- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
Got the power draw bar as well. On my own for the install. This thing is really tall.
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PM-1054TV Delivery & Setup
- Thread starter MtnBiker
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,308
woohoo, you really treated yourself 
Is your business anything to do with your handle or is that one of your hobbies?
Is your business anything to do with your handle or is that one of your hobbies?
- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
Mountain biking is a hobby (and therapy after a hard week working for the man). Our business is a side-gig for my son and I which will hopefully let us both fire our bosses in a few years.woohoo, you really treated yourself
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,308
super cool, on all fronts! I'm a keen mountainbiker, though I don't ride as much as I used to as I ride alot for commuting. It's how I got into machining, by wanting to make better LED lights for night riding.
If you ever pass through central Texas and want a ride, give me a shout!
If you ever pass through central Texas and want a ride, give me a shout!
- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
You might have passed me at Flat Rock Ranch. Lived in SA for about 14 years (Helotes actually).
- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
Got the 1054 all hooked up to power. Brought both 120v and 240v through the conduit (separate breakers) and hooked everything into an extended depth box. Commercial 20A receptacles on the gang box and wiring for the mill motor. Room for the power feeds, DRO and a light. Should keep the shop looking a little cleaner. Looking for a cheap wire management solution.
Had my electrician pull 100 amps into the garage with a sub-panel. We hooked up the flex conduit for the 1054. The white thing there is the antenna for the Sense power monitor. We can see real time power usage (so we don't overload the main supply) and will allow us to isolate power to calculate shop expenses (taxes). If we can get Sense to ID the various shop tools that will be a bonus just to get closer to actual costs.
- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
Time for leveling the mill. After placing the mill we noticed it was balanced on two corners. No bueno. Also noticed the holes for screwing the mill to the pallet were threaded. There was some back and forth with PM about thread size. It is a "loosely fit" M18-2.5. So here is the approach - the base of the mill is more of a skirt. There are no pads really, but the material where the threads were cut is about 3" thick. Good for jacking. So we cut some threaded M18 rod and, welded on some hex nuts.
To do as little damage to the floor (and not crack any concrete) used some 5/16 steel plate slid under the jacking rod. Worked okay - the unevenly cut rod end bit into the steel plate and made a little eccentric. The mill shimmy'd a bit during jacking.
Auto parts stores sell these nice shims for body work (edit: for shimming a GM starter...thanks Aukai). Come in several different thicknesses (an 8 pack). So for about $10 for two packages I had a pretty good shim kit.
Made some thinner shims out of a soda can (smooth out the ragged edges if you cut with tin snips).
Found the high spot and worked the other three sides with shims until we found what worked. Measured thickness and just did some math to keep things easy (after trial and error and frustration).
Close enough for government work.
So these shims fit the "skirt" of the base really well. They are just a little wider than the contact point of the mill so...optimal. Pretty easy job overall. No forklift or fancy jacks needed (and yes, I need to do some wire management).
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- Joined
- May 7, 2020
- Messages
- 263
A little about the machinist vise. Of course I thought about Kurt. The standard. Saw the Homge Ultra Precision (the 6" Super-Open 8" officially). For the $399 and free shipping with the Mill I figured I'd give it a try. Also figured I'd likely end mill it by mistake and better the Kurt knock-off than a real one. Some observations (after some YouTube reviews of other, cheaper knock-offs).
The casting is okay but certainly not as well finished as a Kurt. If you look closely we have some paint chipping off but a solid layer of primer underneath (a look inside a Taiwan mill shows the same). Aesthetics are okay. The surface grinding is really excellent though. Ground throughout (some of the cheapees leave the bottom of the jaw un-ground). This has the machined jaw hold-down button like a Kurt. Nice chamfered corners all around. Needle bearings in the leadscrew. Speaking of damage, dropped a wrench onto it Monday while loosening the draw bar (I need to get the power draw bar installed - I have zero muscle memory for this). Ended up bulging the jaw face. Crap! At least it wasn't a Kurt right? Found a local 54-years experienced master machinist down the road. Did a proper surface grind on it. I paid him with a hand shake and a shop tour (his shop). Awesome dude...probably not a Practical Machinist subscriber. Back in business.
Has a steel cover to keep chips out of the threads. Nice touch.
Very very nice ACME threads with backlash adjustment. This is a very nicely made piece. Smooth as glass. This is where some of the cheap knock-offs go cheap (v-threads and the like).
I really wanted to use the base (I'm likely in the minority). The nuts included in my PM supplied clamping kit were too narrow to clamp the base. At all really. Lame flat washers from Home Depot were a non-starter. What to do? We did some design and my kid 3-D printed some prototype shoulder washers to keep those 1/2" studs centered and stable.
Fabbed up the washers and the vise is super solid. Just enough wiggle room to get this thing to index really nicely. Very accurate vise. Comes with an inspection sheet and I believe it.
Also wanted to mention these parallel holders. MagKeepers.com. The spring things just didn't make sense to my rookie brain. These looked cool and really hold things in place.
Bottom line...not a Kurt in fit or finish. Functionally, seems like a really nice, accurate vice and certainly an economical way to equip a new shop. Maybe less tears for a newbie when you accidentally end mill it. Recommended.
The casting is okay but certainly not as well finished as a Kurt. If you look closely we have some paint chipping off but a solid layer of primer underneath (a look inside a Taiwan mill shows the same). Aesthetics are okay. The surface grinding is really excellent though. Ground throughout (some of the cheapees leave the bottom of the jaw un-ground). This has the machined jaw hold-down button like a Kurt. Nice chamfered corners all around. Needle bearings in the leadscrew. Speaking of damage, dropped a wrench onto it Monday while loosening the draw bar (I need to get the power draw bar installed - I have zero muscle memory for this). Ended up bulging the jaw face. Crap! At least it wasn't a Kurt right? Found a local 54-years experienced master machinist down the road. Did a proper surface grind on it. I paid him with a hand shake and a shop tour (his shop). Awesome dude...probably not a Practical Machinist subscriber. Back in business.
Has a steel cover to keep chips out of the threads. Nice touch.
Very very nice ACME threads with backlash adjustment. This is a very nicely made piece. Smooth as glass. This is where some of the cheap knock-offs go cheap (v-threads and the like).
I really wanted to use the base (I'm likely in the minority). The nuts included in my PM supplied clamping kit were too narrow to clamp the base. At all really. Lame flat washers from Home Depot were a non-starter. What to do? We did some design and my kid 3-D printed some prototype shoulder washers to keep those 1/2" studs centered and stable.
Fabbed up the washers and the vise is super solid. Just enough wiggle room to get this thing to index really nicely. Very accurate vise. Comes with an inspection sheet and I believe it.
Also wanted to mention these parallel holders. MagKeepers.com. The spring things just didn't make sense to my rookie brain. These looked cool and really hold things in place.
Bottom line...not a Kurt in fit or finish. Functionally, seems like a really nice, accurate vice and certainly an economical way to equip a new shop. Maybe less tears for a newbie when you accidentally end mill it. Recommended.
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