# New PM 932M-PDF arrival



## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

so I *****ed on my other thread about the 11 days it took to get to me from PM.  2 days to Orlando and then sat in Estes warehouse for 9 days.   I mentioned it to Nicole at PM when I called about something they forgot to ship with the mill and she said that was way too long and not usual.  I know it was Estes stalling until they got some other freight going to the small town area I live in about 1 1/2 hours west of Orlando.  water under the bridge.  other than the delay, the delivery was flawless.  no damage to anything and the driver was a nice guy.

they are supposed to contact you the day before with a 4 hour delivery window and then the day of delivery the driver is supposed to call 30 minutes or so before arrival.  the night before around 8 pm I received an automated call and it only included the last 2 words so I called the next morning to get the 4 hour window and of course the driver just showed up without calling but so it goes.  all good.

the mill and stand were on 2 separate small pallets and not stacked.  I backed my pick up to the back of the truck in the pouring rain and he lowered the hydraulic tailgate down on top of mine and rolled them into the bed without incident.  I then backed into my shop and unloaded them with my chain hoist.  was soaking wet by then so went to the house to change and have a nice lunch.

the water damage on the top of the crate is not from today as I threw a tarp over the crates as soon as they were in my truck.  happened in china or maybe off loading from the ship or with Estes.  the mill was in a big plastic bag inside the crate so no issues.


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## Bob D (Sep 9, 2021)

Your shop is waaaaay too empty.   Congrats!!!


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

got the cast iron stand (sucker is heavy!) in the spot where it will live and leveled it up.    light rust had formed on all the unpainted areas on the bottom and some inside the stand so I sanded it off and sprayed all bare metal with Boeshield.  

spent a couple hours removing all of the heavy packing grease/oil from the mill and put way oil from my lathe supply on all the ways.  sprayed the table and all other bare metal that wasn't a ways surface with Boeshield.  did about a 90% clean up.  will do the final clean when its on the stand tomorrow.

both the mill and stand have a LOT of paint chips from assembly in china and from crating and handling I assume.  PM should include some small bottles of white and blue touch up paint with each machine.  I will call and ask for some tomorrow.  all of the chips are the result of putty flaking off.  it looks like they used a gallon of putty to try to make the cast iron look like quality work.  it isn't.    there is also a lot of paint overspray on unpainted surfaces.  it won't be hard to remove.  in fact its obvious that the workers had no pride in their product as far as finish goes.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

this is only a fraction of the paint/putty chips.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

I haven't really looked the machine over yet as far as looking for manufacturing defects, will do so next couple days.  after the unhappy post a member did and then deleted the other night I did put a good straight edge all over the table and it looks really good to me.  one obvious thing is that the Z axis lead screw is way off center of the hole cast in the top of the head.  the Z axis positioning motor installed ok and the hand crank moves the head up and down (with more effort than I imagined) so hopefully its ok.  have not powered up the machine as yet so haven't tried the positioning motor yet.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

will follow up tomorrow.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

Bob D said:


> Your shop is waaaaay too empty.   Congrats!!


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

way too much crap in my shop.  the only empty spot is the one I cleaned out for the mill.  LOL.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

It just occurred to me that this probably sounds like I'm unhappy with my purchase.  this is not the case, just reporting what I see.  if this machine turns out to be accurate and reliable I will be quite happy.


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## Bob D (Sep 9, 2021)

yota said:


> It just occurred to me that this probably sounds like I'm unhappy with my purchase.  this is not the case, just reporting what I see.  if this machine turns out to be accurate and reliable I will be quite happy.


My 940 arrived in a similar condition. I was happy with my purchase, but not with the condition it arrived in. I knew that I was going to have to clean up the machine when it arrived, but I don't think that it could have arrived much dirtier. My 1440BV lathe arrived in much better condition. 

If you need to do more clean up, these make short work of it. I don't think it took me a quarter of the time as it would have would using WD-40 or Simple Green. 



