Yet another PM-1236

[tino_ale]

Hi guys,

After a long long wait I finally got my PM-1236 delivered here in France near Paris. I can't tell you how excited I am as I've been willing to jump into the metal lathe world for almost a decade now. I got hooked by aluminium then titanium flashlights in 2005 thanks to http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php.
Long story short, never had the place for a metal lathe until a year ago, when I ordered the PM-1236, and the delivery of my machine tool that long.

The machine crate arrived safe and sound but it was on a stack of two pallets and those pallets were almost completely crushed. In the delivery truck I discovered a machine tilting maybe 20 degrees to one side

After it made the trip to my garage (an interesting moment I must say) I used a car jack and some wood lumber to lift one side at the time, place a support underneath each end, and remove the pallets entirely. What I removed was pieces of crushed wood, barely recognizable as a pallet.

Here is how it looks now :



I removed the tooling and the tailstock to get a clear view on the machine itself, as well as the 3 jaws chuck (came out quite easily with just gentle tapping with a wood mallet).

Now there is no obvious damage to the lathe but there are a few rust spot both on the bed ways and on the spindle nose :



What do you guys recommend to make them go away ?
I would rather use a chemical solution than scrubing

Now I need to rent an engine hoist and install the lathe at it's definite location. How much room do you suggest I leave from the wall at the back ?

Overall aside from an obvious lack of attention to details (paint job, paint mist on several spots, crude junk in place you would not expect, bent dial lever...) the machine seems sound. After some good cleaning and maybe refinishing of some parts I'm confident it will be a good machine for me.

Thanks for your advise
Cheers

 

[wrmiller]

Congratulations! There are several people here that own these, and I am keeping it in mind for when I'm ready for a bigger lathe.

The best source for specific info on this lathe would be Ray C. He is the local (on this board) rep for Precision Mathews and a good guy.

Have fun with that thing,
Bill

 

[darkzero]

Congrats, good to see you finally got it!

For chemical you can use a rust/gun blue remover but often it will make the shiny surface look dull.

 

[wrmiller]

To the OP: Looks like your thread got hijacked. Did you find something chemical based to remove the rust? Maybe navel jelly?

Bill

 

[darkzero]

To the OP: Looks like your thread got hijacked.

Bill

Yeah, a bit OT & not fair to the OP, I have moved those posts into their own seperate thread. Please continue the discussion related to those posts here CM 12x36.

 

[tino_ale]

To the OP: Looks like your thread got hijacked. Did you find something chemical based to remove the rust? Maybe navel jelly?

Bill

I'm probably going to give a try either to phosphoric acid (would 15% be appropriate ?) or if I can't source it locally, just go with the finest household scotchbrite sponge I can find along with WD40.

 

[wrmiller]

I personally would go with the scotchbrite and WD40. You won't hurt those ways unless you really scrub with something fairly aggressive.

Bill

 

[John Hasler]

I'm probably going to give a try either to phosphoric acid (would 15% be appropriate ?) or if I can't source it locally, just go with the finest household scotchbrite sponge I can find along with WD40.

Phosphoric acid can be had from a farm store labeled milkstone remover. Diluted it about 2:1. and leave the part in it overnight. You'll have to polish off the gray finish if you want the chuck to look bright and shiny, though. I wouldn't: the gray phosphoric acid finish is rust resistant.

 

[tino_ale]

Ok, some report after a TIR measurement session.

First, the spindle nose.
1. At the "nose" taper OD, TIR measures 0.00071"
2. At spindle OD, TIR 0.00051"
3. At inner taper, TIR 0.00035"

Nose and OD measurements were not the easiest as the ground surface isn't that smooth, the dial indicator was jumping around, I had to turn the spindle really slow.
The inner taper was smoother, and as you can see, the best TIR of the spindle.

I then proceeded with the 3 jaw chuck. I first wanted to try all 3 cam lock positions, but couldn't as only one position fits. I have tried unscrewing the studs a bit as suggested but it didn't change anything. I have tried relocating the studs but it didn't make a difference either. My guess is the back plate is the culpit.

So what I did is try all 3 positions of the chuck on the backplate instead. A slower process but probably worth it :
position 1 : chuck OD TIR : 0.00078
position 2 : TIR 0.00059
position 3 : TIR 0.0011

I chose position 2 and marked the backplate and chuck OD for future reference.

Finally I moved onto the actual chuck TIR.
I used a US made solid carbide spotting drill, it is ground to a polish finish and my micrometer can't pick a discrepency in roundness.
I have tried all 3 positions of the jaws on the chuck, and for each, tightening with all 3 tightening bolts. That's 9 different TIR.
At first I didn't think the bolt would make a difference but it did !
- As much as twice the TIR on the bolt choice alone.
- As much as FOUR times on the jaws position only.
9 possibilities ranged from TIR 0.00078 up to 0.0039

So I end up with a TIR just shy of 0.0008" (close to the chuck, and using a 3/8" drill). How good is that ?

 

[MarioM]

Nice machine....congrats!. I would agree with Bill.....scotchbrite and WD40.