PM-835S VS PM-935TS

R

rogerl

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I currently own a Enco Model 105-1110 Mill / Drill that I bought new from Enco over 20 years ago. I also have an 11" South Bend lathe that I have had for about the same length of time. I use both machines to make parts for my various hobbies. I have a motorcycle so I make parts various farkles for it. I have acquired lots of tooling for the machine over the years. The machine has a R8 spindle. The mill does everything that I want it to do but is can be a real pain if you need to raise or lower the head while making a part. I need to plan out the work to make sure that if i will need to use longer drills that the head is up high enough to get them in. Sometimes it is not and it can get frustrating.
Lately I have started looking for a replacement mill. The full size Bridgeport is to big for the location I have the mill. Doing my searches I somehow found the Precision Matthews web page and saw the PM-835S. The mill looked perfect for the replacement mill. It was a little bigger than the mill I have but it will still fit in the location it is now. It has the knee so that I can no longer worry about having to move the head during making a part. The head swivels and tilts and it has an R8 spindle.
I read more on the forums and they said be aware of machines made in China. Taiwanese machines are much better than Chinese machines. I see that parts of the PM-835S are made in China. The machine head is made in Taiwan. I continued looking and then found the PM-935 TS and fell in love. From reading the specifications for the PM-935 TS they are much better than the specifications for the PM-835S. The 935 has better castings, a better head, Turcire ways, ground lead screws for X and Y that are double nutted for backlash adjustment. The 935 machine has some very nice features that the 835 does not have.
I am trying to justify the additional cost of the 935. The 835 would be better than what I currently have and would be a vary nice machine for what I do with it. I just do not want to kick myself for not getting the 935.
I have not contacted Matt at Precision Matthews to discuss the difference between the two machines. I live in Cleveland, Ohio so Precision Matthews is about a 2 hour drive away. I could take a drive and go take a look at the two machines and see what they are like.
Has anyone see both of the machines to be able to comment on is the 935 that much better than the 835? If anyone has a PM-835S do you see any problems with the machine that the 935 would be better. Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
Roger L
 
rogerl said:
I currently own a Enco Model 105-1110 Mill / Drill that I bought new from Enco over 20 years ago. I also have an 11" South Bend lathe that I have had for about the same length of time. I use both machines to make parts for my various hobbies. I have a motorcycle so I make parts various farkles for it. I have acquired lots of tooling for the machine over the years. The machine has a R8 spindle. The mill does everything that I want it to do but is can be a real pain if you need to raise or lower the head while making a part. I need to plan out the work to make sure that if i will need to use longer drills that the head is up high enough to get them in. Sometimes it is not and it can get frustrating.
Lately I have started looking for a replacement mill. The full size Bridgeport is to big for the location I have the mill. Doing my searches I somehow found the Precision Matthews web page and saw the PM-835S. The mill looked perfect for the replacement mill. It was a little bigger than the mill I have but it will still fit in the location it is now. It has the knee so that I can no longer worry about having to move the head during making a part. The head swivels and tilts and it has an R8 spindle.
I read more on the forums and they said be aware of machines made in China. Taiwanese machines are much better than Chinese machines. I see that parts of the PM-835S are made in China. The machine head is made in Taiwan. I continued looking and then found the PM-935 TS and fell in love. From reading the specifications for the PM-935 TS they are much better than the specifications for the PM-835S. The 935 has better castings, a better head, Turcire ways, ground lead screws for X and Y that are double nutted for backlash adjustment. The 935 machine has some very nice features that the 835 does not have.
I am trying to justify the additional cost of the 935. The 835 would be better than what I currently have and would be a vary nice machine for what I do with it. I just do not want to kick myself for not getting the 935.
I have not contacted Matt at Precision Matthews to discuss the difference between the two machines. I live in Cleveland, Ohio so Precision Matthews is about a 2 hour drive away. I could take a drive and go take a look at the two machines and see what they are like.
Has anyone see both of the machines to be able to comment on is the 935 that much better than the 835? If anyone has a PM-835S do you see any problems with the machine that the 935 would be better. Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
Roger L
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Roger, what did you end up doing?
 
I bought the PM 935-TS and I LOVE it. I think it is one of the best shop purchases I have ever made. I put a Kurt 4X vise on it and eventually bought a DRO for it. The machine is the perfect size for me. I have made hundreds if not of parts on it. If you are thinking about buying a knee mill I would highly recommend the PM 935-TS.

Roger L
 
Thanks Roger! I am leaning that way, I was thinking of going bigger but my shop space is limited and at the end of the day I can't imagine I'll be limited by the size very often. Thanks so much for the reply!

Scott
 
Scott:
I bought the mill in 2019 and I have never yet had a project that was too big for the mill. I would highly recommend getting a Variable Frequency Drive for the mill as well. I have the main drive belt set in the middle range and i just change the speed of the motor thru the VFD. If I am tapping larger holes I will go into back gear but I almost never change the main drive belts. The VFD is the way to go. There are lots of posts on this forum showing how to connect the VFD to the machine. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Roger L
 
Thanks Roger! I have been looking at the TV version but I like the idea of being able to have more torque at low RPM other than that is there another advantage of getting the TS and VFD rather than the TV?
 
Scott:
The TS is a much simpler head. You do not have the variable speed pulleys and the wide belt to deal with. Less to go wrong with on the TS head. Also, if you go with the TS and the VFD you do not need 3 phase power to run the 3 phase motor. The VFD does that for you. You will need about 30 amps of 220 VAC. A quick turn of the pot gives you high to low speed. If you need lots of torque you can go into back gear and speed up the motor.

Roger L
 
Scott:
Yes, I bought the VFD from Precision Mathews. I think it is the Hitachi VFD.

Roger L
 
I bought a PM 835S in 2020, and LOVE it! Though it has a relatively small footprint, it's VERY tall. If your shop is in any way vertically challenged, a Bridgeport might well be better for you.

Both the 835and 935 have pretty tall bases ( about a foot) underneath the knee elevation screw.
 
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