've had a few more bits of tooling show up, so I think it's time for another update.


Across the top are 3 sizes of Magafor brand M35 82 degree single flute countersinks. On the bottom left is a Melin brand 90 degree 1/2" 4 flute solid carbide chamfering mill that I got from amazon for 50% of what it normally retails for. On the bottom left is one of the 4 vise stops I picked up on eBay from this guy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121020123574?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

These stops are pretty nice for the price ($5.25). The blackening is very good, they have almost no mill marks, & the cap screw is a high quality one.


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## GarageWrench

Dan_S said:


> It won't be my first mill, but it will be my first new mill, so fair warning I'm sure I will have a few questions. Besides the basic mill I got the hardened table & ways option, and a 4" Homge vise. Even before I placed my order with Ray, I started ordering some accessories, If I can get out from under my Christmas present making duties, I'll take some pictures and post them.



Dan, did you receive the PM 940 mill yet? If not, what is the shipping date they give ya? Just curious,

Buck


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## Dan_S

GarageWrench said:


> Dan, did you receive the PM 940 mill yet? If not, what is the shipping date they give ya? Just curious,
> 
> Buck



Not yet, I talked Matt  last month, and he thinks the end of this month or early next.


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## Dan_S

Matt has my mill in, and he should get my check Monday, so hopefully one of this bad boys brothers will be in my shop by the end of the month.


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## Dan_S

She showed up during lunch today.


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## GarageWrench

I used parts cleaning solvent to clean mine, works great and it's cheap! 

Make sure you post how it works and trams, curious if it's as straight and level as mine is Dan S. 

Buck


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## Dan_S

The first order of business is to finish the welding project i got going, so i have the space to take care of this guy.


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## brav65

Hey Dan congrats on the new mill. That thing looks like a beast compared to my PM-25.  I just got a new job, I start in one week, maybe I will have to get a new mill as I got a substantial raise....?


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## Dan_S

So I started working on the mill last night. I got the base off it's pallet and roughly in place, and the sides off the mills pallet. I have to say it was nice to see that Matt & his people went through and reinforced the crate with screws.

The mill looks to be in great shape, the only issue I found was with power head motor, that seems to have bounced out of it's box and de-wired itself.  I e-mailed Matt this morning to see what he has to say, as electrical really isn't my forty. Either way I'll crack the motor open tonight, and see if I can fix it.


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## Dan_S

I got the mill up on the stand tonight. Hopefully tomorrow night I will get it wired up and running.


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## coolidge

Congrats Dan that's a nice looking mill!


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## Dan_S

Thanks coolidge, I'm still kind of in denial because I've been wanting a mill for so long.


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## Dan_S

Last night I started cleaning off all the shipping grease. Most of it went quickly, but getting the black goop out of the table t slots was kind of a pain. Mineral spirits wasn't really cutting it, so I had to break out the nasty stuff. Naptha and a role of paper towels took care of it fairly quickly.

Matt has a new head up/down motor in the mail to me, and I can't wait to get it, because the head is damn heavy. I had to crank it up and down through it full range a few times last night while cleaning, and it was a real workout. I picked up some fasteners over lunch, to replace some of the stock ones that I didn't like.

 I've also determined that the front y axis way cover needs to be trimmed some.  It's nice that it protects the ways when the y is all the way back, but it's going to get in the way and be a nuisance during normal use.


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## Dan_S

Hopefully I'll actually get a chance to use the mill tonight, now that it's set up an trammed & toned. Everything on the mill was within half a thousands across several inches of travel.

As a side note the quill has 5-1/4" of travel, not 5 as quoted.




Some modifications I've made already, are shown below.

I switched the long hex head bolts that hold the power-feed on, to shorter socket head cap screws. This should make it less likely I cut my self on the bolt heads, and give me a little more room to get t nuts on and off the machine.




I switched the thumb screws on the x, y and quill over to some stainless ones that have a better knurl pattern (imo).

the x-axis




the quill


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## Dan_S

I did a quick video about unpacking/setting up the mill. go easy on me guys, I'm still pretty new at the video stuff.


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## wrmiller

Not bad Dan, for a young guy (sorry...I couldn't resist)  

I am surprised that you didn't put machine leveling feet on the base though. It would have helped with that uneven stance/vibrating.

