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

Do I see carpet on the floor? If so, you will soon fill it with bits of
metal that you will never be able to get out. May I suggest laying down
plywood over all or perhaps 1/2 the floor and putting your machine on
it.

Paul

Hey Modat,

Very nice. I see you got the "whole enchilada". Did you pick it up
in Ann Arbor, or was it shipped?

In the photos, it looks from here like you do have some "extra" room
at both ends. You could swing one end of the lathe bed so that it
isn't as parallel with the wall, and that allows loading long pieces
through the bore.
One thing for future, is to mount the mill head and column on a
separate base with it's own X-Y table, or better yet on a knee table.
Much handier, and generally more travel distances.

And what are the shop walls made from? Actually looks like the inside
of a nice reefer van. Great for lighting and cleaning!

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:43:01 GMT, Modat22 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

On 6 Jun 2005 08:38:01 -0700, wrote:

Do I see carpet on the floor? If so, you will soon fill it with bits of
metal that you will never be able to get out. May I suggest laying down
plywood over all or perhaps 1/2 the floor and putting your machine on
it.

Paul


I have a concrete floor with epoxy coating, no carpet and very easy to
clean. I am thinking about using some sort of pad to stand on though,
the concrete is starting to hurt my knees and feet after standing on
it for a couple hours.

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 11:42:24 -0400, Brian Lawson
wrote:

Hey Modat,

Very nice. I see you got the "whole enchilada". Did you pick it up
in Ann Arbor, or was it shipped?

It was shipped via roadway freight co, I was actually surprised at the
quality and protection of the crate the machine came it.


In the photos, it looks from here like you do have some "extra" room
at both ends. You could swing one end of the lathe bed so that it
isn't as parallel with the wall, and that allows loading long pieces
through the bore.

After placing the thing I realized that I was limiting the work piece
size, I plan on doing a major shop reorganization. Too much stuff, too
little room.

One thing for future, is to mount the mill head and column on a
separate base with it's own X-Y table, or better yet on a knee table.
Much handier, and generally more travel distances.

That's is a fantastic idea. Never thought about that and pretty easily
to do with its current design.

And what are the shop walls made from? Actually looks like the inside
of a nice reefer van. Great for lighting and cleaning!

I'm not sure what that stuff is, I bought it at lowes in the paneling
section, its much denser and harder than standard paneling. The sub
straight is almost solid black like bake lite and is somewhat hard to
cut with a jigsaw (chips like the dickens)


Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Modat22 wrote:
I just purchased my first machine, a smithy 1220 LTD. I know the 3 in
1 machines are the underdogs in the group

Mostly macho show. You are obviously a hobbyist and really aren't
concerned too much about rate of production. I bought my smithy AT-300
(Grandfather or Great Grandfather of yours) over ten years ago. I have
it and constantly use it. Despite the screams of protest from the "buy
old 'muricun iron" crowd, I have enjoyed my Smithy, still do and expect
to continue doing so. It might be nice to have bigger lathe (like my
friends Colchester) and a Bridgeport but I have neither the space nor
the money for them. Meanwhile my projects keep getting done on the ol'
Smithy. If you want to see a couple, check out
http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/paint/paint.html
http://www.metalwebnews.co m/howto/toolholder/toolholder.html
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...es/CYLHEAD.TXT
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...es/BANDSAW.txt
and particularly
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...s/BANDSAW5.jpg
for one that I thought might force me to "the machine shop" but didn't, see
http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/...ed_reducer.pdf

Whatever, enjoy!

Ted

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 16:38:31 GMT, Modat22 wrote:
SNIP
And what are the shop walls made from? Actually looks like the inside
of a nice reefer van. Great for lighting and cleaning!

I'm not sure what that stuff is, I bought it at lowes in the paneling
section, its much denser and harder than standard paneling. The sub
straight is almost solid black like bake lite and is somewhat hard to
cut with a jigsaw (chips like the dickens)

SNIP

We call that enameled or porcelainized tempered Masonite. Super
stuff.

Take care.

Brian Lawson

"Modat22" wrote in message
...
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

Most of us could do 90%+ of everything on your machine...I wish I had one!
Chip happpy!

How much did that baby way/ how did you move it?
Our shop has an Excello (bridgeport clone) that weighed 2600 lbs and we
had to take off the table (over 500 lbs alone) to get the machine
through a 36" door into the tool room.

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.

On 6 Jun 2005 17:31:01 -0700, "woodworker88"
wrote:

How much did that baby way/ how did you move it?
Our shop has an Excello (bridgeport clone) that weighed 2600 lbs and we
had to take off the table (over 500 lbs alone) to get the machine
through a 36" door into the tool room.

This is pretty small. Overall weight is around 650 pounds. Took 6
guys, a furniture dolly and some 2 x 4's to get it in the building and
an engine hoist to place it on the table. Its just so awkward to
handle. Smithy placed lift handles on the machine but they are in a
very bad location to use.

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.

