Haven’t watched all your videos yet, but you have built some nice engines. I am semi retired myself and a model engine builder. I don’t really do the filming thing, but enjoy the folks like yourself that do. You have a nice looking shop. Looks well organized.
Oops I sent that before I finished . I was going to say that the power house engine that you did looks better than any other one I’ve seen. Most people don’t do such a nice finish and base. Excellent !!!
Hey Joe, I have a channel called adventures in machining. I'm a toolmaker by trade. Just had tell you what a great job you've done with your lathe. Fantastic work. Im always happy to see people like yourself here on TH-cam. Keep it up.
Hi , thank you for your interest and your kind comments. My goal is to just pass on things that are useful to other home shop machinists. I’ve built mostly model engines but I’ve also done a little work on the side to help pay for my shop. I love the machine hobby. Thanks again Joe
Nice job Joe , I also have the same lathe and I looked a long time to find the features I wanted and for the price nothing matched this machine . Wishing you well in your projects ahead .
Hi Bill , thank you for your comment. I also looked for a long time before I bought this lathe. Like I said, it’s my fourth lathe and I knew what I wanted. I had to do a little work to get it to do all the things that I wanted but I’m now very happy with it, and I feel it was a very good buy. Good luck with your new lathe . Joe
That’s insane that he told you to file your backplate to fix a poorly ground spindle nose taper. That spindle nose taper is critical to the accuracy and concentricity of everything that’s mounted to it. PM used to have a pretty decent name, at least as far as import machines go, but that’s just ridiculous. EDIT: I really like your workshop layout btw. Looks like a great space. Mine is a mess, packed full of old machines so you can hardly move lol. But i do love my old machines, so what are you gonna do… subbed!
Yes I agree I called them at least 3 times and never got a good answer. The lathe could be a very good one with just a few changes but I don’t think that they are interested in my feed back. I’ve done a lot of work on it and I’m very satisfied with it now . Like I said it was built during Covid and I think that had something to do with the problems . On the other hand,That pm 728 mill is perfect for the home shop. I love that machine. Thank you for your comments Joe
I'm surprised too. They should have sent you a replacement. PM has a reputation for being the very best among the Chinese imports with excellent product support. You pay a premium for it. If you're have to mod it, what's the point? You might as well save the money and purchase a cheaper Chinese lathe and rebuild it from scratch.
I’m not going to do anything. I’ve got the lathe working well for what I do and I can’t believe how much easier it is with variable speed motor. It took me some time to get it the way I wanted it,but looking back it was time we’ll spent. Thank you for your comments and interest. Joe
@@JoesModelEngines Oh sorry, i wasn’t asking what are YOU going to do about your lathe lol. I meant that in reference to me saying “my shop is a mess cause of all the old machines but i love ‘em so, what can I do” Sorry now that i read it it’s confusing and doesn’t come off like it did in my head when i wrote it.
So I see that you adjusted both the bed and the headstock for alignment. I can't quite picture how you do that since measuring the alignment of one references the other. In most alignment videos I see, the assumption is that the headstock is golden, and any issues are due to the bed.
@@wmcrash Hi WM, I spent a lot of time doing all the usual alignment procedures, nothing worked. So as you know the head is not adjustable, so I tried a few tricks to move the head and nothing worked, because when you tighten it down it just slides back to the same place. So just to see what would happen I put a piece of shim stock on the v way to move it the way it had to go and it worked. I can now do cylinders 4 to 5 inches long with no measure able taper. I only make model engines so I seldom use more than 6 inches of the bed . The rest of the bed is only a good place to park the tail stock. Also when I first got the lathe the carriage shims were not adjusted, they were very loose. So I adjusted them to the proper clearance and l it was extremely tight and hard to move. At that point I talked to PM and they were no help so I called a friend that restores machines. He did a few checks and found the carriage wasn’t on the v way properly and did some scraping on one side of the v way and that fixed the binding issue. The lathe is now perfect for the way I use it, but as you can see in my videos I have made a few changes. Joe
Thank you for your comment on the pM 1228 , I think it was a easy project to improve my Lathe. You are also correct it’s a very good lathe for the home shop.
