# 9x49 mill from QMT (Warning - pic heavy)



## Lonnie (Apr 29, 2017)

Awhile back I had emailed QMT to enquire about their PM-950v that has the Taiwan head on a Chinese body. I was looking at the hybrid mill to save some money for tooling from my milling budget. Matt let me know that he had a 9x49 factory sample mill that was built in Taiwan and of the same quality of his PM-949 coming in. He gave me a price on it that, well, only a fool would have refused. Caveat was it only came with a 90 day warranty and it was green. 

I know it's a lot of machine for a hobbyist but I wanted something I would grow into, not out of. The other reason is I have the room for a big mill. 

So technically this is not a Precision Matthews machine but seeing how it came from QMT and is of similar quality as the PM-949, I decided this would be the best forum to put it in. I'm not sure if Matt has plans on carrying this machine or not. 

I'm not much of a reviewer so this will be more of a picture review.
Yesterday the Fedex truck came by with the crate. I don't know who packed it up for shipment at QMT but a HUGE kudos needs to go out to them! This machine was not moving anywhere. The only box that seen any sort of damage at all was the rotary table, that I purchased to go along with it.







Rotary table box. The rotab was fine, just box damage.





The mill is a Van YSM-15VS. I can't find too much information on this machine online but I can say they are very well built.











You don't truly understand just how heavy a machine of this caliber is until you physically have to move one. I was on my own when it arrived and after I had the top of the crate taken off, it took more than an hour just to get it off the pallet and onto the floor. Once it was on the floor, it took another 30 - 45 minutes to get it picked up just high enough with my shop crane and move it 15 feet to it's temporary home. I was so engrossed in getting this thing moved safely that I completely forgot to take any pictures of the process........

Here it is in it's position in my garage.






The mill didn't seem to have a whole lot of cosmoline on it but what was there was a royal pain to remove. I really don't remember my lathe taking so long to clean. Little bulb in my head came on once I had already started cleaning to take a couple pics.
















There were a few asking about fit and finish quality of the PM-949 and this machine is awesome. Everything on this mill is tight meaning very well fit. I made zero adjustments to it and the backlash on the Y axis is .002" and .004 on the X. I didn't check the Z though, maybe today I will. All three axis move like silk. 






















The finish on the table and ways is very good. It's not a high shine finish, more of a satin finish. 





















I could find no flaws in the casting anywhere but there were a couple of small dings on the table ways. Not sure what they are from but picture does make it look worse than they actually are.











That was pretty much all I could muster yesterday. My mind is young but my body is getting older. I'm pretty sure I used muscles that I never even knew I had. I did shim up the base and level the mill somewhat. I have plans on building a base for the machine to sit in so I can move it easily if need be. The best idea I have seen so far is the one firestopper (Paco) built for mksj (Mark). It's post #107 in the Show us your welding projects thread. 

Today I plan on hooking up temporary power to it, installing the power feed, tramming it and if things go good, start on the DRO installation. I ordered a Easson 12B from Matt as well. I will try to get more pictures of my progress posted up later on.


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## mksj (Apr 29, 2017)

Awesome mill, size matters. Paco did a phenomenal job on the base and was able to keep the machine very low. We did add spacers between the caster base and the base for more bottom clearance when moving off the drop deck trailer. If you need any pictures let me know, or check with Paco as to materials and building specs. I have an EL700 DRO on my mill, but the DRO installs are all pretty similar, so if you have any questions let us know. The DROPros installation information also has a lot of information on what others have done and there are some instructions manuals online specific to glass scale installs. http://www.dropros.com/Digital_Readout_DRO_Installation.htm

Thank you for posting. 
Mark


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## Lonnie (Apr 29, 2017)

Thanks for the link, Mark. The DRO install is definitely something that I want to take my time with.
I have a good friend and neighbour that is a welder and has agreed to do the base for me. Hopefully he can start on it in the next week or so. If I require any more info, I'll shoot you an email.
Thanks


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## [X]Outlaw (Apr 29, 2017)

Beast of a machine! Can't wait to get mine 

What capacity is the crane you used for removing it from the pallet?

Chevy


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## Lonnie (Apr 30, 2017)

It is a 2 ton, problem was the pallet was too wide for me to get it in close enough to pick the mill straight up. 
I finally gave in and cut down the pallet narrow enough so I could get the hoist in and do it right.


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## [X]Outlaw (Apr 30, 2017)

Cool...My hoist is 2 Ton as well, just wanted to make sure it was up to the task.

Chevy


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## Lonnie (Apr 30, 2017)

It's a pretty good grunt for a 2 ton but doable. Would have be much easier if I had a second person to help out.

