Had my new PM-1030V w/DRO delivered last week. The PM cabinet was on back order and I didn't want to pay for separate shipping when it comes available, so I'm going with a new 73"x25" ICON tool chest. This will give me plenty of bench top room next to lathe and tons of storage draws for lathe and mill tooling. The carrier also had the original pallet sitting atop another pallet when it arrived.
Im assuming the toolbox was generic for another machine but I can’t confirm. Reading the instruction manual you only change the installed gears from a 127t to a 120t The only change made is where a spacer bushing is oriented on the lower drive gear. The rest of the changes are by the gear box selectors. Unless I’m missing something in the manual, I don’t think they are for this machine.
@@FordGT-40_MKI it's common to get a set of extra change gears even on a lathe that has a quick change gearbox. The extra gears are for cutting thread pitches that are outside the range of the gearbox. Athough the gearbox provides many combinations of thread pitches and feedrates, it cannot produce all of those imperial pitches listed on the threading chart with just one set of gears mounted on the lathe, the same applies for the metric pitches. The 120/127 compound gear allows cutting of metric threads on a lathe with an imperial leadscrew, and vice versa. Anyway, it's a very nice lathe, China have been producing that model for many years, and it's always good to see someone getting a new machine tool for home use. I have a Chinese made 13x30 geared head lathe that I bought new here in the UK in 2004.
Thanks. I still haven’t needed to use the gears, will likely find out what they are for if I ever get to a point where I have an oddball thread to cut.
metric threads only use the 24 and 48 change gears through the 120/127 compensation gear. the gearbox allows the complete range of metric threads to be cut. you still have to swap the gears over between driven and driver for various pitches. the imperial thread chart shows that for certain leads, one of the gears gets swapped for something else... 22, 26, 28, 44, 56.... then you get the joy of figuring out what the indicator table means... lol... its rather ambiguous. despite the gearboxes, it doesnt do all imperial threads with one fixed set of gears. and if you deal with gas fittings or worm gears or various similar "odd ratios", its best to figure out ALL the ratios the lathe can do... it only lists the "common" ones. and sometimes you need custom gears... there is no 17 or 34TPI option, for instance... a Mod1 worm gear is a "pi" pitch... also unlisted... and multi start threads need ratios divisible by certain factors...2, 3, etc...
How did you connect the power? I just got one and confused as hell. Did you have to buy a separate 12 AWG 3 wire cord and hook it up to a male plug? Where does the wiring for the Fwd/Rev wires go?
Mine came with a pigtail prewired to the machine. I just needed to add a plug that for my receptacle. I didnt need to do any wiring on the rest of the machine, so not sure about the forward reverse wiring.
@@The_clips_that_Dip theres supposed to be a diagram in the back of the box. everythings numbered. its a ratsnest. fairly standard reversing setup, using two relays as the motors have two wiring arrangements for direction, and thats fairly universal. and most motors have their own diagram regards linking bars and supply wires. power to 24V transformer to drive relays and light(s)... that being said, mine always made rather nasty rumbling noises, and after the motor burnt out, and then tearing the wiring out and drawing my own diagram, i figured out that it had been wired incorrectly from the word go... the factory diagram isnt exactly "intuitive"... sold here where i am, it comes with the appropriate plug, so nothing to do with me!
Hi. I bought mine from Precision Mathews. I got a lot of upgrades on it, I think it was around $7k www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1236/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm6hMzal1Y6RRm1EuGdWpU1k2R-XJNeyvP1dN0fYmAy2EAKlFnJ-RIMaAqFJEALw_wcB
al i can say is... take a CLOSE look at the tailstock... think of all the other lathes youve used over the years... can you see it? i wish i had... cus every day i curse it...
