Another 'which lathe' post.

The quick change box, changes the relation ship between rotation of the spindle to travel of the carriage.
You change this relationship ALL THE TIME, Coarse for roughing cuts, fine for finishing, not to mention getting the exact relation for cutting threads.
To me no quick change is a deal breaker.
 
I agree with ArmyDoc. My strong bias is toward Taiwanese equipment and I would pick between the 1236T and the 1340GT. If you expect to eventually use mostly indexable carbide tooling (as I do), eliminate the 1130V. In addition to the obvious capacity/size/weight differences between the 1236T and the 1340GT, the 1340 has a slightly larger HP motor, and the gears and shafts are all hardened alloy steel. Otherwise same D1-4 Camlick spindle.

I migrated up from a 7” mini lathe, to an lovely 11” Emco (Swiss) Maximat, to the 1340GT and now -finally- have a machine that has the guts and rigidity to handle everything I’ve thrown at it.
 
I opted for the PM-1236T over the PM-1340T solely based on the physical size. My shop is decent size, but to comfortably fit a 1340 would require moving other equipment around - equipment that is bolted to the floor. I am replacing a very old Atlas 1236 which has served me well for 20 years size wise, but is lacking in accuracy. As a hobbyist, the 1236T should do everything I need so I didn't see it as a sacrifice.
 
hustlebird said:
About the QCGB. I'd be running the 1340 in a 3-phase w/VFD configuration. And I'm under the impression the 1130V is built the same from factory. Does the VFD not significantly reduce the need for gear changes? In fact, the 1130V is only a 2-gear system, with a low and high, along with the VFD for variable control in those ranges.

For me, I actually really like the 1236T, but the price difference between it and the 1340 is small enough that I can't imagine not bumping up to the larger lathe. Likewise, the design of the regular 1236 is unappealing (1phase, nonvariable motor, 18-steps from 65-1800 rpms).

The percentages are nice to see, and I seem to always forget to mentally figure those.

Lol, same here! but that's precisely why I'm stressing it, I know there's plenty of people on here who bought and haven't upgrade beyond their first lathe. Trying to not overspend as I get into the hobby (which I have a tendency to do).
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The included tooling would be a large factor also. When I got my lathe, (not PM) I got a good assortment of tooling. Sure helped getting started.
Chuck
 
I would not underestimate the value of hardened gears and shafts, or better bearings. Taiwan and Chinese lathes are often copies of smaller Colchester units and Colchester only hardened certain gears on their small lathes. If the 1340 has upgraded internals, that would be a large factor in my decision. My small lathe has a 5 hp motor and when I started turning I loosened the belt a tad as I was afraid of the power. I still have it set so a major crash throws the belt but I tightened it up when I discovered that a machine that stalled seemed more dangerous than one that struggled but still cut until I shut it down so I'm mixed on starting small as a safety issue. Dave
 
hustlebird said:
About the QCGB. I'd be running the 1340 in a 3-phase w/VFD configuration. And I'm under the impression the 1130V is built the same from factory. Does the VFD not significantly reduce the need for gear changes? In fact, the 1130V is only a 2-gear system, with a low and high, along with the VFD for variable control in those ranges.

For me, I actually really like the 1236T, but the price difference between it and the 1340 is small enough that I can't imagine not bumping up to the larger lathe. Likewise, the design of the regular 1236 is unappealing (1phase, nonvariable motor, 18-steps from 65-1800 rpms).

The percentages are nice to see, and I seem to always forget to mentally figure those.
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The QCGB is for cutting threads at various threading pitches and speed of your cuts (roughing vs finishing), not for changing the speed of the spindle. The various gear settings set the ratio between the spindle speed and the drive speed for the saddle. With the 1130 you have to change the gears out manually to change the pitches of the threads you cut. With a QCGB, you get a certain number of different thread pitches you can cut just by setting the dials / levers to different positions without having to change out the gears themselves. Note, you may still have to change out the gears to get certain pitches - for example most metric pitches in these lathes. Now If you jump up to the TL series lathes, you get a universal gear box, which can cut both metric and imperial (and modular) without having to manually change out the gears in the drive, but these are a whole different category / quality level, with a price point to match.

The VFD vs gear changes allows you to dial in and infinitely adjustable range of spindle speeds, and even adjust it on the fly while cutting. (On the higher end lathes, you can set it to increase the speed as the diameter of what you are cutting decreases, keeping the surface speed constant.) With a geared head, the speed is set by what gear you have it in. To change speeds, you have to stop and change gears, then start up again at the higher speed. Not a huge deal - people have been using them this way for over a hundred years.

If you use a VFD to convert single phase to 3 phase on the gear head lathes, you end up with both - you pick a gear / speed, but you can still adjust the final speed up or down with the VFD .
 
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The 1228 should be on your list, only $200 more than the 1130 / $2400 cheaper than the 1340 and has a quick change gear box so a better comparison. I don't think you can really go wrong with any of these but are a lot less likely to out grow the 1236T or 1340T.
 
hustlebird said:
About the QCGB. I'd be running the 1340 in a 3-phase w/VFD configuration. And I'm under the impression the 1130V is built the same from factory. Does the VFD not significantly reduce the need for gear changes? In fact, the 1130V is only a 2-gear system, with a low and high, along with the VFD for variable control in those ranges.
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A QCGB is for setting the ratio of spindle speed to feeds and for threading. All the VFD does is change the spindle (chuck) RPM. Even with a VFD, without a QCGB you get only a few gears, and to cut specific threads, you have have to open the cabinet on the left side of the lathe and re-arrange or change out gears to get the right ratio for thread cutting.

Most lathes have a few gears in the feed mechanism, so changing out gears generally applies to threading. My 10x22 had 9 speeds so it covered a reasonable range of feeds. But threading was a matter of replacing gears.

Even with a QCGB you usually end up changing out gears to switch between metric and imperial threading.

editted to add: I see @ArmyDoc answered it in more detail. You really need to download the user manual for each and compare the operating instructions in detail if you are debating between two machines.
 
Attached is the threading gear change chart for the PM-1340GT. You can thread all common imperial threads without gear changes by altering the two gear position levers on the Norton gearbox. Metric threads potentially require changing the gear configuration in addition to the gear selector levers. To get a machine that can do both metric and imperial threading without any change gear swaps requires a universal gearbox.
 

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Without space or budget constraints, there is no reason I can think of to not buy the biggest, most feature packed machine available. A previous poster mentioned he's never heard anyone upgrade to a smaller machine. Its also pretty rare that a person says they've got all the space and money for the best too. If these are your options...1340 seems reasonable to me. Fwiw, I did move from a smaller lathe , to larger lathe , and then back to a smaller machine again. But space and money were both at the heart of the changes. Lol
 
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