Finally Ordered a PM-1236-PEP

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Nyala

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After much discussion with my wife and John at Precision Matthews, I broke down and ordered a PM-1236-PEP w/DRO and the upgraded cast iron base. It's not in stock and the website says it will be in March and John said June.

I have been using a South Bend Model C, built in 1936, so I'm sure that I'll notice a little bit of difference in lathe capabilities.

I'm hoping that I didn't bite off more than I can chew. Now it's time to watch YouTube videos ref unboxing and setup of a 1236.
 
Bite off more than you can turn you mean? LOL I don't think so.
Sounds like a fun purchase, but June is a loooong lead time

I'd buy a bunch of beer and just keep chuggin' until it gets there :)
 
I purchased the 1236PEP last March-April. I did not go the DRO route, but I did just install a DRO on my little Sieg X3 mill.

Now I am looking at the lathe, thinking, mmmmm...:apologize: I might have to add one.

But as to the lathe, loving it!

Congratulations!
 
For those who ordered the PEP, and got the BXA QCTP, which five tool holders did you receive?
 
As above, I paid for my new PM-1236 last Wednesday. As promised, on Thursday I received my paid invoice and the information about who the shipper was, along with a tracking number. Also, on Thursday, I received a call from the shipper, stating that they wanted to deliver the lathe on Friday. So, about 1pm on Friday the lathe shows up. The lathe was essentially shipped from the Pittsburg area to west Michigan in one day and delivered to me the next day. No waiting on anyone's part.

Talk about fast. Way to go Precision Matthews.

The lathe is safely housed in the shop, still in its crate, as I begin to move out my old lathe and begin setup of this one.

If you order this lathe with cast iron bases, as I did, they are very, very heavy. They are advertised as 100 lbs each but I believe they far exceed that, especially the base for the headstock. Do yourself a favor and handle them with equipment, not your back.
 
The lathe is still in the crate as I await an electrician friend to wire in the plug and receptacle. I already have 220V in the shop so this should be pretty straight forward.

I have installed the leveling feet on the bases and marked out on the floor roughly where everything is going. The old lathe has been moved to an out of the way location so that the new lathe can be moved in.

I am now thinking about leveling the lathe, something that I have never done before. I don't even own a precision level. I wasn't even aware of such a thing until recently. When I became aware of it I took my aluminum carpenter's level and set it in both directions on the lathe bench. It showed level but that's not the same as precision leveling. I never cared before because very few things that I've built ever required me to hit dimension on the nose. I am a true hobby machinist who does easy projects for fun and has never attempted projects of any serious difficulty because my lathe required hours of work, even for simple projects. To remove .100" of material required 5 passes at .010" each. Heavier cuts could bring the lathe to a standstill. If the project was 8" long, you could spend all day just taking .100" off one piece. If you have to remove .500" then you have your week's worth of work already planned for you.

The new lathe, with all its capabilities over a 1936 lathe, changes all that and I am interested in pursuing other projects.

That brings me back to leveling. I have watched videos, read previous posts on the topic, and looked at what's commercially available for leveling. There seems to be the bubble level group and the digital level group. I've learned a lot about leveling but also learned enough to have no desire to do it. I have watched people look at a level, get down on the floor, make an adjustment, get back up and look at the level. They might do this 50 times, then do the other direction. At 74 years old getting down and up once is more than enough for a week's worth of leveling work for me.

How do you do this adequately without killing yourself in the process?
 
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