Well here's a small history lesson with me and machine tools, its most definitely a hobby. Started about 5 years ago when i bought a maximat standard off a widowed tool maker. Being my first lathe it was a great machine to learn on (Still lots of learning to go) Over time i grew tired of the mill attachment getting in the way, Changing speeds via belts and size limitations. Over Christmas break i sold it getting close to what i paid for it. I did although keep all the tooling that i purchased with the lathe. It took awhile to decide what i wanted to replace it with and almost purchased a Dalian 14x36 for $6500 same as colcheters used to manufacture there machines in the 90's. Although the lathe was in decent shape it is apparently a chore to get parts for. So now i've ordered a modern tool C0636A and from what i've read they seem like a more than capable machine for the price. I now theres a few here that have them. What has your experience been like.
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New lathe
- Thread starter Mr163
- Start date
Welcome to the group! congrats on the new lathe looks awesome.
I have the Modern C0636. I've had it for about 15 years and have never had a problem with it. It's solid and big enough to do any of the work I need of it. My biggest disappointment is the gearbox. There is a very limited selection of thread pitches without having to remove the end cover and change gears. The gearbox gives quick change features for turning speeds and feeds well but in reality when it comes to threading it's a change gear lathe. Every time I want to thread I end up redoing the gear train. I don't do a lot of threading so I live with it. Mine does not have DRO but I've never used a lathe with one, so I don't know what I'm missing. I think they are good value for the price.
I have that machine as well (a more recent version w/the larger spindle bore and D 1-5 etc.)
A agree with @ducdon , Threading WILL require a gear change almost every session as you can't do all the common pitches on a single gear train -- BUT, you can do multiple pitches PER gear train, just not the ones I ever want to do. This was mostly covered in this post C0636A opinions
Other CONS: I find the apron lock weak, the paint is fragile (chipp'n like crazy), and when they installed the DRO, they covered the lock-bolt for the cross slide, so I can't lock that. The advertised speeds on the machine were also not real, the sticker says 2000RPM, with stock gearing it would do 1600 RPM. the root cause was the use of a different gear in the head stock that changed the high-gear ratio. The low gear speeds were correct. I have modified the pulley on the motor to address, which has me hitting the high-gear posted speeds, at the sacrifice of 'faster' lower gear speeds.
Mine came with the taper attachment which was nice.
It runs like the day I got it 5 years later. The size is perfect IMHO.
A agree with @ducdon , Threading WILL require a gear change almost every session as you can't do all the common pitches on a single gear train -- BUT, you can do multiple pitches PER gear train, just not the ones I ever want to do. This was mostly covered in this post C0636A opinions
Other CONS: I find the apron lock weak, the paint is fragile (chipp'n like crazy), and when they installed the DRO, they covered the lock-bolt for the cross slide, so I can't lock that. The advertised speeds on the machine were also not real, the sticker says 2000RPM, with stock gearing it would do 1600 RPM. the root cause was the use of a different gear in the head stock that changed the high-gear ratio. The low gear speeds were correct. I have modified the pulley on the motor to address, which has me hitting the high-gear posted speeds, at the sacrifice of 'faster' lower gear speeds.
Mine came with the taper attachment which was nice.
It runs like the day I got it 5 years later. The size is perfect IMHO.
I had a feeling the gear box might be the week design point in this lathe. I do thread, just not that often so i don't know if it will concern me much. Im sure my opinion will change the more time passes. I have never owned equipment with a dro myself, but have used one before. I believe the calculator functions will come in handy the most.
I took your advice from another thread and went through the pm-1440e-lb manual and noticed that the cross slide was covered be the scale. Ill most likely build spacers for it and change the bolt to a hex. The Rpm difference has me curious. I'll let you know if there's a difference when i get it here and take it for a run. I've already went through the schematic and considered and 3hp 3phase motor vfd swap. That will allow more speed range versatility and fix the top end speed clutch if present.