Other Smithy Owners ?

[reggeee]

dumb question No.1

OK. Assuming i get my motor soon from smithy and actually get to use it for a while, i need someone to answer this question. every catalog and web site i look at has tons of collets for sale. I generally know what they do, but why are they so important to me while machining? My machine came with two drill chucks. one for the mill R8 and one for the tail stock R3. i realize someone who now owns a lathe probably shouldn't be asking this basic a question, but i also think the cart before the horse is a pretty exciting ride. Be nice!!

[rmack898]

Ya just got to squeak a little Reg

[reggeee]

hey Spirit.

yes, i did dismantle the motor while i was on the phone with the tech guy. no washer inside. but there was a big burn mark and a large pitted area in the middle of the winding casing. So there was some sort of short that caused the burn. I cleaned it up but it just sparked again and died. following Rmacks advice, i told them this morning i didn;t think i should have to wait and they should pull one off a new one and send it to me. They called me back and told me they did that today and it was on it's way!!!!! Ask and you shall receive.
I keep hearing about their customer service and now i'm experiencing it. thanks Rmack. i'll keep you posted. I haven't gotten a chance to check runout yet. did you just put a dial indicator to it to test it?

[spirit20]

Smithy

Reggee:
Have you opened up the motor to look inside? I have a 1340I and the motor started to make some noise, spark, and smell. They sent me a new one but it took quite a while. In the mean time I opened up the motor and found that a washer was in it from the factory. I removed the washer and tested the motor and it seems to work fine. I also had a problem with the 3-jaw chuck; it ran out of true by .060. I could not dial it in any way I tried. I removed the inside jaws and put in the out side jaws that came with the machine, still no good. I called the company and the sent out a new one, the tech said he has never heard of this happening before on any of the machines. Other wise I am pretty happy with the machine.

[reggeee]

thanks

Thanks Mac. customer service called me today and left a message that they wouldn't have a new motor until the first week in DEC. but they do have a second hand one i can have right away. I will call them in the AM and suggest they pull a motor off a new machine and send it to me. Great idea! i'll let you know.

[rmack898]

Reggee,

I had a somewhat similar problem with a 1324 I that I bought new. The speed controler fried within the first hour, I called and they sent me a new one overnight, I installed it and it fried right away. I was feeling like you are probably feeling right now. I talked to the tech guy and we determined that the controller they sent me was 110v instead of 220v. The 220v speed controller was not in stock so the tech guy pulled one out of a new machine and sent it right out to me and I was up and running with no other problems. I no longer have that machine but I had many hours of use on it and I know that it's present owner has been using it for the last 2 years with no problems.

I would call back and talk to the tech guy again and tell them to pull the motor off a new machine and get you running. Let them wait for a new motor. The squeaky customer gets the grease.

[reggeee]

smithy motors

I was wondering if anybody has had these problems? I am new to metalworking and purchased a Smithy 1324 granite. Before i even had a chance to plug it in, i had my first major problem. After cleaning the machine as instructed i raised the mill head to get familiar with the operation of the controls etc. when i went to lower it, the head would not lower back to it's original height. It was jammed. I called the company and they were as dumbfounded as i was. Following their instructions, i disassembled everything that could be. It still wouldn't go down. keep in mind, i have now owned this machine for 4 hours. I decided to the only thing left to do. I jammed a screwdriver into the gap used to lock off the head and with one whack of a hammer the head fell back down to zero. It seems the post was caught up on the edge of the rough casting inside. The head was down and operating again, but i now have a huge ugly scar in the paint job. Oh well!!
After reading all the instructions and many articles on how to get started, i did. Everything was working fine. I was really happy with all the features and extra tooling smithy provided. After about 2 hours of operation (all at low speed. maybe 450 rpm) a huge spark jumped out of the motor and it died. I called the company again and Dave the technical guy walked me through some test that confirmed my motor was indeed fried. AFTER 2 HOURS of operation. My machine is now a huge paper weight. I got passed along to customer service and they put in the order for a new motor only to tell me they are back ordered and won't be in for 3-4 weeks. 1. do these motors burn out so often they can't keep up with the orders? 2. Should i just re-crate it and send it back? needless to say, i feel like i made a huge mistake.