Ted Edwards wrote:

A couple of the URL's I gave were incorrect. Try:

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/to...oolholder.html

http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/...ed_reducer.pdf

Whatever, enjoy!

Ted

Modat22 wrote:
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.

Another thing I have found to be extremely useful is an inexpensive spin
index that takes 5C collets. I made a block that it sits on that raises
the axis of spin index to, as exactly as I could make it, the height of
the lathe axis. This allows me to make parts like that shown in
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/Throttle.txt
and
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/Throttle.jpg
with minimum fuss over setting up.

Ted

Another thing I have found to be extremely useful is an inexpensive spin
index that takes 5C collets. I made a block that it sits on that raises
the axis of spin index to, as exactly as I could make it, the height of
the lathe axis. This allows me to make parts like that shown in
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/Throttle.txt
and
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/Throttle.jpg
with minimum fuss over setting up.

Ted


Very nice machining, I think making the tools and coming up with ways
to do something the machine wasn't intended for will be the most
interesting part of owning a combination machine of this size.

I'm poor after this purchase so I'll have to make what I can until my
wife stops paying attention to what I'm spending.

In article ,
Modat22 wrote:

[ ... ]

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)

That is common with the import machines. They are best viewed
as a pre-assembled kit, which you may have to disassemble to complete
some of the parts to the proper accuracy and finish.

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.

The screws are often the worst part of these import machines.
It is a good practice to just replace them with new screws obtained from
some good dealer like MSC. A box of 100 of a given screw will probably
cost you about what five to ten of them at a local hardware store would,
and you will get better quaility screws. Don't worry about those left
over -- they can be used in building projects as you start *using* the
machines.

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.

That sounds like a plan -- if you have the facilities to do the
sand casting.

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

That is also common. For the lathe part, look for a copy of
South Bend's _How to Run a Lathe_ book, or Atlas' similar one. It won't
teach you what is where on your machine, but it will explain how a lathe
should be used, and may help you to understand what documentation came
with your machine.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Congrats on your new machine.. now you just need a wheelbarrow to haul out
the chips.
As DoN mentioned, the fasteners on most of the China-made machines are about
the lowest grade on the planet. For a few pieces, HD or Lowes (I can never
remember which is which) may have a decent variety of small metric screws..
another source would be a good hardware store that has Rockwell or Dorman
products.

Since you mentioned that you'll be trying to find a welding course, you
could fabricate a riser with some steel.. maybe not to include T-slots, but
rigid and a convenient size to mount a vise on for small parts. Your casting
project would be an extremely handy accessory. If you can, make a few extra
castings to sell on ebay.. that should help with your newly developed tool
addiction.

When I bought a used 3-in-1 several years ago, the original owner had been
using a riser made from a section of 4x4 steel tubing, that his vise could
be mounted on.
It would've been more useful if it would've had some stiff webs welded
inside the tubing. I didn't like the original angle vise at all, and the
included X-Y table was also low quality and inconvenient to use.
The machine I have has the longer travel cross slide/table like your LTD
model. A clamp set will overcome the lack of a centered T-slot (I use 3/8"
grade 5 hardware for clamping), or you can get creative and machine some
clamp anchors that span the 2 slots.
Some clamp bars and T-nuts are good projects to make while you're
familiarizing yourself with the machine's capabilities.

Instead of using the fabricated riser, I chose to buy some rigid accessories
that raise the workpieces up to a reasonable height.
4" Wilton swivel base milling vise
6" Phase II rotary table and 4-jaw chuck
6"x12" Palmgren slide/tilt table, usually used with a 2-1/2" Palmgren vise
on top
5C collet spin indexer, like Ted mentioned
2"x3"x4" aluminum blocks cut from bar stock

When using an accessory such as a boring head in the mill spindle, a lower
mount works well.

The tall work envelope is a common characteristic on most 3-in-1 machines,
as you've probably discovered. Some of the mill heads look extremely high on
some models that I've seen in catalogs.
I've got a Smithy 12x20 (CB 1220XL) which is similar in proportion/scale to
some of the other imported units. The height from the table to an endmill
held in an endmill holder is about 7", or about 9" if the endmill is held in
a collet. These distances are when the head is adjusted at/near the bottom
of the column (with the quill up).
I'm not a highly experienced metal worker.. I've had some training and
previous work experience, but I do projects for the enjoyment of it.

Without using any method to elevate small workpieces, the idea of extending
the mill quill with a 3MT (or R8) extension would be a really bad idea.
The best approach is to use solid (very solid/rigid) accessories to raise
the workpiece to the mill, and try to do most of the work as near the mill
head as is practical. This has generally worked very well for me.
The greater the distance from the bed ways, the more snug the fit needs to
be for the carriage and cross table dovetail gib screws.

WB
.................

"Modat22" wrote in message
...


Very nice machining, I think making the tools and coming up with ways
to do something the machine wasn't intended for will be the most
interesting part of owning a combination machine of this size.

I'm poor after this purchase so I'll have to make what I can until my
wife stops paying attention to what I'm spending.




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