New Member From Langley Bc Ready To Start Lathe & Mill Shopping

[Kiwi Canuck]

No need to wonder... yes, it will fit in 3/4" conduit.I came up with 40% fill (this is assuming you are using THHN). Note that 6 current carrying conductors require you derate to 80%, but since that is based on the 90C limits, you are still good with your planned wire size. YMMV, since Canada has sometimes stricter codes.

http://www.electrician2.com/calculators/rf_calculator.html

You could also make your life easier, and surface mount a small breaker panel near where your tools are, and just run 8AWG to that panel. Easy to turn power on to the machines. Wish I thought of that before I ran 10AWG for each circuit 75' across my garage in the attic.

That calculator is pretty cool, I usually just cut a small section of pipe and stuff it with wires and use my eyetrometer to measure it, no inspection so the 40% fill is negotiable as we are only using low voltage at work but with 220 with high loads it's nice to be safe.

Really like the idea of running a small sub panel over by the machines, that would be a nice set up.
I'll check what wiring we have in stock and then decide, probably don't have 8 but good chance we have a few partial rolls of 10 and 12 left over from jobs, need to think about that.

I went up in the ceiling today to see if I could feed a wire up over the suite and back down into one of the other hatches, no go they are all separated so it will require surface conduit for 65' or so.

That will be a nice job for my oldest son as he has been working on one of our crews for the last year and is apparently really good at bending and installing pipe, not a complicated install but he can go in the attic as well and save me from getting hot and bothered up there.
I'll stub down off a box in the attic and use a LB Pull connector on the ceiling rather than another box, it should look pretty discrete and then run across the ceiling.

Got to go.

 

[Hawkeye]

Sounds good. It never hurts to get the same info from different sources, including some you already know. I picked up my Aspencade from Shawn after my older Interstate tried to kill me.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

So that didn't work out how I was expecting, I was so full of hope after seeing the election results, the USA is going to collapse and I can buy my machines at 50 cents on the dollar or there abouts, instead we lost another 1/2 cent.

Oh well.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

I went over to see LKeithR yesterday on the way home from work, he has a machine shop 15 mins from my house, very nice man and I spent about 30 minutes getting a tour of his shop.

I think the most value I got from visiting with him was the types of tooling I would need to purchase for the type of projects I have in mind.

I will certainly drop by again sometime when I have more time once I get my machines.

He also confirmed that go as big as I can upfront and suggested a 1440 lathe if I have room, he has a very HD 1340 lathe that weighs around 3000 lbs.

Thanks for the intro, very much appreciated.

On a side note, I did get an an email back from King Canada and they confirmed the King Industrial 1236 lathe is of Chinese Origin.

Ramblings,

I have been mulling over all the options in my mind, and I'm still having an issue with choosing which models I should go with. (still only Considering Precision Matthews Machines)

I'm so confused I am having trouble trying determine what/where the resistance is.

Need to sit with it a while longer I guess, not sure why I've got stuck on this as I normally make my choice, buy and deal with it.

I am living the phrase "Paralysis by Analysis" and I better buy soon or I'm going to have to walk away and come back to this in a few weeks.

I think I need to make that excel sheet I was going to make and add pricing as well and hopefully that will put some order to all the stuff floating around in my head.

I'll also layout the machines sizes on cardboard or something so I can visualize the size in each work space.

As I write this out I just realized that I have not fully committed to where these machines will live, so perhaps that's certainly compounding my choices.

The three locations are;
My Electronic Locksmith business in the city with access to 3 phase power, but 45 mins from my house, not good for personal tinkering or weekend hobby work.

Home 3 car garage, have one bay dedicated to motorcycle parking (5) and workbench/workshop, need work to get 220V power setup and not a lot of room left for large machines, probably OK for smaller 120V machines.