[arclight]

I bought the 3" Kurt-style vise from LMS (cool store to visit in person, BTW) and I am very happy with it. It's about as big as I want to go on the 1220. It's much more rigid than the stock vise, and I am getting around .001" total change across the top now with my test indicator. Not bad, especially since my machine is probably off by that much.

Arclight

[carlquib]

Little Machine Shop has a 3", the add says it is supposed to be a phase II but the one that they sent me looks more like the elephant brand. Even though it isn't a phase II it is worlds better than the vise that came with the machine. About 13 years ago, I made a similar mistake. Enco had their 6" kurt clones on sale for $49 with free shipping so I ordered one. It completely overwhelmed the machine and was difficult to lift up and down but it worked very well. I don't use the mill on the smithy very often now because I have two other mills but it worked very well for a number of years. I have the lathe set up with a 5C collet chuck and just leave it like that most of the time. I built a speed reducing pulley system that had a 7 to 1 reduction and that made all the difference in the world. The only other mods that I have made are better chip guarding on the carriage and a new motor and speed control. I have replaced all the bearings in my lathe spindle and in the mill spindle. The originals brinnelled not long after I got the machine. I also had to make a new washer for the end of the mill spindle. When I pulled mine the original cast washer cracked. Overall it has been a good machine. It doesn't have the fit and finish of a LeBlonde or a Monarch but it fit in the space I had at the time very well and did all that I asked of it. By the way I have one of the first granite 1324 machines, wish I would have ponied up for the 13 x 40 but space was an issue.

-brian

[smiller6912]

....
Also, the milling vise it comes with is pretty crappy. Upgrading that to a good quality Kurt knock-off will probably be my next purchase.....

I have the Smithy Granite 1324 and got a 5" Kurt style vise, well.... you may want to think about a 3" or 4" one. This thing is honkin' huge and I can only mount it with the swivel base set at an angle across the "T" slots, it's a bit of a bear to dial in.
Just something to keep in mind.........

(PS. I love my Smithy...)

[arclight]

I have one of early 1220's, purchased second-hand at a very reasonable price. It does pretty good work once everything has been shimmed up and tightened.

One trick for making it mill a LOT better: mount it to a heavy base. I made a stand out of 1.5" square tubing, welded a heavy steel plate apron to it and then filled the tubing with concrete. Way less chatter, and I can cut steel at a good speed. Also, use only good US or equivalent endmills. The cheap imports just make life worse on a not-so-rigid machine like this.

I have some 3-flute endmills in 1/2 and 5/8", and these do a great job.

Also, the milling vise it comes with is pretty crappy. Upgrading that to a good quality Kurt knock-off will probably be my next purchase.


Arclight

[Astronowanabe]

tool mope

I have joined the ranks of smithy 1220 owners with
an old blue one that cost less than its' weight as scrap
it will be a few days before I have cleared enough room
to bring it home. (it is made for people without much room)

The compound looks funky not sure if it original
or a hack job.

[yeehaanow]

Motor squeek

I picked up a used 1220 LTD and find that it's been a great machine to learn on.

When the motors (both that lathe and mill) are spinning down, right at the end they SQUEEK. Also if I move the chuck by hand they squeek. Is there something I should do? I don't remember if it did it when I first got it.

I have a couple small dings on the ways. I think one of them I can feel a little "bump" when passing it with the tail stock or the table, but I usually never use that part in practice anyway. How do you go about fixing this?


Seems like a great machine for beginners and hobbyists like myself, but as with everything else it's the tooling that's the real killer. Luckily, it came with a lot to begin with.

[HSS]

You didn't tell him that I told you to call did you? He gets a little busy sometimes and I don't want him mad at me for telling folks to call him....... (just kidding, LOL).

No, he answered the phone.
I talk a lot also but I listen more than talk if it is a good subject.

[smiller6912]

Just got off the phone with Kerry @ Smithy..........

You didn't tell him that I told you to call did you? He gets a little busy sometimes and I don't want him mad at me for telling folks to call him....... (just kidding, LOL).
Seriously, he is usually very good about trying to help.
(Did you notice that he is a chatter, I need to set aside a block of time when I call him).