New Forum for 3 in 1 machines

I bought my Chizhou 3-in-1 about 15 to 17 years ago. I've done plenty of paid work on it and it's paid for itself many times over.
True, they are not the sturdiest of machines but, if you're not the type of machinist who tends to hammer a machine and you know what you're doing, then there is not much that you can't do with it.


The reason that I choose a 3-in-1 as my first machine was because I wanted a lathe and a mill and if you're going to be an all-round machinist then you really need at least those two machines. Starting out back then on a budget it was a good first choice and I have no regret in purchasing a 3-in-1.
 
Re: Me and My Shoptask Patriot - Was: New Forum for 3 in 1 machines

Hi everyone! I have been posting on this forum for a few months. Looks like I missed this one being announced! Nice surprise.... I have the ShopMaster Patriot 2010 model. It's a hobby machine and I've become fully enamored with it! It's beefy(ish) and weighs 1260 LBs. That's just the 3:1 itself. I have Mach3 and CNC w/ DRO installed. Came w/ some extra's (they were in 2010) 4th axix, DRO, ball screws (nook std. accuracy) which are about OK for a mill like this.

Anyone w/ Q's please feel free to ask away. Anyone have some Pics? Here is mine.
MillyMillPainted1.jpg

MillyMillPainted1.jpg
 
Re: Me and My Shoptask Patriot - Was: New Forum for 3 in 1 machines

Hi everyone! I have been posting on this forum for a few months. Looks like I missed this one being announced! Nice surprise.... I have the ShopMaster Patriot 2010 model. It's a hobby machine and I've become fully enamored with it! It's beefy(ish) and weighs 1260 LBs. That's just the 3:1 itself. I have Mach3 and CNC w/ DRO installed. Came w/ some extra's (they were in 2010) 4th axix, DRO, ball screws (nook std. accuracy) which are about OK for a mill like this.

Anyone w/ Q's please feel free to ask away. Anyone have some Pics? Here is mine.
View attachment 79887
I am looking for a mill and have been intrigued by the Shopmaster. Would you please share your experience with the machine. My main interest is in using it as a manual mill but the possibility of full CNC is interesting.
 
I just got mine back in may 1324 max, I am very happy. no more 50 mile trips to get something small done and waste time.
 
I love my 3 in 1 machine. It is my first machine which I'm sure influences my feelings but I doubt my feelings will ever fade. :worship:
 
I purchased a smithy at-300 3-in-1 in the early 90's. The machine has gotten a fair amount of use making replacement parts. It has been idle for the last 10 years but recently I started using it again. I am able to turn parts on the lathe with little problems. The mill is limited, the .042 graduations on the quill dial are not useful, I machined a quill ring and mounted a HF caliper as a poor mans DRO, it is now a "precision" tool. It was so successful I mounted a caliper on the cross slide too, I made it easily removable so it wont interfere with the tail stock drilling. I broke the casting locking the mill quill and had to fabricate brackets to lock the quill. It locks much better now, next I have to improve the locking on the mill head support. It locks the circular (horizontal) motion of the head but on rare occasions it will rise up (vertical) while milling. It still has the original 3/4 hp motor that was designed to run 50hz and was modified to run 60hz which means the rpm are 20% faster than indicated. I used a laser rpm meter to verify the speeds, the slowest, 160rpm, measures 200rpm. Try cutting a thread at this speed. The motor has developed an intermittent rattle, something must have broken inside and is bouncing around. I am planning on replacing it with a 1hp vfd so I can have variable speeds. The 1 hp motor has a .875 shaft while the existing has .750 shaft which means I have to make a new driver pulley (3L step pulley with .875 shaft and the appropriate diameters are nearly impossible to find).

Over the years I learned how to get precise cuts on this machine and it has served me well. As all tools age they get dinged or nicked, my only gripe is the large amount of body filler used on the surface of the machine to produce a smooth finish on the castings. I would have liked the painted metal surfaces to be finished rather than puttied.

Overall I can build most anything, as long as its not too big.
 
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i have had a smitty 3in 1 for over 20 years , in that time i have loved and hanted it , but it allways has ben verry usefull ,
i have as you have used it as a horizontal mill .
i now have a enco mill 42 inch table and a rockwell lathe 10x36 lathe.
i am useing the smitty fo make a new back gear for the rockwell .
the smitty is allways the first machine i goto to make something ,even new tooling see my post i made a mt2 aubor for a gear cutter as i could not find one .
i love my smitty and use it more than i ever thought i would , yess it has some limits but they can be worked aronund , you will find you can do more than you think with it .
 
I have the Harbor Freight 44142 3in1, but the manual that came with it also says Central Machinery. Bought new in 2002, expand my tooling almost every month. 4-jaw chuck for the lathe, rotary indexing head for the mill setup, 4" bed 'lifts'.

I've had capacitor problems over the years (burn out) but replacing with higher rating caps has pretty much 'cured' that problem. There have been several minor problems, mill spindle draw-up rod breaking, feed roll pin shearing, other small stuff.

I like the long bed; I can fit a 21" rifle barrel and turn it down. Mill table only has ~5" of travel in the Y axis.

My gibs need adjusting, but the manual is useless for anything. I see that Sears now sells the 44142, and Grizzly and Smithy have machines so similar that they must all be made by the same company.

The plate on the lathe shows Metric threads, but the manual [useless] doesn't say how to get them. I suspect it is a simple intermediate gear to transpose to Metric threads, but which one??? It doesn't say... :(
 
Richie,

"Central Machinery" is the Harbor Freight house brand.

I've never actually seen a 3 IN 1 machine, let alone used one. But on cutting metric threads, it is probably possible but may not be practical without changing the lead screw and half nuts and threading dial. On the Atlas machines, it is done by introducing a 44/52 ratio which is within one part in 3000 of 1/3 of the 2.54 ratio between inches and centimeters. But counting the spindle gear and the screw gear (on the lead screw), the Atlas machines have the space to swing up to 6 idler or compound gears. I can't tell from the photograph you posted (actually to show the wiring) how the gears are mounted. Or what drives the first gear.

Robert D.
 
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