Precision Matthews PM1236 Lathe

F

Fred Nickel

Guest
I know there has been allot of discussion about the Grizzly G4003G .... going both ways.

I've been looking around a little trying to find out lathes that are available in my price point .... I found one that costs $2995.00 "delivered" .... actually turns out to be cheaper than the Grizzly when you figure in shipping.

It's made by Precision Matthews ...

http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1236Lathe.html

Anyone have any hands on with this company? How this one look? I'm only planning on playing with my own rifle barrels .... but I do want my lathe to be capable of producing a "Benchrest Quality" barrel ..... given it's used by the "right hands" that is

Fred
 
Fed, there are so many of these little lathes on the market, it is hard to keep up with what is junk, and what is worth the money spent.

For hobby work, and general Gunsmithing, a little lathe such as this Mathews offerring is quite adequate. In a shop like mine, it would be out of place, but then, we do heavy industrial work.

If you think about it, $2900 is pretty cheap. Heck, we just bought a new 10 inch Ritten bell center, and it cost $1700.

There is some Factory in China cranking these things out, fullfilling a contract. An ACER of the same size, (made in South Korea), will cost 3 times as much, is it 3 times as good, in some arenas, yes, but for the arena of hobbying, and Gunsmithing, probably not........jackie
 
It looks like a good deal to me if you dont mind a cheap Chinese lathe, I would get the QC tool post option or find one for it elsewhere. (MSC or Enco)
Don't forget, part of having a cheap lathe is getting parts when you need them & you will need them sooner rather than later. I would check out that part of the company before I invested in their machine. I don't know anything about them good or bad.
I will say this for Grizzly, they have always been able to get parts to me in a very timely manner every time I have had a problem, they even took care of the parts & shipping for repairs made after the warranty expired.
 
Thanks Jackie and Jay,

I know allot of people ask about lathes on these boards and it's hard to compare "the best of the best" with something that isn't .... I think a good comparison would be comparing a $2000.00 Nikon Lens to one that comes on a $200 Point-and-Shoot camera ...... if you're into photography and you've taken shots with that $2000 lens you'll understand how much clarity and depth a top end lens can provide. My problem is that I have allot of expensive hobbies and not enough money to buy top of the line for all of them. So what I have to do is set limits .... so I look at all of the things that I may have to buy that has to do with shooting .... If my plan is to buy a lathe and the tooling and then all of the pieces that will go into making that rifle the $$$$ add up fast.

I guess the question is this .... let's say I have $3000 to buy a lathe .... can I get a lathe for that amount of money that will be capable of building a TOP NOTCH bench rest rifle. And, if I use that lathe to make maybe 3 barrels a year (plus practicing on stock), will it last me 10 years without problems.

If I can't do that, and I'm forced to up the ante to lets say $5000 just for the lathe then tell me that .... then I'll know that I should be going down a "latheless" path and come up with a different plan.

PS .... I intended no sarcasm in my post ... I was only trying to say (type) what was going through my mind about this lathe thing.

Thanks for your replies ..... Fred
 
I say yes to both questions. That little lathe will do the job just fine, and no more than you will use and abuse it, you will be able to give it to your Grandkids.......jackie
 
Fred, I don't have that lathe but, I have one of their mills. Matt at Quality Machines, machinetoolonline.com is real easy to deal with and has taken care of every problem I had. I would use him again if I needed something else. Precision Matthews is the same site.
Bobby
 
I would look for a used not abused southbend like I did.After cleaning up my 13 inch toolroom lathe I have about 2500.00 into it and it can hold tolerance better than me.Leblonde sells the parts as well as a myriad of used parts dealers.Just make sure when you buy a lathe you can get the biggest barrel you might use through the headstack spindle tube.Buy a good steady reat as you will need it.
 
jonbearman said:
I would look for a used not abused southbend like I did.After cleaning up my 13 inch toolroom lathe I have about 2500.00 into it and it can hold tolerance better than me.Leblonde sells the parts as well as a myriad of used parts dealers.Just make sure when you buy a lathe you can get the biggest barrel you might use through the headstack spindle tube.Buy a good steady reat as you will need it.
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What you suggest can work providing you are in an area which has these types of lathes available, and you know what is good and what isn't, and know how to repair what isn't.

But not all people who want to do their own chambering and fitting know these things or have the ability to know the difference between a good lathe and a worn lathe, that some one (the seller) says is just what they need.

A machinist will know HOW to do good work on a worn lathe (even well worn) or if the error matters, while someone who is just starting to learn will not know if it's the machine their set-up or something they are doing wrong that is causing the problem.

IMHO someone with none to some machining experience would be better buying a reasonable quality new lathe, while someone with quite a bit of experience may be able to find and recognise a good used lathe at a good price.............Ian
 
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Fred Nickel said:
I guess the question is this .... let's say I have $3000 to buy a lathe .... can I get a lathe for that amount of money that will be capable of building a TOP NOTCH bench rest rifle?
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Yes.

When it comes to chambering, because of the light loads and limited carriage travel, if the bearings are good, the slowest spindle speed is 70 rpm or less (less is better), and the headstock is big enough to get the barrel through it, the quality of the barrel is much more related to the skill of the person doing the work than the lathe.

