# The Pm 1228 Vf-lb Arrives Today



## koba49 (Aug 29, 2016)

I ordered this lathe about 6 months ago I got it today. Because of where I live a home delivery would not work out, I was going to do a terminal pick up, but the owner of my company let me have it delivered at work. I loaded it on my truck and got it home. It was a little tricky getting it into the garage , but by 9PM I was done. I will post some photos, but there will be videos also. I will post my set up and other things about this lathe on this thread as I go along.


----------



## john.oliver35 (Aug 29, 2016)

That looks sweet Koba49.  I hope to be ordering one of these or an 1127LB soon.  I just need some to close some jobs at work so I can justify  spending the money 
Thanks for posting, I look forward to more reports from you.


----------



## lpeedin (Aug 30, 2016)

You know, it is bad mojo to haul a Chinese lathe in a Japanese truck... Just kidding of course!  I am looking forward to your report of how the lathe works once you get it up and running.  I really like the look of the compound, particularly how it attaches to the cross slide table.  I'm glad you got your machine.  Now go make some cool parts!


----------



## koba49 (Aug 31, 2016)

I am processing a video on the unloading of the lathe, I am also making a video on the inspection after the lathe was unboxed. I will post some photos from questions that have been asked on this forum


----------



## koba49 (Aug 31, 2016)

There were questions about the tail stock


----------



## koba49 (Aug 31, 2016)

People also asked about the stand for the lathe I will go into detail with a video but here are
	

		
			
		

		
	








	

		
			
		

		
	
 some photos


----------



## koba49 (Sep 1, 2016)

I got the video of the unloading up, I should have another taking a look after getting everything unpacked in a day or so.


----------



## dmx47 (Sep 1, 2016)

When you get a chance to look at the manual, I'd be really interested in what thread pitches can be done with  the two sets of gears.  I mainly thread 16/20/24/28  Just wondering which would require a gear change.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 1, 2016)

I did not have any time to work on the lathe today, but I got a video up talking about the post delivery inventory, and I look at what comes with the lathe.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 1, 2016)

dmx47 said:


> When you get a chance to look at the manual, I'd be really interested in what thread pitches can be done with  the two sets of gears.  I mainly thread 16/20/24/28  Just wondering which would require a gear change.


I am not sure it has been over 25 years since I cut threads on a manual lathe, and when I did it was on a machine where I did not have to open the back of the machine and manually change the gears. I was looking at the plate on the lathe and the gears they have to be changed around to cut different threads, exactly what pitch or how many per gear I have not figured out yet. I have little experience with these small hobby lathes, you have to remember a machine in this class that has a simpler design you will have to manually change things around. Just follow this thread and after I get the machine cleaned and set up and learn how it works I will be able to answer your questions better.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 2, 2016)

Well I spent most of the day assembling my stand and putting on leveling feet, I made another video of all this, then some friends stopped by and offered to help put the lathe up on the stand they kinda did not want to be in a video , so I have the lathe up on the stand but there will be no video of it getting done, I will post the stand assembly video tomorrow, but here are a few photos


----------



## brav65 (Sep 2, 2016)

Looking good!  I'm very jealous as Matt sent pictures and specs on that machine last year when I was asking him about lathes.  She looks sweeeeet!


----------



## brino (Sep 2, 2016)

Congratulations koba.
That looks real nice!

-brino


----------



## dmx47 (Sep 3, 2016)

Good looking set up you got there.  Very similar in size and footprint as my 10x28 10L.  How about a couple of pictures of the left side and under the safety cover.  Just wondering how easy is will be to make an outboard spider fit on the end of the spindle.  Great looking lathe!


----------



## koba49 (Sep 3, 2016)

dmx47 said:


> Good looking set up you got there.  Very similar in size and footprint as my 10x28 10L.  How about a couple of pictures of the left side and under the safety cover.  Just wondering how easy is will be to make an outboard spider fit on the end of the spindle.  Great looking lathe!


I just got up my age and some health problems are catching up to me.  I have to go out this morning and start cleaning up everything, but you did ask a question that I can give you an answer to. I will go out there in a while and look over the machine and see how you can put a spider on the back of the machine.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 3, 2016)

here is a video on how I put the lathe stand together, the factory one, I did this yesterday, I was going to get the lathe running today but ran into a problem will keep posting as I go along, but may just take a few days off from this, i have to get things in the garage back in order.


----------



## donnyfl (Sep 3, 2016)

Thanks for documenting Koba, I have the same stand for my Grizzly G0704 Milling machine. They are really crappy and with leveling legs like yours it is wobbly. So I had to make additional things to keep it from moving.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 4, 2016)

I made this video yesterday moving along with getting the lathe up and running I should have two more videos up today I may be taking a few test cuts later today.


----------



## qualitymachinetools (Sep 4, 2016)

Great videos, so much good information in there!