I was thinking about a Precision Mathew’s as my next lathe, but I might hold back, just because of the ridiculously stupid fix they suggested for the spindle. I would have asked for a new spindle. Maybe they have fixed their support. I heard their technical support was excellent. This is the first time I have heard about poor service after the sale from Precision Mathews.
@@rodgraff1782 I still think that this lathe is is the best choice I could have made. It was the only one that had all the features I was looking for, and it was a price I could afford. If you are looking for someone to give you good technical help I have a good suspicion it would be hard to find. One thing that I thought of much later was that the lathe was made in the winter and could have been stored in a cold area. If they later put a warm chuck on the cold spindle it would go on nicely, but then it would shrink and cause the problem I had removing it. Just a thought.🧐 None of the affordable lathes are made in the US. The dealers just sell them, I don’t think anyone would service them. I actually very happy with the lathe,but as you can see I did do a few changes. Thank you for watching our videos and thank you for your input. Joe
Chinese lathes are a kit in a crate. Realizing that from the outset lessens unhappiness. Want happiness out of the box, spend the extra bucks and buy Taiwanese. If the machine is Taiwanese built the vendor will be sure to mention it in the advert. Lathes are usually set to turn ODs larger at the front by zero to 0.0005"/foot and IDs smaller at the front by the same amount. The rational for this is if turning parts for an interference fit it helps insure that for a force fit, if it starts together, it will go all the way together without seizing. I must give Joseph credit. He is the first person I've seen on youtube use a test bar to check the lathe's alignment. One other check to be made with the test bar is using the indicator to make sure the spindle is parallel with the bed. The tailstock quill needs to be checked at the same time for parallelism to and centered with the spindle. Misalignment of these will cause mysterious slight tapers when turning (especially multiple bearing seats on a shaft) even if you adjusted the tailstock to zero taper, but then move the tailstock to another position on the bed. Cheers from NC/USA
I like your remark about being a kit in a crate.. you are not far from the truth. I did a lot of work on it and it is now finally working very good. The big reason why I changed was to get a variable speed motor that that reverses with a button push. Also the D1 -4 chuck mount was a must so you can’t spin the chuck off by mistake. I’m actually quite happy now that everything is working properly. Thank you for your interest and your comments. Joe
@@JoesModelEngines I have a 1990 Dar Sin built Taiwanese 12x24 belt drive lathe. It has a screw-on chuck and spinning it off has never been a problem. However just getting it loose has always been a headache. It fits really well. I use a paper ring behind the chuck so I can get it off without cursing. I use a 4" 3-jaw scroll chuck with a 5C collet mount 90% of the time with the draw tube and collet set so running in reverse isn't a problem. Your spindle quill lever is trick. No worries broaching a keyway with a boring head to adjust the cutter. With the hard work done you should make a turret tool holder for the quill. You can buy one from Travers Tool, among others, or better yet, make one. Popular Mechanics and Popular Science are all on google books online and issues from the 30s-50s have plans for several flavors. Some have travel stops. Just the thing for all those duplicate parts you often have to make for models. Cheers from NC/USA
Hi @@aceroadholder2185 I used to have the Same problem with my grizzly lathe, I finally figured out what I was doing. I was storing the checks near the wood stove in the basement , if they were warm when I put them on and came back another day when the basement cooled down to much I would find them stuck. That s when I came up with the idea to just put the electric heater on it .after about 15 minutes it came right off. I’m not sure if it was the thread or the regestot
@@JoesModelEngines The danger with screw on chucks is the temptation to engage the back gear to lock the plot up. If you've ever wondered how the bull gear ends up with broken teeth, now you know. Warming the chuck up is a clever way to get one off.
Hi Matt, I built the base to fit my needs. The reason it’s low is because I’m not tall. Also It’s the third one I built so I’ve had lots of time to figure out what gets stored in it. Thank you for your interest. Joe
@@sid-craftbuilder675 I had to build that cabinet to suit my own needs . I like drawers because taking heavy chunks out of a cabinet that low is not fun when you’re as old as I am. Thank you for watching my videos and thank you for your interest. Joe
Oh whoops. So I think you already answered my question about this but since you changed the title of your video, youtube thought it was a completely new video and erased the comments. I asked if this was good for cutting on 4140 steel. What do you normally use it for?
