PM 1236 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Great post Ray. This should help a lot of beginners hit the ground running.

For those looking to make some modifications or improvements they can check out this LINK.

Gary
 
All,

Here's an updated version of the unofficial PM1236 lathe manual. It's in much better shape than what was earlier written and most areas are complete. The threading manual sill needs to be included and Matt and I are working on it. For now, it's included as a separate document.

This will probably be updated as time goes but, I know a bunch of you are about to get your lathes and rightfully so, you want to get some reading under your belt first.



Sorry about the delay but, last week, there was a death in the family and things were a little busy...


Ray

View attachment PM1236_SetupAndUse_1_.pdf

View attachment PM-1236 Threading and Feed Rate Directions.pdf
 
Excellent! I've really been wanting to get my hands on this. Thanks Ray.
 
No problem... let me know if areas could be improved or don't make sense due to wording. I was hoping to have Gary and Will look at it first but, things got way too hectic for a few days and I didn't have time to send it to them.


Excellent! I've really been wanting to get my hands on this. Thanks Ray.
 
Looking good Ray, great job.
 
All,

Here's an updated version of the unofficial PM1236 lathe manual. It's in much better shape than what was earlier written and most areas are complete. The threading manual sill needs to be included and Matt and I are working on it. For now, it's included as a separate document.

This will probably be updated as time goes but, I know a bunch of you are about to get your lathes and rightfully so, you want to get some reading under your belt first.

Maybe you should have some volunteers to take pictures of their newer "cleaner" lathes for the manual. :))

Darkzero has a bunch as well as me.

Just a thought.

Gary
 
All,

A good off-sides question came up about the oil sight glasses on the PM 1236... Here's the response.

The headstock has a main gearbox (upper half) and threading gearbox (lower section); thus, two sight glasses. Mid level or higher is fine. These gearboxes are splash systems (i.e. no oil pump with journals or oil tubes) and most of the gears are fully or partially submurged. The few gears which are not submurged rely on splash from the other gears and it won't make a difference if you're slightly overfilled. If you are way overfilled, pressure might build-up and you'll get some seepage through the seals.

The amount of splash in the apron is very minimal so leaving it at the high level is actually preferable.

BTW: The heavy weight oil will stick to the un-submurged gears for several days. If your machine sits for a week, when you go to use it, the splash inside the gearboxes is extremely vigorous and everything will be re-coated in a matter of 1-2 seconds.


Ray
 
All,

I just changed the oil in the PM 1236. In case you're interested, it requires exactly one gallon of lube for all three gearboxes. The main gearbox holds about 3 quarts (give/take a little) the threading gearbox holds a little over a pint and the apron just a little under a pint.

I'm using hydraulic oil. The last oil change was about a year ago and the magnet in the main gearbox had basically nothing on it (about 2 particles about the size of a grain of sand). The oil came out looking pretty good. Going forward, I'll probably greatly extend the change interval.

Someone in a different thread mentioned moly oil additive and it reduced noise and heat. I might give it a try but for today, I did some experiments and found that with the threading gearbox disengaged, there is no noise to speak of at any speed, including top speed. -Just a nice Whirrrrrr sound. The threading/leadscrew/feedrod gearbox is fairly quiet too and the loudest sounds depend on which set of change gears are in-use. Depending on size, it goes from quite to pretty loud but only at top speed. Since I'm unlikely to ever be threading at top speed -no worries. In all my past experiences, even after hours of continuous use, I have never felt anything close to warmth or heat coming from any gearbox.

Moral of the story: For this machine, I think hydraulic oil is the way to go and the splash oil system works peachy. I will give the moly oil a try though...


Ray
 
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