# Pm-25mv Manual



## brav65 (Feb 23, 2015)

I was asked for a copy of the manual for the PM-25MV.  For those of you who are interested here it is!  There is next to no information contained in the manual.  Matt has told me that they are working on an exploded view of the machine with a parts list specific to the PM-25.   One note for those of you who have purchased the mill.  The adjustment screw that secures the head of the mill from rotation is made out of something that I think is may be metal, but I am not sure.  Mine was stripped right out of the crate.  I ended up purchasing a higher grade bolt welding a washer on it and grinding it to the correct profile.  Matt sent out a replacement, which is the same as the hold down T-bolts included in the tool kit.  I would plan on replacing it right off, because you will be unable to hold tram with the bolt stripped.  It is a bit of a job as you have to take the head off, but at least you learn about whats under the hood.  I was able to rout some wires for the lighting I added, which makes things nice and clean looking.

Well I was unable to upload the manual.  It is 15 pages and must exceed the file size allowed on the site.  I am also unable to attach it to a PM, so if you want a copy send me a PM with your e-mail and I will send you the PDF.  

Brooks


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## dlhoulton (Feb 24, 2015)

brav65, sorry that you had that trouble with your Mill. Sure is disturbing as a future owner of this machine that something "right out of the crate" is broke. What was Matt's response to this besides sending a replacement? Also a little disturbing knowing there manual is lacking! When I first contacted Matt about the PM25MV, I inquired as to why he didn't have any completed pictures of this machine on there web site. And he replied that his team was working at updating things. I noticed that dates on the web site were not very current. He sent two pictures of completed Mill's at there factory. Here they are:
Notice in the background of the first picture right behind the completed machine how far these machines are taken down for build/rebuild to there specs.


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## brav65 (Feb 24, 2015)

I was not too surprised by the poor quality fasteners.  Having spent a great deal of time researching a mill I knew what to expect. Matt is looking for an alternative to the bolt supplied, but the head profile needed is unique.  Keep in mind that these tools are not 100% ready to go out of the box. Even $100 machines require setup and adjustment. Add to that the fact that they are shipped half way around the world and you can understand the situation.  They are an incredible value once you see what they are capable. Matt is not a huge corporation like Grizzly. He only has a handful of people helping him along with his wife Nicole. The upside is you get to speak with the guy that is the final wor, the bad news is he has to wear a number of different hats. He has called/emailed me at 12:00AM his time. He works really had to keep his customers happy.


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## dlhoulton (Feb 24, 2015)

I agree with everything. You can't get the kind of service he provides with Big box or corporation. When I talked to Matt he even said that he goes to China or where every the basic units are produced several times a year. He said he checks regularly on quality production and troubleshoots. For the size of his company I think that's a lot of devotion/dedication to a product he sells. Also to add a three year warranty that's just about unheard of in todays market.


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## focusinprogress (Feb 24, 2015)

I'll have to remember this, I've placed a deposit on this same machine and expect it to arrive in about 5wks now.


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## JohnJohn301 (Feb 28, 2015)

Hey fellas -
After my PM-25 arrived, I had some trouble getting the head to hold true. Reading through the forums, I found this was somewhat common for the bolt that holds the head to be stripped or strip the first time you go about tightening it up.   I took advantage of the opportunity to do the "3-bolt mod" while I had the head off the column. Used stainless hardware to put it back together.  Pretty stink'n solid now! A worthy upgrade, if you are going to take the head off anyway.

Regards -

JohnJohn


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## brav65 (Feb 28, 2015)

Nice work John,  I am kicking myself for not doing the three bolt mod while I had the head off. If Mark from Johnson Gabrication has any luck making up new gibs for his machine I will probably do the three bolt mod then. Congrats on the new mill. I love mine.


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## wrmiller (Feb 28, 2015)

JohnJohn301 said:


> Hey fellas -
> After my PM-25 arrived, I had some trouble getting the head to hold true. Reading through the forums, I found this was somewhat common for the bolt that holds the head to be stripped or strip the first time you go about tightening it up.   I took advantage of the opportunity to do the "3-bolt mod" while I had the head off the column. Used stainless hardware to put it back together.  Pretty stink'n solid now! A worthy upgrade, if you are going to take the head off anyway.
> 
> Regards -
> ...



Yup, did this mod to mine as well as the tramming aids right after I bought it and life became wonderful.


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## dlhoulton (Mar 4, 2015)

Looks like Matt is doing the "3 bolt" head mod standard on the PM-25!! I got to say, sounds like he is listening and making improvements to this popular mill.
Look at item #3 under "Special Features". http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-MV-BenchMills.html


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## wrmiller (Mar 4, 2015)

Now that's just too cool.


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## brav65 (Mar 4, 2015)

Nice!


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## john.oliver35 (Mar 4, 2015)

He's also offering an Eason 3-axis glass-scale DRO installed for $699, not a  bad deal either.


