Pulled the Trigger on 12x37

turner505 said:
i'm kind of back and forth about t he sheet metal and paint issues. i don't know if I want to send it back for that or not.. it's my very first one and was advertised as new in box and kinda wanted it to look that way.
On another subject I'm looking at a 9 x 32 Bridgeport Mill that's in St. Louis, about 250 mi. from me. he wants $2000 for it. I offered $1650 but he wants the 2K. doesn't come with any tooling, vises or anything. I'm really tempted because he's so close to me. most are acros the country for the same or more money.
Any opinions?
Take Care Folks,
Houston
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I guess I wouldn't worry much about paint. The quality of the paint from china is terrible anyway. I wouldn't be to happy if the sheet metal was mangled...if it's not so bad and can be straightened fairly easily then it would be ok..
I picked up a Bridgeport last year for $2400.00 it is a variable speed and has a digital read out on it also had a 6" vise with it and a set of collets. The stamped numbers on the top of the knee are what you need to figure out its age...mine is from 1957. Mine is 3 phase as are most so plan some expense there to get it up and running if you're not set up for that already.
 
The Smithy came in with minor dings in the drip pan that popped out pretty easily. No damage noted otherwise.

With the spring/ball detent in place, some of the dials are too stiff so they are all out. The problem seems to be that the holes in the wheels for them isn't of uniform depth so the detent presses too hard against the ID of the dial. The dials fit smoothly with just a tiny bit of friction on the wheels without the detent so just having the setscrew alone makes for a good setup. Possibly even a heavy grease would improve the smoothnessI guess it could be improved on by putting a spring detent under the setscrew to vary the friction on the handwheel.

Still waiting on the motor mount from Smithy. Think I will give them another call today. I am anxious to fire up the 1237.

Steve
 
Hello all,
my wife doesn't want me to get the Bridgeport Mill. She thinks it's to big and heavy for me. She's afraid I'll hurt myself. I'm kinda crippled up some anyway so she's probably right. I'm thinking about maybe a ZX45 import mill / drill. I'm not building spaceships so I think it will do me fine. I'd like to keep it under $2500 with power feed table and a good stand. Might have to go a size smaller, not sure yet.
Sent pictures to the seller oof my lathe but no response yet. I think I'm with you Russ, I can live with the scratches and some dents but hopefully I can get them to send a replacement for the badly bet piece. I'm anxious as hell to get started on the cleanup and setup. Gotta have a stand though. Hope I get one like yours.
Any thoughts, opinions and suggestions about the mill / drill idea would be appreciated.

Houston
 
Couple of thoughts.

1. Don't let 3 phase power requirements keep you from a purchase. I got such a steal on a round column RF30 mill that I could not pass it up. It has a 1-1/2 HP 3 phase motor. on it.. For less than $150 I bought a VFD and now I can run any 3 phase stuff up to about 2 hp in my shop. I blogged the entire setup here: http://monarch14.blogspot.com/2014/03/3-phase-power-in-home-shop.html because its not a well understood device and the manuals provided are those famous translated from Chinese things..

2. RF30's and RF45's are reasonable machines for the home shop. I'd love a BP as well, but where would I PUT it.. I moved from the Chinese table top mill to an RF30 and my first run of it was; "Soo, this is what milling is REALLY LIKE!!" There was that much difference between the table top and something more substantial. And not I will not refer to an RF30 as a REAL mill, its a super sized drill press, but it does the work I need as a home hobbyist.

Any machine has it quirks and even BP's are not perfect. So keep an open mind. I was gunning for different equipment but when this RF30 showed up, I could not pass it up and its been a really good machine for me. I'm a hobbyist and if it takes me longer to do my setups, so what.. etc.
 
