Precision Matthews TL1640: Part 3 - DRO Install & Leveling 

Thank you!

Thank YOU!

Thank you - and yes, me too. Next video.

Thank Phil!!

Thank you so much!

Me too - next video.

Thank you, and yes I'm loving the hell out of this machine!

Thank Bryan! We're all under lockdown anyway.

I agree, I would check the chip pan to see if a slope was engineered into it's construction.

Thanks mate, cheers!!

@@BasementShopGuy I'm literally ordering an RML 1440 next monday, it was such a delight to find your video series as there isn't much in the way of decent reviews on these larger machines... Thank you for putting up the awesome content! Have you tried using the traverse revers lever whilst you have threaded a metric or imperial thread with the half nuts engaged or does it only work on the cross slide travel?

Yeah, as I'm starting to see.

Great tip, thank you.

Good tip, yes I'll be swapping those headstock-side pads out for some steel ones. Thanks!

Exactly. I'm going to re-level it once I start dialing out any taper. That's really the way to dial-in the precision. I'll also replace those acrylic plates the headstock side is resting on.

Yes sir. For less than a year. Sold it to buy a Hardinge turret lathe and my old South Bend 10L

Ray Ferrara Great question Ray! I actually had this DRO so I didn’t need one. But Precision Matthews offers DROs and installation.

David Cole Thanks for the tip! I’ll remove it, so it’s done right. Good eye on the wrap direction, however, take another look and notice the edit. I noticed it too and went back and wrapped in the correct direction 😎

You missed the more important part; you arent supposed to tape or dope compression fittings. They are intended to be dry fit, run nut up till it stoppes, then tighten w/wrench about one more flat. See: blog.parker.com/proper-assembly-steps-for-37-flare-fittings-using-the-flats-method

Note: the MAIN reason to NOT use thread sealant (tape or dope) is that it does no good! If there is leakage, it will simply come out around the stem (tubing) that goes through the nut. It can also CAUSE leakage if some of it gets between the two flared (or ferrule and taper) surfaces. It can also interfere with proper mating of the threads, causing incorrect COMPRESSION (hence the NAME of this catagory of fitting) of the mating surfaces either as misalignment or even cracking of the sealing surfaces . It might not matter @ the pressures of a coolant system, but pneumatic or hydraulic pressures will not be so forgiving. Hope this helps. Dave

I love RU-vid.

@@BasementShopGuy WARNING: This comment is probably not worth reading, but I can't help myself. In case you run into plumbing connections where you should use teflon tape: In the video as posted you started out wrapping the teflon in the correct direction (the first 50 frames or so), then you dissolve to a new shot where you complete the the wrapping which is in the wrong direction. So the edit appears to show that when you "caught" the mistake, you actually "made" a mistake. This is confirmed when you then tighten the taped joint with right-hand threads. The tape should be wrapped in the same direction that you would turn a fastener (like a nut) onto the same threads. This is so when you join the threaded parts, friction is not trying to "unwrap" the tape...

Or since its sheet metal you could just hit it with a hammer :)Or shim it -but yea nobody makes perfect parallel chip pans to the bedway.I seen and worked on several lathes but i never saw one with the coolant fluid sieve where this one has - all of them had it on upper right corner.

Seems simple enough to have the plenty of pitch built into the chip pan while the bed is level.

Modulus refers to its stiffness, not strength. You want compressive strength, creep flow etc. The pressures this lathe is exerting on the pads is in the 100's of PSI. It will not be a problem. Pressure = force/area. assuming he has 67% of the weight on the headstock which would be about 2000lb/4 pads / (pi*1.5^2) assuming 3" diameter pads = 70psi. The noted compressive strength of polycarbonate is greater than its tensile strength BTW and is in the 12,000 psi range, which is 2-3x more than the concrete the lathe is sitting on.

@@barrygerbracht5077 Yes, my bad for using the wrong term. I did not learn physics in English natively. If I actually meant stiffness, the number would have been in ksi, not psi. According to the data I found, compressive yield strength of extruded polycarbonate is 2610 - 12500 psi compared to 8500 - 10200 psi tensile yield strength. The maximum compressive yield value is around 12000 psi indeed but it has a very wide band under that and since the origin and state of the material is unknown, calculating with maximum values is not wise in my opinion. It's important to remember this is more of an academic thought experiment for future use in calculations than a worry for his feet right now as I stated in my first comment. Link to where I pulled my data: www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=501acbb63cbc4f748faa7490884cdbca&ckck=1

I am not worthy!

@Bill: I have a 1236T and had PM install the DRO. And the X scale does cover it up so I can't lock the cross slide.

I'll have to look at some pics to see, but honestly, I NEVER used, or use and cross slide lock.

@@qcnck2776 Thanks. There are two alternatives shown in Mgs#1 and Msg#3 (in the link below) for installing that lock, and I'm trying to figure out which is the better way to go on my PM-1440GT www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/erl-1340-cross-slide-lock-for-dro-equipped-lathes.78854/#post-673284

@@BasementShopGuy Appreciate your response. Thanks!

@@billbuckalew9497 Thanks for the links! Very clever ways to get it done.

Carl Thor it might be. But having the machine dipping a few thousands is fine.

Yorkiepoocharlie Good eye! But look close you’ll see the edit. I realized and went back and re did it.

Yes they do. I just had one to use so need to buy an additional one.

MrMichaeljab are you getting seasick, lol?

Yeah, I thought so. Like I mentioned in the vid, I wasn't 100% sure.

@@BasementShopGuy yeah dude, I wasn't trying to correct you per se. I was just letting you know. seeing as you said you weren't sure. the machine looks like a beauty, curious to see how true she'll run. Cheers!