Thoughts On Enco Turn Pro 1340

Hozzie

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So I have been looking at machine's for a while and had decided on the PM1236 with 3 phase motor, vfd, and DRO. As it is, Murphy's law kicked in and I had to replace my HVAC so my discretionary funds took a hit. I wasn't planning on buying anything soon, but today I found an Enco Turn Pro 1340 on CL. It is in excellent condition, comes with a 3 jaw, 4 jaw, steady rest, and drill head. The lead screw actually looks to be unused. I can swing the price right now for this.

I talked to the guy and he said it came out of a school shop where the instructor was afraid to let anyone use it because they might get hurt. He figures it is about 20 years old or a bit more. I can buy it for $2650 and he will hook it up to run for a test. It has a 3 HP 3 phase motor in it. I will still have to buy a VFD, but that isn't a big deal.

I think it is a good deal and a good machine being made in Taiwan. Anything specific I should look at before pulling the trigger?

Thanks.
 
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I would want to see it under power if I was buying it, check every speed and feed, and thread. Make sure everything works without wasting the sellers time. If it checks out pay his price, it would be a good deal.
good luck
michael
 
Thanks, I will certainly check all of the speeds and feeds. From the pictures, the oil in the glass levels looks to be very clean. I don't get the feeling the seller has done anything to it, I suspect from the pictures that it has really had very little use for a 20 year old machine.
 
I talked to him again. He doesn't have the change gears. I am not sure that is the end of the world for me as I think it only relates to Metric threads? I figure my things (mostly gunsmithing) will be English threads. Should that be a deal killer? I know they are very hard to find, but if I probably would never use them, I hate to pass up what appears to be an otherwise good machine for my needs.
 
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Correct, the change gears pertain to off chart threads (whether metric or simply anything which is not on the chart of the QCGB). Generally those change gears are simple standard gears, not hard to make and pretty easy to purchase.

Sounds like a decent machine. If it checks out as he says, then get it.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I am going to check it out this afternoon. I figure maybe I can get it for a bit less since it doesn't have the gears.
 
So....Did you get it?
 
No, it was decent, but not as good as the pictures made it look. I may still consider it, but but wasn't 100% sure so I didn't buy it right then.
 
I have an enco 16x60 and have had good luck with it 1750 from Chicago 1780 shipping came with a 7.5 hp 3 phase motor converted it to 7.5 hp single phase got lots of help from electrician at work the only problems I had was the sacrificial plastic gear in the back gear train was cracked upon receiving the lathe. enco had the part and it was expensive. there were no change gears needed cuts both metric and sae threads as is. the second problem was the tailstock was not installed correctly from the factory, when I changed it I put a bind on the foot brake so it no longer worked had to shorten the footbrake rod and reinstall the tailstock support. probably not the same as the one you are looking at. still a good lathe. bill
 
I bought my TurnPro 1340 (Lux Matter) about 15 years ago, used. It has been a terriffic machine. It has done everything I have asked it to do and is still damn accurate. If you need more info PM me.

Randy
 
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