PM1232 lathe is/was around for considerable time, and there is much good information all over the Internet.
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I acquired PM1232 from <st1ersonName w:st="on">Quality Machine Tools</st1ersonName> in March 2011. I did not have many issues and lathe is working fine.
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I do have a few items that I am not overly happy with though and I would like some help in resolving them.
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There is a persistent oil seepage from the gear head. Not enough to warrant stripping it down and replacing the gasket, but enough to keep frequently changing cardboard that is kept under it.
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What I am looking for is to replace the complete tailstock if I could find one.
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In the other shop we have about a 30 year old rebuilt 1232 belt driven Busy Bee Lathe.
I borrowed the tailstock from it to try it in the PM1232 but unfortunately it is 1/4” too high.
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I just find the tailstock a little wimpy. No front overhang in casting, so the length towards the chuck is not sufficient. There are many times, I have had to use an extension as without one I am bumping into the cross slide. Using an extension exacerbates the problem as the spindle is not rigid enough. DRO scale makes it worse. I asked Matt few times where I could purchase a different tailstock, but he did not know.
Any tailstock with overhanging front would be more desirable for my applications.
While working on previously mentioned Busy Bee lathe I was turning 10 x 12 x1 plate making an adapter for 1947 Ford flat head V8 and T5 GM gearbox. I had to use a very low speed so the lathe would not tip over and it has a much wider base than original PM1232 in my home shop.
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The base for the PM1232 lathe is good and heavy, but the original base for mounts looked too narrow for my liking. The way it is supplied it may be a good idea to anchor it in concrete.
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As I live in an earthquake prone area of the world, and I didn’t want to drill into my concrete floors, I opted to attach 1” thick steel plates and widened the PM1232 base. Machinery mounts/feet are now 17 1/4” apart. I am more confident now to take on similar tasks as I mentioned above and know that the PM1232 won’t tip over while I do so.
Another unpleasant find……………….I will let the picture tell the story.
Just another 5 minutes job right?
I would like to share some of the photos of my favorite tooling for this lathe which are making it all fun.
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This is not my idea, I am sure I found it somewhere on the Internet but Allen key had to go.
Its made from stainless steel.. Likely my first project on the PM1232. For those who would like to make one, I found an old drawing and happy to pass it along.
View attachment Lever.jpg
This sure is a handy little gadget. Got that from Matt. <st1ersonName w:st="on">Quality Machine Tools</st1ersonName>.
This is very recent purchase a C5 collet holder by Aloris. This took bit of strain for flimsy tailstock and it is nice for power feeding and few other things. First photo is centering it to chuck.
I like the Foredom grinder. The TX model, is the most powerful one (I believe 1/3HP). It is variable speed and nice and quiet. No complaint from the neighbours. Pricey, but worth every penny. The heavy duty hand piece (H.44HT) comes with 3 collets largest one 1/4” so lot of bits are available. The outside diameter is 1” which fits perfectly into the boring bar tool holder.
This little gizmo is kind of handy for drilling a hole in the center of the round stock.
Just a shot I had. Sometimes I wonder if they designed or assembled that tailstock backwards.
I am sure everybody made one of these.