Yes I plan to have more space once we move to the house we are building. I can’t speak for Grizzly lathes as I have never used one. I wasn’t impressed with Grizzly mills I’ve used. I’m do feel that this lathe is very good quality though.
i remember my day of excitement... got held back a month as the brake pads were asbestos, iirc... after dragging it out of the van and lifting up on many lumps of wood and bricks.. it took about a week or so for the serious design flaw to became apparent. its obvious in the thumbnail... and ever since, i curse it... wont say i wish i had never bought it, but yeah... i do wish i had got the next one up... wait until you work between centers! then it becomes clear what the issue is. theyre sold here as the AL336, and its the same issue. look at ANY OTHER LATHE but this one...
@@FordGT-40_MKI I'm going to pull the trigger on the PM1340GT. The experience you have with your lathe, Do you think I could maneuver it to its permanent location in my shop with a "cherry picker" or would some other way be better? Thanks!
@@troutfitter547 smart boy. go up a size. as i always point out, these 1236 units have a serious flaw with the tailstock. the ONLY machine ive ever seen where the nose is flush. that approx 2 inches of overhang makes a MASSIVE difference! trust me, it gives me PTSD ever since i first noticed it... my only regret with the machine, really...
Thanks for sharing. I've got a PM1236 coming in the next couple of weeks.
No problem. Hope it helps. So far I think it’s a great machine.
Had my new PM-1030V w/DRO delivered last week. The PM cabinet was on back order and I didn't want to pay for separate shipping when it comes available, so I'm going with a new 73"x25" ICON tool chest. This will give me plenty of bench top room next to lathe and tons of storage draws for lathe and mill tooling.
The carrier also had the original pallet sitting atop another pallet when it arrived.
The tool box is a pretty good idea. Definitely need storage for tooling
mine is about 30 days out. thank you! good luck, please post more as you learn...
Thanks. I’m impressed with their product.
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very interesting. Nice lathe
Thanks for the sub!
Just FYI you can turn the compound slide so its facing you instead of the back. No need to reposition your light 👍 great machine
Thanks for the tip!
I'm curious about the gears. It seems odd to send them for a machine that doesn't need them.
likely to change from Imperial to Metric threading.
Im assuming the toolbox was generic for another machine but I can’t confirm.
Reading the instruction manual you only change the installed gears from a 127t to a 120t The only change made is where a spacer bushing is oriented on the lower drive gear. The rest of the changes are by the gear box selectors.
Unless I’m missing something in the manual, I don’t think they are for this machine.
@@FordGT-40_MKI it's common to get a set of extra change gears even on a lathe that has a quick change gearbox. The extra gears are for cutting thread pitches that are outside the range of the gearbox. Athough the gearbox provides many combinations of thread pitches and feedrates, it cannot produce all of those imperial pitches listed on the threading chart with just one set of gears mounted on the lathe, the same applies for the metric pitches.
The 120/127 compound gear allows cutting of metric threads on a lathe with an imperial leadscrew, and vice versa.
Anyway, it's a very nice lathe, China have been producing that model for many years, and it's always good to see someone getting a new machine tool for home use.
I have a Chinese made 13x30 geared head lathe that I bought new here in the UK in 2004.
Thanks. I still haven’t needed to use the gears, will likely find out what they are for if I ever get to a point where I have an oddball thread to cut.
metric threads only use the 24 and 48 change gears through the 120/127 compensation gear. the gearbox allows the complete range of metric threads to be cut. you still have to swap the gears over between driven and driver for various pitches.
the imperial thread chart shows that for certain leads, one of the gears gets swapped for something else... 22, 26, 28, 44, 56.... then you get the joy of figuring out what the indicator table means... lol... its rather ambiguous.
despite the gearboxes, it doesnt do all imperial threads with one fixed set of gears.
and if you deal with gas fittings or worm gears or various similar "odd ratios", its best to figure out ALL the ratios the lathe can do... it only lists the "common" ones. and sometimes you need custom gears... there is no 17 or 34TPI option, for instance... a Mod1 worm gear is a "pi" pitch... also unlisted... and multi start threads need ratios divisible by certain factors...2, 3, etc...
