# KC1236 thoughts



## Proxule (Apr 8, 2021)

Hey fellas,

I am in a pickle. I hate king Canada, But KMS has been very good to me with prior machine parts and support.
I missed the price jump on the PM1236 machines not long ago. As it stand if I want the PM1236 PEP with cast iron stand and shipped to my door its exactly $7200 CAD ( all in )
WAAAAY too much for a 1236 lathe. I don't really need a feed clutch and coolant pump.
Brake is nice and a light. But the gear box does require you to change it up if you are doing work outside the envelope.

The KING CANADA 1236 is a norton gearbox. So no gear swapping until you want to cut bastard metric thread, haha!
It has the regular things like a sheet metal stand, QCTP etc etc. It really is identical to the G4003 lathe. 
THe price tag is $ 5350 ( $5617 all in ) on the KC1236

Any one actually own one of these, The local KMS is out of stock for a bit so I cant actually fiddle with the norton gearbox or feel the machine up.
Are the cross slide and compound scraped like the PM1236?

Any thought or opinions, I am sure this topic has been discussed before but nothing really shows up on search.

Thanks guys


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## David_R8 (Apr 8, 2021)

There was a used 1236 at my local KMS for months because the motor was cooked due to it being incorrectly wired by the buyer.
I looked at it many times. It looked decent enough, controls all worked smoothly. Some non-critical castings were a bit rough but if I was in the market for a machine and that was an option I would certainly give it a hard look. No way could I justify a $7000 lathe.


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## Proxule (Apr 8, 2021)

Thanks for the reply. We agree 7K for a 1236 is too much, USD to CAD and shipping kills it 
Thanks


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## kevin.decelles (Apr 8, 2021)

I have a Modern 14x40 (C0636A).  It has a quick change gear box.... but even with that in place, I find myself changing gears more often than not.  Going from 3/8" x 16 to 1/2" x 13 tpi = gear change.  Going from 1/2" x 13tpi to 5/8" x 18tpi (fine) = gear change.  I keep waiting for the day when I get to cut threads twice without a switch.   Something to ponder when buying.  Wouldn't have changed my mind though.

Maybe the Norton does away with that?


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## YYCHM (Apr 8, 2021)

kevin.decelles said:


> I have a Modern 14x40 (C0636A).  It has a quick change gear box.... but even with that in place, I find myself changing gears more often than not.  Going from 3/8" x 16 to 1/2" x 13 tpi = gear change.  Going from 1/2" x 13tpi to 5/8" x 18tpi (fine) = gear change.  I keep waiting for the day when I get to cut threads twice without a switch.   Something to ponder when buying.  Wouldn't have changed my mind though.
> 
> Maybe the Norton does away with that?



It has a feed box but you still have to use change gears???


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## kevin.decelles (Apr 8, 2021)

Correct.




See the chart for my lathe.   The V-4/V-1 represents two knobs, and the A/B/C/D represent knobs, but you still have upper/lower gears to consider.  So, with upper/lower set to 60tooth gears, you can do quite a bit.  it just happens that to cut 1/2"x13 and 5/8x18, I had to switch gears to 40/52 and 60/54 respectively.  and I'll likely go back to 60/60


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## kevin.decelles (Apr 8, 2021)

I'm assuming the Norton covers all ranges...... much like my Von Wyck (circa 1902).  You simply have top hole and front hole.  Dead simple (no metric though)


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## David_R8 (Apr 8, 2021)

For what it's worth I can't run the full range of threads on my quick change equipped gearbox without a gear change either.
This is a copy of the sign on the gearbox. The columns represent the position of the right hand lever which is positioned directly below the sign.


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## Tom Kitta (Apr 8, 2021)

Neither of my lathes need gear changes for most stuff. 

My small lathe has only 1 change which I never used - it is to go from coarse to ultra fine threads. Fine I think is under 32 pitch or so. 

As per King lathe it is OK lathe from China. Standard China lathe. Rough on the edges and build to price point. Its no luxury lathe, just basic lathe for basic stuff. Basic accuracy, basic finish (like war finish in US).


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## Proxule (Apr 8, 2021)

kevin.decelles said:


> I have a Modern 14x40 (C0636A).  It has a quick change gear box.... but even with that in place, I find myself changing gears more often than not.  Going from 3/8" x 16 to 1/2" x 13 tpi = gear change.  Going from 1/2" x 13tpi to 5/8" x 18tpi (fine) = gear change.  I keep waiting for the day when I get to cut threads twice without a switch.   Something to ponder when buying.  Wouldn't have changed my mind though.
> 
> Maybe the Norton does away with that?



https://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g4003_m.pdf

page 22 shows the feed chart and page 23 shows the thread chart, all can be done from the norton box, up until you want to do any metric threading
Thats on page 25

thanks


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## Everett (Apr 8, 2021)

Hi Proxule, I have owned a KC1236 for a few years now.  It does not have a spindle brake like it sounds on the PM machine.  As for the cross slide and compound, they are not scraped but machined.  And yes, it will cut pretty much any sane inch-based thread pitch with gear changes only required for Metric threads.  

It is an okay machine, given the price.  It has had its quirks that have needed sorting, such as having to add a set screw to the motor pulley (no set screw was originally installed to keep the key in place), and there is some slop in the cross slide that I am still trying to work on.  You would also want to flush the headstock after doing its run-in procedure as I found fine sand in mine like Yuchol (Woods Creek Workshop) did on his machine.  I believe Stefan Gotteswinter said it best that cheaper machines from there are like casting kits, they will always need some tweaking and fiddling . . .

Yes, it pretty much is a gray-painted Grizzly G4003. I think they have even come from the same factory in China as the information in both operators' manuals is pretty much identical.  If you were in the Edmonton area I'd be totally fine with you looking it over but it is not under power at this point as the garage in the new house does not have wiring yet.  If you have any other questions that I might be able to help with let me know!


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## Proxule (Apr 8, 2021)

Everett said:


> Hi Proxule, I have owned a KC1236 for a few years now.  It does not have a spindle brake like it sounds on the PM machine.  As for the cross slide and compound, they are not scraped but machined.  And yes, it will cut pretty much any sane inch-based thread pitch with gear changes only required for Metric threads.
> 
> It is an okay machine, given the price.  It has had its quirks that have needed sorting, such as having to add a set screw to the motor pulley (no set screw was originally installed to keep the key in place), and there is some slop in the cross slide that I am still trying to work on.  You would also want to flush the headstock after doing its run-in procedure as I found fine sand in mine like Yuchol (Woods Creek Workshop) did on his machine.  I believe Stefan Gotteswinter said it best that cheaper machines from there are like casting kits, they will always need some tweaking and fiddling . . .
> 
> Yes, it pretty much is a gray-painted Grizzly G4003. I think they have even come from the same factory in China as the information in both operators' manuals is pretty much identical.  If you were in the Edmonton area I'd be totally fine with you looking it over but it is not under power at this point as the garage in the new house does not have wiring yet.  If you have any other questions that I might be able to help with let me know!



Thanks for the reply and tips
I mezsaged you directly.
Thanks again!


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