# PM1340GT - catching oil and chips



## Alan H. (Apr 14, 2017)

I have been looking for a way to catch the oil drips and some of the chips from my PM1340GT.  I had noticed a couple of our friends here had put catch pans under the bed and the quick change gearbox to accomplish this.

I took some measurements and went to Walmart to buy some cheap pans.  I think I found the ticket.

A small loaf pan (4.4 x 8.4 x 2.50) and baking pans (21 x 15 x 1).   I bought two of the baking pans and one of the loaf pans.  While the baking pans will cover the length of the bed, I will likely only use one on the headstock end the majority of the time.

I trimmed the loaf pan on a bevel so the levers would not be impeded and it is easily pulled out.  It should catch the majority of that oil that drips out and makes such a big mess.   Cleaned the machine up last night to get these pans in place on a clean machine.  Now ready to make a mess again.  Hopefully these pans will help cleaning it up from time to time.  I hate a mess.


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## Dave Smith (Apr 14, 2017)

good job Alan---I use a couple of the large aluminum bakery trays under the bed of my Logan to catch the mess---Dave


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## darkzero (Apr 14, 2017)

Nordicware makes nice pans. I've used those alumn bake pans as chip pans for other machines. Nice & thick.

Cool idea but I'm confused. Chip pans on top of a chip pan? What's wrong with the stock chip pan?


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## Alan H. (Apr 14, 2017)

Easier to clean up the oily mess.

The PM1340 is tight underneath the bed on the headstock end, 1 3/8".  This pan slides under there and should catch the worst part to clean up.

I almost bought a Sharp because it had a removable chip pan but the cost was more than I wanted to lay out.  My son has one.  So my removable chip pan is a Walmart bread pan! 

Edit: Obviously the Sharp has a much larger removable pan that holds a significant volume.


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## darkzero (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh I see. I hear you on that one. I wish I had a pull out chip pan or at the least a pan that was deeper. Mine is shallow too. I pick up the larger chips, then vacuum up the smaller chips.

My lathe has started to drip a bit & it's annoying sometimes. I have just been laying down a oil pad when the lathe is not in use.


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## wrmiller (Apr 14, 2017)

I found some little plastic(?) pan that fits right under my QC and prevents a mess. I'd not thought about putting a pan under the lathe bed itself. May have to give that some thought...


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## Dave Smith (Apr 14, 2017)

Will---my two large bread pans work good for easier removal of mess of chips above the lathe chip tray---one is horizontal under the bed and the top one 90 degrees to bed reaches all the way to back wall---also works good if you drop tool or parts by pulling tray out to find easier----Dave


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## fradish (Apr 14, 2017)

I also use a baking sheet for my lathe, but I would think a plastic tray made for a dog's crate
would work too and you could probably get a single tray that would fit better.  Here is one 
that is around 30" x 18".  The downside is that it is plastic.  Not sure how well that would
hold up.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Pe...492190034&sr=8-3&keywords=dog+crate+tray&th=1


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## jer (Apr 14, 2017)

It's hard to clean up my PM1030V too, very tight. I have used three pans under it for a while because it's hard to clean up. The left two catch mess and the right one holds tools. This is one of the reasons I bought a 1440 due to the removable chip pan.


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## darkzero (Apr 14, 2017)

I could understand the use of these pans for smaller lathes that do not have a chip pan. Like fradish I used a dog cage pan for my old mini lathe as the entire lathe fit in it. It was thin galvanized steel though. It just didn't make sense to me to add chip pans if you already have a chip pan. But I could understand the use for making clean up easier.


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## Alan H. (Apr 14, 2017)

fradish said:


> I also use a baking sheet for my lathe, but I would think a plastic tray made for a dog's crate
> would work too and you could probably get a single tray that would fit better.  Here is one
> that is around 30" x 18".  The downside is that it is plastic.  Not sure how well that would
> hold up.
> ...


The maximum width that you can use on the PM1340GT is 15 1/2".  So that is why the pan in the photo that kicked this thread off is a good choice for this lathe.  It is also shallow enough to fit under the low bed height at the headstock end.


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## Alan H. (Apr 14, 2017)

wrmiller said:


> I found some little plastic(?) pan that fits right under my QC and prevents a mess. I'd not thought about putting a pan under the lathe bed itself. May have to give that some thought...


Bill, do you remember where you got the little plastic pan?


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## wrmiller (Apr 14, 2017)

Alan H said:


> Bill, do you remember where you got the little plastic pan?



Our local Ace Hardware IIRC. Was wandering through the kitchen stuff section (wife's favorite part), and saw this little pan and said hmmm...


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## bobl (Apr 14, 2017)

I use boot tray from $ store on my heavy 10 that's a good use for Chinese crap


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## bss1 (Apr 14, 2017)

I found a porcelain sushi tray that fits perfectly under the QC gear box on the pm1340gt to catch the oil drips. Easy to wipe out with a paper towel.  I tried a bread pan at first but it was too high and not enough room for the levers to operate without moving it out of the way.


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