# New PM-1340GT Arrived



## ptrotter (Aug 28, 2017)

My PM-1340GT arrived today.  Now the fun begins!  I ordered the lathe quite awhile ago and originally ordered the cast iron stand.  Unfortunately Matt is having trouble with the vendor for these stands and has been unable to get them completed.  He offered to send me the sheet metal stand and then replace it when the cast iron stand is available but I felt that once I got it put together, I would not want to do it again.  I decided to go with the sheet metal stand as I didn't want to wait any longer and it saves me some money to put toward a DRO.

I requested lift gate delivery but ran into a little issue when UPS arrived.  The lathe was loaded lengthwise in the truck and there was another shipment next to it so that the UPS driver could not get his pallet jack under the pallet.  Fortunately I was able to borrow my neighbors Bobcat and we wrapped a strap around the pallet and I was able to pull it out of the truck far enough to get the pallet jack under it and  maneuver it onto the lift gate.  After that, everything went fine.  It is now sitting in my shop waiting for me to make space for it and get the stands set up.

I have a rotary phase converter I will initially run it on, but plan to build out a VFD when I get time.  I have spent the last few months reading everything on this site related to the 1340GT and have a long list of projects to work on to customize the lathe.

I think I will add a DRO PRO magnetic DRO and my first project will be a spider.

I expect that I will have a lot of questions as I am fairly new to machining, having done a little on a Sherline, but nothing this size and hopefully I will be able to learn a lot here.

Paul


----------



## tweinke (Aug 28, 2017)

Nice Machine!


----------



## Bob Korves (Aug 28, 2017)

Congratulations, and welcome to Hobby Machinist!


----------



## Alan H. (Aug 29, 2017)

Congratulations on a very nice machine. You will find loads of help here, all you have to do is ask.


----------



## wrmiller (Aug 30, 2017)

Sorry to hear about the difficulties Matt is having with his cast iron stands. I really think those could could be a very nice upgrade. If he ever gets them. But I also hear the new 1340 stands are better/more stable than the older stands like I have. Can't afford to buy a new stand for my lathe, so maybe I will have to contract one of the local AZ guys to build me some new 'feet' for my 1340. 

This is quite a step up from a Sherline! You give new meaning to the word 'upgrade'.

There are a bunch of folks here, myself included, that own the 1340. So between us and Matt we should be able to help with any model specific questions you may have. I have a DroPro w/magnetic scales on my 1340 and love it. zero issues with it. There are cheaper solutions available, but the quality of these have served me well so far (I've bought three DROs from them).

The spindle spider is still on my ToDo list, so I will be interested in seeing your ideas.

Also, congrats on your choice of lathes and welcome to the group!


----------



## Alan H. (Aug 30, 2017)

Agree with Bill about the CI stands, too bad.  But I believe the latest fabricated metal stands are very robust.  BTW, I think they are now beyond what you would call sheet metal.   I predict you are going to find it quite acceptable.


----------



## qualitymachinetools (Aug 30, 2017)

Yeah the castings on the stands are done, we had one batch of them finish up already but they were sold quite a while ago. (Seems like maybe a year already)     Im waiting on a local shop to do the machining, I tried one down the street here a while back, then after some time, and nothing, I went and got them. Now they are at another shop, I guess he is really busy, have been there a few months now, hasn't finished. He was also waiting on a DRO for the machine to make it quicker, that took a while to come in and get installed, so that should be done now. They are coming, and its a simple operation, but our own machine just isn't big enough to do them. They are so close, I could finish them up in a day if I had the machine here, but its hard to just go in to someone elses shop and use someone elses machine.    I hate waiting on something that if I had the machine I could just go out and do it, but I don't.  Its a pretty simple operation, facing the top and bottom, then drilling and tapping some holes. And then painting.
 We are moving over the next few months here, that will allow enough room to get what I need to do them in house. (Not moving far, don't worry, only about 10 minutes from where we are now)
  I can't wait, I need to get someone in the office to do some of this office stuff, I hate sitting in front of a computer most days, I'd rather be making chips!  

 Anyway, Glad the machine arrived, hope you will have it up and running soon!

Matt


----------



## wrmiller (Aug 30, 2017)

LOL...Spent 35+ years "sitting in front of a computer", designing/writing code and later doing management stuff.

At least it did a good job of paying the bills, and buying my toys. 

Hey Matt, too bad you don't have a bolted down, machined flat plate next to one of your mills. You could swing the swing the head over and use the quill for small Z-axis adjustments. Just another hair-brained idea...


----------



## qualitymachinetools (Aug 30, 2017)

Haha yes, I actually did one set on one of the 1054TV Mills that we have in the shop, got very creative with turning the mill head 90 degrees, and them turning the turret 90 degrees, so the spindle was set up just like a horizontal mill.  But it probably took us 8 hours from start to finish with mounting them, machining, turning them around and squaring them up again, and working with my head at a 90 degree angle too.  Just not easy at all. Wish I had a picture of the setup!

 On the boring mill, just clamp them down as a pair, do one side, rotate 180 degrees and do the other side. So much faster, so much easier.