I don't know how tall you are, but that machine is sitting way too close to the ground for me. My table sits at ~44" off the ground and well above my waist when I'm in front of it. But then I'm 6'3" and too old to stoop for very long. I'm sure you'll do fine.


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> Not bad Dan, for a young guy (sorry...I couldn't resist)


Lol, I bet I'm older than you think I am.



wrmiller19 said:


> I am surprised that you didn't put machine leveling feet on the base though. It would have helped with that uneven stance/vibrating.
> 
> I don't know how tall you are, but that machine is sitting way too close to the ground for me. My table sits at ~44" off the ground and well above my waist when I'm in front of it. But then I'm 6'3" and too old to stoop for very long. I'm sure you'll do fine.



That's what I've been working on this week, I got all the machining done last night, and hopefully I'll get welding done today.  The base I'm building will lift the mill at least 6", and put the table at roughly 42",  as well as a provide a way to level the mill and get a rock solid footing.


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## wrmiller

Oooo...very nice!


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## Dan_S

I got all the welding done tonight, except welding the threaded plugs in place. My MIG welds are never going to be as pretty as some iv'e seen, but considering I don't do it very often and I have a cheap no name 110 machine I think this  one turned out pretty well.

It's the root pass on a 3 inch wide butt joint.


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## wrmiller

Welding. Maybe someday. As long as it's strong enough I say the heck with the 'pretty'. Yours look a lot better than those that showed up on my mill stand and it works great.


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## coolidge

Dan did you make those threaded inserts or buy them? Also what did you use to clean your steel tubing?


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## Dan_S

Hey coolidge,

I made them out of 8620, because it turns decently, and welds well.

To clean the tube I used one of these.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Avanti-P...oven-Quick-Strip-Disc-PNW045STRB01G/202830907

It cuts fast but doesn't last that long, I burned through about 80% of one cleaning up the tube. Next time I need to clean a bunch of tubing, I think I'll try the Norton rapid strips and see if they last any longer.


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## Dan_S

This is what the  plugs look like once they are welded in place.


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## zmotorsports

Looking good.  I think you will be happy getting it up off the ground a bit and at a more comfortable height.  My last lathe/mill I put up with for 16+ years of being too low thinking some day I would raise it up.  When I bought new machines last year the first thing I did was get them at a comfortable height even before getting them operational.  I knew if I didn't do it immediately I probably wouldn't do it at all and that was not going to happen again.

Mike.


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## Dan_S

So it's been 17 days since the mill showed up, and it's now 100% set up and ready to go. I got it up on the stand tonight and level it.

As it stands the table top is  41.5" off the floor, and that puts both the x & y axis wheels at the perfect height for me.




to mount the base/riser to the stock stand, I used 6" long 1/2"-13 grade 8 bolts.




It took 2 and a half hours to level the mill, but it seemed like forever. Getting down on your knees to make an adjustment, and then standing back up to check the level was a killer.

x-axis




y-axis


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## zmotorsports

Turned out awesome.  You will be glad you put in on a riser base.

Mike.


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## coolidge

Ooops


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## Dan_S

Here is a video I made about making the base.


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## Bnixon

Hey Dan, I am considering the same mill and wondering the dimensions needed (floor space) to get full travel and to get behind like you did in your video. I have a small shop and trying to do some space planning to get ready for the mill. Thx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GarageWrench

Bnixon said:


> Hey Dan, I am considering the same mill and wondering the dimensions needed (floor space) to get full travel and to get behind like you did in your video. I have a small shop and trying to do some space planning to get ready for the mill. Thx
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hey Bnixon,

I have my 940 set up at 54" deep and 77" wide, that is w/table travel set at 22" w/feed, and also leaves room at rear to open electrical panel. The height from the top of motor to floor is almost 86", thats motor at its upmost stop and mill pedestal setting on the floor.


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## Dan_S

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356


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## tmarks11

Dan_S said:


> To clean the tube I used one of these.
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Avanti-P...oven-Quick-Strip-Disc-PNW045STRB01G/202830907


I like the flap disks better.  They last longer and are cheaper.

Here is where I buy them from; good place to do business with:
http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com/abrasives/coated-abrasives-flap-discs

A less aggressive wheel that will still last longer than the non-woven discs is a non-woven flap disk:
http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com/abrasives/non-woven-abrasives-surface-conditioning-flap-discs


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## Dan_S

tmarks11 said:


> A less aggressive wheel that will still last longer than the non-woven discs is a non-woven flap disk:
> http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com/abrasives/non-woven-abrasives-surface-conditioning-flap-discs



I'm going to have to try these next time, as they are just over half what I paid locally.


