833TV Received

I would expect this kind of thing from mainland China, but not from Taiwan. Seems like the Taiwanese machines are getting pretty sloppy in some areas. The original J-head on my PM935 was flawed and had to be replaced.
I don't know if it is fair to assume that everything from Taiwan got worse because of this mismatch. I think that they made a mistake by picking a 21mm hex size for the drawbar head. I looked at my old RF25 drill/mill and the hex size there is 17mm. Obviously this is a bigger machine with more power so the main spline shaft is beefier so someone thought that "bigger is better" and used a 21mm hex head. I believe that standard BP drawbar size is 3/4" or 19mm which might be an easy fix for this machine. Precision Matthews (QMT) - are you listening?

Otherwise no complains so far. The machine makes lots of chips fast... The surface quality of machined parts is beautiful and it was easy to tram in the X direction and the column traming (Y direction) from the factory is dead on. I am getting the hang of the machine usage while fixing and improving around. I like it!

Next tasks are:
Coaxial light
Digital RPM indicator
3 phase motor and VFD install
Permanent install of a pneumatic power drawbar wrench.
 
For the record, my comment about declining QC standards in Taiwan was not based solely on your drawbar hex-head. Indeed, I have a observed a continuing list of issues and complaints that would not have been present 10-15 years ago. The dive to the bottom has clearly infected a once superior manufacturing community.

That said, I’m glad you are lavishing praise on the results this mill is producing. We should do a bake-off comparison of your 833 against my 935 on removal rates, tolerances and surface finishes achieved using the same tooling. I have $20 that says your 833 wins.
 
For the record, my comment about declining QC standards in Taiwan was not based solely on your drawbar hex-head. Indeed, I have a observed a continuing list of issues and complaints that would not have been present 10-15 years ago. The dive to the bottom has clearly infected a once superior manufacturing community.

That said, I’m glad you are lavishing praise on the results this mill is producing. We should do a bake-off comparison of your 833 against my 935 on removal rates, tolerances and surface finishes achieved using the same tooling. I have $20 that says your 833 wins.

Yes, I am happy with the mill so far but not sure that I am a great benchmark (at least not yet...)

Sure. Setup a benchmark/test for the mills, I am game. It will also be an opportunity to check against the PM-833TV.
 
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Did you ever get around to benchmarking? I'm deciding between these two exact mills, and those tests would be the missing data I'm looking for.
 
Did you ever get around to benchmarking? I'm deciding between these two exact mills, and those tests would be the missing data I'm looking for.
Same for me. Got caught up in getting a PM1340GT lathe, building a base for the lathe, configuring the lathe, buying tools (lots...) and actually learning how to use a lathe which is something I did not do before.

An 833TV milling machine with a 2 step pulley and a VFD will be a perfect machine in terms of infinitely variable speed, good low speed torque smoothness/quietness and a relatively small package. Absent of that I went with the geared PM833T and I am very happy with the machine. It is very powerful in low speed and I will get a higher top end speed later with a VFD. I got used to the gear noise that is only noticeable when you are not machining or drilling.

In a nutshell all shop equipment purchase is a compromise between needs, cost, size, capabilities etc. So far I am happy with my choice.

I am still willing to try a benchmark test if we can define one.

Ariel
 
Thanks for the quick replies. Glad you're putting the machines to good use ;)

I agree - an 833TV with a 2 step pulley and VFD would be very versatile. I've started to wonder how hard a retrofit would be... I'm also leaning toward the 833T with a VFD as I can deal with noise, but I'm not sure the gearbox will handle higher speeds well. One of my major use cases will be fairly small feature sizes in aluminum, but I'm also aiming to handle occasional work on higher strength materials for a few applications (pressure systems, karting, minor automotive repair, etc). Compromise is certain.

parshal, in your projects on the 833TV have you had a chance to work with stainless or some of the other harder steels yet?

As for benchmarking, I have little to contribute... but I'll comment anyway. Between the 833T and 833TV, some lower-speed work bottlenecked by power would be a good comparison, maybe checking 3/4" drilling speed in a particular 304 steel? Between the 935 and 833, some large face milling to show off rigidity would be great, depending what tooling you all have. David will probably have some good ideas.
 
As for benchmarking, I have little to contribute... but I'll comment anyway. Between the 833T and 833TV, some lower-speed work bottlenecked by power would be a good comparison, maybe checking 3/4" drilling speed in a particular 304 steel? Between the 935 and 833, some large face milling to show off rigidity would be great, depending what tooling you all have. David will probably have some good ideas.

You might start at this link and watch the four videos that follow.
 
Added these two bolts to keep the funky drawbar spline wrench from wacking into other parts of the machine until I get a better solution. Seems PM is still casting about for a solution to this problem. Has anyone come up with an elegant PDB for the 833 yet?

I'm completely new to this, but the above mentioned basic issues with this machine are pretty stunning. No cutoff switch? Basic drawbar useage issues? The drawbar nut is too big for the quill and too big to allow the hokey spline wrench to be removed unless it's tightened just so? The cast thing on the bottom of the quill is a joke and you got to disassemble the machine (or cut it) to remove it? Several issues I've found would be solved by just not including parts! Crappy parts are worse than no part to be unimpressed by.

But then again I use nice quality European wood machines and I did know this wasn't that caliber.
 

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