Anotrher new PM32PDF mill

johnnyc14

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Another new PM32PDF mill

I've been looking around at used mills for a while and couldn't find anything I wanted. I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that the PM32 was what I wanted. Matt had the machine in stock and he also took care of the shipping and border crossing duty fees for a very reasonable amount. Once shipped it was to my door in 4 days. I picked up the machine at a local freight depot and found that there were 2 crates stacked one on top of the other. I had to visit my buddy Darcy (Mitsue) and we used his gantry crane to lift the top crate containing the stand onto my trailer. Then I went home and used my engine crane to lift the stand off the trailer and the machine off the back of my pickup after I removed the crate material from around them. I built a simple base for the stand to widen the footprint and allow easy leveling and movement. I made sure to keep it narrow enough so it would still fit between the legs of my engine stand. I've spent the last 2 days getting all this done and doing some re-arranging in my garage to make the room for it. Here's some pics.

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Excellent. Great choice and a great job of detailing the setup.

Enjoy and let us know how it goes.


Thanks!


Ray
 
I now have the machine all cleaned up and wired and I have been running it at all the different speeds to break it in before using it. I'm glad I took the way protectors off and cleaned under them as there was lots of spooge there.

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I had a look at the grease on the worm gear for the Z axis movement to make sure there is lots of grease there, it was good.

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I been reading the owners manual which is not easy due to the Chinglish and I have figured out how everything works except 1 feature. Maybe someone here can help me figure this out. In the picture from the owners manual, #10 is called the "manual feed handle" and I assume it is supposed to be a fine manual downfeed. I have not been able to figure out how this is engaged. The power downfeed works fine and the manual suggests that as long as the power downfeed it turned off you should be able to use #10 to feed the quill down slowly rather than using handle 7 to feed it down rapidly. I would call Matt and ask him but it's Sunday. Can any one offer me a solution?

Fromownersmanual_zpscdd329ed.jpe
 
Yep. Press inward on the the big levers while trying to turn the fine feed. It will engage then. Don't forget to loosen the quill lock first.
Ask any questions you want. I use that machine daily and have for the last 5 years. (Oh, I have a PM45 -not a 32 but, they're very similar).
Ray

EDIT: My bad. You push away on the handles while turning the fine feed. -Sorry.

One more thing... The power downfeed takes a little getting used to and is best with drills over 1/4" diameter where you have a lot of chip clearance. Small drills pack-up quickly. Most of the drilling I do is purely manual but when you have a bunch of holes, the PDF is great. It also excellent when using a boring head. You will get perfect holes with same diameter at the top and bottom -and no variance in-between.




Nice looking mill. I believe you need to move the course feed handles #7 in towards the mill to engage the fine feed.

Shawn
 
Thanks Shawn, the manual says to turn the feed swith knob (1) and the feed capacity knob (4) to zero. then tighten the limit handle (6) fully. The adjust the dial on the manual feed hand wheel (8) to zero.. Then turn the hand wheel (10) to the requested depth. I did all of that. When you tighten screw 6 it forces the handle 7 to the left or toward the machine as you suggested. The manual feed handle just freewheels with no engagement. It does turn when the power down feed is engaged though just as is show in the video on Matt's website.:thinking: It's got me stumped, but that doesn't take much.:LOL:

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Thanks Ray, we must have typing at the same time. I just ran out to the garage and tried your suggestion. You are correct!!! :)) Obviously the manual is wrong when it says to fully tighten 6.

Thanks again, what a great resource this forum is!!

John
 
The manuals on Matt's machine are what comes with them from the factory. I have a write-up here about the power downfeed on the PM45 but otherwise, the unit is so simple to use, there's not much to write. Anyhow, it cost a fortune to re-write the manuals and keep them updated -that's one of the ways to keep costs in line since most people really bother with manuals. If you ever get a PM lathe, I wrote a manual for the 1236 model that largely applies to most of the machines...


Ray
 
Johnnyc14
The pictures you posted looks exactly like my PM-45. If it operated the same, then you will need to loosen the lock knob (6), then pull the course feed handles (7) away from the head to engage the fine feed. You may have to rotate the course feed handle a little bit forward to get it to engage. once it is engaged, when you rotate the fine feed knob (10), the quill will move. if you push the handles(7) back in towards the head, the fine feed disengages and allows the quill to return to the fully retracted position. The powered down feed works the same, except you set the control knob (1) to on and the feed rate knob (4) to the desired rate of feed. The fine feed knob will rotate when the powered down feed is engaged. Hopefully this helps explain the operation of the manual/powered fine/down feed.

Mitch
 
Thanks Mitch, that is the answer alright. My big mistake was reading the owners manual. Great machine but the manufacturer needs to hire a native English speaker to write the manuals. I've got all the basic functions figured out thanks to you guys.
 
I've run into a problem with my new mill and of course it happened after Matt's shop has closed for the weekend. I've only used it for about an hour, I was milling an 8" X 8" X 3/4" mild steel plate flat taking light cuts with a 2" face mill cutter. I shut the machine off to re-position a clamp and when I went to re-start it the motor won't turn. It makes a loud buzzing noise with the switch in reverse and no noise at all in forward. I took the cover off the junction/capicitor box on the front of the motor and there are some melted connections and a burned wiring smell from inside the box. I took some pictures and a short video so you can hear the sound it makes. Sounds like the motor it pooched to me. What do you guys think?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtw0oV03UbM&feature=youtu.be
 
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Does the motor shaft spin freely? If so you probably have a simple electrical problem like a short, bad start capacitor, or bad [FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]centrifugal switch. Perhaps somone else can recommend best how to check the electricals.[/FONT]


I've run into a problem with my nerw mill and of course it happened after Matt's shop has closed for the weekend. I've only used it for about an hour, I was milling an 8" X 8" X 3/4" mild steel plate flat taking light cuts with a 2" face mill cutter. I shut the machine off to re-position a clamp and when I went to re-start it the motor won't turn. It makes a loud buzzing noise with the switch in reverse and no noise at all in forward. I took the cover off the junction/capicitor box on the front of the motor and there are some melted connections and a burned wiring smell from inside the box. I took some pictures and a short video so you can hear the sound it makes. Sounds like the motor it pooched to me. What do you guys think?
 
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