Need Help Proxxon PD 400/E

QuyND

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Hello guys, greeting from Vietnam. Does anyone of you guys own a Proxxon PD400? I plan to buy one in Germany and ask my relative to ship it back to Vietnam for me. I'm just a newbie. I just quit being apprentice at a small workshop to go back to school to learn more. I want to buy a mini-lathe so i can do small stuff at home.

1. Is PD 400 a good lathe? I just do some small stuff at home. I think i dont need a bigger lathe than this (I cant affort a bigger lathe, btw).

2. Can you guys give me some review? I took a little research over the internet but i cant find much about it.

3. The build quality?

4. Is it strong enough to cut 304, 316 stainless steel?

I'm sorry if i have any mistake, i'm new to the forum. If you have any recommend, tell me, please.

Thank you. I'm really appreciate.
 
Hi Quy, the PD400 would be ok for light hobby use; it makes use of alloy aluminum and zinc die-castings. You might also consider one of the smaller Asian 7x10 or 8x14 sized cast-iron lathes which would give more rigidity and possibly less cost...?
Mark S.
 
Hi Quy, the PD400 would be ok for light hobby use; it makes use of alloy aluminum and zinc die-castings. You might also consider one of the smaller Asian 7x10 or 8x14 sized cast-iron lathes which would give more rigidity and possibly less cost...?
Mark S.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your reply, which lathe would you recommend? I was thinking of the Grizzly G0768Z before this lathe.
QuyND.
 
It really depends on what you plan to make and to what tolerances. Also of course your total budget including cutting tools, chucks, digital readouts, etc. and the space you have to work in. Most people recommend buying more machine capacity than you might think you need if you can afford it.
Mark S.
ps will you be needing to cut threads? A slow spindle speed is desirable for that.
 
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It really depends on what you plan to make and to what tolerances. Also of course your total budget including cutting tools, chucks, digital readouts, etc. and the space you have to work in. Most people recommend buying more machine capacity than you might think you need if you can afford it.
Mark S.
Thank you, i'm really appreciate.
 
You are welcome. Are there machinery dealers in Vietnam? Do you have access to other sources of machinery like Ebay?
Mark S.
ps the G0768 looks like a good unit, can they ship to you there?
 
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Our machinery dealers usually import old, scrapy, used machine from Japan, China. There is no new one. Those machine usually 20-50 years old.
And no, we dont have ebay. But there still a market, we call it the "Cho lon" with is Big Market in Vietnam. It's like the central market. You can get almost anything there. Mainly are Made in China.
 
See if Grizzly can ship to you, seems to be a good choice for hobby use. If you have access to the German market there are many other choices too.
Mark S.
 
Hi, I have a PD400 from Proxxon and I am very happy with it. I have cut threads on it many times with great succsess.
The machine is very precise and my feeling is that the quality is excellent.
However I would buy absolutely everything you can think of as extras for it if you do not have a proxxon dealer near you. Especially quick change tool holders. Most of the parts seem to be proprietary to proxxon.
If I where buying again now I would consider a machine with a larger spindle bore and a quick change gear box as I find the change gears a bit of a faff to change for threading, and I am not able to use, nor do I need the very high precision of the machine.
You get what you pay for, And the pd400 is expensive, but a very high quality machine.


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