I am going to start saving up for a very large PM mill

[erikmannie]

Like I have posted here, I have 6 machines (includes 4 welders), and the lathe was the last one that I bought. For some reason, the lathe is far and away my favorite machine. I really don't want to be on any other machines nowadays.

My PM-1030V is great, and it will serve for the 2-4 years that I need to save up. When I was at machining school, I spent a few days on an American Pacemaker; that machine is huge--I liked it! For that reason, I am going to dig deep intop my pocketbook and buy a very heavy lathe so that I can reap all the benefits of so much rigidity.

Here are some things that I would pay to have:
(1) not having to change any gears when I want to cut metric threads,
(2) Taiwanese PM offering,
(3) I can't get 3 Phase Power service at my home, but I am willing to get a VFD or the like,
(4) the larger the spindle bore, the better,
(5) factory installed 2 axis DRO,
(6) taper attachment,
(7) one shot lubrication,
(8) flood coolant system,
(9) LED light.

It looks like it will either be https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-tlseries-ultra-precision-lathes/ or https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1440gt/

Another very important consideration for me is that I hope to have access to repair parts over the next several decades. I hope to use this machine for up to 30 years.

Finally, I had thought that I would give equal consideration to funding for both a larger lathe and mill. At this point, I don't feel the need for a larger mill (I have a PM-25MV).

 

[erikmannie]

I see that a base model 1440GT is between $8,499 and $8,999, and a base model 1440TL is $13,799. It is stil not clear to me why going from a GT to a TL is $5,000, other than getting a larger spindle bore (2.55" versus 2") and the weight difference (3410 lbs. versus 1750 lbs,).

 

[benmychree]

The American Pacemakers are a great machine, the shop that I apprenticed in had two, a 16" and a 26" from about 1956, very smooth running, high speeds, joystick speed change and sealed change box, hard ways, rapid travel.

 

[erikmannie]

The American Pacemakers are a great machine, the shop that I apprenticed in had two, a 16" and a 26" from about 1956, very smooth running, high speeds, joystick speed change and sealed change box, hard ways, rapid travel.

Did they stay running all the time, and you would drop the engagement lever to get the chuck spinning?

I was on a 16". The tailstock was so huge. What a pleasure to spend a day working on such a beast.

 

[benmychree]

A beast perhaps, but a delicate sensitive beast at that; how about the amperage meter to show you how big of a cut can be made without overloading?

 

[benmychree]

In my shop, I had it's ancestor, a 30" swing American High Duty lathe, the carriage was about 5 ft long, it came from a locomotive shop in the east, my friend who bought it in the 50s said they had 12 of them alike and nearly that many a size larger.

 

[mksj]

I see that a base model 1440GT is between $8,499 and $8,999, and a base model 1440TL is $13,799. It is still not clear to me why going from a GT to a TL is $5,000, other than getting a larger spindle bore (2.55" versus 2") and the weight difference (3410 lbs. versus 1750 lbs,).

I have worked on both of these lathes and a few others, there is no comparison. I also moved up from a 1340GT to an ERL-1340 which is a scaled down D1-4 chuck mount version of the RML/TL lathes, would have gone with the TL if I wasn't already tooled up for the smaller size/D1-4 chucks and could deal with the additional weight. The TL is much better built and much heavier, having a cast iron base makes a significant difference with respect to rigidity/vibration. The TL is more of a light industrial lathe as opposed to a hobbyist type, this model has been around for many years and I do not see parts being an issue. The 1640TL version gives you a bit more working envelope if you plan to do larger turning. These ERL/RML/TL have universal gearboxes, so no change gears unless you need to do DP threads. The beds and carriage are significantly beefier as well as everything else on the machine and they are very quiet. . The chuck is a D1-6 mount, so about at the limit of what you can lift in a 8" chuck.

 

[Aaron_W]

Erik, buying new has advantages, but talking about 2-4 years out you have plenty of time to become familiar with evaluating used lathes. You can save a significant amount of money on used, particularly large used machines. There is much less demand for the larger machines which keeps the relative price down.

 

[Aukai]

Someone just had a video up last night on a big lathe that ran real well. I scout around so much, I don't remember who posted it.

 

[shooter123456]

I see that a base model 1440GT is between $8,499 and $8,999, and a base model 1440TL is $13,799. It is stil not clear to me why going from a GT to a TL is $5,000, other than getting a larger spindle bore (2.55" versus 2") and the weight difference (3410 lbs. versus 1750 lbs,).

I was curious about that so I looked a little bit.

The 1440TL as you note is nearly double the weight, so part of the increase in price is coming from the extra iron and the extra cost in transporting it. It also has a 5 HP motor vs the 1440 GT 2 HP motor (or optional 3 horse motor). The larger spindle bore means a larger spindle so larger bearings, whos cost tends to go up exponentially as size increases. An extra half inch could easily be a couple hundred extra.

I also noted some of the standard accessories with the 1440TL are not standard with the 1440 GT. This includes a 9" chuck and LED work light, which is easily another few hundred.

Other differences included the beefier tailstock on the 1440TL with the MT4 taper vs the MT3 on the 1440GT. It also may be thicker, but I can't find the quill diameter on the 1440GT. Though the 1440TL does have 6" of travel vs the 4" of travel on the 1440GT.

The 1440TL appears to have a full quick change gear box vs the 1440GT partial quick change, partial external change gear set up. The 1440TL also has turcite on the carriage and a one shot lube pump and it does not appear the GT has either.

I am sure there is more, but those differences alone can probably explain a solid chunk of the $5000 difference. I say get the TL because it looks awesome and I really want one, but don't have an extra $15000 laying around like I am sure most people do