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## Dan_S

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356


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## wrmiller

I have the same problem and just use the front slot. I can still reach the entire table on the RT.


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## Dan_S

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356


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## wrmiller

I had to make a new drawbar bushing recently because I replaced the factory cast drawbar with some threaded 4140 which has a slightly smaller diameter. The factory bushing was looser than I would like, and I'm hoping that the new bushing keeping the drawbar closer to the spindle axis might mitigate my slight vibration at spindle speeds above 4200 rpm. 

I noticed your double nut arrangement on top of the drawbar and I was wondering if they ever work loose? I used a grade 5 rod coupling nut that I red loctited on. Probably overkill, but it shouldn't come loose. Hopefully.


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## Muskt

I had similar dealings with my 932PDF.
Created a bushing that fits nicely.
Snapped the roll pin that was in the upper nut.
Removed lower nut completely.
Shortened the drawbar so that it fit nicely with all my R8 devices.
Cut a bit of relief on the top of the nut.
Tigged the nut to the drawbar with Weldmold 880 (Super nice filler rod--although difficult to locate and very pricey).
Game Over!!

Jerry in Delaware


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## Dan_S

wrmiller19 said:


> I noticed your double nut arrangement on top of the drawbar and I was wondering if they ever work loose? I used a grade 5 rod coupling nut that I red loctited on. Probably overkill, but it shouldn't come loose. Hopefully.



The upper nut is pinned, and it's in there pretty tight, it would probably take a punch and a hammer to get it out.  It came that way from the factory,  I assume to prevent someone from accidentally completely unscrewing the flange nut and letting the drawbar fall to the table.


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## wrmiller

Muskt said:


> I had similar dealings with my 932PDF.
> Created a bushing that fits nicely.
> Snapped the roll pin that was in the upper nut.
> Removed lower nut completely.
> Shortened the drawbar so that it fit nicely with all my R8 devices.
> Cut a bit of relief on the top of the nut.
> Tigged the nut to the drawbar with Weldmold 880 (Super nice filler rod--although difficult to locate and very pricey).
> Game Over!!
> 
> Jerry in Delaware



Well, that likely won't come apart!

In my own defense, I don't have welding capability so that wasn't an option.


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## GarageWrench

Dan_S said:


> Lol, I bet I'm older than you think I am.
> 
> 
> 
> That's what I've been working on this week, I got all the machining done last night, and hopefully I'll get welding done today.  The base I'm building will lift the mill at least 6", and put the table at roughly 42",  as well as a provide a way to level the mill and get a rock solid footing.




Dan, you would not happen to have the bolt pattern dimensions to the base? I also am building a lift and I did not measure before assembling the mill.

Buck


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## Dan_S

GarageWrench said:


> Dan, you would not happen to have the bolt pattern dimensions to the base? I also am building a lift and I did not measure before assembling the mill.



You might want to double check your base, but I used 17-3/4" front to back & 15-9/16" side to side.


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## Subwayrocket

Thanks Dan for posting all the pics and info . I have been looking to buy a Grizzly G0755 but a friend of mine suggested the PM-932 and I also noticed the 940. Both seem very good .


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## Dan_S

Subwayrocket said:


> Thanks Dan for posting all the pics and info . I have been looking to buy a Grizzly G0755 but a friend of mine suggested the PM-932 and I also noticed the 940. Both seem very good .



The main difference is the extra Y travel, It puts the 940 on par with a 36" long table Bridgeport when it comes to travel.


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## Subwayrocket

Thanks Dan. I ordered the PM-940 . How do you like the table height ? I've seen a few posts and vids where people build a floor base and raise the whole thing up a few inches.
I've got a lot of square tube in steel and 304 , also have a lot of levelers and heavy casters from large food service machines . Was thinking about fabbing up something to set under the base cabinet that comes with this mill. If you, or anyone else has raised their mill up, how much have you raised it ? What is a good number, 2" ? 4" ?  I am 5'9" .
Thanks much !


