Another 1340gt Owner

[Lonnie]

Hey everyone, thought it was time I said Hi and thanks.

I joined this forum about 8 or 9 months ago to gather information on the PM1340GT lathe. Long story short, liked what I seen and heard on here so I bought one in June and took delivery of it in late September. I have to say that it's been a great lathe so far. I have since added a Sino DRO and QCTP to it. It's the 3 phase model and I'm running it with a RPC for now. I did purchase a VFD (Haunyang) for it but am still studying on how to make the conversion. So far the VFD conversion has been over my head. I will most likely be asking/looking for help on that.

I have to say that I really like the VFD conversion that Mark (mksj) has done on his lathe. That is an absolutely beautiful setup!

I'd also like to thank the numerous members on here that have posted reviews ect... on these lathes. This is the number 1 reason why one is sitting in my garage right now. The video Mike (zmotorsports) posted on youtube is what brought my attention to the lathe so a big thanks for that!

And last but certainly not least, a huge thanks to Matt at QMT. He answered every question I had and usually within 24 hours. He made me feel as though I was his number one customer.

I've tried to post some pictures but it looks like I don't have enough posts yet. I'll get some up once my post count is high enough.

 

[davidpbest]

Welcome to the group. I have a PM1340GT on order and Matt at QMT has been great to deal with. Like you, Mike's review (zmotorsports) was instrumental in my decision, and Mark (mksj) has been immensely helpful with the VFD conversion design and other aspects/questions. Post some pictures when you are able.

 

[wrmiller]

Welcome to the club!

mksj was instrumental in me getting my VFD operational on my 1340GT, as was zmotorsports and others. We're getting quite the owners club forming here.

 

[Lonnie]

Thanks for the welcome guys. It's nice to find a site where so many members are willing to help out.

 

[Lonnie]

Going to see if I can get some pics up....

Here's the lathe fresh from the crate;

Here it is with the DRO added. I had to build my own mounting as it wasn't in the packaging when I received it;

I had bashed my knuckles on more than one occasion so I moved the lever from the halfnut over and built a longer one for the halfnut. Works great now!

 

[wrmiller]

I have large hands and was having some 'issues' with the standard length levers. So I just made some longer knobs.

 

[Lonnie]

Those look great Bill!

Decided I might as well try and make some knobs too.
So here's my project for the day. Not quite as fancy, but they work well.

 

[wrmiller]

Very nice!

 

[AirWolf]

Hey Lonnie!

Welcome to the group!! Isn't the 1340 a beautiful lathe!!

I noticed in the photo your control panel has some "white-ish haze" on it - to remove it just spray some WD40 on the panel and use clean towel to wipe it down good, works instantly. I had the same and Matt advised me of the "fix".

If you want to get some touch-up paint for the lathe... remove the threading dial and take it down to Home Depot/Lowes and have them use their color match machine to come up with the right formula for your machine color - get a "sample size" made up for about $4 and one of small foam rollers... I keep mine in a ziplock bag and just use latex gloves to handle the roller when I want to touch up the little nicks etc... works great!

Again, welcome to our group and our addiction!

 

[Lonnie]

Been emailing back and forth a bit with Mark and he's given me some great ideas for some different projects to keep me occupied.

So I built an outboard spider that slips over the spindle. It is tightened down with 6 set screws. I also countersunk and epoxied a magnet in it for the RPM sensor. The RPM sensor/gauge is just one of the el-cheapo's from eBay. It does work great though!

RPM sensor mount and better look at spider.

RPM gauge. Still need to get it into a project box and mounted permanently.

Had to get the guard back in place so over to my neighbors to use his mill to open up the hole to fit spider. (really need to get me a mill.....)

Guard back on