My Precision Mathews PM1340GT Arrival

[psient]

HI All:

I purchased my lathe from Matt quite some time ago. IT is a 1340 but at the time I purchased mine Matt did not have the GT version. I had never machined anything on a lathe before.

I'd like to add to the thread that Matt is really down to earth and authentic. No bull..... When I received mine there were only one or two threads across the internet referring to it. At that time Asian made lathes were really getting a bad riff. I trusted that Matt was honest and have never looked back. I know that Mike has paid attention to how good Matt is with his customers. I just want to add that as a complete novice, he was always patient, always took the time to explain simply, and never was in the least condescending.

When I received the lathe it was with the SINO DRO. The aluminum housing was mounted incorrectly and rubbed against the lathe-bed. I didn't diagnose the problem immediately because I didn't notice the abrasions at first. When I called, Matt conferred that his help had not installed the housing correctly. He sent me a new one and I worked at getting it installed. In all fairness, the installation was difficult for me due to the lack of clearance. The only thing I can point to as a little problem was a GIB screw that was stripped and fell off. I asked Matt for a new one but he had nothing to replace it with. I know he had to order it from the factory but never received it. I tried to find an adequate replacement but could not. I managed to get the screw to hold and it hasn't been a problem. I don't use it that much but that's another thread.

Thanks to Mike for his interest in sharing with us all of the things he knows about the lathe.

One thing I am really interested in and that is the carriage lock. I didn't know the lathe has one and I have trouble holding the settings when I turn stuff so I am gonna look to see if I cannot find the screw that is used. When I asked Matt he said there was one but I could not find it.

Once again, I am a complete novice. I did note that no one seemed to mention putting silicon in the stand before setting the lathe down on it. You know, for the coolant so it doesn't leak through the holes in the stand.

Mine is dead on when leveled out and convinced me that Asian lathes and mills are not the big gamble that folks were saying they were.

Best,

Jon

 

[jzakariasen]

Hi Mike,

I recently took delivery of the exact same lathe (PM1340GT) and VFD that you have. I was wondering if you could share a schematic and parts list and perhaps a few high res. images of the modified electrical cabinet. I would love to be able to duplicate what you have achieved and I am impressed with the video that you put on Youtube. From what Matt said it sounded like just a few contractors had to be repurposed, but now that I found your write up on this site, and watched your video, I can see you did a pretty major rework of the electrical, so it will take more effort to get full functionality than I thought. Matt did send me the write up by Les Scott of how he modified his PM1236 but the details are a bit different for the 1340GT. The relay that you used looks very different than what Les Scott used. Unfortunately the picture on this website is just a bit too low res for me to make out the name and model number of your relay.

What voltage are you putting into the transformer that drives the halogen lamp and where are you pulling it from as I thought the only AC power coming in was wired directly to the motor and it was 3 phase. Are you pulling power from 2 of the 3 phases into the motor? I am afraid my ignorance of 3 phase power is showing here, but I am a quick study and eager to learn. Any guidance you can offer is very much appreciated as I am eager to get the new machine up and running. If you wish to send me a PM my e-mail is j.zakariasen@me.com .

Thanks,
Jerry

 

[zmotorsports]

Hi Mike,

I recently took delivery of the exact same lathe (PM1340GT) and VFD that you have. I was wondering if you could share a schematic and parts list and perhaps a few high res. images of the modified electrical cabinet. I would love to be able to duplicate what you have achieved and I am impressed with the video that you put on Youtube. From what Matt said it sounded like just a few contractors had to be repurposed, but now that I found your write up on this site, and watched your video, I can see you did a pretty major rework of the electrical, so it will take more effort to get full functionality than I thought. Matt did send me the write up by Les Scott of how he modified his PM1236 but the details are a bit different for the 1340GT. The relay that you used looks very different than what Les Scott used. Unfortunately the picture on this website is just a bit too low res for me to make out the name and model number of your relay.

What voltage are you putting into the transformer that drives the halogen lamp and where are you pulling it from as I thought the only AC power coming in was wired directly to the motor and it was 3 phase. Are you pulling power from 2 of the 3 phases into the motor? I am afraid my ignorance of 3 phase power is showing here, but I am a quick study and eager to learn. Any guidance you can offer is very much appreciated as I am eager to get the new machine up and running. If you wish to send me a PM my e-mail is j.zakariasen@me.com .

Thanks,
Jerry

Jerry, I would be more than happy to get you a copy of my schematic. I just need a couple of days to "clean it up" and make it legible as currently it is still just chicken scratch and notes. This is good because I have wanted to make a good copy to keep with my literature but since it has been up and running I just haven't taken the time to do it. Now I have a reason to make a good schematic.

I don't know how Matt wires them but I didn't just change a couple of contactors, I completely removed the contactors and ran ALL of the controls through the VFD with the exception of the work light. The single phase comes directly to the VFD and then the three phase and a ground (4, 10-gauge wires) go directly to the motor. I then used some small 22-gauge stranded wire for the controls from the VFD to the electrical panel on the lathe where I used the existing terminal strips. I also installed a standard 14-pin square relay (24-volt coil) to run all of circuits. I also added some standard diodes for circuit direction as well as spike protection on one circuit.