			Kresto Cherry Wipes - Heavy Duty Hand Cleaning Wipes


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

I used mineral spirits and some bar mop towels.  went pretty well.  I had no problem with the clean up.  the more grease and oil the better.  it came off really well.  will use some citrus degreaser on the painted areas tomorrow.


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## Bob D (Sep 9, 2021)

yota said:


> I used mineral spirits and some bar mop towels.  went pretty well.  I had no problem with the clean up.  the more grease and oil the better.  it came off really well.  will use some citrus degreaser on the painted areas tomorrow.


I did not problem with the oil either, it was the grit imbedded in it that was the issue.


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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

the only grit I found was behind the table at the base of the column and in the threaded holes for the Z axis positioning motor bolts.  hoping there isn't any in the gearbox.  trying to decide if I want to go there.


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## George R (Sep 9, 2021)

yota said:


> I haven't really looked the machine over yet as far as looking for manufacturing defects, will do so next couple days. after the unhappy post a member did and then deleted the other night I did put a good straight edge all over the table and it looks really good to me. one obvious thing is that the Z axis lead screw is way off center of the hole cast in the top of the head. the Z axis positioning motor installed ok and the hand crank moves the head up and down (with more effort than I imagined) so hopefully its ok. have not powered up the machine as yet so haven't tried the positioning motor yet.



Glad you got it In good condition. Page 33 talks about checking the z-axis alignment. Yours may have shifted durin shipment







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## yota (Sep 9, 2021)

oops.  should have read that today I guess.   thanks.


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## Aukai (Sep 10, 2021)

Sounds like an Ikea project, for the money it should be clean for the sale, not the purchaser doing that much. I'll have to see how mine goes, don't want to be throwing rocks in a glass house...


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## Firstram (Sep 10, 2021)

George R said:


>


Sad that the instructions include directions for cleaning up "machining residue" on a new machine.


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## George R (Sep 10, 2021)

Firstram said:


> Sad that the instructions include directions for cleaning up "machining residue" on a new machine.



These machines spend weeks on a cargo ship and then days on multiple trucks. They need to be protected from rust during transit. So, cleaning them up on arrival is needed. Mine just had the protective grease to clean off. 

It would be nice if all signs of machining residue were already clean, but why do something that would increase the price if it is going to need cleaning upon arrival anyway?


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## Cletus (Sep 10, 2021)

CONGRATULATIONS! 
A few dings here and there from the trucking company no doubt, but I'm sure you'll get that all sorted. 
Have fun!


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## Firstram (Sep 10, 2021)

George R said:


> These machines spend weeks on a cargo ship and then days on multiple trucks. They need to be protected from rust during transit. So, cleaning them up on arrival is needed. Mine just had the protective grease to clean off.
> 
> It would be nice if all signs of machining residue were already clean, but why do something that would increase the price if it is going to need cleaning upon arrival anyway?
> 
> ...


Cosmoline and swarf are two very different things. At least they didn't mention casting sand!


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## Janderso (Sep 10, 2021)

The instructions shown on initial inspection are from Precision Mathews?
Yeah, too bad you need to take apart a new machine to check for grit and misalignments.


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## Bob Korves (Sep 10, 2021)

Those import machines are quite a bit cheaper to buy than anything currently made in the USA, and they also need to be shipped here.  Part of the savings and success of Chinese machines is in not spending additional time and effort in making them pretty.  I have mostly old USA machines that are full of dings and chips have some rust, and don't worry about it much.   I use them to make things, and the results of that work is how I rank my machines, not how pretty they are.  I actually like the patina on old and heavily used machines, they have been doing what they were intended to do for all those decades.  This is not a white collar hobby, IMHO...


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## George R (Sep 10, 2021)

Bob Korves said:


> Those import machines are quite a bit cheaper to buy than anything currently made in the USA, and they also need to be shipped here. Part of the savings and success of Chinese machines is in not spending additional time and effort in making them pretty. I have mostly old USA machines that are full of dings and chips have some rust, and don't worry about it much. I use them to make things, and the results of that work is how I rank my machines, not how pretty they are. I actually like the patina on old and heavily used machines, they have been doing what they were intended to do for all those decades. This is not a white collar hobby, IMHO...



