Bill M's Pm1340gt Setup

Bill, sorry for the late response, I just saw your PM this morning.

Looks like many already have given you very good information.

First and formost you need to make absolutely certain that the lathe is leveled in both axis. Bed twist is the most common issue on this weight class of lathe. I got mine dead nuts level in both planes/axis before even attempting to make a first cut, although I was getting anxious.

Once I got the lathe leveled, I turned a piece of 2" aluminum bar stock and noticed mine was off .002" in about 8"(if memory serves). The adjustment bolts under the backside of the head/gear housing are your adjustments. There are bolts under the chuck and behind the headstock bolting the head/gear housing to the bed. I loosened these and then snugged them up before moving on to using the adjustment bolts.

On my lathe the workpiece when chucked up in the chuck was further away from the toolpost at the tailstock end vs. the headstock end so I very lightly tightened the left adjustment bolt (furthest away from the chuck) and then made another test cut of a few thousandths. I crept up on it until it was dead nuts even. It only took two attempts if I remember correctly. I then tightened the bolts down fastening the head/gear housing to the bed.

I re-checked the alignment about three weeks later as I figured the machine would possibly "settle" a bit. Now nearly 9-months later it is still dead on, just checked it last week.

I hope that explained it enough but you appeared to have better help before I posted.

Again, sorry for the delay in responding.

Mike.
 
Thanks Mike. It sounds like I had the adjustment screws figured out which is good to know. I didn't realize the lathes in this size range are so 'twitchy'. Probably because of the narrow bed width.

It's all good for now. :)
 
wrmiller19 said:
Thanks Mike. It sounds like I had the adjustment screws figured out which is good to know. I didn't realize the lathes in this size range are so 'twitchy'. Probably because of the narrow bed width.

It's all good for now. :)
Click to expand...

Bill, I don't necessarily know if I would call them "twitchy" per se. Forty inches between centers is quite a distance for a lathe in general. Even a lathe of heavier weight will twist if the bed is not level. That said, once leveled as long as your flooring is solid and in good shape you really shouldn't have any further issues with any 1300~ish pound lathe.

Like I mentioned, mine was off by a couple thousandths once I got the lathe dead nuts level and it has stayed that way since August 2014 now.

Mike.
 
Tidied up the new lathe a bit. I think this little shop will work quite well for me.

DSCN4325.jpg


Now all I need is my old panhead sitting in the middle...
 
Nice picture Bill... I wish my shop were as large, and had a high ceiling... Looks GREAT!
 
Bill, with that new lathe you don't need that Panhead. I'll come pic it up and get it out of your way.:dancing banana:

The shop looks good. What is Under the blue sheet onthe black cart by the C. Oaks mill? You are luck to have the size garage you have.
My shop shares a 24 x 20 garage with the bike and the wifes car. this is why there is no BP mill, and I can only go up to a 12 x 36. I keep looking at the 1340, but I just can't make it fit. It would push the budget to.
Mark
 
I am going to go out on a limb and say that under that blue blanket or drop cloth in the background is Bill's smaller PM25.

Just a guess though, I think he still has it.

Mike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top