As far as the halogen lamp, I ran 220VAC single phase where I tapped directly off of the incoming power feed and ran it directly to the existing 220VAC to 24VAC step-down transformer that came with the lathe in the electrical box. Then I connected the halogen lamp directly to the output of the step-down transformer to the lamp. I did this for the mere reason that if I forgot to turn the power off to the lathe I would notice the lamp being on and it would trigger me to turn the power off. I ran my incoming 220VAC single phase power through a double pole/single throw motor starter/switch so I could turn the power off to the VFD. I know many leave power on to their VFD's at all times but I wanted to be able to turn mine on and off.

I hope that makes sense and I will work on getting a legible wiring schematic soon.

 

[jzakariasen]

Jerry, I would be more than happy to get you a copy of my schematic. I just need a couple of days to "clean it up" and make it legible as currently it is still just chicken scratch and notes. This is good because I have wanted to make a good copy to keep with my literature but since it has been up and running I just haven't taken the time to do it. Now I have a reason to make a good schematic.

I don't know how Matt wires them but I didn't just change a couple of contactors, I completely removed the contactors and ran ALL of the controls through the VFD with the exception of the work light. The single phase comes directly to the VFD and then the three phase and a ground (4, 10-gauge wires) go directly to the motor. I then used some small 22-gauge stranded wire for the controls from the VFD to the electrical panel on the lathe where I used the existing terminal strips. I also installed a standard 14-pin square relay (24-volt coil) to run all of circuits. I also added some standard diodes for circuit direction as well as spike protection on one circuit.

As far as the halogen lamp, I ran 220VAC single phase where I tapped directly off of the incoming power feed and ran it directly to the existing 220VAC to 24VAC step-down transformer that came with the lathe in the electrical box. Then I connected the halogen lamp directly to the output of the step-down transformer to the lamp. I did this for the mere reason that if I forgot to turn the power off to the lathe I would notice the lamp being on and it would trigger me to turn the power off. I ran my incoming 220VAC single phase power through a double pole/single throw motor starter/switch so I could turn the power off to the VFD. I know many leave power on to their VFD's at all times but I wanted to be able to turn mine on and off.

I hope that makes sense and I will work on getting a legible wiring schematic soon.

Thanks Mike, I really appreciate you sharing your expertise!

Jerry

 

[maker of things]

Where did you get the digital scale? There are so many to choose from. I would like to add this to my lathe when I get it as well.

-Jon

 

[Falcon67]

Search eBay for "LCD horizontal scale"

 

[zmotorsports]

Where did you get the digital scale? There are so many to choose from. I would like to add this to my lathe when I get it as well.

-Jon

I picked this one up from Shars.com. I believe they sell them in 4", 6" and 8" versions.

 

[Falcon67]

From looking at the 6" I have in the drawer, the only trick with those is finding/trimming some 4-40 thread to mount the back of the readout. Might really be metric, but a 4-40 threads in far enough to lock the slide.

 

[zmotorsports]

From looking at the 6" I have in the drawer, the only trick with those is finding/trimming some 4-40 thread to mount the back of the readout. Might really be metric, but a 4-40 threads in far enough to lock the slide.

Correct Chris. I should have mentioned that. IF you screw the included screws in all the way while attaching the small, thin bracket to the back side of the read head, they will in fact lock the slide from moving. I touched mine on the belt sander and removed a couple of threads prior to final installation. This allowed for a nice solid mount yet does not interfere with the function at all.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well I did another minor modification to my lathe last night. I had a few minutes to kill while waiting for a gentleman to pick up his truck after I repaired it so I tackled this.

I used a Hardinge HVL-H many, many years ago and only once but I fell in love with the knurled thumbscrew style of locking the dials on the compound and crossfeed. The Hardinge lathes have ball crank style handles which allow a face style of mounting the thumbscrews. I hadn't thought enough about it but after reading one of George Wilson's posts yesterday it gave me the kick I needed to finally do this.

Many of the import style lathes have a half moon style or crescent shaped piece of spring steel that is placed under the dials in a groove cut in the shaft. This is what gives the "friction" on the dials to hold them. My pet peeve is when dialing in a diameter/dimension you have to hold the handle with one hand while turning the dial with the other. It is difficult to hold it EXACTLY in place and not move it even a thou or two. I removed my crossfeed handle and found that on this Taiwan style of lathe, they used a spring and ball to add friction to the dial which reside in a hold in the handle.

First off, release the tension on the jam screw located in the middle of the handle. There is a capture style of nut which takes a spanner wrench to remove, the jam screw is located just inside of that. Then remove the capture nut which holds the handle onto the screw shaft. Be careful to not lose the small key that resides in the shaft.

Remove handle with dial attached.

Carefully remove the dial from the handle. I say carefully because the ball is under tension from the spring and can fly across the shop if you are not prepared.

I placed the dial in the mill vise and center punched the "0" location for the thumbscrew. When doing this look closely at the spacing between the handle and the hole where the spring and ball resided. Make certain to drill the hole for the new thumbscrew where it will NOT come into contact with the hole from the spring/ball. Otherwise you will lose the ability to lick the dial down when in that position. I placed mine slightly outboard or closer to the handle from where the spring and ball were placed. Also you want to make sure to clear the pointer for the dial which is on the carriage still at this point.

Tapping the 10-32 thread.

Thumbscrew installed.

Here is a better view of the location of the hole for the ball & spring in relation to the thumbscrew. Notice how much closer the thumbscrew is to the handle compared to the hole to the handle.

Installed back on lathe.

Next I did the same thing for the compound slide handle/dial.

Completed view of both dial modifications.