Buying a PM932

ThunderDog

Registered
Registered
Joined
Dec 12, 2014
Messages
261
Hi all,

I think I'm going to pull the trigger for a PM932 tomorrow, after having just sold my Atlas mill and my Jefferson mill over the past two days. Money dictates alot of my choices at the moment. So, I'm going to go with the 932BASIC. Long-term projection is to buy a 2 axis DRO or dive deep into CNC conversion land as I've read a few of the long threads regarding the conversion.
Like anyone else in this hobby the "need" for more tooling, features, options, etc. is alive and well in my house. I've read somewhere that shipping won't go up if I add in the vise and other tooling. I hope that to still be the case. Regardless, I'm also going to add the 5" vise with swivel. But, I do have a few questions regarding other tooling.
PM offers an 11 piece collet set, however I'm currently seeing 13 piece collet sets with free shipping from US sellers for $10 cheaper on the 'ole eBay. The same can be said for the drill chuck, but in this case almost half the cost. Have many followed this same approach of tooling up from eBay opposed to PM's accessories? Is there a significant quality difference between the PM chucks and collets? Or, do you think it's simply that piece of mind knowing that PM has "screened" all of their inventory before selling? Please do NOT misunderstand this to mean that I am against PM's prices. I've only ever heard great things about the customer service and dedication to their customers.
 
Last edited:
The quality of the stock add-on components is about the same as the generic equipment from Shars. Aside from that, a couple things come to mind... As time goes, you'll probably desire to own multiple sets of collets and drill chucks. I have 3 drill chucks for the mill and 4 for the lathe. On the mill, one is setup with just a center bit. Another is a keyless used for drill bits in the standard-shank index size range. The last is a basic keyed chuck used for Silver/Demming shanks that have the three flats. If you spin-out a large drill bit, it's often the end of that chuck. As for collets, I have a basic set of R8 and an ER32 set. Economics... I understand that economics is always an important consideration but, a $10 price difference in something compared to the overall cost $2000+ for the machine... Is it really worth the hassle of ordering from multiple sources?

Anyhow... I hope you're considering the basic set of hold-down clamps because life without them is not a fun thing -and its even worse when you order the wrong size from a place on eBay.

Ray
 
The quality of the stock add-on components is about the same as the generic equipment from Shars. Aside from that, a couple things come to mind... As time goes, you'll probably desire to own multiple sets of collets and drill chucks. I have 3 drill chucks for the mill and 4 for the lathe. On the mill, one is setup with just a center bit. Another is a keyless used for drill bits in the standard-shank index size range. The last is a basic keyed chuck used for Silver/Demming shanks that have the three flats. If you spin-out a large drill bit, it's often the end of that chuck. As for collets, I have a basic set of R8 and an ER32 set. Economics... I understand that economics is always an important consideration but, a $10 price difference in something compared to the overall cost $2000+ for the machine... Is it really worth the hassle of ordering from multiple sources?

Anyhow... I hope you're considering the basic set of hold-down clamps because life without them is not a fun thing -and its even worse when you order the wrong size from a place on eBay.

Ray
Appreciate the feedback.

I thought the same thing regarding $10 until I saw the drill chuck for $40 vs $120. I have a set of hold-down clamps but the T-nuts were modded to fit my old Atlas mill. That is unfortunate, but something I'll have to buy.
I have a problem, sometimes I need a crowbar to open my wallet.:grin:
 
For SAFETY reasons I don't recommend skimping on "work holding" devices ie: vise, clamping kit or anything related to holding your work piece.

Congrats on your new mill!!
 
Last edited:
I have a 932PDF. I've had it for about 3 years. Overall pretty satisfied with it. I have a real Albrecht chuck for it and cannot say anything bad about it. I got it on EBay for about $100. I use ER32 colletts from MariTool. I have found them to be pretty good and not terribly expensive. I have the supplied 4 inch vise. The swivel base has never been installed--not once. I would like a bigger and better vise; however, other things always seem to have a higher priority. I attached 4 leds from Walmart to a ring near the spindle--big improvement in visibility. The clamp kit is adequate; but the T-Nuts are a bit looser than I like--not dangerously loose, just not a nice fit. I have recently noticed a small amount of oil seepage--haven't investigated the source, yet. Does not appear to be from the spindle--need to check that out.

Now for a slightly different story. Yesterday, while at the local metal/scrap yard, I noticed a "pile" of milling cutters & lathe tool bits lying on the ground in the mud. I investigated. No Carbide--all HSS. Most of the end mills were a bit rusty, but not the lathe tools--HMMMMM.
Looked to be only surface rust--if that. I asked the owner what he wanted for the "stuff". He said $5 per pound. Well, $34 later, I'm on the way home. Soaked the end mills in EvapoRust for about 6 hours & wiped 99% of the rust off. No pitting, & no dings. Many of them had that waxy protective stuff on them. All are regrinds. One or two are questionable, but most look good as new. I think I ended up with 5-6 1/2 inch, 3 3/4, 2-3 5/8, 1 1inch, & a couple of 9/16. There are a couple that must have been extremely special. The lathe tool bits are 1/2, 5/8, & 3/4. Mostly 4-5 inches long. A couple are MoMax Cobalt. I may have to go back soon.

Best to you with the new mill. I enjoy the heck out of mine.

Jerry in Delaware
 
The one thing I wished I had purchased right away with my PM932 was the 2 axis DRO. I ended up adding one within 6 months and I love it.
 
One thing I remembered when I bought my mill is that it didn't come with a spline wrench...Maybe they have changed that by now but if not here is a link to the one I got:
Luminar Spline Wrench

I couldn't live without my x-axis power feed!! I hope to be adding a DRO soon, I think I'm going with the PM 3 axis..

Good thing you can add a piece at a time or I couldn't afford any of it!!
 
Last edited:
I couldn't live without my x-axis power feed!! I hope to be adding a DRO soon, I think I'm going with the PM 3 axis..

Good thing you can add a piece at a time or I couldn't afford any of it!!

I purchased my mill with the power feed and I use it all the time. Makes working much easier and it seems to give me a better finish too.
 
Back
Top