New lathe - Precision Matthews 1127-VF

[Vern2]

BadDog'

Finally got the yahoo id. Now the group owner has to allow me in.

Your membership is awaiting approval by the group owner

[randyc]

I took a look at that lathe model - it looks quite decent except for one distressing feature: compound slide travel. The normal rule for American and European-produced lathes is that the compound travel must be at least adequate to turn a full tailstock taper. This lathe doesn't appear to have that capability. Since I do tailstock tapers fairly often, it would be a deal breaker for me.

Cheers,
Randy C

PS: talking about the Matthews 11-27

[tlfamm]

Pete
There was a difference between the Weiss and the PM machine IIRC, does your Weiss have a metric or standard lead screw? I thought it was something like that....

Matt had told me, or I had read it somewhere at one time but I cant remember.

The Weiss is a Metric lathe (metric leadscrew, cross-screw, change-gear set*, dial-graduations, etc); the PM 1127V and 1127VF are Imperial lathes (inch leadscrew, cross-screw, change-gear set*, dial graduations, etc). The lathes are close siblings, and almost certainly are built in the same factory. In fact, the RPM display on my son's PM 1127VF has "www.weiss.com" etched on the printed circuit board.

*IE, differing change-gear sets; either lathe can cut Metric or Imperial threads, but typically there would be a larger set of thread options in the "native" thread type.
===========================================================

One other difference: The latest attempt (circa March, 2010) to establish a Weiss dealer in the US has apparently fizzled.

[pete]

I special ordered my Weiss/Elite lathe as a true imperial machine. I'm getting to be a little too old to change over to metric now. Standard tailstock taper for this lathe is MT2, But I was able to order one with a MT3. These lathes also have mounting points drilled and tapped for a rear mounted mill and I ordered mine with a R-8 taper. Any tooling that fits my larger mill will also fit it too. I plan on using that as a light duty secondary mill. I own a Sieg C-6 lathe and I can say this new lathe is light years ahead of that POS.

There is also two models of the 11"x27" lathe. One with the power cross feed, The other without. Seems odd that anyone would order one without that option. Due to my shop size and weight restrictions this was the smallest and lightest lathe I could find that comes with a seperate rod for feeds and has the power cross feed.

My lathe is rebadged with a "Elite" tag on it and was ordered from a dealer in Quebec. But every single specification matches the Weiss ones. There's no doubt it's made by the same manufacturer as the Weiss branded ones.

Pete

[tlfamm]

I special ordered my Weiss/Elite lathe as a true imperial machine. I'm getting to be a little too old to change over to metric now. Standard tailstock taper for this lathe is MT2, But I was able to order one with a MT3. These lathes also have mounting points drilled and tapped for a rear mounted mill and I ordered mine with a R-8 taper. Any tooling that fits my larger mill will also fit it too. I plan on using that as a light duty secondary mill. I own a Sieg C-6 lathe and I can say this new lathe is light years ahead of that POS.
Pete

Pete, is an Elite lathe usually Metric? Interesting upgrade on the MT3 tailstock. I'll bet my son would be interested in an upgrade for his PM - but I imagine the hassle of cross-border orders & shipping would make it impractical.

There is also two models of the 11"x27" lathe. One with the power cross feed, The other without. Seems odd that anyone would order one without that option. Due to my shop size and weight restrictions this was the smallest and lightest lathe I could find that comes with a seperate rod for feeds and has the power cross feed.
Pete

It appears that having exhausted their stock of the non-PCF model, Quality Machine Tools (importer of Precision Matthews machines) has dropped the model.

This is a very nice lathe, and maybe the best Asian "hobby" lathe available.

My lathe is rebadged with a "Elite" tag on it and was ordered from a dealer in Quebec. But every single specification matches the Weiss ones. There's no doubt it's made by the same manufacturer as the Weiss branded ones.

Pete

I wonder if your Elite lathe has a serial # on it? For some strange reason, the PM machines do not bear serial no's.