I’m sorry, I had no idea that reposting the video would erase all of the comments. As for what I do with the lathe, it’s just a hobby with me and I make model engines and tooling for my shop. Most of its quiet small. I guess that the largest turning I do are cast iron flywheels. 8” is the largest. As for the 4140 , I use it on occasion but my parts are small. I would think you would have no problem unless you try to take heavy cuts in large diameter material. My favorite material is 12L14 or brass. Thank you for your interest. Joe
Yes it has more of the important features than most of the other Chinese lathes and it’s hard to find any smaller lathes with a 1.5 inch spindle bore . Also it’s a lot quieter than most of the others. I’m Very Happy with it but I did make a few modifications to make it better.
@@bking0740 no failures and I use it almost every day for 3 or more years. The only issue was the plastic cover over the buttons and I know from experience oils Are hard on that type of plastic. Easy fix check out the video I posted.
Agreed it looks like one of the nicer mini-lathes. However, the mfg responce to your quick chuck taper issue is very troublesome. Kind of tells me be very careful with PM. Every one makes mistakes. Its normal. When they wont fix it for you, thats when it becomes a problem.
Hi thank you for your comment. My lathe was made during the Covid pandemic. That may be why it had a few problems. But like I said before The answer I got from their so called experts was really stupid. Also after thinking about it for a few months I wonder if they had heat in the factory. If the spindle is very cold and the chuck was is warm It would probably have gone together. When I got it I used a electric heater to get the chuck hot enough to remove it. After a few changes the lathe is working great and it so much quieter than the Grizzly I had before. I’m now very happy with it and I use it almost every day.
Thanks for taking the time to explain. Its very useful to have honest reviews of the equipment. For example, doing some more looking after seeing your comments, it seems many people do not like the G brand after using for a while. While PM seems to get good reviews. I think that helps a lot, saves me a lot of time. So I dont have to discover for my self.
@@chadmartin479 Hi Chad, I personally think that the lathe was a good choice for me . It’s got a lot of the features that I wanted and it’s not noisy when I put it in power feed. It took a little work but I m very happy with it now.
Good video... but I can't believe that a brand new lathe is .008 out of alignment. Hardly a "precision" Matthews. I would have been onto the suppliers for a refund!
Yes calling it a precision lathe is a little bit of a stretch, but for the price and features it was the best I could afford. As a hobby lathe it’s much better than what I had before and I am happy with it. As you can see I did have to make a few modifications but it’s now a real asset to my shop. Thank you for your interest. Joe
These Chinese lathes are all crap when it comes to QC, their simply not much going on. There building them on a line and nobody's checking clearances, just slap it on and send it on down the line. Some sucker in America will pay us 500 dollars or more for our crappie workmanship 😮😅
I don’t know of any, that’s the best one I could find that would work for me at the time. It works great now but I did have to make a few changes.🤷🏼♂️ also it is a lot quieter than the old one.
That was great. The lever on the tailstock idea, honestly, sheer genius.
Thank you for your kind comment . Like I said I use it all the time and hardly ever have to change back to th
Oops. Hand wheel.
Haven’t watched all your videos yet, but you have built some nice engines. I am semi retired myself and a model engine builder. I don’t really do the filming thing, but enjoy the folks like yourself that do. You have a nice looking shop. Looks well organized.
Thank you for subscribing. I checked out your engines and your work is excellent.
Oops I sent that before I finished . I was going to say that the power house engine that you did looks better than any other one I’ve seen. Most people don’t do such a nice finish and base. Excellent !!!
Lovely little lathe! Thanks for the video. Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪☺️
Thank you for your comment and greetings from the USA, the state of Maine Joe
Love the lathe and how much you enjoy using it shows in the video. See you soon. Pam
What a refreshing overview - very nicely presented (and I love your shop)!
Thank you Ron, I’m just trying to pass on useful information. I’m happy to know that you find it interesting . Joe
Hey Joe, I have a channel called adventures in machining. I'm a toolmaker by trade. Just had tell you what a great job you've done with your lathe. Fantastic work. Im always happy to see people like yourself here on TH-cam. Keep it up.
