Bolton Lathes

[gman10259]

The Weiss WBL290F is a small hobby lathe powered by a BLDC motor. Precision Mathews sells a model very similar (PM 1127). Warco in the UK sells a model WM 280V Lathe also very similar to the Weiss. (Both PM and Warco's Lathes are powered by a AC Drive vice the DC on the Weiss).

Precision Mathews has been great for support. The owner is a machinist so when you are dealing with machine issues you got somebody who knows machines vise others that sell them but know nothing about them. We're waiting for Spring over here Down Under Bob you guys are in/starting Fall?

Take Care

 

[gman10259]

My PM 1236-T has the 120T and the 127T transposing gears for cutting metric threads.

 

[Downunder Bob]

The Weiss WBL290F is a small hobby lathe powered by a BLDC motor. Precision Mathews sells a model very similar (PM 1127). Warco in the UK sells a model WM 280V Lathe also very similar to the Weiss. (Both PM and Warco's Lathes are powered by a AC Drive vice the DC on the Weiss).

Precision Mathews has been great for support. The owner is a machinist so when you are dealing with machine issues you got somebody who knows machines vise others that sell them but know nothing about them. We're waiting for Spring over here Down Under Bob you guys are in/starting Fall?

Take Care

Interesting, nothing like the WBL290F sold in Australia, as I said, looks identical and the specs read the same, to the PM 1236, and it's made in China not Taiwan. I suspect this happens when different importers in different countries assign their own model numbers to machines that they import from factories scattered in Asia. the Australian one is not called a Weiss, but the model number is the same.. Thats why I prefer to get a machine that is sold under the manufacturers model name / number, at least then you can be sure of what you are getting.

Yes we are getting into fall although we call it Autumn, not fall, as our native trees do not lose their leaves, and our winters are very mild, We only get snow in the mountains. Also only one warm blooded animal truly hibernates and that is the mountain pygmy possum, which only lives in the higher areas of the montain ranges that are snow covered for a few months of the year. There is nowhere here that is permanently snow covered. The winter snow season usually only lasts about 3 months at best, often even less, but occasinly longer. None of our cities get snow or sub zero temperatures

Cheers.

 

[gman10259]

The PM 1236 is a Chinese lathe.

 

[gman10259]

Mine is a PM1236-T which is a Taiwanese Lathe. Us Yanks will also say Autumn albeit a more formal term. For example we would say to our family/friends "See you in the Fall" NOT "See you in the Autumn"

 

[Downunder Bob]

Mine is a PM1236-T which is a Taiwanese Lathe. Us Yanks will also say Autumn albeit a more formal term. For example we would say to our family/friends "See you in the Fall" NOT "See you in the Autumn"

G'day Gman, Ah the Pm 1236-T that eplains it very well. Those two machines are sold here, but by different dealers, one has chinese machines which he sells under his own name and model numbers, just to make it hard for customers to compare, they also often have the factory make subtle cosmetic changes just to make it more difficult, they will also claim the machines are made to superior Taiwanese specifications, which is plain B-S.
The other one has Taiwanese made machines and he sells them under the name and model # of the Taiwanese maker, so people know what they are getting. Thus mine is a LD1216 which is the short bed version of your 1236-T, Mine also is without the extra bells and whistles that you have, I could have got them, but didn't want to.

Yes well aware of the formal status of Autumn and the casual fall in US as I have relatives and friends over there, also travel fairly frequently to visit.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Downunder Bob]

One thing I have noticed when trying to identify Taiwanese from chinese copies is that the genuine Taiwanese machines will have a genuine Norton style gearbox for leadscrew and feed shaft, this is made obvious by the two levers for selecting ratios. Whereas the chinese machines usually have four knobs that rotate to select ratios, apart from that they often look very similar.

 

[Downunder Bob]

Mine is a PM1236-T which is a Taiwanese Lathe. Us Yanks will also say Autumn albeit a more formal term. For example we would say to our family/friends "See you in the Fall" NOT "See you in the Autumn"

View attachment 262112

If you look closely at the pictures of your PM 1236 T, and my Laing Dei they are virtually identical except for colour and mine has a RH saddle as opposed to the LH saddle used in USA. Here in Australia we tend to like the RH saddle as helps keep the hot chips of our hands. Also a close study of the specs of these two machines will show that they are identical. I suspect these two machines come from the same factory, but I can't prove it.

I could have got the longer 36" version, but I just don't have enough room for it. I could have just fitted in a 20" but they don't make it only 16, 24, 36. I would have loved a gap but again not available in the 16" version. But we do what we have to.

Bob.

 

[gman10259]

I looked around and found the actual manual that came with my lathe from Taiwan. Looks like the manufacturer's name is Linmac Machinery Inc.

 

[Downunder Bob]

Interesting, I looked up the Linmac site in Taiwan, and it appears that they do not make a lathe of any size, just another marketing arm of one of the few companies that actually make the machines themselves.