Exactly. To achieve the price point they do, the extra time to detail and polish the machines simply isn’t available. You could easily increase the cost by 25-50%. 


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

Firstram said:


> Sad that the instructions include directions for cleaning up "machining residue" on a new machine.


I had that same thought.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

George R said:


> These machines spend weeks on a cargo ship and then days on multiple trucks. They need to be protected from rust during transit. So, cleaning them up on arrival is needed. Mine just had the protective grease to clean off.
> 
> It would be nice if all signs of machining residue were already clean, but why do something that would increase the price if it is going to need cleaning upon arrival anyway?
> 
> ...


the instruction is for cleaning out the inside of the support column, not part of wiping down the shipping grease.  makes me wonder what the inside of the gearbox looks like.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

Cletus said:


> CONGRATULATIONS!
> A few dings here and there from the trucking company no doubt, but I'm sure you'll get that all sorted.
> Have fun!


not from the trucking company at all.  all these dings where there when this was put in the crate.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

Bob Korves said:


> Those import machines are quite a bit cheaper to buy than anything currently made in the USA, and they also need to be shipped here.  Part of the savings and success of Chinese machines is in not spending additional time and effort in making them pretty.  I have mostly old USA machines that are full of dings and chips have some rust, and don't worry about it much.   I use them to make things, and the results of that work is how I rank my machines, not how pretty they are.  I actually like the patina on old and heavily used machines, they have been doing what they were intended to do for all those decades.  This is not a white collar hobby, IMHO...


agree but those old machines earned their wounds.  if you buy something brand new YOU as the new owner should get to inflict the damage.  LOL.

like I said above, if its accurate and dependable I'm happy.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

George R said:


> Glad you got it In good condition. Page 33 talks about checking the z-axis alignment. Yours may have shifted durin shipment
> 
> 
> 
> ...


George, you saved me a lot of trouble.  I would have gotten to this step but the machine would have been on the stand by then and 15 inches from the wall.  your post got me to go thru this work early this morning BEFORE I set the mill on the stand.   thank you.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

better pic of the top of the lead screw.    there is no way I could see that the leadscrew could be dislocated in shipping.  when I took the access plate off the back of the column the lead screw looks cocked.  the only way to adjust this would be to shim out the thick cast plate at the hand crank to pull the bottom over.  if I did this then the 4 screw holes they drilled and tapped in the top plate would no longer align with the Z axis lift motor base holes.   going to live with it.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

column access port.   of course the body filler came off with the cover at the bolts.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

there is a radial bearing, upper and lower races and 2 nuts on the bottom of the leadscrew.  the nuts were so loose there was no contact of the bearing with the upper race.  I believe the nuts and bearing would have quickly fallen off from the screw turning and vibration.  the bottom nut (lock nut) was almost off.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

there is a bolt and washer that holds the worm gear on the hand crank shaft.  this is how I found it.  I screwed it in about 1/4 in and snugged it with an allen wrench.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

the inside of the column was actually pretty clean.  there was some grit sitting on the corner gussets but not a lot.   cleaned it up, removed the animal fat they used for grease (kidding) and re-greased with Belray.  put some oil on the leadscrew.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

this is what happens when you put body filler where a large bolt has to be tightened.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

rented an engine hoist to set the machine on the base.  learned that the higher you lift the more the machine tilts (duh).  used a 2nd strap to start out tilted and make it level by the time it cleared the base.   went well for a one man show.  still have to do the final wipe down cleaning, test electrical, install the X and Z motors and then on to checking things out and tramming.   going to take my time.


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## George R (Sep 10, 2021)

yota said:


> this is what happens when you put body filler where a large bolt has to be tightened.



