G0761 vs PM932 vs PM727 I need help with this decision, any regrets?

tlmartin84

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Let me say that I currently have a PM727 and a PM1236 Lathe on order.

I have been wanting the G0761 for years. A buddy turned me onto the PM and after reading I decided the customer service made PM a viable option. I have wanted the PM1236 lathe since I first saw it, my buddy was placing an order for his, so we teamed up to save on shipping.

I LOVE the size of the PM727, but I am afraid I will regret not getting the bigger machine.

I initially wanted the G0761, mainly because of the tapping function, it has no quill DRO. I was going to add it later and have my "complete" machine.

Neither PM model has tapping but does have a quill DRO.

At this point money is not an issue, the differences between the machines is not enough to persuade me one way or the other.

I will mainly be drilling, tapping, and slotting holes in plate steel (brackets for my car hobby).

Each machines have there positives and negatives.

Have any of you purchased the PM727 and regretted not going bigger?

Is the tapping function on the Grizzly as much of a Positive as I am making it?

What do you guys think?
 
I have a PM727 and a PM1228. This was my first mill and second lathe.
I chose the PM727 over the Pm25 because of the larger work envelope while
only being ~$200 more. I sometimes wish I had variable speed, but I don't
want anything bigger. I'm sure at some point there will be something that
is too big for the mill, but so far it fits the bill.

Both of my machines are around 500 lbs which is easy for me to deal with.
Your PM1236 should be more rigid than my 1228 and it seems like a really
nice machine.

I think it is very easy to talk yourself into going just one size larger on tooling.
You need to think about what you'll be able to do on the PM727 and the things
you won't and how often you think you'll run into the situations where you would
need a larger machine. Or will you end up with extra capacity that you rarely use?
 
Can you reverse the 727 without the spindle coming to a complete stop? For instance tapping?
 
I wouldn't think so but I haven't tried it. Can't you just stop rather
than reversing? I've never power tapped on the mill.

The PM727 manual is on the Matt's website, but I seem to remember that being one
difference between th PM727 and the Grizzly mill that looks like it. Grizzly explicitly
advertised a power tapping feature.
 
I have a PM-727 and like it. For its size and weight I feel its a good choice and is pretty ridged when used in its limits. I chose it based on size vs room I had and dollars I had to spend. Yes you can power tap, you have to manually hit stop then reverse. the grizzly machine uses a depth stop to stop and reverse the way I understand it. If my budget and to a small extent space would have been larger a 932 or a 45 would have been nice due to the larger work envelope and probably more ridged. I also went with PM because of what I heard of QMT's customer service. And I can say that with out a doubt the service is awesome. I had an issue with my motor on a Friday night sent an email on Saturday morning and had a response in the afternoon part sent Monday morning. I think Matt seldom sleeps! So to sum it up biggest machines you can do and afford that fit your needed work envelope and I think you will be happy.
 
I've own a Grizzly GO761. I thought the tapping feature would be useful. It probably would if you had a lot of repeat drilling & tapping but, for doing a couple holes at a time it takes too long to set up. I use the forward-stop-reverse method. I consider power down feed (PDF models) & especially motorized Z-axis of more use.

I also own a PM1236 lathe...in 45 years I've never ran a machine that cut so true!
Matts customer service is above & beyond the norm.
 
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