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Setting-up the PM 1236-T Lathe
- Thread starter Titanium Knurler
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Thanks Mikey. I really needed to have something to contain the coolant. With Ti I am usually turning >1,000 RPM and it gets messy. This contains the cutting oil pretty well. I use it a lot more than I anticipated. I guess the guard did become a bit elaborate. When I design or modify something I try to keep it as simple as possible, sort of an Occams razor theory of design. I believe simple is better because it is most often more reliable. Well, it works and I guess that is what counts.
GoIng to do some tool storage stuff next then some miscellaneous things including a headstock handwheel that uses a shrink fit to join two parts. First time doing this; looking forward to showing it to you.
GoIng to do some tool storage stuff next then some miscellaneous things including a headstock handwheel that uses a shrink fit to join two parts. First time doing this; looking forward to showing it to you.
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2014
- Messages
- 5,055
Very nicely done and a lot of thought went into your build. A bit surprised you didn't go with 3 phase which can give a bit smoother finish. I would look into putting a pump oiler in the gearbox, a number of 1340GT owners have installed them to get more even oil distribution for the gears.
On the coolant, I switched to KOOLRite soluble oils years ago, mostly for my horizontal bandsaw. Prior to that the sump would start to stink after a few months, with the KOOLRite it went for over a year w/o problems and a marked improvement in decreasing rust. I did find the the unpainted surfaces on my 1340GT would get surface rust very quickly, so would routinely wipe down the surfaces with oil. One concern that I would have with cutting oil with titanium is the risk of ignition/fire. I haven't machine Titanium, but coolant is pretty much required to draw the heat away, but I usually see recommendations for using water based soluble oils. The KOOLRite worked well, you also might check with David Best who had another water based coolant that he used and he thought highly of it, he does a lot of wok with SS 304. He also did extensive mods to his 1340GT.
www.hobby-machinist.com
On the coolant, I switched to KOOLRite soluble oils years ago, mostly for my horizontal bandsaw. Prior to that the sump would start to stink after a few months, with the KOOLRite it went for over a year w/o problems and a marked improvement in decreasing rust. I did find the the unpainted surfaces on my 1340GT would get surface rust very quickly, so would routinely wipe down the surfaces with oil. One concern that I would have with cutting oil with titanium is the risk of ignition/fire. I haven't machine Titanium, but coolant is pretty much required to draw the heat away, but I usually see recommendations for using water based soluble oils. The KOOLRite worked well, you also might check with David Best who had another water based coolant that he used and he thought highly of it, he does a lot of wok with SS 304. He also did extensive mods to his 1340GT.
PM1340 - the Best & Jacobs Full Custom Edition
It’s been several months since I took delivery of, and posted about my PM1340 lathe. It's time for an update since I’m nearing completion of what started as a straight forward VFD conversion project, and then took on a life of it’s own and led to a substantial customization of the stock PM1340...
www.hobby-machinist.com
Selection of Cutting Fluids| Cutting Fluid Selector Guide | KOOLRite
How to select metalworking coolants
www.koolrite.com
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Very nicely done and a lot of thought went into your build. A bit surprised you didn't go with 3 phase which can give a bit smoother finish. I would look into putting a pump oiler in the gearbox, a number of 1340GT owners have installed them to get more even oil distribution for the gears.
On the coolant, I switched to KOOLRite soluble oils years ago, mostly for my horizontal bandsaw. Prior to that the sump would start to stink after a few months, with the KOOLRite it went for over a year w/o problems and a marked improvement in decreasing rust. I did find the the unpainted surfaces on my 1340GT would get surface rust very quickly, so would routinely wipe down the surfaces with oil. One concern that I would have with cutting oil with titanium is the risk of ignition/fire. I haven't machine Titanium, but coolant is pretty much required to draw the heat away, but I usually see recommendations for using water based soluble oils. The KOOLRite worked well, you also might check with David Best who had another water based coolant that he used and he thought highly of it, he does a lot of wok with SS 304. He also did extensive mods to his 1340GT.