How did you connect the power? I just got one and confused as hell. Did you have to buy a separate 12 AWG 3 wire cord and hook it up to a male plug? Where does the wiring for the Fwd/Rev wires go?
Mine came with a pigtail prewired to the machine. I just needed to add a plug that for my receptacle. I didnt need to do any wiring on the rest of the machine, so not sure about the forward reverse wiring.
@@FordGT-40_MKI Did the pigtail come out from the far right side of the electrical box or from in the middle?
@@The_clips_that_Dip theres supposed to be a diagram in the back of the box. everythings numbered. its a ratsnest. fairly standard reversing setup, using two relays as the motors have two wiring arrangements for direction, and thats fairly universal. and most motors have their own diagram regards linking bars and supply wires.
power to 24V transformer to drive relays and light(s)...
that being said, mine always made rather nasty rumbling noises, and after the motor burnt out, and then tearing the wiring out and drawing my own diagram, i figured out that it had been wired incorrectly from the word go... the factory diagram isnt exactly "intuitive"...
sold here where i am, it comes with the appropriate plug, so nothing to do with me!
Hi may I ask you where did you buy and how much it cost you I am from UK I do appreciate if you give me advice. How can I get one.
Hi. I bought mine from Precision Mathews. I got a lot of upgrades on it, I think it was around $7k
www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1236/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm6hMzal1Y6RRm1EuGdWpU1k2R-XJNeyvP1dN0fYmAy2EAKlFnJ-RIMaAqFJEALw_wcB
How is your lathe working out. I am a retired machinist 35 + years. I am considering the same lathe. I also looked at the Grizzly 12x36.
I haven’t gotten to use it much the last several months due to moving. But I have loved it for everything I’ve made thus far.
al i can say is... take a CLOSE look at the tailstock... think of all the other lathes youve used over the years... can you see it? i wish i had... cus every day i curse it...
You'll be moving to a better location when you want to do anything long. Space is too constricted. Is this better quality than Grizzly ???
Yes I plan to have more space once we move to the house we are building.
I can’t speak for Grizzly lathes as I have never used one. I wasn’t impressed with Grizzly mills I’ve used. I’m do feel that this lathe is very good quality though.
i remember my day of excitement... got held back a month as the brake pads were asbestos, iirc...
after dragging it out of the van and lifting up on many lumps of wood and bricks.. it took about a week or so for the serious design flaw to became apparent. its obvious in the thumbnail... and ever since, i curse it... wont say i wish i had never bought it, but yeah... i do wish i had got the next one up...
wait until you work between centers! then it becomes clear what the issue is.
theyre sold here as the AL336, and its the same issue.
look at ANY OTHER LATHE but this one...
I haven’t had any issues with the lathe yet and plan to use it between centers. Hopefully I can give you a better perspective.
$5K starting lathe... I am so jealous!!! I hope you can get it to pay for itself
Thanks.
I would be slightly annoyed if mine showed up with the pallet collapsed like that. Glad it was undamaged!
Thanks. Yeah it was a bit tricky to unbox because of that.
Now that a few months have gone by, Are you still happy with the lathe?
I love this machine. I found it very simple to use and learn with. I have made several parts on it now.
@@FordGT-40_MKI I'm going to pull the trigger on the PM1340GT. The experience you have with your lathe, Do you think I could maneuver it to its permanent location in my shop with a "cherry picker" or would some other way be better? Thanks!
I was able to move it easily with my cherry picker. Just need to remove the foot brake pedal to fit the cherry picker in there.
@@troutfitter547 smart boy. go up a size. as i always point out, these 1236 units have a serious flaw with the tailstock. the ONLY machine ive ever seen where the nose is flush. that approx 2 inches of overhang makes a MASSIVE difference!
trust me, it gives me PTSD ever since i first noticed it... my only regret with the machine, really...