New to machining and metal works, can I get a sanity check before I write one

[wrmiller]

Shoot, if I could get someone to trade me a Sharp copy of a Hardinge HLV for my 1340GT, I'd do it in a heartbeat! I've not found any takers though...

The primary reason for my buying a lathe this large was to get the Taiwan quality and the Norton gearbox for threading. Not because I need the size/capacity. Everyone has different wants/needs.

 

[pontiac428]

You did say you want to do some rifle barrels in your future lathe. That's awesome; it is a rich and rewarding hobby. If barreling is in your future, you will need every bit of 40 inches between centers unless you go with a big spindle machine that can pass a barrel through the head. There are reasonable pros and cons to both methods. I can't pass a barrel through my small spindle, so I work from a steady. The steady produces good results. Just something to keep in mind while doing your pondering.

 

[Aaron_W]

Mikey brings up a great point: Change gears are THE WORST. I had them on my Logan (until I added a QCGB, not a trivial task!) and would never want to go through having them again.

What many miss is the gearbox is NOT simply for selecting thread pitches! It doesn't matter if you never end up cutting threads. They are ALSO used for changing auto-feed rates! The auto-feed is basically the only good way to get a consistent feed (for the purposes of consistent surface finish!) and being able to tweak that speed without spending 10 minutes fussing with gears is a god-send.

While most of the current 9-11" lathes use change gears for threading, they do have enough of a gearbox to allow a range of speeds for the power feed. They are not as primitive as a vintage lathe without a QCGB.

 

[mikey]

Mikey,
I had to check out your lathe.
I didn't know these were made in Austria.
They appear to be a great choice for a hobbiest seeking a quality lathe.

Yup, good lathe and has everything a good lathe needs in terms of features, all machined and assembled in Austria to a DIN tool room standard. It's an 11" lathe but it is a very good 11" lathe.

 

[Aukai]

I have a PM 1228, I have not gone item by item to see the difference with the 1127. Other than a belt change it has worked well.

 

[BigWalt]

Well congrat on the new hobby

I'm new to this as well and I ordered my PM1127 with the dro and few extra tools, now just waiting on it to land state side.
PM was fast and quick to answer my questions.

I say yes order the DRO, it not that great of expense and you save on mounting it. I think in the long haul it will more and pay for itself.

Good luck whichever way you decide.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

However, it might be better to get a smaller welding table and get the bigger lathe (you shouldn't be welding near your machine tools anyway).

Or a smaller mill! Unless you need the full travel of the mill table (e.g. facing a 2' plate), you can just take lighter cuts. Z-axis (throat) depth limitations can be worked around by, say, rotating the head and mounting the rotary table sideways. With a lathe, the bed length and the spindle bore diameter will limit the type of work you can do. As others have mentioned, there are also features on larger lathes (QCGB, power cross-feed) that simply aren't available on the smaller ones. The same can't really be said of mills - the features on the larger ones (knee vs bench, that is) do not differ much from the features of the smaller.

 

[Brad125]

I was in the same sisuation, i wanted a pm 1127 but couldnt swing it. I ended up getting a Delta Rockwell 11x36 engine lathe and rebuild it... but i have a pm727m to compliment it...

 

[ropedrag]

Continued input from the group is much appreciated, thanks for the guidance guys.

So, while I mentioned I really don't know where this road will lead me in terms of what I'll be doing with the lathe I did mention the potential to thread a barrel or two. So while my intent isn't anywhere close to building a new arsenal please correct me if I'm wrong here (quite possible) but barrel threading (either end), crowning/re-crowning, and chambering are all manageable tasks with the Large Bore 11x27. Turning a new 28" 6.5 creedmore barrel wouldn't work though because of the center to center dimension. However, and I'm not suggesting this as a preferred method, but technically couldn't the barrel be worked in half's or some other ratio 1/3, 2/3 +/-? But at the same time working an AR barrel from 9" pistol length to 20" rifle length should be within the wheelhouse yes?

I'm just looking for what would be a "deal breaker" on the 11x27LB, if a 12x36 is just a matter of convenance or speed or maybe easier and more forgiving to achieve tolerance or is it something more?

Thanks again for the input

 

[Brad125]

One over looked piece is the ability to attach a spider to the rear of the spindle... im sure you could figure out something for the 1127, it just might be a pain...