Hi , thank you for your interest and your kind comments. My goal is to just pass on things that are useful to other home shop machinists. I’ve built mostly model engines but I’ve also done a little work on the side to help pay for my shop. I love the machine hobby. Thanks again Joe
Thanks again Joe,
Let’s hope you get 1000’s more subscribers
I enjoyed watching the process you went through to get the lathe to where you were happy with it, Keep up the great work!
Nice job Joe , I also have the same lathe and I looked a long time to find the features I wanted and for the price nothing matched this machine . Wishing you well in your projects ahead .
Hi Bill , thank you for your comment. I also looked for a long time before I bought this lathe. Like I said, it’s my fourth lathe and I knew what I wanted. I had to do a little work to get it to do all the things that I wanted but I’m now very happy with it, and I feel it was a very good buy. Good luck with your new lathe . Joe
That’s insane that he told you to file your backplate to fix a poorly ground spindle nose taper. That spindle nose taper is critical to the accuracy and concentricity of everything that’s mounted to it. PM used to have a pretty decent name, at least as far as import machines go, but that’s just ridiculous. EDIT: I really like your workshop layout btw. Looks like a great space. Mine is a mess, packed full of old machines so you can hardly move lol. But i do love my old machines, so what are you gonna do… subbed!
Yes I agree I called them at least 3 times and never got a good answer. The lathe could be a very good one with just a few changes but I don’t think that they are interested in my feed back. I’ve done a lot of work on it and I’m very satisfied with it now . Like I said it was built during Covid and I think that had something to do with the problems . On the other hand,That pm 728 mill is perfect for the home shop. I love that machine.
Thank you for your comments Joe
I'm surprised too. They should have sent you a replacement. PM has a reputation for being the very best among the Chinese imports with excellent product support. You pay a premium for it. If you're have to mod it, what's the point? You might as well save the money and purchase a cheaper Chinese lathe and rebuild it from scratch.
I’m not going to do anything. I’ve got the lathe working well for what I do and I can’t believe how much easier it is with variable speed motor. It took me some time to get it the way I wanted it,but looking back it was time we’ll spent. Thank you for your comments and interest. Joe
@@JoesModelEngines Oh sorry, i wasn’t asking what are YOU going to do about your lathe lol. I meant that in reference to me saying “my shop is a mess cause of all the old machines but i love ‘em so, what can I do” Sorry now that i read it it’s confusing and doesn’t come off like it did in my head when i wrote it.
This seems to be par for the course at this level of machine tool.
So I see that you adjusted both the bed and the headstock for alignment. I can't quite picture how you do that since measuring the alignment of one references the other. In most alignment videos I see, the assumption is that the headstock is golden, and any issues are due to the bed.
@@wmcrash Hi WM, I spent a lot of time doing all the usual alignment procedures, nothing worked.
So as you know the head is not adjustable, so I tried a few tricks to move the head and nothing worked, because when you tighten it down it just slides back to the same place. So just to see what would happen I put a piece of shim stock on the v way to move it the way it had to go and it worked.
I can now do cylinders 4 to 5 inches long with no measure able taper. I only make model engines so I seldom use more than 6 inches of the bed . The rest of the bed is only a good place to park the tail stock. Also when I first got the lathe the carriage shims were not adjusted, they were very loose.
So I adjusted them to the proper clearance and l it was extremely tight and hard to move. At that point I talked to PM and they were no help so I called a friend that restores machines. He did a few checks and found the carriage wasn’t on the v way properly and did some scraping on one side of the v way and that fixed the binding issue. The lathe is now perfect for the way I use it, but as you can see in my videos I have made a few changes. Joe
I like the fact you can reverse the carriage. PM 1228 is a good machine
Thank you for your comment on the pM 1228 , I think it was a easy project to improve my Lathe. You are also correct it’s a very good lathe for the home shop.
I was thinking about a Precision Mathew’s as my next lathe, but I might hold back, just because of the ridiculously stupid fix they suggested for the spindle. I would have asked for a new spindle. Maybe they have fixed their support. I heard their technical support was excellent. This is the first time I have heard about poor service after the sale from Precision Mathews.
