My Precision Mathews PM1340GT Arrival

[davidpbest]

2x10 1/4" wall square tube? I think you will find that is a little big for the job...way too big and expensive. I just picked up some 2x2" 3/16" for my G4003G, and it is too beefy. I wish I had gone with 1/8" .120 wall.

I'm talking about the horizontal beam that supports the lathe. The lathe platforms on the PM1340GT that sit on a stand are roughly 8x8 - so it needs something at least that wide to sit upon - hence the 2x10 for the main beam. The legs of the stand would of course be something more like 2x2x 0.125. You might find this curiosity worth viewing (esp. about 4:00 into the video):

What I have in mind is something similar but more refined, and Lista cabinets under. Since I use MQL for cooling and don't need flood pump, I prefer to have the chip pan unattached below the lathe so it can be removed.

David

 

[abrace]

I'm talking about the horizontal beam that supports the lathe. The lathe platforms on the PM1340GT that sit on a stand are roughly 8x8 - so it needs something at least that wide to sit upon - hence the 2x10 for the main beam. The legs of the stand would of course be something more like 2x2x 0.125. You might find this curiosity worth viewing (esp. about 4:00 into the video):

What I have in mind is something similar but more refined, and Lista cabinets under. Since I use MQL for cooling and don't need flood pump, I prefer to have the chip pan unattached below the lathe so it can be removed.

David

Ok, I see what you are doing there. Since the 'beam' is only welded at about the top 1/3 you would want thicker steel than usual. Usually with square tubing you weld all 4 edges and that gives it a ton of strength and allows you to get away with thinner steel.

That stand isn't exactly my style but it is an interesting design. Guy looks like he may have over engineered a tad

I don't know what you have for a welder but unless you are good at doing multiple passes (root pass, fill passes etc) you are gonna want something reasonably beefy. 1/4" is thick steel for a small 110V welder, and you are gonna want good penetration.

I am not a great welder, still in school for it. My intermediate stick welding class actually kicks off on Tuesday.

---Aaron

 

[davidpbest]

How does 250 AMP water cooled TIG sound to ya? Think I can get enough penetration in 1/4" steel with that?

David

 

[abrace]

How does 250 AMP water cooled TIG sound to ya? Think I can get enough penetration in 1/4" steel with that?

New to welding and you already have a 250A tig welder? Usually people new to welding have some harbor freight 100A gasless mig welder. When you start a new hobby, you don't mess around!

---Aaron

 

[zmotorsports]

Just in response to the welding amperage of your machine, I have a Miller 300DX Tigrunner and although has a 300A capability, very, very seldom to I need any more than about 160-170 amps. When you gut up into thick enough material that you need more, you really should be doing multiple passes with the GTAW process.

Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well, it has been two years now with my PM1340GT so I thought I would revive my old thread with a new modification(s).

I had a guy back out on me on a job this weekend that I had scheduled in the shop so I had some free time Friday night and Saturday morning. Since my wife had breakfast plans with her sisters on Saturday I decided to knock another item off of my "Want To Do" list as my "Need To Do" list is actually shrinking.

I have never really liked the cheap feeling plastic knobs on my lathe but seeing as how they weren't affecting the performance of it I kept putting off doing anything. I saw Mark's (mksj) new knobs for his lathe which turned out so nice and it got me thinking to machine some new ones for mine as well. Friday night after getting home and seeing that I had some free time I decided to address the knobs on my lathe.

Chucked up some 1" 60601-T6 I had in the metal rack. I turned it to .820" to match the original ones on the headstock and two on the apron. I then added a taper for aesthetics and few grooves with a form tool that I ground again for aesthetics before running some aluminum polish over them and parting off.

Two down and only five more to go. Once I got a drawing with some measurements of how I wanted them to look they actually went quite fast.

Here are the two on the gearbox at the headstock end installed.

Once I got the four smaller ones completed, I grabbed a piece of 1.250" 6061 I started on the larger ones for the tailstock and one on the carriage. These ones I turned down to 1.10" but incorporated the same grooves and taper for a matching look.

Knobs on apron completed and installed.

Tailstock knobs installed.

While I had swarf on the lathe I decided to knock out one more item on my "Want To Do" list for the lathe. I hate having to grab a 3mm allen wrench each time to lock down the compound slide, so I decided to make a lever to perform the function. I started with a piece of .375" stainless steel and used my 5C collet chuck.

Turned and threaded to the 6MM-1.0 thread pitch required.

Lathe work completed for the two components.

After installing for a test fit I marked where I needed to drill and tap for the handle.

Completed and installed. Unlocked position. I also drilled and installed a small roll pin to act as a stop/rest.

Locked position.

After cleaning the lathe, mill and the rest of the shop I still had the whole afternoon to relax and hang out with my son and wife and enjoy the great weather we had over the weekend.

Mike.

 

[wrmiller]

Making me feel guilty Mike. I made knobs for the feed and threading levers soon after getting the lathe set up, but never finished the job. Need to make a few for the mill too.

 

[zmotorsports]

Making me feel guilty Mike. I made knobs for the feed and threading levers soon after getting the lathe set up, but never finished the job. Need to make a few for the mill too.

Thanks Bill. I have a ball turning tool still tool still on my "Want To Do" list so as soon as I have time to machine that I will be making a few knobs for my mill as well as my drill press. I HATE plastic knobs but I understand why companies use them, price. I just think they "cheapen" the feel of my otherwise quality machines.

Mike.

 

[Bamban]

I saw a few outboard spiders showcased on this thread, while I do not have a 1340 GT, the spindle on my Acer 1236 is about the same size, for the spiders I tried different screws to hold the barrels till I finally settled on this configuration, aluminum fingers with 1/4 inch pockcet cut wth 1/4 inch ball end mill, and 1/4 inch ball bearings in a milled pocket at the tip of the 3/8 x 24 socket heads. I made different size fingers to accommodate different diameter barrels.

The system, finger clamps on both front and rear spiders, allows the barrel to pivot/gimbal easier than with dog point type screws using different materials. The system has more clamping surface on the barrel as well.

The outboard spider screws are on the long side, that's what I had left over from the front spider so I used them, they do no snag on anything though.

Just an unsolicited, sharing what I learned cranking out barrels.

 

[wrmiller]

Thanks Bill. I have a ball turning tool still tool still on my "Want To Do" list so as soon as I have time to machine that I will be making a few knobs for my mill as well as my drill press. I HATE plastic knobs but I understand why companies use them, price. I just think they "cheapen" the feel of my otherwise quality machines.

Mike.

I am ashamed to admit that other than getting it ready to use, I haven't touched my Holdridge 4-d since.

Your post had me thinking of getting it out and making some of those nice tear-drop knobs you see on the South Bend mills on the Grizzly site. But I'm afraid I'm more into just kicking back and enjoying my day off.