----------



## ptrotter (Aug 30, 2017)

The steel stands look pretty good, they now have 4 leveling feet holes on the headstock end, unlike the older ones I have seen in pictures with only 2.  They also have a nice 3/4" holes in addition to the 1/2-12  threaded holes so I can put in heavy feet.  I have most of the lathe cleaned up now and hope to have the stand together tomorrow and will decide how best to lift the lathe onto the stand.  I think I have room to get my Bobcat into the spot I want to put it so I should not have any trouble lifting it with a sling on the forks.

With respect to cleaning the lathe, I m using WD-40 as many have and it works pretty good, but I wonder how much should I take it apart to ensure that I get all the cosmoline, or whatever they cover it with, out of everything?  Should I remove the compound and cross slide to make sure there is nothing left underneath?  Also it looks like the change gears are covered as well, should I remove them to clean them? And how have people cleaned leadscrew threads?

My unit has an interlock switch on the inside of the gear cover that I assume prevents it from running without the cover on.  I don't recall seeing this in any of the pictures I have seen online.  Is this something new or did I just miss it when I looked at pictures?

Thanks again for all the comments.

Paul


----------



## Rich V (Aug 30, 2017)

I cleaned the grease off of all visible and moving parts, any left elsewhere should do no harm.
My 1340 is the older model, no interlock on the gear cover. Must be a new addition.
Enjoy your lathe, it's a great machine.


----------



## Alan H. (Aug 31, 2017)

Paul, the most effective way that I have found to remove cosmoline is with mineral spirits and a paint brush.  That will cut it quickly and will get it out of the threads of lead screws, etc.  Finish cleaning it with WD-40 (full of surfactants/detergents) and then oil it up with way oil.   

I did remove the compound to clean it up and clean under it.   

Ref. feet for the stand, I advocate using the 1/2" threaded holes since they are outboard.  This gives you the most stability and you can get some TECO style leveling feet for it.  Search the forum and you will find loads of info on that topic.   I believe the larger holes in the stand are for anchoring the machine to concrete if so desired.   You likely know that the 1/2-12 holes are Whitworth and you should chase them with a 1/2"-13 tap.   I highly recommend you do that while assembling the stand.   There is a thread here on that topic. 

You likely know this already but just in case, here's a tip - when searching this forum use Google since the forum's search engine is almost worthless.  Here is an example for searching the forum on the topic of feet for a PM1340.  In a Google search box use "teco feet pm1340 lathe site:www.hobby-machinist.com".  Do not include the quotes.   

Regarding the interlock on the cover, must be something new.  My machine was delivered late last year and does not include that.  I am not sure that I would have left it in a control scheme anyway.  There are times I want to observe the gears, belt, hall effect sensor, etc. while it is running. 

Enjoy that new machine.


----------



## ptrotter (Aug 31, 2017)

Alan,

I hear what you say about the 1/2" holes being father outboard but I don't think 2" over 4 1/2 ft. will make much difference.  In any case, I got a good deal on some leveling mounts with 3/4" studs so that drove the decision to use those holes.  I can always change it if I have to.

The interlock is annoying.  If I don't bypass it, I will need to enlarge the spindle hole to use a spider and I am not sure yet how I will do that.  Safety is a good thing but sometimes it gets in the way.

Paul


----------



## mksj (Sep 1, 2017)

Many 1340GT owners have built an outboard spider which can be used with the belt cover on. I recommend using 2.5" steel rod or you can also get steel tubing with 0.5" wall thickness, the latter is much quicker to make. I use two sets of staggered holes for the spider bolts, one closer in is for allen screws the other for cap screws. I also milled some flats around each bolt hole, I use locking knurled nuts to prevent the bolts from backing out. I prefer to use fine thread screws for the spider bolts. In most cases you will probably need to slightly enlarge the belt cover spindle hole, usually this is because it does not line up on center with the spindle. I clamped my cover to my mill as shown below, and took a few shallow cuts. I have given some dimensions for a spider below, this needs to be measured up on your machine and built to your preferences.  I used cone head allen screws to hold the spider to the spindle, I made some very shallow holes so they lock onto the spindle, but this is probably not necessary.

I made my own brass tip spider bolts using 0.250 brass rod, turned down the one end to ~0.200" and center drilled the spider bolts and glued the tips in with metal epoxy. I slightly profiled the tips so they will hold stock down to 0.2". In addition I also made some finger spider clamps, the ball in the allen screw head allows the fingers to articulate.


----------



## Rich V (Sep 1, 2017)

I built my spider out of 7075 aluminum, plenty strong and easier to machine. (plus I got several feet of 3in stock cheap) I undersized the spider by a couple of thousands then heated it with a torch and slid it onto the spindle. Very tight fit but I also used set screws to hold it on just in case.


----------



## Bamban (Sep 1, 2017)

*"In addition I also made some finger spider clamps, the ball in the allen screw head allows the fingers to articulate."*

These finger clamps when used on front and outboard spiders are great when dialing a barrel, no stress/bending on the barrel


----------



## Alan H. (Sep 1, 2017)

Bamban said:


> *"In addition I also made some finger spider clamps, the ball in the allen screw head allows the fingers to articulate."*
> 
> These finger clamps when used on front and outboard spiders are great when dialing a barrel, no stress/bending on the barrel


How 'bout a photo?   I would love to see what you are talking about.