@@rodgraff1782 I still think that this lathe is is the best choice I could have made. It was the only one that had all the features I was looking for, and it was a price I could afford. If you are looking for someone to give you good technical help I have a good suspicion it would be hard to find.
One thing that I thought of much later was that the lathe was made in the winter and could have been stored in a cold area. If they later put a warm chuck on the cold spindle it would go on nicely, but then it would shrink and cause the problem I had removing it. Just a thought.🧐
None of the affordable lathes are made in the US. The dealers just sell them, I don’t think anyone would service them.
I actually very happy with the lathe,but as you can see I did do a few changes.
Thank you for watching our videos and thank you for your input. Joe
Chinese lathes are a kit in a crate. Realizing that from the outset lessens unhappiness. Want happiness out of the box, spend the extra bucks and buy Taiwanese. If the machine is Taiwanese built the vendor will be sure to mention it in the advert.
Lathes are usually set to turn ODs larger at the front by zero to 0.0005"/foot and IDs smaller at the front by the same amount. The rational for this is if turning parts for an interference fit it helps insure that for a force fit, if it starts together, it will go all the way together without seizing.
I must give Joseph credit. He is the first person I've seen on youtube use a test bar to check the lathe's alignment. One other check to be made with the test bar is using the indicator to make sure the spindle is parallel with the bed. The tailstock quill needs to be checked at the same time for parallelism to and centered with the spindle. Misalignment of these will cause mysterious slight tapers when turning (especially multiple bearing seats on a shaft) even if you adjusted the tailstock to zero taper, but then move the tailstock to another position on the bed.
Cheers from NC/USA
I like your remark about being a kit in a crate.. you are not far from the truth. I did a lot of work on it and it is now finally working very good. The big reason why I changed was to get a variable speed motor that that reverses with a button push. Also the D1 -4 chuck mount was a must so you can’t spin the chuck off by mistake. I’m actually quite happy now that everything is working properly.
Thank you for your interest and your comments. Joe
@@JoesModelEngines I have a 1990 Dar Sin built Taiwanese 12x24 belt drive lathe. It has a screw-on chuck and spinning it off has never been a problem. However just getting it loose has always been a headache. It fits really well. I use a paper ring behind the chuck so I can get it off without cursing. I use a 4" 3-jaw scroll chuck with a 5C collet mount 90% of the time with the draw tube and collet set so running in reverse isn't a problem.
Your spindle quill lever is trick. No worries broaching a keyway with a boring head to adjust the cutter. With the hard work done you should make a turret tool holder for the quill. You can buy one from Travers Tool, among others, or better yet, make one. Popular Mechanics and Popular Science are all on google books online and issues from the 30s-50s have plans for several flavors. Some have travel stops. Just the thing for all those duplicate parts you often have to make for models.
Cheers from NC/USA
Hi @@aceroadholder2185 I used to have the Same problem with my grizzly lathe, I finally figured out what I was doing. I was storing the checks near the wood stove in the basement , if they were warm when I put them on and came back another day when the basement cooled down to much I would find them stuck.
That s when I came up with the idea to just put the electric heater on it .after about 15 minutes it came right off. I’m not sure if it was the thread or the regestot
@@JoesModelEngines The danger with screw on chucks is the temptation to engage the back gear to lock the plot up. If you've ever wondered how the bull gear ends up with broken teeth, now you know. Warming the chuck up is a clever way to get one off.
What's the workbench you have the lathe on top of? Looks excellent, if a little low.
Hi Matt, I built the base to fit my needs. The reason it’s low is because I’m not tall. Also It’s the third one I built so I’ve had lots of time to figure out what gets stored in it. Thank you for your interest. Joe
I have the same lathe. Love it!
I’m very happy with mine, I looked for about two years before I settled on the pm 1228 vf, I feel it was the best option for me.
I would like to know more about how to do the 3:1 for the carriage like you did.
Hi JP I don’t have any plans for how I did the gear reduction but if you want to send me your email I can send you a few photos. jhig5@maine.rr.com
What make and model is the cabinetbench the lathe is mounted on?