PM1340 - the Best & Jacobs Full Custom Edition
It’s been several months since I took delivery of, and posted about my PM1340 lathe. It's time for an update since I’m nearing completion of what started as a straight forward VFD conversion project, and then took on a life of it’s own and led to a substantial customization of the stock PM1340...Selection of Cutting Fluids| Cutting Fluid Selector Guide | KOOLRite
How to select metalworking coolantswww.koolrite.com
mksj, thanks for your feedback, the most important of which is the Best link to his modifications to his 1340GT. I thought I was going pretty far down the “modification rabbit hole” but I know realize there are people out there far crazier than I am. What a beautiful job he did on his re-build. After reading his thread I realized that I have re-discovered the wheel in a couple of instances in my modifications(see upcoming adapter for headstock handwheel and oil change fittings).
As far as the three phase is concerned, I did not get that out of shear ignorance. Would do it differently next time.
The pump on the gearbox may be overkill for the way I use my lathe; I am not sure I use mine often enough and hard enough to make it worthwhile. But thanks for the tip, I didn’t know such a thing was available.
Another good tip in your response is the possibility of igniting the cutting oil. I think I will always have that possibility in mind and will move the fire extinguisher a bit closer.
Thanks,
TK
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Well, I am sitting at the gate at the airport waiting to go somewhere warmer, which today is just about anywhere:
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I thought I would start Section IV, on tool holding and storage. Included in this section is mounting a Huot drawer under the lathe, a Unistrut tool holder, collet racks and finally sliding chuck shelves.
A.) Huot Drawer- I chose this drawer because it fit and it was nicely made. It also happened to be very close to the same color as the stand. Not much to mounting; just drilled and tapped holes for the mounting screws on the underside of the baseplate. I lined the bottom of the drawer with Kennedy brown felt to protect my tools and keep them from sliding. I wish I had room for another drawer but two just didn’t quite fit. Here are some photos:
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The website seems to be acting-up since the update. It was telling me I had over thirty images, which I did not, and then all of a sudden I lost three fourths of what I had written so I am going to sign-off before I lose this little bit that is left. Sorry, I don’t have the patience to redo it today, so I will try again tomorrow.
. . I thought I would start Section IV, on tool holding and storage. Included in this section is mounting a Huot drawer under the lathe, a Unistrut tool holder, collet racks and finally sliding chuck shelves.
A.) Huot Drawer- I chose this drawer because it fit and it was nicely made. It also happened to be very close to the same color as the stand. Not much to mounting; just drilled and tapped holes for the mounting screws on the underside of the baseplate. I lined the bottom of the drawer with Kennedy brown felt to protect my tools and keep them from sliding. I wish I had room for another drawer but two just didn’t quite fit. Here are some photos:
. . . The website seems to be acting-up since the update. It was telling me I had over thirty images, which I did not, and then all of a sudden I lost three fourths of what I had written so I am going to sign-off before I lose this little bit that is left. Sorry, I don’t have the patience to redo it today, so I will try again tomorrow.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Thanks for the update. I will try to post tomorrow.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Alright, I am going to give posting another try. I thought I would post in small segments until I trust that I won’t lose a post in the middle of composing it.
B.) Unistrut Tool Holder- I imagine this idea has been around for a while. I wonder who first came up with the it? Very handy. This is how I managed it on the PM 1236T.
I started with a 48” piece of non-perforated, 1-5/8” x 1-3/16” stainless Unistrut from Zoro. When I cut it to length, I left a gap at the left side so the sliding tool holders could be removed without disassembling them. On the right side I left 12” for a small tool shelf for my MT3 tools and chuck wrenches. I drilled holes in the lower edge of the Unistrut for drainage. I then mounted it to the sloped, forward facing top edge of the splash guard. I then made a dozen or so moveable tool holders from 2”x 3/16” stainless angle. I used button head head hex screws to secure the tool holders so I could easily tighten and loosen them with an Allen wrench. Next, I made a 12”x 6” shelf from 1/8” stainless. I drilled multiple 1-1/4” holes and placed oil resistant grommets in the holes to protect the MT surfaces and to minimize vibration. I made a second, slightly smaller shelf in a similar manner to mount below the first shelf.
