My PM45M-PDF

My first PF45 mill I trammed both side to side and front to back. Shimming the column was tough as the shim thickness didn't correlate with the readings at the table so it was trail and error. I was able to get it within .001" after several try's. I did this before installing the gas springs to the head which made it easier to do. My current mill is trammed side to side but not front to back. I tried to do that after installing the gas springs and I was unable to shift the column enough to get shims installed. It is off a couple of thou so one of these days I will take the springs off and give it another go.
 
sanddan said:
My first PF45 mill I trammed both side to side and front to back. Shimming the column was tough as the shim thickness didn't correlate with the readings at the table so it was trail and error. I was able to get it within .001" after several try's. I did this before installing the gas springs to the head which made it easier to do. My current mill is trammed side to side but not front to back. I tried to do that after installing the gas springs and I was unable to shift the column enough to get shims installed. It is off a couple of thou so one of these days I will take the springs off and give it another go.
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What gas springs are you talking about?
 
I have a PM45 for about a year now. The thing that bothers me most is that the quill fine feed hand wheel calibration is off by .008 in .100. That is if you turn the fine feed hand wheel indicated .100 it will only move down .092. Does anyone else have this issue? I talked to Matt and he talked to the factory and they stated that is normal. I am wondering if the gearing may be metric. I is not a issue of backlash either. Any thoughts

DWP
 
In all these types of lathes, the fine-quill feed seems to be a rough approximation. I know several other folks with different brands of similar units and they all say the same thing. A quill mic/DRO is the way to go. You can rig-up a 6" caliper and your worries are over.

Ray


sapperd06 said:
I have a PM45 for about a year now. The thing that bothers me most is that the quill fine feed hand wheel calibration is off by .008 in .100. That is if you turn the fine feed hand wheel indicated .100 it will only move down .092. Does anyone else have this issue? I talked to Matt and he talked to the factory and they stated that is normal. I am wondering if the gearing may be metric. I is not a issue of backlash either. Any thoughts

DWP
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Got me some goodies for the mill.....


I had originally bought an Indicol but after using it one time I did not like it so I sold it.
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I have a couple of Noga mag indicator holders which I love so I decided to get me a Noga for the spindle. I like this so much better!
(I already trammed directly off the table, just used the 123s for the photo & see if my readings were consistent)
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Scored me a pretty much brand new Blake Co-Ax!
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Edge Technology makes great quality products! I decided to get a couple of work stops from them. The lady who helped me over the phone was very friendly & they delivered fast.

Their Vise Jaw Stop. Inexpensive & works great, a pretty handy little tool to have. It's designed so the stop pin sits below the jaw's surface.
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Their Pro Mill Stop. They have a few different vise stops but I decided to go with the table mount. This sucker is beefy as hell & works great!
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Thanks to jmh8743 for sharing this nice protractor. When I saw it I wanted one but found out it was discontinued. I was able to score a very nice one on ebay. Picked up a blow molded case for it to protect it from damage. Not sure how useful it really may be for what I was thinking but I'll find out one day.
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Very cool stuff!

Now Will, I gotta ask... What's the secret to keeping the setup so clean?
 
Ray C said:
What's the secret to keeping the setup so clean?
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No secret, I keep most of the mess in here:
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And here:
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Ray, that's actually quite amusing since you are not the first to comment about my "clean" setups. I guess I'll go ahead & share my story for the first time. So is it not common practice for machinists to clean their shops & tools? Well I don't have a shop, just my little space in my garage at home. I spend almost all of my time on the weekends in the garage so I can't stand have crap all over the place anymore.

My previous jobs were working in a junkyard & as an auto mechanic. Those places were filthy even after weekly clean ups. I'm not afraid to get down & dirty, I'm also the type that hates wearing gloves. I have been dirty 24/7 for well over 10 yrs during that time. it took me 2 yrs to finally clean my auto tools after bringing them home cause they were so filthy I didn't want to touch them. Well them days are over for me.

I purchased my lathe & mill new so they won't look like well used dirty machines for a while. My mill is only a few months old & unfortunately I have not got to use it as much as I want as I have been busy with requests. The builds I have been working on recently haven't required using the mill. The only times I have used the mill so far are for my own stuff during downtime in between builds. I always clean up after the day or the weekend. Chuck, ways, vise, & table get wiped down & oiled. Floor gets sweeped. No time to clean? Why clean since it will get dirty again anyways? :thinking:

Currently 95% of what I make for people is Ti. Many things get anodized too so I like to keep a cleaner environment. I don't do any kind of production work, I currently just make custom gadgets for people. I'm by far no pro machinist, just a home shop machinist. I don't work a whole lot with what I call "dirty metals" like lower grade steel or iron. In fact I hate working with those metals & I'll clean up right after I'm done with the project if I do. You'll probably never see pics of my machines filthy, if you do then the days were too long, I was too tired to clean, & there won't be any picture taking for my customers at that time either. You may see them a bit messy at times but in 2-3 days the chips will get vacuumed up.

Ray, I'm sorry if clean machines offend you or others but that's just the way I am now. I won't post pics of dirty tools to prove that I use them. I rather post pics of what was made. I just finished these Ti pieces today. :))

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Your "clean machines" don't offend me at all! I'm just wondering what your secret is -and I think you answered the question. Clean metal. I'm working with a lot of basic steel and do a lot of re-work on old parts. Lot's of rust and scale from the bay waters around here. I don't normally do much with cast iron but I had a project of my own then, 2 more sheaves came my way that were cast iron. (Customer was converting a onboard generator from 55 to 60 Hz and the original sheaves had enough meat to simply turn them down). CI creates a mess of epic magnitude.

I sweep constantly. Vaccuum cutting areas after every significant cut... Still, everything looks dirty...

... Mid late 70's I worked 4 years at a local auto garage then, a dealership. Apprentice mechanic (PT in high-school) then NIASE certified. Both places were FILTHY!!! I was the only guy with a clean bay. I hear you loud & clear about detesting filth. My shop desparetely needs a spring cleaning. I do a good 2-3 day cleaning in spring and late fall. -Still though, it's never as clean/organized as I would like.
 
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