And, if I use that lathe to make maybe 3 barrels a year (plus practicing on stock), will it last me 10 years without problems.
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Yes. Definitely. In fact you can chamber and fit a barrel a month for 10 years and have no issues.

I've had a 12 x 36 import gearhead for 21 years. It's done everything I've asked it to, I chambered a barrel on it a couple of weeks ago, and I'll be doing another one next week or the week after.

What I predict will happen is you will discover how much fun it is to do this and you will do more than 3 barrels a year. (You were warned. :)) When you can do barrels for the cost of the barrel and maybe a reamer (they can be rented for doing the odd hunting rifle), it opens up a lot of possibilities. Not everything has to be a Top Notch BR rifle, one can pick up a $120.00 ER Shaw barrel and re-do an old Savage or Remington, or <whatever> into the cartridge of the moment just for fun, or time with kids, grandkids, or whatever.

Fitch
 
The PM 12x36 was what I was going with till a little accident cleaned me out, I talked with Matt quite a bit about it. He can send you the tolerance spec for it also. Also has a two year warranty and the PM has more speeds, 18 vs 9 of the Grizzly. There are a lot of little things that make the PM at least look better than the Grizzly to an untrained observer.
 
Chinese lathes have poor quality bearings and motors. They will vibrate sooner than later. The design can be very good, they are new so have adapted to new ideas and designs but still use extremely poor materials. I have a PM1440HD and I have replaced the motor and all bearings. It needs new gears. It has extrememly low hours on it, basically still new. It could be considered paid for though. I bought it because I couldn't seem to inspect a real lathe that was used at a fair price. If it is Chinese it doesn't matter what name is on it or what color it is, it will still have junk components.

Problem is, how does a new guy get a good used lathe at a fair price when he does not know anything about lathes? This is real tough when he cannot see the machine for himself or take a pro buddy with him. Public auctions are usually a laugh, there seems to be one born every mminute and he will pay $5000 for a $2000 lathe. If I hadn't bought this lathe I'm not sure if I would have ever bought one. In that reguard, its better than nothing. I did luck out buying 3 mills 1300 miles from home but I found out he machines history and took the chance. They are Taiwanese and 10x the quality of chinese. I would buy Taiwanese but never again Chinese.

I do regret not buying the Standard-Modern rebuilt. It couldn't cut metric, which I do a lot, and had no readouts or other accessories, but was a good price and now I know better. I did get great advise but just couldn't view a good machine that didn't go for a stupid price so I went internet shopping. Matt is very good for warranty, amazing in fact.
 
You are right about Auctions, I think they put something in the water fountains that cause people to go "brain dead".

Odds are, if you go to an Auction, you are going to pay too much for too little.

As for lathes in the under $4000 range. Is anything under that NOT made in Mainland China?.......jackie
 
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jackie schmidt said:
You are right about Auctions, I think they put something in the water fountains that cause people to go "brain dead".

Odds are, if you go to an Auction, you are going to pay too much for too little.

As for lathes in the under $4000 range. Is anything under that NOT made in Mainland China?.......jackie
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Jackie, I just went to an auction today and yes there must be something in the water.......saw people bid more than new price for some things.

I have seen a few lathes made in China above that $4000 range as well.......seems you can buy quality from China but have to pay for it.


PEI Rob said:
Chinese lathes have poor quality bearings and motors. They will vibrate sooner than later.
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I don't believe that "ALL" Chinese lathes have poor quality bearings and motors..........maybe some of the cheaper ones but certainly not all.

Ian
 
I should be recieving my PM1236 in the next couple weeks...I will let yall know how it goes
I couldnt pass it up when it came to the features and accesseries..I figure being a Chinese machine I may need to replace the bearings and the motor eventually.
 
JonathanK said:
I should be recieving my PM1236 in the next couple weeks...I will let yall know how it goes
I couldnt pass it up when it came to the features and accesseries..I figure being a Chinese machine I may need to replace the bearings and the motor eventually.
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And what will that cost???

Let's say you go WHOLE HAWG!!! Let's say you go with infinitely variable speed and Super-America bearings...... that might bring the price up a grand eh????

Value is value.

It's called capitalism and I'm a believer.

al
 
JonathanK said:
I should be recieving my PM1236 in the next couple weeks...I will let yall know how it goes
I couldnt pass it up when it came to the features and accesseries..I figure being a Chinese machine I may need to replace the bearings and the motor eventually.
Click to expand...

If you do replace the motor, I highly recommend a 3ph motor. Gear head lathes work better with 3ph motors. If you do the math, you may find out you can use a 1200 rpm 3ph motor and reduce the minimum spindle speed. The motor shaft will be bigger but it should net out at a 10 to 15 rpm reduction in minimum spindle speed. Variable speed is nice too, but I don't think it can be plug reversed which is really nice when doing metric threads.

Fitch
 
Ian_Owen said:
I don't believe that "ALL" Chinese lathes have poor quality bearings and motors..........maybe some of the cheaper ones but certainly not all.

Ian
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You're right Ian. Its just that most importers and distibutors want the cheapest possible price, to maximise their profit.

The Chinese can make any quality level you want, but the higher you go, the more you 'pay'! Thats a nasty word to most importers...............
 
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