1236 Questions

Well a little longer than 3 sec the first time. You have to loosen a nut to remove a SHCS in order to slide the tailstock off the bed. You may choose to leave the SHCS off if you need to remove the tailstock often.

I personally would not leave the SHCS off, it's purpose is a saftey so you don't go sliding the tailstock off the bed by accident when sliding it back. You don't want your tailstock hitting the floor by accident.

Also when you remove the tailstock, take care not to spin the hold down clamp when you set it down or pick it back up. Not a big deal if you do but you have to adjust it to get the handle to set in the position you want when locked up if you care.

My PM1236 has 30.23" carriage travel with the backsplash installed. But that's just a total travel & doesn't necessarily mean total useable. Useable travel depends on what is mounted on your spindle, ie. type of chuck, faceplate, dogplate, etc. As said, American market lathes are sized by swing size & distance between centers.
 
Thanks for the clarification darkzero. I'll make sure the SHCS goes back on the machine each time since removing the tailstock will be a rare occurrence.
 
Matt is expecting another shipment of PM1236 lathes in the next week. Mine is in this batch so I'm happy I won't be moving it from the garage to the workshop in the midst of winter. I'm trying to finalize a couple things at this point...

I want to make a base for the cabinet to rest on using 2x2 x 3/16" square tubing for some rigidity and to widen the front to rear footprint. But I'm leaning towards eliminating the long tubes that connect the left and right sides so they are not tied together when leveling. I'm okay with mounting four levelers on each side, but wondering overall if there is any disadvantage doing it this way?

I had ordered the PM1236 first since I knew which lathe I wanted. Later I decided on the PM932 which he happen to have available at that time so I've since received it and moved it into my workshop. A couple weeks ago Matt said my PM1236 wouldn't be too much longer (it was in the second batch) and mentioned it was the one without a DRO. Don't ask me where my head was when I ordered the 1236 but he's right... no DRO. Which is nuts considering my PM932 has the Easson 3 Axis ES-12 DRO with the graphical display. Duh!

So now I'm trying to decide on how to handle the DRO for the lathe. In addition to the 2-axis ES8A he also lists the 3-axis ES12 so it would be nice for both machines to have a graphical display, but there were a couple items I casually read some time back which I could use some feedback on. Something about using a 3-axis DRO on a 2-axis lathe means working with radius instead of diameter? And is there any way to make use of the 3rd axis on this machine? Yeah, I'm trying to justify.

Thanks
 
I have a 12x36 on a homemade base. I used only one connecting tube with the thought about leveling and figured it would act somewhat like a torsion bar. I actually haven't attempted to twist it yet--just leveled it. Below is a pic of the base. Here is a thought for you. Mine is also 2 inch tube. I am 5 foot 8, and find it pretty uncomfortable to look over the tool post to see what I'm doing when up close to the chuck. I either have to get on my toes or look around from the TS end. I plan to lower the adjusters all the way down (about 1/2 inch), & possible get some sort of platform to stand on.
Base1.jpg

PS--disregard the extra 2 nuts on the left + the 2 holes--call it a senior moment.

Hope this helps a bit.

Jerry in Delaware
 
Thanks Jerry. I did see your base a while back... that was more work than making one with two connectors. I seriously considered it as well but I don't know enough to say where it would fall between using a base with two connectors vs. zero connectors. I even considered using a thinner wall tube for the connector but didn't want to chance it without using (4) levelers on each side. Finally I just figured if I'm going to install the extra levelers, I might as well just not use a connector at all. So here I am. You have senior moments... I have long drawn out conversations with myself, make a decision, but then it occurs to me that I don't know crap. :wink:
 
65Cobra427SC said:
So now I'm trying to decide on how to handle the DRO for the lathe. In addition to the 2-axis ES8A he also lists the 3-axis ES12 so it would be nice for both machines to have a graphical display, but there were a couple items I casually read some time back which I could use some feedback on. Something about using a 3-axis DRO on a 2-axis lathe means working with radius instead of diameter?
Click to expand...

They both do the same functions, so no difference between the models other than ES12 has a slightly different interface and graphical display (they both do radius and diameter in the lathe setting for the "X" axis). I had ordered my lathe with the ES12, as I prefer the graphical display and thought it was a 3 axis display and I could use the 3rd axis with either the tailstock or a tool post magnetic scale. Not sure how the 3rd "Z" axis would interface/display when the DRO is set for lathe functions. Ends up the version sent from Matt with the lathe is only 2 axis. I installed an Igaging Absolute on the tailstock, which worked out very well and is quite a bit cheaper. I believe the price difference between the 2 models is around $100, a 3rd axis would be at least another $100 plus the cost of another scale. Not worth it. I can't imagine turning without a DRO, would be much more time consuming/mistakes, and between my memory and my vision digital is much easier.

One of the quirks on the ES-12, is that the travel speed indicated of an axis is gibberish when feeding (or stationary). Otherwise it is very nice and easy to use.
Mark

Igaging Absolute Tailstock DRO.jpg
 
mksj said:
Ends up the version sent from Matt with the lathe is only 2 axis.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I just checked the website and you're correct. For the PM932 it says "Easson 3 Axis ES-12 DRO: $849.00 + $149 Installation". For the PM1236 it says "Easson ES-12 DRO Graphic Display Installed $899.00". So there is a $100 price difference which I never noticed, and the lathe didn't specify the number of axis, so I assumed wrong.

My mill came with the 3 Axis ES-8 but even before I installed the lathe, I was sorry I didn't get the ES-12. I talked to Matt and he said all I needed to do was swap the display. So I exchanged the display and paid him the price difference. But it didn't even occur to me then I ordered the lathe without a DRO.

Thanks for posting a picture of your Absolute DRO... looks nice. So at this point I could do the same, or see if there is a 3-Axis DRO with a graphic display that specifically functions with a lathe. Will do some reading in the morning. Thanks for the input.
 
Found what I saw before about radius vs. diameter. It was on another site... just a general post about a DRO for a lathe where someone said...
2 axis DRO is enough on a lathe.
Pick a DRO designed for a lathe so you can read diameter change rather than radius.
Add a dial indicator to your quill and don't fuss with the compound.
 
mksj said:
I installed an Igaging Absolute on the tailstock, which worked out very well and is quite a bit cheaper.
Click to expand...

I searched online earlier today and you were spot on. Lots of others added a separate gauge to their tailstock, and $2k for a dedicated 3 Axis DRO for my lathe isn't something I'm willing to do. Especially considering it will take me a while to learn the ES12 as it is, so using two different DRO's isn't for me. Guess I'll contact Matt and have him add the 2 Axis ES12 to my lathe.

Thanks for the help.
 
I was suppose to be in the same second batch of 1236's. I opted for the last available 1236 with DRO. so glad i did. I was weary from waiting for second batch. As a newbie it takes so much frustration out of my learning curve.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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