PM1340 - the Best & Jacobs Full Custom Edition

[Janderso]

I just read another thread about a quality problem on a PM lathe, (Pcmaker and his motor stopping while running)

David,
You replaced the motor and bearings when you first received your lathe as I recall.

Price point lathes take short cuts wherever possible.

Those of us who gambled and won buying old American iron, or In my case, Colchester made in England, have machine tools that have performed for decades with little or no issues.
That’s incredible. In my humble opinion.

 

[davidpbest]

I just read another thread about a quality problem on a PM lathe, (Pcmaker and his motor stopping while running)

David,
You replaced the motor and bearings when you first received your lathe as I recall.

I replaced the motor because I installed a VFD and wanted a vector-rated motor that provided full torque across 20-200 Hz so I would never have to change belt positions. Lots of 1340 owners have installed VFD's with the factory supplied motor and are happy. I did not replace the spindle bearings since the machine came with very high quality bearing to begin with. Full build is documented here.

 

[Pcmaker]

I just read another thread about a quality problem on a PM lathe, (Pcmaker and his motor stopping while running)

David,
You replaced the motor and bearings when you first received your lathe as I recall.

Price point lathes take short cuts wherever possible.

Those of us who gambled and won buying old American iron, or In my case, Colchester made in England, have machine tools that have performed for decades with little or no issues.
That’s incredible. In my humble opinion.

I couldn't stall the motor when turning after doing .200 DOC on 1045 cold rolled. I figured it had to be the parting tool setup that was the issue.

I replaced 3/32 parting blade with a new 1/8" and that took care of the parting issue. I tried parting on auto feed, and even on the 2nd fastest feed rate setting, it didn't stall the motor. It kept on feeding with no problems. Didn't even slow down the motor.

I'm not sure why it did on the 3/32 parting blade. There's no visible issues that I can see on the blade, but replacing it took care of the issue.

 

[davidpbest]

I just read another thread about a quality problem on a PM lathe, (Pcmaker and his motor stopping while running)

David,
You replaced the motor and bearings when you first received your lathe as I recall.

Price point lathes take short cuts wherever possible.

Those of us who gambled and won buying old American iron, or In my case, Colchester made in England, have machine tools that have performed for decades with little or no issues.
That’s incredible. In my humble opinion.

I looked back at Pcmaker's issue with the motor. His final posting suggests his problem was cockpit error related to the parting tool he was trying to use. My suspicion is that he was was getting overly aggressive with the parting tool or it was set to low and digging in, and perhaps didn't have the belt tightened as well has he might. It also helps to replace the factory belt with a segment Gates belt for better grip.

 

[Pcmaker]

What are the drawbacks to the 1340GT? I have this and the 1236T narrowed down as my next lathe to purchase after I get my PM949.

I've been happy with my 1127, but I absolutely hate changing gears just to switch between threading and feed rates.

 

[davidpbest]

I have a PM1340. What specifically can I fill you in on?

 

[Janderso]

My apologies gentlemen.

 

[Pcmaker]

I have a PM1340. What specifically can I fill you in on?

I see you changed the motor. I was going to ask you how much DOC the machine can take before it struggles.

Also, I think you need to do change gears only when switching to metric.

-You don't need to go back and forth to do threading and feed rate?
-How much of a hassle is it to change gears when needing to do metric threading?
-How's the surface finish?
-The way my garage is set up, I have to put the lathe right up against the wall. Is this going to be an issue with the 1340GT? Do I need to occassionally have to access behind it?

 

[AlanB]

I've been shopping these lathes as well as the PM-1440GT, so I've been digging into the online manuals and reading what I can find elsewhere.

The PM-1236T and PM-1340GT share the same manual (and gearbox). It shows one gear setup for imperial threading and three gearing setups for the range of metric threads. They don't go into detail on feed rates in the metric gear configurations but with the wide ranging Norton style gearbox you may find adequate feed rates on all four gearing setups. It looks like the carriage feed rates are about 1/3 the threading rates.

You might also consider an Electronic Leadscrew on your existing lathe to avoid gear changes and get essentially unlimited threading and feeding rates. There are commercial products and DIY projects going on.

 

[Pcmaker]

I want to buy an electronic leadscrew specifically for my lathe. It's something I'd get and not need to buy another lathe.