Pm-1440gt

This caught my eye. Appears to be two different motors?

Lathe Motors.png
 
Just my luck a category 5 typhoon is about to make a direct hit on Taiwan. Hopefully the ship has already sailed!

May everyone be safe!
 
One motor is single phase with capacitors, the other is 3 phase. Looking very nice, like the large chip tray. Nice short headstock, should be a sweet lathe.
 
Thanks Jay,

It looks good......I sure would like to get hold of that manual pictured in your first photo.

Thanks again.....Paul
 
That looks like a sweet lathe. Big brother to the 1340GT as far as fit & finish.

Mike.
 
Finally got tracking info on the container ship. Currently it is in port in Singapore. Next stop is New York. Matt said it should be there around the 10th. Shipping line schedule shows it arriving in New York on the 15th so not sure which one is correct. Either way there finally light at the end of a loooong tunnel.

Matt said there are 10 PM-1440GTs on this shipment with a few shipments of 18 each over the next few months.
 
Is the lathe everything you expected? I am looking for a new lathe, if I keep with the 8k budget I have been looking at this lathe or the grizzly G0509G.
 
dzljon said:
Is the lathe everything you expected? I am looking for a new lathe, if I keep with the 8k budget I have been looking at this lathe or the grizzly G0509G.
Click to expand...

I have several hundred hours on the lathe now and it has met or exceeded my expectations. I have done some modifications which are documented in this thread.

The lathe is very well made, very accurate and easy to align. The bed castings are very nice and of high quality. Everything was smooth from the get-go. The 2" spindle bore, D1-5 spindle nose and short head stock are a big plus in this size of lathe. For a gear head lathe it is very quiet to operate.

The steel stand is heavy duty and provides a very solid base. The back splash and belt cover are 1/16" steel and very solid. I did not get the premium package and chose to purchase my own chucks. I wanted an adjustable 3-jaw and a 4-jaw with 2-piece jaws.

It does require change gears for metric threads and some of the less common imperial threads. Most of the common even numbered imperial threads can be cut with the same gear set. Gear changes are quick to do so it has not been an issue.

The downsides were some of the specifications were not what was claimed. The spindle height was lower than advertises at 43" vs 47". The cross slide travel is only 6.4" and not the 7-1/2" in the specs. This one irritates me the most as a 14" swing lathe should have at least 7" of cross travel.

The t-slot in the compound was not cut true. I discovered this when I machined a T-nut for an Aloris QCTP. This required some shimming to get it to sit correctly in the T-slot. The back splash and belt cover were poorly fitted requiring some rework. This does not affect the performance of the lathe just an annoyance for a $7k lathe. I have spoken with other PM-1440GT owners who did not have this issue so I may just be the lucky one. I was suprised it was not caught by Precision Matthews when the un-crated and inspected. It was quite obvious.

The access for the coolant pump and tank is from the inside face of the stand which would be impossible to get to if the lathe was backed up to a wall. It should have been on the outside. Mine backes upto the overhead door so it is not a problem for me.

My lathe came with the single phase 2HP motor. I have since changed to a 3HP 3 phase Marathon motor. Having run both motors I can say the 2HP single phase is undersized for this lathe. The factory 3hp 3ph motor would be a better choice.

The G0509G was on my short list. I think it is a lot of lathe for the money. 1500 lbs heavier, one-piece cast iron base, 10" ways, D1-6 spindle, 2" spindle bore, no change gears etc. My reasons for not going with the Griz were size and power requirements. I was very tight for space and I would have had to done a service panel upgrade to provide the power to it which would have added many thousands to the cost. Also I had a lot of BXA size tool holders and tooling from my old lathe that would be too small for that machine. I don't need a 16" swing lathe for what I do and I can tell you that an 8" chuck is about all I want to deal with without a hoist to move it around.

I have no regrets in purchasing this lathe as it meets my needs perfectly.
 
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