Bit The Bullet On A Pm1340gt

Thanks all for the encouragement.

This will be a replacement. After sending another email to DroPros where a bit too much of my frustration leaked through, they offered me a refund against any lathe that Matt sells as an option. I will leave the SC8 with Matt who will look it over, and there is supposed to be a Sieg rep there sometime in the near future who will also have a look at it. I am going to try and prepare a document for Matt about my particular problems, and a few design flaws that Sieg should address.

Matt recommended the 1236 or the 1340. I think I have read just about every forum post on both machines over the last week. It seems that everyone who owns a 1236 is happy and has no real complaints, but every one who owns the 1340 is very happy and loves their machine. I made the decision partly on availability, and partly on details. The 1236 comes with more goodies, but the 1340 has better details like how the tail stock overhangs the cross slide and better bearings. When you look at pictures of them side by side, the 1340 just has that look of being a more robust and well designed tool, it also seems to be a bit quieter if the videos can be trusted.

I am also quite interested in the chucks. They are Taiwan made and he says they are as good or better than Bison. The package is $900.00, if we assume $200.00 is for the live center, lamp, and drill chuck, that is a seriously good price for two chucks of that quality. A pair of Bisons would be well over $1K with out adaptors. Once they get here, I will clean them up and post some pics. I will wiggle the jaws and check for clamping alignment. I know Matt has a way of hunting up stuff that is quality where it matters to a machinist.
Let me know if there is anything in particular any one wants to see about them.
 
joshua43214 said:
It seems that everyone who owns a 1236 is happy and has no real complaints, but every one who owns the 1340 is very happy and loves their machine.
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That sounds like a pretty fair comparison. My PM1440 is basically a slightly expanded 12x36 and I like it. There is nothing to complain about and it does everything I ask of it very well. It has it's share of rough edges (literally and figuratively) which I think is fair of a Chinese machine. His Taiwanese machines seem to have a little more time put into the aesthetics as well build quality.
 
Well, Josh, I'm sorry man, but I am currently waiting for my new PM1340GT to arrive....with 3 phase motor, preferred package, DRO, coolant system, and all. I must be one of the guys that got one of the last ones. Mike [zmotorsports] and his awesome YouTube video is the sole culprit for that. Thanks again Mike. Is it Christmas yet? Feels like a kid waiting for santa to arrive.

I'll be posting my progress, but in the mean time to keep me pacified, I just went to the local UPS freight depot today and picked up my Grizzly G0754 mill/drill. It's still in the truck, I'm too tired to open the crate, but too fired up to sleep. Oh, by the way, I'm as "green" as they get. I've never used a mill or a lathe. :clown:

Also, just a thought on the PM1340GT: I would listen to that little voice inside that's telling you the 3 phase is worth the wait, if you can wait for it.

Another important point - check the Aloris website. They have a 20% off your TOTAL ORDER if you trade in any old tool post... and free shipping. Gizelle has been very helpful over there with me. I ordered a BXA post and a few extra tool holders because of the discount. www.aloris.com

I also have the same VFD that Mike and the guys used, sitting in my shop in a box waiting for its "user" to arrive from Precision Matthews. I'm really intimidated by this thing. I've read and downloaded Mike's info and the awesome tutorial from [mksj], but it's really foggy how this all works.

More to follow, I'm out for the night.
- RIO
 
@RIO
Turns out that the dented model I purchased is already 3phase :)
One of the odd things about this lathe is the 3ph motor is a 2hp 11amp motor. This is a higher amp rating that most 2hp VHD's are rated for. I was going to get a TECO or some other Chinese VFD, but it would probably require a 3hp drive. So I opted for the 2hp Hitachi that Matt sells instead since the Japanese units are more robust and under-spec'd. The Hitachi also does something different than the others in terms of continuous vs variable torque which lets it run a higher hp motor.

Thanks for the tip on the Aloris. Too rich for me though, I am already killing my budget on the lathe. I am just getting the one Matt sells, I am sure it will be at least as good as the Bostar I am using now. It would have been a nice thing to do with my AXA set though, I was considering tossing it in the pass around box when it came my way if there was room.

I am also getting excited about it. The plan is to get my old lathe out of the basement and on a pallet Sunday, and install an electrical box for the PM on Monday. Going to have to buy another 50' of 10awg wire :(

I have an extra DRO laying around now. I am trying to source some cheap scales, I would love to get magnetic ones for the lathe since I think I could fit one inside the cross slide.
 
joshua43214 said:
@RIO Going to have to buy another 50' of 10awg wire :(
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The funny thing about buying wire is that you are MUCH better off buying a 250' roll. Eventually you will use it. And it always seems to require much more wire than you planned for a project.

250': $110 ($.44/ft)
100': $81 ($.81/ft)
50': $47 ($0.94/ft)

Think how many times you have bought a roll of 50' already... and you probably will want to add a circuit for an air compressor at some point... and you need an outlet for a welder for your garage....

11 amps for a 3 phase 2 hp motor? Zowee. That is more like what a 3hp motor requires (don't forget sqrt 3...). The good news is that your VFD will protect itself, so its not like you will fry it.
 
It could be that the motor is rated at 2hp continuous and 3hp for 30 mins, that's why the high amp draw. The 3hp motor on my mill is 9.? Amps
 
Oops, I mis-remembered the amp draw. It is actually 9amps, not 11. Pretty much all of the 2hp VFD's I looked at only went to 7amps. I am sure a 2hp unit would probably be OK, but I figure that between it being a gear head, and big enough to put some decent mass on it, it is best to make sure it can draw it's full demand on start up.

When I built my woodshop, I bought a spool of wire and used most of it up. That was 20 years ago, and copper was not near as pricey as it is today. Your point is good though on having extra. I hope to eventually get a small surface grinder and shaper, both of which would be more likely to come 3ph than 1ph. My house has an old coal room under the front porch, I am thinking about getting it fully sealed in the next year or two and putting a 3ph converter in there. If I ever do get a real compressor for the metal shop, it would also go in there. I have a 5hp compressor in the woodshop, and it is not pleasant to share space with - for now my little HF pancake does fine. When I need to use air tools, I just use the compressor in the woodshop, Not convenient, but it works.

Currently, the metal shop is powered from a 60A 8space distribution box in the far corner of the basement. I am thinking it is starting to make more sense to buy a piece of 6-3 wire and move it into the same corner as all the tools.
 
My 5hp is outside so it don't bother me, maybe the distant neighbors in the middle of the night :)
My uncle has a bad to the bone 10hp 3cyl air compressor that's in its own room, just big enough for it to fit and store some stuff around it, the door has sound deadening panels attached to it. You can still hear it but it's not loud at all. For vfds I feel it is best to buy one that makes more power than you need. For that one day when you bring home a toy that has more power.
I have accidentally ran both my harig and mill motors at the same time, my 3hp Mitsubishi vfd didn't care.... that was a total of almost 4hp of motors on load
 
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