@@sid-craftbuilder675 I had to build that cabinet to suit my own needs . I like drawers because taking heavy chunks out of a cabinet that low is not fun when you’re as old as I am. Thank you for watching my videos and thank you for your interest. Joe
Great review.
Thank you for your input Brad, It’s always nice to hear what people think of the videos. Also thanks for subscribing to my channel.
Oh whoops. So I think you already answered my question about this but since you changed the title of your video, youtube thought it was a completely new video and erased the comments.
I asked if this was good for cutting on 4140 steel. What do you normally use it for?
I’m sorry, I had no idea that reposting the video would erase all of the comments. As for what I do with the lathe, it’s just a hobby with me and I make model engines and tooling for my shop. Most of its quiet small.
I guess that the largest turning I do are cast iron flywheels. 8” is the largest.
As for the 4140 , I use it on occasion but my parts are small. I would think you would have no problem unless you try to take heavy cuts in large diameter material. My favorite material is 12L14 or brass.
Thank you for your interest. Joe
Im about to buy a 1228 ide be interested the carriage wheel box
I don’t have any plans but do have some photos and other information that I can share with you if you email me .
.Jhig5@maine.rr.com
That dot isn’t part of the email address. Oops
Knowing what you have learned about this lathe, would you recommend this lathe to others?
Yes it has more of the important features than most of the other Chinese lathes and it’s hard to find any smaller lathes with a 1.5 inch spindle bore . Also it’s a lot quieter than most of the others. I’m
Very Happy with it but I did make a few modifications to make it better.
@JoesModelEngines have you had any parts fail? If so, what parts?
@@bking0740 no failures and I use it almost every day for 3 or more years.
The only issue was the plastic cover over the buttons and I know from experience oils
Are hard on that type of plastic. Easy fix check out the video I posted.
Agreed it looks like one of the nicer mini-lathes. However, the mfg responce to your quick chuck taper issue is very troublesome. Kind of tells me be very careful with PM.
Every one makes mistakes. Its normal. When they wont fix it for you, thats when it becomes a problem.
Hi thank you for your comment. My lathe was made during the Covid pandemic. That may be why it had a few problems. But like I said before The answer I got from their so called experts was really stupid. Also after thinking about it for a few months I wonder if they had heat in the factory. If the spindle is very cold and the chuck was is warm It would probably have gone together. When I got it I used a electric heater to get the chuck hot enough to remove it. After a few changes the lathe is working great and it so much quieter than the Grizzly I had before. I’m now very happy with it and I use it almost every day.
Thanks for taking the time to explain. Its very useful to have honest reviews of the equipment. For example, doing some more looking after seeing your comments, it seems many people do not like the G brand after using for a while. While PM seems to get good reviews.
I think that helps a lot, saves me a lot of time. So I dont have to discover for my self.
@@chadmartin479 Hi Chad,
I personally think that the lathe was a good choice for me . It’s got a lot of the features that I wanted and it’s not noisy when I put it in power feed. It took a little work but I m very happy with it now.
❤❤❤
Thank you Bill
👍👍👍
Good video... but I can't believe that a brand new lathe is .008 out of alignment. Hardly a "precision" Matthews. I would have been onto the suppliers for a refund!
Yes calling it a precision lathe is a little bit of a stretch, but for the price and features it was the best I could afford. As a hobby lathe it’s much better than what I had before and I am happy with it. As you can see I did have to make a few modifications but it’s now a real asset to my shop. Thank you for your interest. Joe
Hi Joe,
do you have an email I can reach you at?
Cheers,
Ken
Hi Ken Yes it’s jhig5@maine.rr.com
These Chinese lathes are all crap when it comes to QC, their simply not much going on. There building them on a line and nobody's checking clearances, just slap it on and send it on down the line. Some sucker in America will pay us 500 dollars or more for our crappie workmanship 😮😅
I agree they need to improve their QC , if they actually have one. Thank you for your interest and your input. Joe
I don’t know of any, that’s the best one I could find that would work for me at the time. It works great now but I did have to make a few changes.🤷🏼♂️ also it is a lot quieter than the old one.
😂 so its a POS. If you have to hand grind down the spindle nose so the chuck fits on
I don’t think I understand your question? Or comment