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## T Bredehoft

I placed my PM25 on an existing counter top (left over from a kitchen remodel) (the counter top is at 37 3/4".) The mill table surface is 44 1/2 inches from the floor and I'm quite happy with it. I'm about 5' 10" tall, and I assume that anywhere plus or minus two to three inches would be OK.


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## Muskt

I have the PM932.  I used 3 inch square tubing with 1/2 x 13 levelers under it.  The total height increase is 5 inches with a resulting table height of 40 inches.  I'm 5'8", & find that very usable.   I did the same with my PM 12x36 lathe, and it is uncomfortably high.  I have to be on my toes to see beyond the QCTP.

Here is a pic of the leveling feet--they are very strong & rigid--got them from Amazon.

Best to you
Jerry in Delaware


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## thequietman

Hey Subwayrocket, when did you order yours? I ordered mine a while ago, and got an email that they got it and should be shipping soon. It's been over a week, and I still did not get shipping confirmation email. Is that normal? How long does it take to ship?


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## Subwayrocket

thequietman said:


> Hey Subwayrocket, when did you order yours? I ordered mine a while ago, and got an email that they got it and should be shipping soon. It's been over a week, and I still did not get shipping confirmation email. Is that normal? How long does it take to ship?


I don't know what is normal for them. This is my first time buying from QMT. You should call them and ask what's going on.  I have not received mine yet. Just ordered a few days ago. Quiet man, I just noticed youre just south of me, Scranton/WB area. Jerry, do you have a link for those leveling feet ? The ones I have are all 3/4" and 1" thick threaded into solid 1-1/2" & 2" blocks, I cut them off industrial food service machines at my buddies scrapyard....way overkill and my casters 4" Albion 1000lb cap each ... would like to find 2" casters.


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## Dan_S

Subwayrocket said:


> Thanks Dan. I ordered the PM-940 . How do you like the table height ?





Subwayrocket said:


> If you, or anyone else has raised their mill up, how much have you raised it ? What is a good number, 2" ? 4" ?  I am 5'9" .
> Thanks much !



I'm 6'0" and for me the stock height was way to low.

I made this base to level the mill, and to raise it up. Right now the mill is raised up 6.25"  and  I might even go another 1 to 1.5" higher.


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## Muskt

https://www.amazon.com/Level--Diame...&qid=1467324851&sr=1-1&keywords=leveling+feet







Jerry In Delaware


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## Dan_S

These are the feet I used. I chose 4" long ones to give me more room for adjustment.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EI1HSUW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Subwayrocket

thequietman said:


> Hey Subwayrocket, when did you order yours? I ordered mine a while ago, and got an email that they got it and should be shipping soon. It's been over a week, and I still did not get shipping confirmation email. Is that normal? How long does it take to ship?


 I went thru my email, I actually placed the order this Wed,  6/29 .  I got a tracking # later that day, I got a call today 7/1 that it's arrived here in town, when can they deliver it. It's 4th July weekend so I said Tues . I'm only about 5.5 hrs drive from QMT. Thanks everyone for posting links and pics.  I appreciate it !  Can anyone post or pm me some links , I'm looking for a decent face mill 3"+ , a Fly cutter and a boring head. Need the R8 shanks and holders too. Not many of them have good reviews from Shars, BHS, Grizzly. Looking for budget stuff that's semi decent, I dont want to wreck a high end tool while learning but I don't want to waste money on complete garbage either.


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## compsurge

The Glacern face mill has been good for me. If you have a lathe, you can make your own fly cutter. I'd consider the Tormach Superfly. 

You want a used Criterion boring head. I'd avoid Shars as my 3" boring head with insert tooling leaves a lot to be desired. It works, but isn't as nicely made or as tight as I'd expect for what I paid.


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## jbolt

I would look for a boring head with an integral R8 shank. You cannot use the threaded shanks in reverse for boring large diameter holes with right hand tools. 

I concur on the Glacern face mills. I have a 2.5" and 4". Awesome tools. Inserts can be had on ebay for 1/3 what they cost here.


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## Subwayrocket

Thanks much , I appreciate it. You guys have any links to those recommendations please post. Thanks again !