Kit views:
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Next, I made the tool holders out of 2” stainless angle. They are 1-1/2” wide with a 7/8” tab that is bent downward to keep them from rotating in the channel. They remind me of deep sea fishing fighting chairs but just about everything reminds me of fishing. There is a hole in the base for the button head screw that goes to a threaded square piece of stainless. This configuration allows me to lock them in position. There is a magnified view of a tool holder in the kit view above.
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Finished:
I am walking on eggshells here hoping the system is not going to crash so I will post this now and go on to the next tool holder on my lathe, the collet Rack.
B.) Unistrut Tool Holder- I imagine this idea has been around for a while. I wonder who first came up with the it? Very handy. This is how I managed it on the PM 1236T.
I started with a 48” piece of non-perforated, 1-5/8” x 1-3/16” stainless Unistrut from Zoro. When I cut it to length, I left a gap at the left side so the sliding tool holders could be removed without disassembling them. On the right side I left 12” for a small tool shelf for my MT3 tools and chuck wrenches. I drilled holes in the lower edge of the Unistrut for drainage. I then mounted it to the sloped, forward facing top edge of the splash guard. I then made a dozen or so moveable tool holders from 2”x 3/16” stainless angle. I used button head head hex screws to secure the tool holders so I could easily tighten and loosen them with an Allen wrench. Next, I made a 12”x 6” shelf from 1/8” stainless. I drilled multiple 1-1/4” holes and placed oil resistant grommets in the holes to protect the MT surfaces and to minimize vibration. I made a second, slightly smaller shelf in a similar manner to mount below the first shelf.
Kit views:
. Next, I made the tool holders out of 2” stainless angle. They are 1-1/2” wide with a 7/8” tab that is bent downward to keep them from rotating in the channel. They remind me of deep sea fishing fighting chairs but just about everything reminds me of fishing. There is a hole in the base for the button head screw that goes to a threaded square piece of stainless. This configuration allows me to lock them in position. There is a magnified view of a tool holder in the kit view above.
. . Finished:
I am walking on eggshells here hoping the system is not going to crash so I will post this now and go on to the next tool holder on my lathe, the collet Rack.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2018
- Messages
- 314
Ok, i’m going to try another post.
C.) Collet Racks- this is probably the easiest modification I made to the lathe but somehow I managed to screw-up. I ordered the 72 piece PM 5C collet set. It comes with a nice rack composed of a panel and two supports:
Well, for some reason mine came with two panels. Without thinking, I modified and mounted them on the lathe stand and then realized I had enough storage for 144 collets! After laughing at myself for a bit, I removed them, cut them down and reattached the smaller panels.
To mount the cut-down panels I drilled a couple 1/4” holes in the folded edge of the panel that will be adjacent to the stand column. You can see the folded edge that I am referring to under the magnifier in the above photo. I used two 2x4’s as spacers to hold the panel in place while I marked the columns for drilling. The 2x4’s hold the panels parallel to and the right distance from the angled stand panel. I then drilled some additional 1/4” holes in the face of the rack panel and the lathe panel. I finished by attaching the racks with 1/4” screws on the side and 3-1/2”, 1/4” screws and 3” aluminum stand-offs.
Kit view:
. 
Finished:
Next, sliding chuck shelves.
C.) Collet Racks- this is probably the easiest modification I made to the lathe but somehow I managed to screw-up. I ordered the 72 piece PM 5C collet set. It comes with a nice rack composed of a panel and two supports:
Well, for some reason mine came with two panels. Without thinking, I modified and mounted them on the lathe stand and then realized I had enough storage for 144 collets! After laughing at myself for a bit, I removed them, cut them down and reattached the smaller panels.
To mount the cut-down panels I drilled a couple 1/4” holes in the folded edge of the panel that will be adjacent to the stand column. You can see the folded edge that I am referring to under the magnifier in the above photo. I used two 2x4’s as spacers to hold the panel in place while I marked the columns for drilling. The 2x4’s hold the panels parallel to and the right distance from the angled stand panel. I then drilled some additional 1/4” holes in the face of the rack panel and the lathe panel. I finished by attaching the racks with 1/4” screws on the side and 3-1/2”, 1/4” screws and 3” aluminum stand-offs.
Kit view:
. Finished:
Next, sliding chuck shelves.