Yesterday I got it powered up, gave it a very quick tram and took her for a test run. I installed my vise so I could hold parts for my DRO install in case I needed to build any brackets. I also got the power feed put on. I got a small start on the DRO install but prior commitments kept me from completing it. Today I hope to get it done.






First chips. Head is very quiet and runs smooth. ER-32 collet holder for end mill.






Power feed installed






I also purchased one of Matts high precision 1/2" chucks. These are very well built and would recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade.






More to come......


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## Lonnie (May 1, 2017)

Today wasn't as productive as I'd hoped but I did get some more done. I was able to get the X and Y axis DRO scales on as well as the display. Figured I'd start with the easy axis and go from there. I put welding magnets on either side of the table and set the scale on them. It worked great for getting my bolt holes marked. I installed the reader with some aluminum angle iron I had. Never got a picture of the reader angle mounting because it's pretty basic. If someone would like a picture of it just let me know and I'll take one for you.











The Y axis was a little more tricky but the link Mark posted had some great ideas. I decided I would build something rather than try to fit all the angle plates together that come in the DRO kit to make it work. I also wanted the mounting to be solid. I found a piece of aluminum and slotted it out to fit around the lead screw.











I then moved the Y axis in all the way and back out to find where I needed to mount the reader so it was centered. It needed to be mounted on the right hand side of the plate so I took it out and trimmed off the left side and added some slots for the angle plate to mount to. I installed the plate and mocked everything together to find the best place for mounting the scale.





















If you didn't notice, The counter-sunk cap screws on the plate were replaced with hex head bolts. Seems I drew the cut-off  on the wrong side of the plate. I didn't have enough meat left to counter-sink again so just I just wacked my head against the wall and went and found some bolts that would fit...... 

I figured I'd wait till tomorrow to tackle the Z axis so I mounted the screen and arm to the mill. Once I have the Z axis mounted, I'll get the cables tied up and out of the way properly.











And just another one of the scale mounting.






The more I work with this mill, the more I'm liking it. I'll get my vise mounted in the center of the table tomorrow. I mounted it the way it is so I would have enough movement for checking scale mounting. 
Hopefully over the next couple of days I can get a proper electrical box put on with a few 120v plug-ins for the power feed and DRO. I think I'm going to put 6 plug-ins on it for expansion. I do plan on adding a Z power feed and may even add one on the Y as well.


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## Lonnie (May 5, 2017)

I've been busy with other things but I finally found some time and got the Z axis installed. I tried putting the scale on just about every way possible but this was the best as far as I could see.






I didn't want to leave the scale open to get contaminants in it so I had to come up with a way to get the scale guard put on.  Maybe not the prettiest but it was better than no guard at all.
I got real tired real quick of cranking the knee up and down so a new power feed for the Z axis is on it's way. 











As you can see, I got my vise centered too. 






I also cleaned up my rotary table and built a plate to mount the chuck. Drilling the holes to mount the chuck to the plate was a breeze using the DRO bolt circle function. 











Still a few more things to get done with the mill yet. I have to get a power box installed and should put some kind of work light on it as well. I had thought about a spindle ring light but worry it won't be bright enough. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.


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## jbolt (May 6, 2017)

The Z scale install looks great. My only comment would be you might want to put an extra cover at the top. It never ceases to amaze me where chips can get into given the opportunity.

The mill looks awesome. I'm envious!


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## Silverbullet (May 6, 2017)

Congratulations , super looking mill.


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## xplodee (May 7, 2017)

I see a lot of people complaining about cosmolene being difficult to remove on new machines. 

Fwiw, LPS #2 takes it right off. Even old cosmolene. Better than mineral spirits even.


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## Lonnie (May 7, 2017)

That's good to know. I'll have to pick some up and keep some on hand for next time.
The stuff that was on the rotary table cleaned up fairly easy as did my lathe when I got it. The cosmolene that was on the mill seemed like it was baked on.


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## xplodee (May 7, 2017)

While I don't love the green, I also don't love the highly textured off-white of the PM machines. I wish they were a smoother gloss and grey! beggers can't be choosey though, the machines are wonderful regardless of their color.


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## Lonnie (May 20, 2017)

No more cranking!!!


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## scwhite (May 20, 2017)

Lonnie said:


> Today wasn't as productive as I'd hoped but I did get some more done. I was able to get the X and Y axis DRO scales on as well as the display. Figured I'd start with the easy axis and go from there. I put welding magnets on either side of the table and set the scale on them. It worked great for getting my bolt holes marked. I installed the reader with some aluminum angle iron I had. Never got a picture of the reader angle mounting because it's pretty basic. If someone would like a picture of it just let me know and I'll take one for you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a good looking milling machine


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