I do shake my head at the body filler. To me, the only purpose of the paint is to prevent rust. I would be happier with just paint and to have imperfections visible in case they start to become an issue 


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

I'm guessing that their (the chinese, not singling out PM) castings are pretty horrible and we would not purchase the product if we saw what it actually looks like.  there were a few very large voids they slapped putty on INSIDE the column,  almost looked like they could go all the way through to the outside.  maybe they do.    if they need to putty it would be nice if they would use something a little more durable.   and as I'm sure that PM reads these threads, Matt, please supply some touch up paint with the machines


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## Philzy (Sep 10, 2021)

You guys are killing me. With my luck, I’m going to get a crate full of loose parts.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

hopefully not but you need to check.  need to go into the column anyway.  just hoping the head is ok.  not up to dismantling the gearbox to check at the moment.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

completed the final cleaning.  the citrus degreaser worked great on the painted surfaces.   installed a plug for my 220 receps, powered up and all controls working.   after electrical check I installed the X and Z axis motors and tested all mechanical functions.  everything is working.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

anyone with a 932M know what these are for?


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

also, came with this wrench.  fits nothing that I can find.  too big for the drawbar nut.


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## RebelJD (Sep 10, 2021)

Yota, you are finding a lot of the same things I found.  I'm going to discuss them on my other post.  The two bolts and washer are for the crank handles.  The big wrench fits the nuts on the headstock tilt.  You'll need it to tram the mill.   

Congrats and getting it set up.  I found a few other minor things, so check out my other post.


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## RebelJD (Sep 10, 2021)

Also, the Z axis lead screw being off center should not be an issue.   It is supported on the upper end by the motor.  As you will see it moves quite easily when you install the motor and line up the bolts.  At least mine did .


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## Larry$ (Sep 10, 2021)

yota said:


> this is what happens when you put body filler where a large bolt has to be tightened.


Filler has always been used on castings. I decided to sand blast a hundred year old Dobbs dovetailer. Big areas had been filled in the castings.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

Larry$ said:


> Filler has always been used on castings. I decided to sand blast a hundred year old Dobbs dovetailer. Big areas had been filled in the castings.


what filler did they use a hundred years ago?  on cars back then they used lead.  this is 2021.  well, maybe not in china.


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## yota (Sep 10, 2021)

RebelJD said:


> Yota, you are finding a lot of the same things I found.  I'm going to discuss them on my other post.  The two bolts and washer are for the crank handles.  The big wrench fits the nuts on the headstock tilt.  You'll need it to tram the mill.
> 
> Congrats and getting it set up.  I found a few other minor things, so check out my other post.


I just went thru your post, did not see any new info on what was bothering you.  is there another thread?  didn't see one.


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## George R (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> anyone with a 932M know what these are for?



Hardware for the handles.  The cap screws thread into the leadscrews


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## George R (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> also, came with this wrench. fits nothing that I can find. too big for the drawbar nut.



Not a clue on this one. I tossed it back in the cheesy plastic box it came in. Let me know if you figure it out


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## yota (Sep 11, 2021)

George R said:


> Hardware for the handles.  The cap screws thread into the leadscrews
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'm so stupid.   the handle on the rt end of the table also has a small allen screw.  are you using that too?


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## yota (Sep 11, 2021)

George R said:


> Hardware for the handles.  The cap screws thread into the leadscrews
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


the longer handle is supposed to go on the Y axis so the table can come fully outboard.


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## George R (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> I'm so stupid. the handle on the rt end of the table also has a small allen screw. are you using that too?



Yes. I think they all have allen screws.


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## George R (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> the longer handle is supposed to go on the Y axis so the table can come fully outboard.



I’ll check mine when I get home tomorrow. I thought I matched the left and right handles, but maybe I didn’t 


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## EVMiller (Sep 11, 2021)

> yota said:
> 
> 
> > also, came with this wrench.  fits nothing that I can find.  too big for the drawbar nut.
> ...


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## yota (Sep 11, 2021)

the wrench does not fit the headstock nuts.  well, it goes on but is a sloppy fit and will damage them eventually.


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## George R (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> the wrench does not fit the headstock nuts. well, it goes on but is a sloppy fit and will damage them eventually.