Home 40' x 40' workshop, has 220v power has lots of room, cons, tenants above so noise could be an issue at night, far from house, so not conducive to running out for 30 mins or so if it's raining and cold, minor issues but I have my wood saws over there and I will do things by hand in the garage rather than run over there unless I have to. Would need to move my whole workshop over there as I couldn't operate in 2 different spaces. (my wife would love having the 3 car garage all clean of clutter.)

So one of the other issues, once I get location determined will be, will I actually use the machines after the novelty wears off and if so do I really need to spend $20K to find out, that's a hard one to know but it's definitely been on my mind.

That's enough rambling for now,

David

 

[MonkMan]

KC, it took me 13 months of back and forth to finally place my order. Much relieved! Now getting ready for December delivery.

 

[jbolt]

If you are unsure if you will use the machines after a while I think you best chance of success is having them in the garage close at hand. There are countless times I will pop out into the garage to fix or fabricate something. Second would be your shop on your property (it sound like it is closer than your work?) When my construction business was at its largest I kept my woodworking equipment in a warehouse and the last thing I wanted to do was drive to the shop to use the equipment for a small home project. I made do with my portable tools in my truck.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Thanks for all the responses, I really do appreciate it.

I did get to look at jbolts postings and I am very appreciative of your write up on your 1440GT, thanks for adding another option I didn't know about, haha.

The good news is I got to learn a lot about DRO's which I knew very little except they were a worthwhile addition, the videos on DRO Pros were very good.

While in my shop today I was visualizing the layout and thought about moving or getting rid of a couple of safes that have been used as a dumping table for kids bike gear and stuff that doesn't have a proper place.

I had a thought, I wonder if anyone has ever use safes as a stand for a lathe, I have 2 identical unused metal safes about 36" tall that weigh around 450lbs each, that could possibly used as the base for a lathe.

Not sure how thick the outside plate steel is but probably minimum 3/8" or possibly 1/2" I'll take a look at that a bit closer and maybe drill a discrete exploratory hole.

David

 

[brino]

I wonder if anyone has ever use safes as a stand for a lathe, I have 2 identical unused metal safes about 36" tall that weigh around 450lbs each

That's a cool idea! I have certainly NEVER heard of that, but I think it's a great idea. You may want the ability to level things up, but that can be done with spacers under legs.

Note: a machine does not need to be level to be functional, but it's a great reference to compare things too.

I bet they would make a great base, with no sandbags needed for extra mass for vibration damping.

-brino

 

[Muskt]

To me, 36 is way too tall. I am 5 foot 8. I just measured my PM 12x36. The bottom of the lathe is 31.5--which includes my 2 inch square tubing base + the adjusters. I spend a lot of time on my toes trying to see over the QCTP to see where I am cutting. I would really like about 2-3 inches lower.

Jerry in Delaware

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

To me, 36 is way too tall. I am 5 foot 8. I just measured my PM 12x36. The bottom of the lathe is 31.5--which includes my 2 inch square tubing base + the adjusters. I spend a lot of time on my toes trying to see over the QCTP to see where I am cutting. I would really like about 2-3 inches lower.

Jerry in Delaware

Hi Jerry, I'm 6' 2" so not crazy tall but not short either.

Not sure I will use them just a thought that crossed my mind as QMT is making cast iron bases and charging $$$ for them and I have something here that may work.

OK went and measured them, they are only 30" tall by 22" wide, with all the stuff stored on them (junk) I forgot they were that short.

My work benches are 37 inches and 39 1/2", the 39 1/2" is the perfect height for me, but I mounted my big Yost vise on that bench, it's way to tall to work at comfortably so I know what you mean about getting on your tip toes to see what you're working on. BTW I have a 4" Record vise on the 37" bench and that works for me.

What height is normal for a lathe and how do they measure it, to the center of the chuck?
Edit, just looked up the PM1236, it shows 46" to spindle center, is this accurate?

Are you using the PM1236 base with an add on or did you fab your own completely?

David