Edit: Mark tipped me off - they're in his post.   I see them now.


----------



## Bamban (Sep 2, 2017)

Here they are in action. To start on a barrel I will hold the muzzle end with outboard spider and run the live center up to the barrel. Installing the finger clamps with barrel held by the live center makes it a lot easier. Once the barrel is held  loosely, pull back the tailstock and I will them set the amount of stick out to be cut into a tenon.


----------



## ptrotter (Sep 9, 2017)

I am moving slowly ahead with my new lathe.  It is still on the pallet, however I have the pallet on a couple of moving dollies so I can move it around a little.  I have put together a hoist ring similar to what Mark Jacobs described in another post.  I can't get my engine hoist in the right place due to the width of the pallets so I will need to borrow my neighbor's Bobcat again to lift it.  Fortunately I can get into my shop with the Bobcat.  I am leaving it on the pallet until I get the VFD and DRO installed since it will be easier to get at the back of the lathe that way.  I ordered a DRO PROs magnetic DRO and will work on getting that installed as soon as it arrives.  I did hook it up temporarily to my rotary phase converter to make sure it runs.  I only ran it for a minute but it seems ok.  I ordered a VFD and the associated parts to get started on that.  Time to talk to Mark about a new control board and proximity switch.  When that is done, I'll lift it onto the stands.  So far, so good.

Paul


----------



## ptrotter (Mar 5, 2018)

So I am finally getting a little more done on my new PM1340GT.  It is now on the stand and has been leveled.  The VFD is done and Marks's control board has been installed.  As everyone else who used Mark's control board has stated, it is beautiful work.  The DRP PROs DRO has been installed and seems to work fine.  The next step is to finish all the clean up, run it through all the gears and then change out the oils.  I picked up a Bison 4 jaw independent scroll chuck awhile back and got that cleaned up as well.  Then I will check out the alignment.  My first project will probably be a spider.  It is going to be a learning curve since my experience has been limited to a Sherline lathe in the past.  I know that the lathe does not exist if there are no pictures so:


----------



## wrmiller (Mar 5, 2018)

Outstanding 

I  just noticed your FogBuster. I recently put mine on, and am glad I did. Works great.


----------



## ptrotter (Mar 5, 2018)

That's good to hear Bill.  I have not run it yet, just tested the air so far.


----------



## ptrotter (May 31, 2018)

So after several months being distracted by other things, I finally made a few chips on my new PM1340GT.  Boy do I have a lot to learn!!
I leveled the lathe and got the twist out of the bed, so that looks good.  I made a few cuts on a test bar to check for head stock mis-alignment and found it to be off by about .0035 over 12 inches. I'm going to leave that alone and let the lathe settle in for awhile and then I will re-level and check it again.  I'll do any adjustment at that point.  My first project will be a pair of small chuck keys for my Bison 4-jaw combination chuck.  Then I need to make a spider.  I have a few more things to clean up on the lathe and I will probably change out all the fluids and make sure everything is lubed properly before I  do any more cutting.

There is so much to learn, particularly about tooling and speeds and feeds so I will be reading everything I can find and watching endless U-Tube videos.  So far, so good.


----------



## Kiwi Canuck (Jun 1, 2018)

ptrotter said:


> So after several months being distracted by other things, I finally made a few chips on my new PM1340GT.  Boy do I have a lot to learn!!
> I leveled the lathe and got the twist out of the bed, so that looks good.  I made a few cuts on a test bar to check for head stock mis-alignment and found it to be off by about .0035 over 12 inches. I'm going to leave that alone and let the lathe settle in for awhile and then I will re-level and check it again.  I'll do any adjustment at that point.  My first project will be a pair of small chuck keys for my Bison 4-jaw combination chuck.  Then I need to make a spider.  I have a few more things to clean up on the lathe and I will probably change out all the fluids and make sure everything is lubed properly before I  do any more cutting.
> 
> There is so much to learn, particularly about tooling and speeds and feeds so I will be reading everything I can find and watching endless U-Tube videos.  So far, so good.



I have been on the same learning curve on my PM935 Mill, the PM1340GT is next.

Plexi and ABS plastic, although messy are a lot more forgiving to learn on, it's saved me a few times getting used to the controls and no harm done when I've wound the table the wrong way.

Aluminum is also good to learn on and not too expensive to get experience.

Cheers,

David.


----------



## ptrotter (Jun 4, 2018)

More progress.  I have completed cleaning up the machine.  I drained the headstock oil and looked into the gearbox.  I was surprised at how little metal filings were in there.  I replaced the fluid with Mobil DTE 24.  I also drained the apron and refilled it with Mobil Vacuoline 1409, oiled the quick change gears, hit all the oil points and lubed the back gears.

After that I ran it for about 10 minutes at each speed.

Now to try to learn how to use it!!


----------

