# Need Help Proxxon PD 400/E



## QuyND

Hello guys, greeting from Vietnam. Does anyone of you guys own a Proxxon PD400? I plan to buy one in Germany and ask my relative to ship it back to Vietnam for me. I'm just a newbie. I just quit being apprentice at a small workshop to go back to school to learn more. I want to buy a mini-lathe so i can do small stuff at home.

1. Is PD 400 a good lathe? I just do some small stuff at home. I think i dont need a bigger lathe than this (I cant affort a bigger lathe, btw).

2. Can you guys give me some review? I took a little research over the internet but i cant find much about it.

3. The build quality?

4. Is it strong enough to cut 304, 316 stainless steel?

I'm sorry if i have any mistake, i'm new to the forum. If you have any recommend, tell me, please.

Thank you. I'm really appreciate.


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## markba633csi

Hi Quy, the PD400 would be ok for light hobby use; it makes use of alloy aluminum and zinc die-castings.  You might also consider one of the smaller Asian 7x10 or 8x14 sized cast-iron lathes which would give more rigidity and possibly less cost...?
Mark S.


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## QuyND

markba633csi said:


> Hi Quy, the PD400 would be ok for light hobby use; it makes use of alloy aluminum and zinc die-castings.  You might also consider one of the smaller Asian 7x10 or 8x14 sized cast-iron lathes which would give more rigidity and possibly less cost...?
> Mark S.


Hi Mark,
Thanks for your reply, which lathe would you recommend? I was thinking of the Grizzly G0768Z before this lathe.
QuyND.


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## markba633csi

It really depends on what you plan to make and to what tolerances. Also of course your total budget including cutting tools, chucks, digital readouts, etc. and the space you have to work in.  Most people recommend buying more machine capacity than you might think you need if you can afford it.
Mark S.
ps will you be needing to cut threads? A slow spindle speed is desirable for that.


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## QuyND

markba633csi said:


> It really depends on what you plan to make and to what tolerances. Also of course your total budget including cutting tools, chucks, digital readouts, etc. and the space you have to work in.  Most people recommend buying more machine capacity than you might think you need if you can afford it.
> Mark S.


Thank you, i'm really appreciate.


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## markba633csi

You are welcome.  Are there machinery dealers in Vietnam?  Do you have access to other sources of machinery like Ebay?
Mark S.
ps the G0768 looks like a good unit, can they ship to you there?


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## QuyND

Our machinery dealers usually import old, scrapy, used machine from Japan, China. There is no new one. Those machine usually 20-50 years old. 
And no, we dont have ebay. But there still a market, we call it the "Cho lon" with is Big Market in Vietnam. It's like the central market. You can get almost anything there. Mainly are Made in China.


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## markba633csi

See if Grizzly can ship to you, seems to be a good choice for hobby use.  If you have access to the German market there are many other choices too. 
Mark S.


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## QuyND

Thank you.


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## doogledee

Hi, I have a PD400 from Proxxon and I am very happy with it. I have cut threads on it many times with great succsess.
The machine is very precise and my feeling is that the quality is excellent. 
However I would buy absolutely everything you can think of as extras for it if you do not have a proxxon dealer near you. Especially quick change tool holders. Most of the parts seem to be proprietary to proxxon.
If I where buying again now I would consider a machine with a larger spindle bore and a quick change gear box as I find the change gears a bit of a faff to change for threading, and I am not able to use, nor do I need the very high precision of the machine. 
You get what you pay for, And the pd400 is expensive, but a very high quality machine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## QuyND

doogledee said:


> Hi, I have a PD400 from Proxxon and I am very happy with it. I have cut threads on it many times with great succsess.
> The machine is very precise and my feeling is that the quality is excellent.
> However I would buy absolutely everything you can think of as extras for it if you do not have a proxxon dealer near you. Especially quick change tool holders. Most of the parts seem to be proprietary to proxxon.
> If I where buying again now I would consider a machine with a larger spindle bore and a quick change gear box as I find the change gears a bit of a faff to change for threading, and I am not able to use, nor do I need the very high precision of the machine.
> You get what you pay for, And the pd400 is expensive, but a very high quality machine.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Hello, thank you for the feed back. Last week i found a dealer in Vietnam. They offer me 59 millions VND (~$2600) for the PD400 and 29 millions VND (~$1270). I think it's a great deal. Due to if i buy it oversea, i would have to ship it to Vietnam, and the shipping cost will cost like half of the machine.
I found on Youtube, the PD400 can only cut 0,4mm depth of steel. So i'm a little worry. I think i need something a little bit stronger than that. Maybe 2-3mm depth per cut?  
I'm looking for some Chinese machine, they offer me RMB6300 (~$910). 10"x20" lathe. Also with the gearbox. Weight about 150kgs. 750w motor. As a starter lathe, i think it would be ok.