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## thequietman

Subwayrocket said:


> I went thru my email, I actually placed the order this Wed,  6/29 .  I got a tracking # later that day, I got a call today 7/1 that it's arrived here in town, when can they deliver it. It's 4th July weekend so I said Tues . I'm only about 5.5 hrs drive from QMT. Thanks everyone for posting links and pics.  I appreciate it !  Can anyone post or pm me some links , I'm looking for a decent face mill 3"+ , a Fly cutter and a boring head. Need the R8 shanks and holders too. Not many of them have good reviews from Shars, BHS, Grizzly. Looking for budget stuff that's semi decent, I dont want to wreck a high end tool while learning but I don't want to waste money on complete garbage either.


Thanks. Just got an email today. It's shipped.


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## Dan_S

Subwayrocket said:


> I went thru my email, I actually placed the order this Wed,  6/29 .  I got a tracking # later that day, I got a call today 7/1 that it's arrived here in town, when can they deliver it. It's 4th July weekend so I said Tues . I'm only about 5.5 hrs drive from QMT. Thanks everyone for posting links and pics.  I appreciate it !  Can anyone post or pm me some links , I'm looking for a decent face mill 3"+ , a Fly cutter and a boring head.



I wouldn't recommend a 3" + face mill on a 940, for anything other than aluminum, and even then I wouldn't take very big cuts with it.


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## Subwayrocket

Dan_S said:


> I wouldn't recommend a 3" + face mill on a 940, for anything other than aluminum, and even then I wouldn't take very big cuts with it.


 Thanks for the heads up. I did ask Matt before buying anything, he said a 3-1/8" -4" is no prob, just don't start out trying to take alot off, and listen . In fact, he said he's ran a 6" in the 940 . Yes, this would be for Al.


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## jbolt

Dan_S said:


> I wouldn't recommend a 3" + face mill on a 940, for anything other than aluminum, and even then I wouldn't take very big cuts with it.



I regularly take 0.100+" DOC in aluminum with my 4" Glacern 45deg face mill on my PM932. My old Smithy Granite would do that too and it was a lot less rigid than the PM. 

Search ebay for SEHT1204AFFN-X83 inserts for aluminum for the Glacern 45 deg face mills. I've had my 4" face mill for about 4 years and I'm still using the first edge on these inserts.


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## Dan_S

jbolt said:


> I regularly take 0.100+" DOC in aluminum with my 4" Glacern 45deg face mill on my PM932. My old Smithy Granite would do that too and it was a lot less rigid than the PM.


I take it you are using really slow feeds them?


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## jbolt

Dan_S said:


> I take it you are using really slow feeds them?



Glacern FM45-400 - 6061 Aluminum - 1200 rpm at 20 ipm for roughing. Makes a huge mess of chips in short order. 0.020" or less DOC at 10 ipm for finish.
 Down side to a 4" face mill is your tram needs to be spot on.


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## Dan_S

Interesting, I only have a 1.5 inch that I used for steel and aluminum. I have the two and a half inch on my list, maybe I'll have to up it to something larger.


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## wrmiller

jbolt said:


> Glacern FM45-400 - 6061 Aluminum - 1200 rpm at 20 ipm for roughing. Makes a huge mess of chips in short order. 0.020" or less DOC at 10 ipm for finish.
> Down side to a 4" face mill is your tram needs to be spot on.



Yea I listened to the voices (not you Dan) that chanted the "small is better" mantra regarding face mills and I bought the Glacern 2.5" when I had my CO bench mill. It handled everything I threw at it with aplomb. Including steel. Wish I'd bought the 3" now, but as the 2.5 does very well I probably won't waste the money to upgrade unless I start facing larger parts on a regular basis.

EDIT: I should set the record straight and say that I use my face mill for facing, not hogging. If I have to take more than 0.1", I use other cutters for the majority of the stock removal and then finish with the face mill.


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## Subwayrocket

Thanks guys for posting the part numbers . I appreciate it...and sorry to hijack the thread ! Sounds like I'll be putting a glacern on the list and found those SEHT inserts.


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## RonWB1957

Dan_S said:


> It won't be my first mill, but it will be my first new mill, so fair warning I'm sure I will have a few questions. Besides the basic mill I got the hardened table & ways option, and a 4" Homge vise. Even before I placed my order with Ray, I started ordering some accessories, If I can get out from under my Christmas present making duties, I'll take some pictures and post them.


I see you are fairly close to me. ( Edwardsville ). I have been pricing this same machine, but being a flat out novice with milling machines I may indeed have lots of questions. It is this one or the 932. Decisions, decisions.