[pete]

As far as I know Garant Machinerie stock metric lathes. Warco in the U.K. offer these machines in either metric or imperial so I knew they were avalible. Over the last few years there has been quite a few changes to the lathes basic design. I've emailed back and forth with a guy in the U.K. who bought his about a year before I ordered mine. His spindle nose and method of bolting the chuck to the spindle is differnt than mine. The PM lathe apparently now uses a euorpean version of I think? a D1-3? spindle nose but doesn't use the cam locks. Mine also came with a threading dial, His didn't. So far I haven't found a serial number. Weiss or at least the lathes badged with their name are manufactured in Nanjing China. Your son might be able to contact them for a MT3 tailstock barrel.

Edit, I was wrong about the thread dial, His also came with one. My lathe came with a carrige sight glass for the oil level and a drain plug, His lathe didn't.

Pete

[tlfamm]

>>>The PM lathe apparently now uses a euorpean version of I think? a D1-3? spindle nose but doesn't use the cam locks.

The now-discontinued PM model had a DIN 55027 tapered spindle plug. The current 1127VF has a non-tapered plug.


What is your lathe fitted with?

[pete]

A non tapered spindle nose, It works exactly the same as the Sieg C-6, Probably the only thing Sieg did a half decent job on with my C-6. I am not a fan of threaded spindle noses for any lathe built today as I'd consider them almost ancient technology. But why weiss didn't and don't use the cam lock D1-3 spindle nose is beyond me. IMO that's a no brainer. My chucks are tight to get off the spindle nose but are just able to be removed by hand. I've had a few other people say the same about these lathes. That to me says the factory runs real tight tollerances for at least this area anyway. There is a new Yahoo group for these lathes but so far there's not a lot of info on it. Unlike the C-6 these lathes come with a test certificate but untill I've got mine up onto a bench I won't be able to check their results. The fit and finish could be a bit better in some areas but like anything else these lathes are built to a price point. My lathe came with a collapsable coiled plastic leadscrew cover for each side of the carrige to keep all the junk off it, It's a great idea except that with the mounts and the space the coiled plastic takes up it reduces to totall travel of the carrige to just over 18" so I will be removing them.

Edit, Tlfamm, I just noticed your already a member of that Yahoo group.

Pete

[tlfamm]

The PM 1127VF has a spindle-plug-diameter of 52mm (nominal) - I would suppose that yours is so equipped?


I would actually prefer the taper, as it is self-compensating for slight wear and mild inaccuracies in the bore of backplates.

This has already been an issue for us: an extra backplate we ordered for our collet chuck was just a tiny bit too loose for our tastes - the bore being a thou or so larger than those of the backplates that shipped with the lathe. So we sent the backplate back. Replacement not yet received: wonder if they have better in stock? I suspect that the minor variation in bore would have been completely compensated for with a tapered plug.

<edited to change 'faceplate' to 'backplate'>

[pete]

Tilfamm,
I haven't dropped a mike. on mine yet but on a fast visual check that dimension looks about right. Your 100% right too about that taper on the spindle nose now that I think about it. It would be self compensating and I wish mine had that now. Harder to build a backplate for tho as you'd need to replicate that angle and diameter pretty dam close. About the only way I can think of would be to build a exact copy of the spindle nose and use that with some blueing ink and then use that for a guage. I can't verify it for sure but I have been told that for the Weiss lathes that have this tapered spindle nose then a D1-3? backplate will also fit without the cam lock studs but you then need to redrill and tap for the Weiss type studs. If you check the DIN no. dimensions against a D series dimensions you'll see their almost an exact match. Just plug each type of the spindles name along with the word dimensions into Google and you'll get a few websites that have accurate drawings with dimensions. Hope this helps.

I really hope the OP doesn't think we have hijacked his thread as any info I've mentioned was also for his information too.

Pete

[Marty_Escarcega]

BadDog'

Finally got the yahoo id. Now the group owner has to allow me in.

Your membership is awaiting approval by the group owner

Hmm, that would be me and you SHOULD be in.

[Vern2]

This is the screen I get. This is from today Aug 01, 2010, I'm login. I'm doing something wrong. Is it the right group?