PM-1054TV Delivery & Setup

[BGHansen]

Nice looking machine! Appreciate the detailed view into the delivery and vise.
Welcome to the forum


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Oh, I thought you just really, really, really liked the machine!

Bruce

 

[MtnBiker]

Another shout out. Tramming seemed like it would be a PITA. Found this and was impressed by quality, ease of use and price. Can also be used to tram off a 6" vise. They make a smaller version for smaller vises. Love supporting the little guys out there.



Tramming consists of touching off/calibrating each gauge against a supplied magnet at a set point on the table. Then you align by touching off against the table and adjusting tram until the numbers on the dial indicators match. Couldn't be easier. They make a bunch of stuff for lathes too.



Nice little vise stop. Cheap and good. Edge Technology has gotten ahold of some CNC machines and they seem to know how to use them.

 

[Cheeseking]

Cool. Looks like you’re set up with some nice accessories for the mill.

 

[MtnBiker]

After the shop tour I realize I'll never have enough tooling. It was ridiculous...mountains of tooling.

 

[MtnBiker]

Last of the big setup items...power draw bar (so I stop dropping things from the top of the mill).



Went with the Maxi-Torque Rite through PM. Unlike a lot of accessories available from PM, you are on your own for installation. Pretty easy install if you know how to tap threads. And I do admire all the folks that fab'd their own. Above my pay grade right now.



The only time suck was fabricating this mounting plate. Required the mill...so I got to make chips!!!



The business end. This may not be the final mounting solution but it was quick and easy. It does get in the way of the manual downfeed wheel (which I don't see using but who knows). It was a serious stretch to reach up to the draw bar (no NBA for my family). This makes the mill so much more productive.

Hope folks find a few of these solutions helpful. Thanks for the comments and encouragement.

 

[Steve R]

Checking in to see if you had much opportunity to use the mill? I would like to hear some feedback on it?? How does the controls feel?? How does the fit and feel of the machine?? Noise level?? Vibration??

 

[MtnBiker]

Checking in to see if you had much opportunity to use the mill? I would like to hear some feedback on it?? How does the controls feel?? How does the fit and feel of the machine?? Noise level?? Vibration??

I'm working with PM right now. There is a short punch list...have a belt/noise issue that the factory is working on. I'll recap at the other end. The X,Y,Z controls feel like buttah. Power is really good - the back gear makes this a torque monster for steel. Ran a face mill on some aluminum plate and surface finish was excellent. Having a power feed on the Z (this is a heavy Z) is..well...can't imagine cranking by hand. Lots to like.

 

[MtnBiker]

Quick update on shop and tooling progress. Spent quality time with the mill and getting the hang of this. Working on speeds/feeds and production setups. So much to learn. As new equipment comes in we wanted to stop renting fork lifts and get a crane. More than we need now but hopefully future proofing. The Spanco 3 ton, height adjustable gantry is a beast. So beastly, at over 900 lbs, we had to have help from our body-builder friend (did a great job holding up a 300 lb I-beam). The assembly was pretty easy overall and we're ready for more shop equipment (Siegmund weld table and Ellis band saw get here next week). A little height constrained (9'6" ceiling) but I can lift the mill almost 7" and that's about the tallest thing I can imagine in this shop. When we finally build a larger, dedicated shop the crane can go to 12' and that will open up some possibilities.

 

[MtnBiker]

Thought I'd share a quick update on the shop build. Lots has changed since the 1054 arrived. Adding more metal fab equipment before we add more machine tools. The 1054 is providing good service although trying to work though a few issues has resulted in PM ordering me a new J-head. Should be here in January. I'll document the trade-out.



Cabinets are gone (moved to rented storage shed but we needed the space). Also added 4 more LED shop lights (6 total) so we can actually see in here. Such a difference.




Added an Ellis 1600 band saw. We still have an Evolution miter saw but found both blade life and the continuous spray of molten metal was kind of a downer. The Ellis is a monster. And quiet, which fits our residential setting much better. The cut quality is also excellent as you can see here.


New Siegmund weld table. Also a monster.



Having fun bending conduit. The sub-panel is nice because we can turn off the power and wire things without turning off the house (I don't play around live 240v stuff).



Prototype weld cart. We'll finish and paint it once we're done experimenting on handle locations, cord mgmt and such.

More to come as we expand capabilities and build a small customer base.

 

[7milesup]

May I ask what are you making for the customer base?
Nice looking equipment you have there.