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> I see you are fairly close to me. ( Edwardsville ). I have been pricing this same machine, but being a flat out novice with milling machines I may indeed have lots of questions. It is this one or the 932. Decisions, decisions.



Thankfully the internet is an excellent source of information, and thus allows you to bring yourself up to speed pretty fast. feel free to ask any questions you want.


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## Subwayrocket

Dan_S said:


> Thankfully the internet is an excellent source of information, and thus allows you to bring yourself up to speed pretty fast. feel free to ask any questions you want.


 Nice video Dan_S on building the base, very informative and gave me ideas. I watched it a few times before I joined HM . You should make some more vids ! I saw the holes you made in what looks like 0.185" mild steel,  I just drilled 16 holes in 0.250" steel for casters ...with my cheap HF drill press...not fun , so i'm looking forward to getting my mill set up . Very nice job on the base . And your welds are fine. I'm only 5'9" so im raising it only about 2.5 inches .


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## Dan_S

Subwayrocket said:


> You should make some more vids !


I'm working on a woodworking one right now, and then a shop tour video has been requested by a few people.



Subwayrocket said:


> Very nice job on the base . And your welds are fine.


Thanks man!


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## RonWB1957

Have you modified your mill, other than the base? Thanks for the video, btw.


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> Have you modified your mill, other than the base? Thanks for the video, btw.


I just switched out the thumb screws that hold the dials, to some better ones.


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## RonWB1957

Thanks. I am Jonesin to order it, but need to finish a couple of pressing projects first.  Making room for it is another story.

Another question. Have you checked for any run out / drop, when running the x axis all the way both directions? Thank you in advance.


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> Another question. Have you checked for any run out / drop, when running the x axis all the way both directions? Thank you in advance.



I did a quick test when I first set the machine up, and i didn't detect anything. Imo, a lot of people get drop because they run loose gibs, not because the table is actually flexing.


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## RonWB1957

Sorry for all the questions, but I am hoping this will be my last mill at this point.  What kind of run out or back lash have you found with this machine, if any.


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> Sorry for all the questions, but I am hoping this will be my last mill at this point.  What kind of run out or back lash have you found with this machine, if any.



for run-out on a spindle, it was maybe 2 tenths from what i can remember. Table backlash was maybe 10 thousands, but then i haven't taken the time to adjust the nuts.


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## RonWB1957

Dan_S said:


> for run-out on a spindle, it was maybe 2 tenths from what i can remember. Table backlash was maybe 10 thousands, but then i haven't taken the time to adjust the nuts.


0.2" seems like a lot to me. Maybe I am not thinking correctly, but I was thinking maybe 0.02" or 0.002" run out. Are the hardened ways really worth the extra cost? Thanks, yet again.


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## Muskt

I probably shouldn't reply to someone else's statement; however, I will take a stab at it anyway.

Generally (not always, but) a non-machinist would refer to a "tenth" as 0.10 of an inch.  
A machinist refers to a "tenth" as a tenth of a thousandth or 0.0001 of an inch.

If I messed that up, I shall crawl back under my rock.

Jerry in Delaware


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## Dan_S

Muskt said:


> A machinist refers to a "tenth" as a tenth of a thousandth or 0.0001 of an inch.



You are correct, this is what I meant! 



RonWB1957 said:


> Are the hardened ways really worth the extra cost? Thanks, yet again.



I think so, because they will wear slower, and thus extend the life/accuracy of the mill.


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## RonWB1957

Thank you. I am definitely not a machinist by trade and have more to learn than I will ever be able to. So thank you for answering my uneducated questions.


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> Thank you. I am definitely not a machinist by trade and have more to learn than I will ever be able to. So thank you for answering my uneducated questions.



No problem!


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## RonWB1957

I don't suppose you have a diagram or dimensions for the leveling riser you made? Thanks,


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## Dan_S

RonWB1957 said:


> I don't suppose you have a diagram or dimensions for the leveling riser you made? Thanks,



I've got this one, but it doesn't show the locations of the actual feet. It does show the location of the holes to mount it to the blue base though.


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## RonWB1957

Dan_S said:


> I've got this one, but it doesn't show the locations of the actual feet. It does show the location of the holes to mount it to the blue base though.
> 
> View attachment 132948


Cool. That should work. I am hoping to have a riser made Before I get the mill.


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