New Mill and Lathe

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BigCasino

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Ok here it is, been a welder for 40 ish years. Going to get a new Mill and Lathe, have 0 experience in this area ( my fabrication has always been done with torch and grinder ). My budget to get this rolling is around 10 grand. Thinking about PM 30MV Mill and PM 1236 Lathe. Is this a good starting point. Don’t have any real project size in mind, other than the things I’ve done in the past so they don’t seem to be that large. I know I will need a vise for Mill, so 5” or 6”. PM sells some or should I be looking elsewhere. Would see a rotary vise as being useful, 6” or 8”, and what brand should I be looking at?
PM 30 MV DRO $2900
PM 1236 PP,DRO $4500
This leaves a little for vise, rotary, and some tooling in my budget. Is this a good starting point. Any advise appreciated. Thanks
 
To me your choices seem good. I've had good customer service from QMT. I would be looking at there premium vises because I think a good vise would save frustration. Lets see what the others here have to say. Oh and remember were here to help you blow your budget ! :cool 2:
 
Excellent choice getting the DROs!! Buy the biggest machines you can afford (money and room wise). Having said that those are good choices to make useful everyday sized parts but that can be subjective - for e.g. too small if you're planning to turn 17" brake rotors or flywheels as a hobby. The 13x40 or 14x40 "GT" editions are popular as they're Taiwan made and much higher precision/quality from what I've seen. However, the Grizzly G4003G is very popular with the guns crowd so if the PM 12x36 is the same you can't go wrong with it.

I haven't used my rotary table much (since I converted my mill to a CNC so I don't have a need to do arcs and curves with a rotary. I have a 8" rotary table, it's a bear to move. I think I'd be ok with a smaller one personally. And personally I think I'd use a dividing head more than the rotary table (for cutting gears/splines etc). Sometimes you can get a combo/kit to convert a rotary table to a dividing head.

Just a few random thoughts from someone who was in your shoes a few years ago and went with a smaller lathe due to the size restrictions.
 
I have both a mill and a Lathe (both smaller than your choice) from PM. As a retired tool maker I'm pleased with the machines and the service from Matt and his people. You will be pleased with their wares.
 
If I was doing this I'd stretch the budget and get a knee mill.
 
I have always been happy that I bought a Bridgeport clone, not a bench type mill. It’s just more satisfying in a hobby to not have to fight limited equipment. If you have to fight a Bridgeport, you’re not a hobby guy anymore.

And as further proof of my point I just upgraded lathes from 10” Logan, which was a fine lathe, to a 2500 pound Takisawa TSL-800D. It makes working in steel about like aluminum or brass on the Logan. Or really, maybe more like Delrin. It’s pretty amazing to me. And actually does not take up much more space!

And with your budget, I think you can save money and get more capable equipment than proposed.

But I admit, it’s much easier to make a few calls and have the stuff show up at your door.
 
Agreed - with that budget and a bit of legwork, you can get very good machines by buying used. Of course you have to wait a bit to get a feel for the market, and you have to be capable of determining the value of a machine (though really, just having the owner demonstrate its use on some metal will suffice).

If I were buying new, I would probably get the largest, most sturdy lathe possible, even if that means skimping on the mill a bit. This is partly because you can find ways to do the bigger milling jobs in a lathe, and partly because with the price point you're taking about, a knee mill is a bit out of range, so you're going to be skimping on the mill regardless.
 
I own the 1236 and though mechanically it is okay. The exterior workmanship from China is disgusting. At the time the 1236 did not have a option to get from Taiwan $800 more for same machine but it would of been worth it. The Chinese version had paint chipping everywhere . You may want to get a Taiwan PP 1340 ( I believe that’s correct maybe 1440). You can manufacture gun parts. Weeeee
For mill I absolutely love PM 935 fully loaded. From Taiwan - got it —well worth it. You can get it stripped down with no DRO and manual levers and just add as your wife allows you


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BigCasino said:
Don’t have any real project size in mind, other than the things I’ve done in the past so they don’t seem to be that large.
Click to expand...

The quickest way to waste money is to buy the wrong machine tools and the tooling that goes along with them. If you ask what to buy on a machining forum you will inevitably be told to buy the biggest machines you can buy or afford or fit; this will be from folks who mean well but have zero idea of what your needs are or whether you live in an apartment, a house or on a farm.

You determine what suits your needs by realistically defining your needs. I know this might seem nebulous but at least set a limit as to the size of work you are likely to do. Why buy a 14" lathe when the largest piece you're likely to turn is under 1.5" OD or under a foot in length, which is what 95% of hobby guys turn? A knee mill is great but not really necessary if you're only making model engines. If you are not sure what to get, or are not even sure you'll enjoy machining as a hobby, then you might consider visiting one of the HM members close to you and talk it over with him/them so you can view, touch and maybe run their machines.

Every single one of us can tell you what to buy but none of us are you. Personally, I would listen to you. Once you decide or come up with some choices and need opinions on them then we can really be of value to you.
 
Precision Matthews is a good company, if I was in the market for Asian machines I'd buy from them
Good choices
 
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