Buying a lathe.

K

Kasse

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I am wantimg to purchase a new lathe. I have been looking into the PM-1440 BV and wanted to know what other machinist thought of these lathes?
 
If I'm not mistaken that one would be from China, the ones with a T in the name would be from Taiwan, and are better quality. What are your plans/projects?
 
I make mining equipment for small operations. So this would be a shop tool. Machining fly wheels, eccentric shafts and other parts.
 
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Acra, Eisen, Sharp, plus others may be in stock, your choice is not when I checked. I'm not proficient at recommendations. Other gurus will be along, but Taiwan machines are better than made in China. Mine is an ACRA 1440TVS, I had the1340GT, but I did not like the 100% waste oiling system, even though it is a top of the line Norton gear box.
 
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I certainly like my PM1440GT (Taiwan version). I echo, if you can afford always it, get the Taiwan version of any of these machines.
 
I just received the 1440-2V about a month ago. The 2V replaced the BV. Keep in mind my only other lathe experience is with the 1022.

1. In my limited experience the lathe is great. It runs well and is more than enough lathe for my experience level. (I'm not sure what you're experience levels are) With just a quick level of the ways, the taper when turning is only about 2 tenths over 4 inches or so. I still have to go through aligning the headstock. I've just been running it slowly to break it in, and doing some test cuts.
2. The 2V comes with a lot of extras that the 1440GT does not. So the difference in price is way more than the base price differences that were on the website. The VFD is built in, it comes with both chucks, etc.
3. My biggest gripe would be the lack of a good user manual. It came with a very basic manual that doesn't really show me anything I need to know as a new user of a lathe of this size and type. With that said, their tech support has been phenomenal. Every question I have asked has been answered within a business day. I have been using the downloadable manual on the website for the 1440-BV, but there are a few significant differences.

If I could've afforded the GT I would've done it, but I feel this lathe will be well suited to what I need it for for a few years. I'm still working one job to get my rifle building up and running so the price outweighed all other factors. Hope this helps.
 
@Kasse did you make a decision yet??


wnchstrtnfldvlle said:
I just received the 1440-2V about a month ago. The 2V replaced the BV. Keep in mind my only other lathe experience is with the 1022.

1. In my limited experience the lathe is great. It runs well and is more than enough lathe for my experience level. (I'm not sure what you're experience levels are) With just a quick level of the ways, the taper when turning is only about 2 tenths over 4 inches or so. I still have to go through aligning the headstock. I've just been running it slowly to break it in, and doing some test cuts.
2. The 2V comes with a lot of extras that the 1440GT does not. So the difference in price is way more than the base price differences that were on the website. The VFD is built in, it comes with both chucks, etc.
3. My biggest gripe would be the lack of a good user manual. It came with a very basic manual that doesn't really show me anything I need to know as a new user of a lathe of this size and type. With that said, their tech support has been phenomenal. Every question I have asked has been answered within a business day. I have been using the downloadable manual on the website for the 1440-BV, but there are a few significant differences.

If I could've afforded the GT I would've done it, but I feel this lathe will be well suited to what I need it for for a few years. I'm still working one job to get my rifle building up and running so the price outweighed all other factors. Hope this helps.
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I am in the exact same boat although I am not real happy with PM and their service. Like you I would have gotten the GT but I am not to sure this cant be just as good with a little more time on it.
I downloaded the manual for the PM-1440BV different machine but was very close and you can down load it from their site and it has some pretty good info in it.
I do wish we had something for that DRO though because there are a lot more things that make no sense then do and I think even though its a cheapy it has a few good options for it that I just can not figure out:)
Hope you get it making some great chips and post some picks of the rifles. My grandfather was a gunsmith and I just received several lathe rifling tools from him that I am still trying to make sense of. I am hoping I can make a rifle some day as I think I have most everything needed to do so. I even have a large CNC router and I just acquired a 4" thick by 5' long and 36" wide piece of walnut that would make several beautiful stocks. Just need some more time and experience.
If some how you happen to obtain a bit of info on that DRO please PM me and let me know.
 
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