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## doogledee

Hi, the chineese lathe will probly be fine  it depends on what you need. Why would you need such a big depth of cut in steel? You could just take several cuts.
In any case feel free to ask if you have any other questions 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## QuyND

Hi, thank you for the help. I usually cut stainless steel, 304 to be exact. Most of my part are made of stainless steel, i need a machine that strong enough to cut it. The Wabeco lathe suit my need, but it's way off my budget .


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## markba633csi

Hi Quy, the RMB6300 10"x20" sounds like a better choice for cutting stainless steel, and less cost too. 
MS
ps check the speed ranges however, the lowest speed may not be low enough for easy threading.


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## QuyND

The lowest speed is about 50~80 rpm. I think it's fine.

One more question: Which is better? Variable speed or gearbox?
As far as i know, variable speed is lack of power. So i'm a little concern.

Variable speed (~$770, weight 80kgs)
http://www.huisn.cn/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=199

Gearbox (~$970, weight 180kgs)
http://www.huisn.cn/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=202

Ps: I think this company in China provide thier product to orher company in USA, etc...


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## hman

Quy -

I looked at the specifications on both lathes.  It was a bit difficult because they don't specify the same items/dimensions on the two pages.

In any case, if I were to choose for myself, I'd go with the gearbox lathe (CJM250). (1) It's heavier, so it is likely to be a lot sturdier. (2) It has a larger motor, thus more power.  (3) It has more metric threads available**.  (4) It appears to have powered cross feed.  

** It doesn't specify the ability to do inch threads.  Definitely a disadvantage if you plan to thread in inches.

PS - If it turns out that 80 RPM is still too fast for you, you can always add a crank to the spindle and turn it that way instead of using the motor.  Here are photos of a crank I made for my Grizzly G4000.  The "trick" is to turn a piece of pipe to a diameter that will just fit through the spindle, then cut it at a shallow angle.  Using a screw to pull the pieces together jams it tightly in the spindle, so that the crank will turn it.  Just be sure to unplug the lathe, so there's no chance of turning on the motor when the crank is in place!


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## QuyND

hman said:


> Quy -
> 
> I looked at the specifications on both lathes.  It was a bit difficult because they don't specify the same items/dimensions on the two pages.
> 
> In any case, if I were to choose for myself, I'd go with the gearbox lathe (CJM250). (1) It's heavier, so it is likely to be a lot sturdier. (2) It has a larger motor, thus more power.  (3) It has more metric threads available**.  (4) It appears to have powered cross feed.
> 
> ** It doesn't specify the ability to do inch threads.  Definitely a disadvantage if you plan to thread in inches.
> 
> PS - If it turns out that 80 RPM is still too fast for you, you can always add a crank to the spindle and turn it that way instead of using the motor.  Here are photos of a crank I made for my Grizzly G4000.  The "trick" is to turn a piece of pipe to a diameter that will just fit through the spindle, then cut it at a shallow angle.  Using a screw to pull the pieces together jams it tightly in the spindle, so that the crank will turn it.  Just be sure to unplug the lathe, so there's no chance of turning on the motor when the crank is in place!
> View attachment 233130
> View attachment 233131



Wow, what a great ideal! I'll try it in the future.

Is that a Igaging DRO? How do they work out? I plan to buy one of them soon.


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## hman

QuyND said:


> Wow, what a great ideal! I'll try it in the future.


Easy enough to do.  Glad you like it.


QuyND said:


> Is that a Igaging DRO? How do they work out? I plan to buy one of them soon.


Yes.  It's a pair of iGaging "Absolute DRO Plus" units.  They have magnetic backs, so I just mounted a piece of sheet metal on the cross slide to hold them.  iGaging "Accuremote" units are similar.  Not quite as nice (slightly smaller display, etc), but fully functional and a bit less expensive. 

Any DRO is better than no DRO, in my opinion.  If for no other reason than that it removes the problem of backlash in the cranks.  And on a lathe, it especially helps in the Z direction (toward and away from the chuck), because that is usually a very coarse adjustment.


