Well fellas,
Thanks for all the well wishes. After walking the "booqies" (yes I have many names for them) I unloaded and put everything back like it never happened. Mark's (mksj) timing was impeccable as I was just starting to remove the shrink wrap on the machine. Mark wasted no time in heading for the electrical cabinet and motor housing. I started cleaning off the cosmoline with minimal spirits. All I can say is WOW! this is one very nice machine. The fit and finish is second to none. Heres a short video of the manufacturing plat that makes many higher end machines in Taiwan, this one included.
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The end cover removed. The blue gear is a sacrificial gear incase of a crash. I have never crashed a lathe but probably a good idea to have.
The three drive belts are powered by a large 5HP motor. The spindle bore is 2-1/16"
The motor area was extremely clean and smooth with no casting flashing or remnants of sand, primed and finished well. The brake drum is incorporated into the drive pulley. Nice belt tensioning system.
The electrical cabinet has plenty of room for expansion, very clean and organized.
The blue finish is a textured powder coat.
The machine measures 7' in length. and 51" tall at the headstock. Look at the paint finish on the cast. Absolutely flawless with a beautiful shine.
The 8" 3 jaw chuck has a beautiful ground finish as does the exposed surfaces. The 10" 4 jaw is still in the box. ran out of time to check it out.
The headstock, look at all those thread/feed options.
The dials are very nice as well. The collars rotate 360º for english/metric readings with an indexing ball for a nice click.
The apron is equally impressive. Single shot lubrication(brass knob) for the ways, cross feed, and compound. Push and lube, very cleaver feature.
The round lower push/pull knob reverses the carriage and cross feed direction while the spindle remains in motion. The engagement lever also has a brass flip top oiler. A large site glass to monitor oil level.
One of four ball oilers. Each dial has one and two found on the tailstock. the rest is done from the single shot system.
The tail stock is is a 4 m/t with very sharp readable graduations and extends 6". It also hd alignment graduations on the base below the hand wheel.
The lead screw (1.125") feed rod and switch rod terminate into a large lube block.
The induction hardened bed measures 10.125" in width.
The flood coolant feed is all metal flex hose with a regular ball valve.
A shot of the top of the carriage, super nice fit and finish.
The steady and follow rest are also nice quality. The steady is equipped with roller bearings and the follow rest is designed to rotate onto the bolts without the need to remover them completely. The same paint quality on both.
Didn't have time to check out the taper attachment. Notice the table indicated its for a RML 1640. Same machine Sun Master builds for Kent machines. The Micro carriage stop had the same tag.
Have'nt had time to peruse the manual yet or tolerance sheet but I think I'll be pleased based on the overall machine quality.
The box under the manual is a 10" 4-jaw. The tool box had carbide tip centers, tools and cast iron foot pads for leveling the machine.
While cleaning the machine, Mark modified the light to take an LED bulb.
I need to order a 48" LED light bar for the back splash. These can be found inexpensive on eBay. I used one on the 1440 and love the light it puts out. Aside from Marks control system, we will also install an hour meter, 3 axis DRO, and tail stock DRO. It looks like the machine will remain in the center of bay #1 for a spell. I still have the 1440 in service and will machine a spider for the tach and SFM readout combo. Gonna have to design a spreader bar system for locating the machine in place. At last she's home!
Thank you all for following along and warm blessings.
I think I'll need to start another thread for the modifications unless you guys think it should remain here. What say you?
Take care amigos.