I made a report on ebay today about my lathe after another phone call went unanswered. Low and behold I got an email with pictures of the stand that was going to be shipped tomorrow. Then I got an email saying since I'd filed a claim I'd have to return the lathe. Told him that was kinda silly and he said if I'd cancel the claim he'd ship tomorrow. According to them they told me they had to order the stand and would ship as soon as it came in. Well, nobody told me squat, otherwise there would have been no issue. I don't think they got all there ducks in a row. too bad It had to get confrontational. I didn't see any way to get their attention but that sure did WOW. :)
Maybe I can get it up and running soon. Now onto the Mill.
Does anyone else have trouble seeing Precision Matthews website? It's like two pages on top of each other. Can't make out the prices. Pretty much settled on the Grizzly 0755 right now unless I come across a better one. Folks here are pretty high on PM, that would be ok if the price and features are the same. Hate that blue paint job tho. :
)
 
Hope the saga on that machine plays out in your favor. Hate issues like you ran into. Makes a root canal seem like fun.

Got the replacement for the broken motor mount on ny Smithy 12 x 37 from the brown truck today along with the missing steady rest. Steady was brand new but painted in Enco colors. Doubt of grey paint will make it work any better!

Found I had a neighbor with a older, hardly used HF 12 x 37 with a bad motor. Got a text from him today that he decided to replace the motor - he thought he had a bad capacitor initially. Haven't talked to him about where he sourced the motor but he says he can't get it to run in reverse.

Haven't installed the motor mount yet, got a lot of errands to do today. Maybe tomorrow.

Steve
 
<strong>I guess that goes to show us that they all pretty much come from relatively few places. Alot of parts seem pretty interchangable, alot of folks say that anyway.<br>I don't know about you but having a lathe in my garage and not being able to use it bugs me to no end. I got a new toy and I want to play.<br>I was telling Ray in another post that I'd ordered a new mill yesterday and they cancelled the order today! Seems I paid with Paypay and they can't take Paypal for items that they have to backorder, the transaction has to be completed in 24 hrs. LOL.<br>I tell ya, It's hard to spend $2400 :). I did find a discount code on this site though. So when I reorder I'll get 10% off if it's legit. Do you have any projects in mind when you get up and running?&nbsp;<br></strong><br>

- - - Updated - - -

​I don't know what happened to that post. Sorry
 
No, no big projects planned. Since my USAF assignment to an aircraft overhaul depot, I have always admired metalworkers. Guess I am just expanding my skill set from wood to metal. Lately I've branched off from SMAW to the other metal joining processes as well. Just want to have the capability to make stuff I "need" as the need arises.
 
Update on my Smithy 12 x 37.

As I mentioned earlier, my machine came in within a week of ordering but suffered a broken motor mount and missing steady and moving rests. Smithy was very responsive to my calls but they took a week to locate the missing items. Once found they shipped immediately I got the motor installed a few days after receiving. So I am pleased with their service and would certainly recommend them. I worked with a fellow named Kerry. He was excellent in respopnding to my concerns and was always prompt about returning my calls.

So far as the machine goes, two points stand out. One, they 12 x 37 is slightly different than the 12 x 36 Central Machinery I had, mainly in the electrics. The new one has three control buttons on the front rather than four. There is no stand alone on/off switch - the red push to shut off panic switch doubles as the power switch. The power light and inching functions are the same. There are fewer relays as well owing to one less switch I assume. Otherwise all the controls are identical. There is very little backlash in the feeds. Castings are the usual Chinese stuff, lots of rough places and sprue not ground off. Haven't checked the T.I.R. yet but the data sheet shows 0.0002" FWIW. Haven't checked it out yet because I haven't gone through the drill of bolting the lathe to the floor yet waiting to move out the 3-in-1 for that. The other difference that I have found is that the rear spindle extension is shorter than the 12x36 and isn't threaded, making the incorporation of a spider a little more tricky. I envision a sleeve with set screws and will have to enlarge the hole in the gearbox sheetmetal cover to accommodate.

Otherwise it is just your generic 12x machine. After the 3-in-1 I like changing feeds and speeds without having to mess with belts and gears. Variable speed would be nice, tho. The main reason I bought this particular machine was that it had the best combination of price and warranty, plus Smithy seems to have a good reputation.

Haven't done much in the way of projects save for making a small brass hammer to tap in the alignment of my milling vice but all seems well. It has taken a little while to get used to the rotation lever on the carriage to stop the machine. I overshot a couple of times and accidentally shifted into reverse rather than neutral when I was turning and came close to running the tool into the tailstock center. Otherwise is is exactly as I expected.

Steve in Central TX
 
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