----------



## koba49 (Sep 4, 2016)

DMX47 I think this video will give you an Idea about making a spider for the back of the spindle there does not look like there is much room to attach something from the outside, and the end of the spindle is threaded,  but I do cover getting the belt on, and mounting the chuck.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 4, 2016)

After a few problems I got the lathe powered up and tested out everything, it was all good, but you should watch this video because I talk about the controls, and how to start up the lathe.


----------



## dmx47 (Sep 4, 2016)

Thanks. Great videos.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 4, 2016)

Ok last video for the day, had a good weekend got a lot done, and I hope my videos help people get the information they need on this machine, I will continue working with this lathe and posting more videos


----------



## jdell42 (Sep 6, 2016)

Koba,

You and I are on the same schedule as I received my lathe last week as well.  I watched your videos and I would agree verbatim, especially on moving and lifting.  We had the same crapping engine hoist and the same challenges.

 Nice mod on the stand.  Mine is leveled with some wooden shims for now, but I need a better solution.  I am thinking some self leveling floor compound might do the trick.

Thanks for taking the time to make these.  They are a great resource.


----------



## koba49 (Sep 10, 2016)

was working with the lathe a little more starting yesterday, I was putting on the quick change tool post holder and the compound rest started to bind up, I took it all apart cleaned it greased it after I ground the edges of the T nuts


----------



## koba49 (Sep 10, 2016)

After I got the compound rest back on it works real good now I tried turning something, I have noticed there are alignment problems, I will be working on that next, I should also have some videos up today


----------



## koba49 (Sep 10, 2016)

I made a mistake when i first set up the machine, I thought i set it in low gear but it was in high gear so i made a video to clarify this


----------



## koba49 (Sep 10, 2016)

I put the quick change tool post holder on yesterday so I made a video of it if you are interested in getting one of these


----------



## koba49 (Sep 11, 2016)

I finally after hours of working on the problem of leveling and aligning the lathe I found out that level plays a small part in getting the lathe to cut with out a taper. I had the lathe cutting .0045 taper over 5in  I got that down to .0001 over that distance If you watch the video I try to show you how I did it.


----------



## jdell42 (Sep 13, 2016)

Hi Koba... .0045 taper over 5" seems a lot and needing to contort your lathe to get it to cut without a taper also seems strange.   I measured mine last week and I did not have any noticeable taper but I will measure it again to confirm later in the week.  My lathe is only rough leveled as I did not have a precision level.  For the tail stock, I used an Edge tailstock alignment tool and also needed to adjust it quite a bit.  I do not believe the alignment markers are accurate.


----------



## sierrasmith71 (Dec 6, 2016)

I just got my PM 1228 last Thursday and have been cleaning it and setting things up. I had GFCI problems with tripping, solved that by replacing the GFCI. Today I calibrated my machinist level and worked on leveling the beast on the PM stand . I knew it would be frustrating  and after a few hours in a cold garage I gave up. Got it to +/- 002.5" level side to side on the ways. Measured that with a feeler gauge under the level  (what was needed under the low side to bring it to read level), I did not bother with the log axis level as most folks say it doesn't matter)

I am waiting for   replacement part from QMT, for a part that was damaged in shipment, before I make a test cut to determine if it turns  parallel or not.

BTW, I reported to Matt that the carriage became tight as it approached the headstock. He quickly asked "have you leveled the lathe yet?"   Sure enough, leveling fixed that problem!

David G.
Gaithersburg MD


----------



## donnyfl (Dec 6, 2016)

Welcome to the club David, Frank Hoose also makes some pretty good videos of the PM1228: 




How was your oil? Is it leaking?




sierrasmith71 said:


> I just got my PM 1228 last Thursday and have been cleaning it and setting things up. I had GFCI problems with tripping, solved that by replacing the GFCI. Today I calibrated my machinist level and worked on leveling the beast on the PM stand . I knew it would be frustrating  and after a few hours in a cold garage I gave up. Got it to +/- 002.5" level side to side on the ways. Measured that with a feeler gauge under the level  (what was needed under the low side to bring it to read level), I did not bother with the log axis level as most folks say it doesn't matter)
> 
> I am waiting for   replacement part from QMT, for a part that was damaged in shipment, before I make a test cut to determine if it turns  parallel or not.
> 
> ...


----------



## sierrasmith71 (Dec 6, 2016)

Oil level is fine; first thing I checked, And, there are no leaks!
While I was waiting for deliver of the lathe I watched all of Franks videos.  Well done and just what a newbie like me needed.

BTW way Koba49 did not say if he calibrated his level (which is the exact one that I have.)  Mine was off of being true by a large amount before I calibrated it.   The instructions that come with that level are the worst example of bad Chinglish I have ever seen and are worthless.  Oxtoolco has a very good video on YouTube that shows how to calibrate a machinist level... easy to do , but it does require a flat surface plate to accomplish the task..
Using this level (or any machinist level) without  calibrating it is an exercise in futility.

David G.


----------