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## Pete262

hman said:


> Easy enough to do.  Glad you like it.
> 
> Yes.  It's a pair of iGaging "Absolute DRO Plus" units.  They have magnetic backs, so I just mounted a piece of sheet metal on the cross slide to hold them.  iGaging "Accuremote" units are similar.  Not quite as nice (slightly smaller display, etc), but fully functional and a bit less expensive.
> 
> Any DRO is better than no DRO, in my opinion.  If for no other reason than that it removes the problem of backlash in the cranks.  And on a lathe, it especially helps in the Z direction (toward and away from the chuck), because that is usually a very coarse adjustment.
> View attachment 233260


Interesting set up, is it just reading the cross slide on top, or the whole carriage movement, looking to up grade my medium sized lathe,

But like to use carriage and top slide to get tool movement


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## hman

The one marked "Z" (upper display) reads the motion of the carriage along the ways.  The one marked "X" (lower display) reads the position of the cross slide.  There's nothing on the compound (which I think you refer to as the top slide).  Couldn't figure out how to mount a DRO on there - way too little space


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## Pete262

Cheer,s yea you got bit me thinking of...


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## DAT510

If you can easily source items from China. You might consider purchasing directly from Sieg Industrial.  Many of the small mills and lathes carried by Grizzly, are produced by Sieg.

http://www.siegind.com/shanghai-sieg-machinery-co-ltd-products.html


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## Zathros

QuyND said:


> Hello guys, greeting from Vietnam. Does anyone of you guys own a Proxxon PD400? I plan to buy one in Germany and ask my relative to ship it back to Vietnam for me. I'm just a newbie. I just quit being apprentice at a small workshop to go back to school to learn more. I want to buy a mini-lathe so i can do small stuff at home.
> 
> 1. Is PD 400 a good lathe? I just do some small stuff at home. I think i dont need a bigger lathe than this (I cant affort a bigger lathe, btw).
> 
> 2. Can you guys give me some review? I took a little research over the internet but i cant find much about it.
> 
> 3. The build quality?
> 
> 4. Is it strong enough to cut 304, 316 stainless steel?
> 
> I'm sorry if i have any mistake, i'm new to the forum. If you have any recommend, tell me, please.
> 
> Thank you. I'm really appreciate.


It Will be strong enough, I have à proxxon pd250e and I am using it for titanium grade 5 even. But If I were you I should look to Roberto lathe combi with milling machine with the same properties. The have à dealer in australia also. It is à bit cheaper, better than the Chinese ones. Proxxon is not that Great as they like to be. I have Mixed experience and feelings about that brand.
Grts
T


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## Zathros

doogledee said:


> Hi, I have a PD400 from Proxxon and I am very happy with it. I have cut threads on it many times with great succsess.
> The machine is very precise and my feeling is that the quality is excellent.
> However I would buy absolutely everything you can think of as extras for it if you do not have a proxxon dealer near you. Especially quick change tool holders. Most of the parts seem to be proprietary to proxxon.
> If I where buying again now I would consider a machine with a larger spindle bore and a quick change gear box as I find the change gears a bit of a faff to change for threading, and I am not able to use, nor do I need the very high precision of the machine.
> You get what you pay for, And the pd400 is expensive, but a very high quality machine.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The proprietary is not that hard, i have bought many items for 1/3 of the proxxon price on aliexpress and a few local dealers, and found out some of those items were rebranded by proxxon. Others i did some modification myself to save some money on so called branded proxxon stuff. Not all parts and acesseries are available for much less than branded stuff and will do fine. I have some issues with the proxxon warranty and aftersales service, i think it's not that good as other brands i owned before. As for precise well hardly comes at the sales talk of the device. It was way off even more than 20%, at that time and i found out i received a demo machine for the retail price after i reassembled the sledge it was way better than at time of purchase. so be carefull tho, just being sceptic about it in my experience.
Grts
Ted.


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## Zathros

DAT510 said:


> If you can easily source items from China. You might consider purchasing directly from Sieg Industrial.  Many of the small mills and lathes carried by Grizzly, are produced by Sieg.
> 
> http://www.siegind.com/shanghai-sieg-machinery-co-ltd-products.html


I think this is  very goor affordable alternative after seeing the specs, if i compare it with the proxxon machines i worked with it is almost a copy of them, very simulair specs. only cheaper.


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