# PM1340GT cross feed dial increments



## Lonnie (Nov 19, 2018)

I've had my lathe for a couple years now and have always had a DRO on it and never paid much attention to the dial increments. Today my DRO was acting up and I had to revert to using the dial markings. Well, the cross feed dial increments don't make any sense to me. I've uploaded a picture of the dial so you can (hopefully) see what I mean. 
 If I take the backlash out and move the dial in 1 small line, it moves less than 0.001".  I put a dial indicator on and tried to make sense of how much it moves but for the life of me can't see any sort of correlation with the amount the dial is turned. 
 If I turn the dial to the 5th small line the dial indicator moves +/- 0.003". If I turn it into the 1, it moves 0.006" and to the 2 it moves 0.012". On the number 3 it moves 0.019" Basically, every 10 small notches moves the slide in 0.006" - 0.007". If I make 1 complete rotation of the dial, 0 back to 0, it moves the dial indicator 0.100". There are 156 small lines (157 to get back to 0) on the dial in total. If you do the math, every small line moves the slide 0.0006369".
 I contacted PM and they are telling me this should be the correct dial for my lathe.  I think this dial is not correct for my lathe but I've been wrong before.
 Does any one else have or had any issues with their cross slide dials? I thought I had read on here someplace that someone did have the wrong dial on theirs but can't seem to find the thread/post. If you did have an issue, what dial did you replace it with so I can do the same. My DRO is working properly again but if I ever had to revert to using the dial indicator again, I'd like to have it working properly.
Thanks


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## davidpbest (Nov 19, 2018)

I had the exact same issue with my 1340. The factory installed the wrong dials.  Matt has them send me replacement, and I received an entire new lead screw assembly.  PM me if you want more into.


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## 7milesup (Nov 19, 2018)

Very interesting.  I can't provide any help but I am now wondering about my 1022 lathe.


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## Lonnie (Nov 19, 2018)

Thanks David. I knew I had read where someone else had an issue but couldn't quite remember. And, if I remember correctly, I got my lathe at roughly the same time you got yours so it would make sense that we both had the wrong dials.

I just finished with a few emails with PM and they have determined that I do indeed have the wrong dial on my lathe. They are shipping me the correct dial for the lathe. Can't say enough good about the customer support from Precision Mathews! This is the reason all my machining equipment has come from them.


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## 7milesup (Nov 19, 2018)

Lonnie said:


> Can't say enough good about the customer support from Precision Mathews! This is the reason all my machining equipment has come from them.



^^Got that right!!^^


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## Rich V (Nov 20, 2018)

Lonnie said:


> Thanks David. I knew I had read where someone else had an issue but couldn't quite remember. And, if I remember correctly, I got my lathe at roughly the same time you got yours so it would make sense that we both had the wrong dials.
> 
> I just finished with a few emails with PM and they have determined that I do indeed have the wrong dial on my lathe. They are shipping me the correct dial for the lathe. Can't say enough good about the customer support from Precision Mathews! This is the reason all my machining equipment has come from them.


Did you confirm that your lead screw is not metric? I'm guessing that the "wrong" dial is for metric lead screws.


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## DiscoDan (Nov 20, 2018)

Odd


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## Lonnie (Nov 20, 2018)

Rich V said:


> Did you confirm that your lead screw is not metric? I'm guessing that the "wrong" dial is for metric lead screws.


When I let them know that 1 complete revolution of the dial was moving the slide 0.100", they said it's the right lead screw with the wrong dial.



DiscoDan said:


> I know you have a dial coming but from the picture the increment is 0.002" but it looks like the two lines showing how much that 0.002" represents is not as much as the actual increments and if you extrapolate a bit it probably is 0.003". Or maybe I have been drinking too much coffee this morning.



I thought about that too but it still doesn't make any sense for the markings on the dial. 
For me, it would make sense that turning the dial in 1 small increment would mean taking .002" off the total diameter of the part.


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## Lonnie (Dec 23, 2018)

Just a quick follow-up;
Graduated dial ring arrived while I was out of town. I just got home and put it on my lathe today. Now everything is working as it should. 

I would once again like to thank Matt and his team at PM for their outstanding customer service. It just does not get any better than this.


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## Firstgear (Dec 24, 2018)

Lonnie, can you post a photo of the new dial?  I would like to see the difference between them....thanks!


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## Lonnie (Dec 24, 2018)

Firstgear said:


> Lonnie, can you post a photo of the new dial?  I would like to see the difference between them....thanks!



Here they are side by side.


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## bpctcb (Dec 27, 2018)

I discovered tonight that my new 1440GT has a similar problem. The dial says each increment is .002" when in reality each increment is .005" of crossslide travel. I will have to check the other dials to see if they are correct then contact PM about the problem. 

BP


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## wrmiller (Dec 27, 2018)

Well now you guys have me wondering about my lathe. I've never even looked at the dial as I installed a DRO right after setting the lathe up, but now I'm curious.


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## waverly (Jan 4, 2019)

I’ve had my 13x40 GT for three years and have used my DRO also, but now this post has me wondering if mine is the correct dial also. I’m recouping from knee replacement right now and can’t do any meaningful work in my shop. My wife is In cahoots with my surgeon. Can someone please take a look at mine.
Thanks for the thread. New to site and really like the PM threads.
Waverly


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## Lonnie (Jan 4, 2019)

Best way to tell is put a dial indicator on and turn the dial 1 full revolution. If it moves 0.100" of an inch, that's the correct dial.


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## mksj (Jan 4, 2019)

waverly said:


> I’ve had my 13x40 GT for three years and have used my DRO also, but now this post has me wondering if mine is the correct dial also


It is correct.


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