PM1236 gears

[ShawnR]

It is really no sweat once you have the lathe in front of you, you will get used to it quickly. The only thing I have to add is that on my particular PM1236 I needed to use a gear puller for the first 10 changes or so until it wore in a bit. After that, the process is super quick.

Thanks bakrch

compared to what I have been doing (5 tools and gear change for every pitch), this lathe will be sweet!

 

[fursphere]

Its possible there is a mix of old and new parts in your crate, especially considering the cast iron stands have been updated and are different than the welded sheet metal ones, and that's why you're having alignment issues. Have you reached out to PM Tech Support? Those folks usually response pretty quick and have been very helpful every time I've reached out. Had a few questions / concerns when I received my PM-30MV-HS mill and they were quick to help me out.

Shoot them an email or give them a call, maybe there is something wonky, or the answer just isn't presenting itself.

I probably won't get to play with mine for a week or three, so I won't be much help until then. Right now I just look at in the crate and patiently wait.

 

[ShawnR]

Its possible there is a mix of old and new parts in your crate, especially considering the cast iron stands have been updated and are different than the welded sheet metal ones, and that's why you're having alignment issues. Have you reached out to PM Tech Support? Those folks usually response pretty quick and have been very helpful every time I've reached out. Had a few questions / concerns when I received my PM-30MV-HS mill and they were quick to help me out.

Shoot them an email or give them a call, maybe there is something wonky, or the answer just isn't presenting itself.

I probably won't get to play with mine for a week or three, so I won't be much help until then. Right now I just look at in the crate and patiently wait.

Yea, I kind of think that is what is going on. I did call tech support with a question about the vibration feet. I did not want to call them everytime I had a question so figured I would see if anyone has had similar questions. Now that I think about it, if the bases were the 34" apart like early in the manual (referring to the steel cabinets I think, as you suggest), then the foot pedal bar would probably be the right length. All good. Thanks.

If I find any other glitches, I will post them here for you or others.

 

[fursphere]

I went out to the garage and setup the stands at 34" inches apart, and put the chip tray on top of them. The holes were about 3.5" off. Similar to what you mentioned. (2nd pic)

I then pulled out the center blue sheet metal piece that goes in between the two stands. 30" wide. (3rd pic)

Then pushed the stands together until the chip tray holes linted up. Stands were about 30 - 30.5" apart at this point (which aligns with the center sheet metal).

Then I pulled out the foot brake, and set it on the ground in between the stands - looks to be about the right size. approx 30". Removed the bottom drawer, and the end of the foot brake rod is about dead on with the rod inside the cabinet (5th pic), meaning the coupler would connect them.

Did the rod on your foot brake shift to one side or the other? (6th pic) My finger in the first pic is pointing to where the hole is underneath the chip tray, showing the miss-alignment. (1st pic)

 

[fursphere]

This might be more helpful. On the left side of the foot brake, the rod extends almost 8", on the right side only about 1".

 

[ShawnR]

Thanks. That helped. After seeing your post, I went out to check and compare and the bracket lined up perfectly so I went WTF.... the top holes lined up and then I noticed the marks on the floor were off. In short, because there is an extra set of holes in the top of the left cabinet, I think I measured the hole distance in the chip panel, then positioned the cabinets to line up but I must have used the wrong holes. Turns out I needed to reference the other set of holes. My cabinet spacing is 30 3/4" as well.

I had thought the rod had shifted as well but it is pinned. Glad I did not go hacking things off.

Thanks for taking the time to do that.

Cheers,

 

[fursphere]

Happy to help. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[kb58]

...I think to completely get away from gear changes you have to get into the really big (and expensive) lathes.

Or add an Electronic Lead Screw (ELS), and there are several threads here about adding one.

 

[ShawnR]

Or add an Electronic Lead Screw (ELS), and there are several threads here about adding one.

That sounds interesting. I will need to go find info on that. Thanks!

Well, it is up and running. I did end up shortening the bar on the foot pedal after all but only a half inch. It allows a little clearance for the foot pedal against the cabinets. The install went well other than my brain fart on the measurements.

Thanks for the input all.
Cheers,
Shawn

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Hi all

I have purchased a PM1236 but I won't see it for another month or so. I have had a small lathe for years, one that needed gears changed for any change in lead screw speed and I am/was really looking forward to no more gears when I ordered the lathe. I did realize that switching imperial to metric would involve a couple of gears but that will really be seldom, if ever. I would mostly do imperial. Now that the lathe arrival is nearer, I was perusing the manual a bit and see that gear changes are indeed required. Is it just switching the 24t and 48 tooth? Is that worth complaining about? Again, probably would not be posting if I had access to see the lathe but kind of wondering if this is going to be a pain. Two common sizes for me are 1/4" x 20 and 1/2" x 13. It looks like one set does coarse and the other does fine (ish)? What is the gear swapping procedure like to do? My current lathe required all 4 gears be changed, and each fastening point had to be altered with a different diameter so it was a PITA. Some pitches were accomodated with one gear change but it was usually the one behind others so, yea,....

I am sure the PM1236 will be way better than that! But I was surprised I would be switching anything unless I changed units. Anyone have input for me?

Thanks
Cheers,
Shawn

You have a minimum of swamping, if you use Imperial many of those can be cut the way the lathe is setup new and most of it is moving the 24 and 48 around. The only confusion I have is mine came with a bag of extra gears and I have yet to figure those out. The only complaint I have is they should have slotted the feet in the lathe to make our life simpler for assembly to the base.... that was an irritation....