# Question for 1340GT owner w/PM Steel Stand



## Jake P (May 17, 2021)

I've been trying to find out what the threaded stud length is of the included leveling feet that come with the "heavy welded steel stand" that can be ordered with the 1340GT from Precision Mathews.

I've called PM and they were supposed to call me back with the dimension, but they didn't.

I have made a riser/base for my lathe, but I would like to know if the feet that are included are going to be able to reach through my material.  If not then I would like to know now so I can order new feet and not have to order and wait after the lathe arrives and I've got borrowed lifting equipment sitting idle.

I've attached a drawing that I took from online of a random example.  It's the dimension that is labeled as 2" in this drawing that I need the actual dimension of.

Thanks in advance!

Jake


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## Aukai (May 17, 2021)

Mine came with hockey pucks, and bolts. I have the heavy duty welded stand. I guess you can put what ever length bolt up to a point.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai,

Thanks for that info.  Interesting.  

As you say, I guess you can use what you like with that setup.  

Those look to be about 3" diameter?

How long were the bolts that they sent with those pucks?


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

I found his photo in a thread by Titanium Knurler, and now things make more sense as to what is provided and how it works.


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## 7milesup (May 18, 2021)

That seems to be a standard mounting system Jake.  Even my Eisen 1440E has the same cast iron pucks and bolts.


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## pacifica (May 18, 2021)

Jake P said:


> I found his photo in a thread by Titanium Knurler, and now things make more sense as to what is provided and how it works.


I don't know if it makes a difference but I milled flat and parallel the top and bottom  of the  orange pucks. They are coarse casted and definitely not flat .


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

pacifica said:


> I don't know if it makes a difference but I milled flat and parallel the top and bottom  of the  orange pucks. They are coarse casted and definitely not flat .


It would seem to me that parallel would be inconsequential as they are by design to adapt to differences in the plane between the machine and the mounting surface (floor).  Coarse may be an issue I guess depending on what you are going to place them on top of, but in my case it's a wood floor.


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

I would think if you smoothed out the dimple it would help the bolt find it's level better.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> I would think if you smoothed out the dimple it would help the bolt find it's level better.


I would think if you smoothed out the dimple it would help the lathe walk off the puck. Seems to me that the dimple is there to contain the bolt.  But I don't even have anything in hand yet, so I could be completely wrong.


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

Keep the dimple, just smooth it's sides is what I meant.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> Keep the dimple, just smooth it's sides is what I meant.


Are you using the provided feet or did you switch to something different.  Seems like a lot of folks switch, at least based on photos I see here on Hobby-Machinest.com


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

I used the ones supplied.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Can you confirm the length of the bolts provided?  The threaded portion specifically.  And I've read somewhere that they are M16's?


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

The stand is threaded, my chasers are M12, and M14. 14 is too big and 12 is too small. My imperial chasers 1/2" binds. total thread under the head is 1.5"


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> The stand is threaded, my chasers are M12, and M14. 14 is too big and 12 is too small. My imperial chasers 1/2" binds. total thread under the head is 1.5"


Thanks!  Looks like I'll be getting some longer bolts.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

I think I'm a bit confused on something.  The bolts that are provided, are they approx. a 5/8" or 1/2" diameter?  It looks like that dimple in the puck will take a pretty large bolt.


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

9/16 is too big as well, so I have to assume there is a 13mm bolt out there. The bolt must thread through the stand foot.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

I'm going to bolt the stands (pedestals, bases or whatever the proper terminology is ) to the base/riser that I made.  The feet (pucks) will be mounted to my base/riser and will not be connected to the stand directly.  From the top down there is the lathe, the stand, my base/riser, and the feet (pucks).

My base is 1" thick where the bolts for the puck will go through, so I need to be able to get through that 1" of material and still have room for the lock nut.  That's why I asked about the length of the provided bolts.  

Since I'm mounting the bolts/pucks to my base, it's irrelevant to me what the stand is threaded for as I will not be using that mounting point.

The reason I'm asking about the diameter of the bolt is because I would like to get the largest bolt that will fit the dimple of the puck properly.

I was wondering about the bolt diameter since too big of a bolt will not set in the dimple correctly.  I would like to get the proper hardware now and get my base drilled and threaded so I don't have to do that while I have my friends tractor in my driveway to do the lifting off the truck and into my shop.  Even if one is to do nothing extra in terms of modifications there is a lot of work to do from getting the crate off the truck to mounting the lathe on the stand, and I just don't want to keep my friends machine any longer than I need to.

I called PM for a dimension the other day and got kind of a snarky response about "why not just wait until you get the machine", that sounded kind of like stop bothering me for measurements.  I would just wait if I had my own lifting equipment like a bigger tractor than what I currently have, or perhaps an equipment hoist in the ceiling of my shop.  But I don't.  Just trying to get ahead of the game


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

These bolts do not fit into the very bottom of the puck, if I was to use imperial I'd go 9/16, 5/8 would have a little too much diameter. That's just my feeling, maybe someone has a better feeling about it.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> These bolts do not fit into the very bottom of the puck, if I was to use imperial I'd go 9/16, 5/8 would have a little too much diameter. That's just my feeling, maybe someone has a better feeling about it.


Thanks for that info!  

I'm wondering if the bolts provided were turned or ground to have a round end that would match the dimple?  I suspect not, that they are "just out of the box". 

And if not, would a rounded end of a 5/8 bolt fit proper?  Hope that makes sense.


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

If you round the end of the 5/8s to the shape of the dimple it will be fine. the OEMs are out of the box square.


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> If you round the end of the 5/8s to the shape of the dimple it will be fine. the OEMs are out of the box square.


Thanks!  Much appreciate your time and input.  Off to the hardware store I go!

Edit:  Local hardware only goes to 1/2 in the bolt I needed, so it's off to McMaster-Carr I go


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> If you round the end of the 5/8s to the shape of the dimple it will be fine. the OEMs are out of the box square.


I have another question, but no hurry.  I am wondering what the diameter of the un-threaded hole is that is next to the threaded hole?


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## Aukai (May 18, 2021)

.755 is what I'm showing


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## Jake P (May 18, 2021)

Aukai said:


> .755 is what I'm showing


Thanks so much again!


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## pacifica (May 19, 2021)

Aukai said:


> Keep the dimple, just smooth it's sides is what I meant.





Aukai said:


> I would think if you smoothed out the dimple it would help the bolt find it's level better.


I didn't say I removed the dimple, I actually cleaned and recessed that area also to contain the bolt properly(an actual recess,not an uneven rough casting). If the area isn't smooth then every time you make a turn with the bolt the movement is uneven and inaccurate. I also made sure the bottom of the bolt was flat. That way when you adjust  the bolt isn't jumping from high spots to low spots. Also your floor should be reasonably smooth. 

For example: if you place a leg on a crack in the floor, when you turn- it won't move a predictable amount.


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