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## 6mmBR (Jul 24, 2015)

Just a thought here, but maybe you could download a Grizzly G0704 manual. They are quite similar, and it may be of some help. They even help the parts list drawing and specs on the Grizzly web site. The numbers may change, but it would get you close anyway. 
I'm trying to decide between the two mills, so this is of interest to me.


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## Blendwood (Aug 15, 2015)

Hi all, just signed up to the forum yesterday.  I was wondering to all the guys who have gone with the pm-25mv how satisfied are you with your machine choice?
I'v spent a good deal of time researching which machine I should go with and most people across a majority of machinist forums have leaned more toward the PM-25.
I had a few questions about the machine, since it seems most of you have had the machine for a good amount of time now.  One question was did any of you have to hand scrap your ways or were they finished very nicely?  Another question, is the speed of the spindle, is there any belt changes that must be made? I couldn't tell from the pictures alone on matt's site.  I was also wondering how tight the part tolerances were most of you are able to hold after tramming, and of course proper setup and fixturing.
Sorry for the long first post, but I have one last question, I couldn't find what the total height of the mill plus the stand, from the floor to the top of the mill.  I'll be making the purchase for this mill in the next week or two, and it's home will be in my basement shop, and the ceiling is a little under 8', so I wanted to make sure it would with some clearance.  Anyway thanks for your time guys^^


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## T Bredehoft (Aug 15, 2015)

Welcome aboard. I heartily recommend the PM25. 

It will clear  your 8' ceiling. I have mine on a work bench 38" off the floor, and it tops out about 78".

I'm pleased with my mill, sure I'd like quill and X feed, but the alternative to me was no machine.  I opted for DRO on X and Y, the head has a DRO on the quill.  I've found that I use the column movement to get the tool near where I want it to be, then use the quill for fine control. 

I have to clamp the head before using the quill, the head moves .007 in X and .0015 in Y when I clamp it. I could probably adjust that out with the column gib, but haven't yet. 

Belt changes, yes, there's high and low. low goes from 50 to 1250, high from 100 to 2500.  Matt suggested the machine would live longer if  you didn't use the higher end of either speed. In other words, if you want 1250, use high, mid range. 

The ways are ground, in comparison to many which are just milled. IMHO the tolerances are as good as commercial industrial machinery. 

The DC motor (and its control) and the belt drive are real pluses on these machines.


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## brav65 (Aug 15, 2015)

I too am very happy with my machine.  Matt has speced up his mills to include the brushless motor, belt drive, and three bolt head modification as standard.  By the time you add these items to a G0704 you are at about the same price.  If you add in the customer service Matt provides and the three year warrantee I think there is only one choice the PM-25.  

I agree with Tom you have to lock down each axis to get the best precision out of the machine.  I took,my whole machine apart, cleaned, deburred, lubricated and adjusted  everything.  I also replaced some of the really crappy fasteners.  Keep in mind that none of these machines is perfect out of the box.  They all require a little TLC to get the best out of them.


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## Blendwood (Aug 16, 2015)

Thanks guys so much for the responses.  I'm normally a woodworker, but I like to mix woodworking with metal working, and my cnc router is just not rigid enough for metal working tasks.  So that's kind of why I wanted to jump in getting a mill.  I know there is a huge learning curve, and it'll prob take me a good deal of time to learn how to set everything up to get the best performance from the machine.  But I'm glad to know I was on the right track for quality of the mill at the price point it has.


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## brav65 (Aug 16, 2015)

Blendwood said:


> Thanks guys so much for the responses.  I'm normally a woodworker, but I like to mix woodworking with metal working, and my cnc router is just not rigid enough for metal working tasks.  So that's kind of why I wanted to jump in getting a mill.  I know there is a huge learning curve, and it'll prob take me a good deal of time to learn how to set everything up to get the best performance from the machine.  But I'm glad to know I was on the right track for quality of the mill at the price point it has.



If you are an experienced woodworker you are going to love the ease with which you can achieve very accurate results.  Many of the set up excersises you used to get your woodworking machines set up are similar, such as squaring fences setting depth of cut,  Fixturing...  I recommend tearing down the mill to clean and adjust everything.  That way when something goes wrong you will know what it is.

I am in the process of building a 36"x48" CNC router.  I am building it from scratch with 8020 extrusions and Mic 6 aluminum plate.  I will have a 3.3KW spindle, and hope to be able to cut aluminum, and possibly light steel.


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## Duker (Aug 16, 2015)

brav65 said:


> I am in the process of building a 36"x48" CNC router.  I am building it from scratch with 8020 extrusions and Mic 6 aluminum plate.  I will have a 3.3KW spindle, and hope to be able to cut aluminum, and possibly light steel.



Do you have a thread about that build as I would love to see how that comes together? 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## brav65 (Aug 16, 2015)

Duker said:


> Do you have a thread about that build as I would love to see how that comes together?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



No I don't.  I am building from scratch with my son.  I have some sketches, but no solid plan. We almost have the control box complete, I have all the pieces cut for the stand as well as the table and gantry.  Once finished with the control box I need to mill all of the mounting plates for the gantry and motors.


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