Correct. It doesn’t fit anything that I’ve found


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## Red Desert (Sep 11, 2021)

Excellent conversation about the 932m setup
I’ve had mine about a year and a half and experienced many of the same issues.
Mine also came with a grinding noise in the two lowest gear settings (at no extra charge)
PM told me I should live with it and it would probably go away.  Unfortunately it hasn’t 
I do think I’m going to change the xy cranks for hand wheels because of clearance issues .


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## Larry$ (Sep 11, 2021)

yota said:


> what filler did they use a hundred years ago?


I don't know what it was. I suspect it was something like plaster of Paris from the way it powdered. Had a slightly yellowish tint.


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## yota (Sep 12, 2021)

the stuff they used on my mill has about the strength of drywall mud (maybe slightly stronger).  when I took the top plate off the column to do the clean up per the manual, it was stuck on.  I tapped it very lightly with a plastic dead blow hammer and got yet another chip as the edge of the thick plate is built out of filler.


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## yota (Sep 13, 2021)

did a first tramming.  the X axis was off .0035.  was able to adjust to zero.   used a rubber mallet to tap on the head after loosening the big nuts somewhat.  was a little trial and error with over correcting till I got the hang of it.


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## yota (Sep 13, 2021)

nod is off half a thou.  would you mess with this?


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## yota (Sep 13, 2021)




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## yota (Sep 13, 2021)

I did swing the tool around to various different angles and moved the table around both X and Y and the readings where consistent.  the dial indicators are 6 in apart.


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## yota (Sep 13, 2021)

just watched David Best's video that he posted on the 940 thread so it looks like I have a few other things to check also.


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## Christianstark (Sep 13, 2021)

yota said:


> just watched David Best's video that he posted on the 940 thread so it looks like I have a few other things to check also.


Grain of salt. I have never trimmed a mill before, but a half thou over 6” SEEMS pretty good to me on nod. Especially considering what you would need to do to correct it.


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## yota (Sep 14, 2021)

that's what I was thinking.  esp since I'm a total newb to this and will not be making anything that needs ultra high precision anytime soon lol.


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## yota (Sep 14, 2021)

so I set up to install and indicate in my vise.   while I had the test indicator on the spindle I thought I would check the table again.  not sure if this is a good method for checking or not but I ran the indicator on the table for the full width in the X axis under power at low speed.  the needle didn't move more than a half thou in the full length of travel from stop to stop and most of the way it was way less than that.  I was amazed.   I then hand cranked it in the Y axis across the full width of the table and it confirmed the half thou that showed with the double dial indicator method.  what was interesting was that it stayed very close to zero from the back edge until it reached the front 2 inches or so.  the double dial tool shows the variation but not where it occurs.  I was going to try the method in David Best's vid but I hate to admit that I don't yet have a precision square.


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## Aukai (Sep 14, 2021)

I was looking for David's  post do you still have a link?


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## yota (Sep 14, 2021)

video on post number 10.









						Pm 940v
					

***Edit below*** ive since addressed the issues discussed in this thread. Hopefully things hold up because im really liking this mill.  Alright i need help again hah.  Im going through testing mill alignment. Mill table movement is flat in the x and the Y. I know you're not really supposed to...




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## Aukai (Sep 14, 2021)

Thank you, I'll download it for when my mill gets here.


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## yota (Sep 14, 2021)




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## yota (Sep 26, 2021)




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## yota (Oct 8, 2021)




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## yota (Nov 29, 2021)

decided to install a budget DRO system.   will be installing covers on the scales. 
yes,
	

		
			
		

		
	














I know a real set up has lots of advantages over this


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## yota (Nov 29, 2021)

as usual when you drill on these chinese machines.  actually, in this case it was just from blowing the threaded hole out with air.  I bet I have 15 of these chunks missing.  came with at least 10 of them.  this is just one.  gotta be 1/8 in of "putty".


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## yota (Nov 29, 2021)

I am enjoying the mill though.


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## yota (Dec 4, 2021)

kinda heavy duty but it's material I already had.


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## E0stir (Apr 8, 2022)

yota said:


> column access port.   of course the body filler came off with the cover at the bolts.


Thats atrocious...


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