On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 10:28:39 GMT, Ken Sterling (Ken Sterling) wrote:

I just purchased my first machine, a smithy 1220 LTD. I know the 3 in
1 machines are the underdogs in the group but with my small shop I
really don't have the room for bigger tools, plus I have very little
machine experience.

So now I need to find some adult vocational training in my area for
welding and metal machining. My wife is already complaining about how
little she see's me (even though I am 75 steps away from my front
door).

new baby pictures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture001.jpg
Looks great - bet you're gonna have a bunch of fun with that machine
for a long time into the future. Just remember - cut away everything
that doesn't look like what you want... G BTW, for lathe work,
isn't the machine sitting a little low? May cause some back problems
after a few hours standing there. Anyway - ENJOY IT !
Ken.

It needs to be higher for me, I'm 6'6" and the lathe ways come up to
just below my waist.

I do have a few grips about the machine so far, fine mill feed was
very sloppy due to metal fragments in the worm gear assy (took me
awhile to find the problem)

The gibs are ground a bit sloppy and need a good polishing. The fly
cutters 2 had stripped allen screws, and the adjustable angle vise
bolt pattern won't work with my cross table.


I have to ether buy or make a cross table height spacer to get my work
high enough to use my mill. Smithy sells a table that will do the
trick for 210.00 but I was thinking about sand casting a 5 sided cube
3/4 inch thick that I could bolt down to my cross table and mill the
top then try cutting t slots down it for my hold down clamps.

The instruction manual for the machine is written for people with more
experience than me and is a bit hard to follow.