Machine Considering Buying a King 1236ML Looking for Opinions

[Bandit]

Dam, you are making $0.02/hr more then me at anything I do now.

 

[Jason Silliker]

@Jason Silliker nice get on the lathe!

I have 2 Moore and Wright levels, .003 per foot. they work very well, as I'm sure the Starrett does as well. I did make a mistake buying a .0002 per foot level. uncalibrated. never used. The adjuster was permanently loctited out of calibration. To break it free, I would have to melt a plastic part. Sure I could rebuild it, but why bother? I was naive buying it, and have even refused to sell it to a friend when he wanted to buy it for full price.
After you get to .003, you have to get closer by taking cuts anyway...

Bit of a side story, when I bought the Level, I didn’t notice it was a non-returnable item which makes sense I guess. I contacted Amazon because the adjustment screw is at an angle inside, while it does adjust I’m not sure if it’s adjusting it correctly. I ended up contacting Amazon told them of the issue and she said to send pictures so I did and they refunded me. I’m going to revisit it in the future. I’m sure it’s more me than the level. I just found it weird that it couldn’t be proved, but I think even levelling the piece in the vice to get it on plane one way, it’s probably so damn sensitive just turning at 180 and setting it back down may not have been good enough.

 

[Jason Silliker]

Avery inexpensive coolant system can be cobbled together using a common fish tank or garden pond submersible pump. the smallest volume you can find will work and even then will have way more pressure than you need but that is easily remedied, Just install a brass needle valve in your piping and excess pressure can be easily diverted back to reservoir ( in my case an old 5 gal pail).
I make the "return drain' so that it just lays at the bottom of the pail . this facilitates return line cutting chips just lay/settle on the bottom of the pail and I keep the submersible pump up near the top of the fluid level so no damaging crud is sucked into it.
I doubt if my hole set-up costs more than $50 at the time ....but that was almost 20 yrs ago.

Yeah, like I mentioned, that’s all I have in my drill press, it was a very cheap aquarium pump with 3/8 tubing and an empty coffee can with a large screen filter as a cover. Catchers on knee tips that come back through the 1” return hose. I don’t use it often but it works really well. I’ll have to look, but I think I may have a second pump here already like I said I have two of the free misters. The brush method works fine so far for me like I said I’ve done very very little. Just playing a little bit getting used to it. Knowing me, I’ll set it up and rarely use it, but it will still be there lol.

 

[Jason Silliker]

Yep they will. I know. They did. Sending you a PM re shared shipping.

@Susquatch I appreciate your offer as well but the shipping to PEI would be a killer, but thanks again.

 

[Susquatch]

@Susquatch I appreciate your offer as well but the shipping to PEI would be a killer, but thanks again.

I'll let you know the full damages when it arrives. You might as well pay UPS too. Stuff is worth its weight in gold. The slinging alone is worth the cost.

 

[CWret]

I followed Susq’s advice a few months ago and got some Viper Venom from Grizzle. It only took about a week to arrive. No issues with shipping an oil. Normal UPS brokerage/shipping rip-off but no biggie.
This stuff is every bit as good as Susq claims.

I set up a mister on my mill a year ago using water soluble lube (Coolcut S50 manufactured by Walter, $105 from S B Simpson for 3.8 l). The mister works really well and is easy to control both % liquid and volume of air. But I don’t like it. It’s messy, smells, plus water and iron don’t play well. But the biggest draw back (which was recently pointed out to me by Torontobuilder) is the mould and mildew potential hazard. My mister is now only an air nozzle.
The mister is on a magnet base and very easy to reposition:

Here’s my cutting oil choices. I usually mix A-9 with 50% wd40 (for aluminum).

 

[Susquatch]

But the biggest draw back (which was recently pointed out to me by Torontobuilder) is the mould and mildew potential hazard.

I keep forgetting about that. The irony isn't lost on me though. The world thinks water based is soooo much better for you. And then the mold and slime monsters arrive..... I guess its ok for those who do enough work to keep the tanks fresh or maybe those without any respiratory challenges. But that aint me. Then you consider how well it actually works.... Ya, give me the good stuff all day long.

Thanks for the timely reminders Craig. And a thank you to @TorontoBuilder too.

 

[Dabbler]

There is a youtube channel called "Adam the Machinist". He is every bit as knowledgeable and acccomplished as Renzetti. He converted his HAAS mill to use cutting oil as a coolant, and has a long list of reasons why, despite it being "not recommended" by HAAS, and people in the industry saying fire would be an issue (it wasn't).

I'm having some difficulty finding 'that' video, but I know I captured it, so I'll post a link when I figure it out.

This is a guy whtat works regularly to a then thousanth of an inch on every dimension on complex parts. Worth giving him a try.

 

[David]

There is a youtube channel called "Adam the Machinist". He is every bit as knowledgeable and acccomplished as Renzetti. He converted his HAAS mill to use cutting oil as a coolant, and has a long list of reasons why, despite it being "not recommended" by HAAS, and people in the industry saying fire would be an issue (it wasn't).

I'm having some difficulty finding 'that' video, but I know I captured it, so I'll post a link when I figure it out.

This is a guy whtat works regularly to a then thousanth of an inch on every dimension on complex parts. Worth giving him a try.

HIs channel is excellent! Very aspirational.

 

[Jason Silliker]

Been busy with a few different projects haven’t got to do a whole lot lately. Turn the piece of round stock to a 60° point for a quick and dirty tool height adjuster. Still planning on making a proper version. I did make a handle to replace the nut on the top of the quick change tool post. Had some stainless here. Come out pretty good. I am going to shorten it and add a plastic handle in the future to match a little closer. Pretty impressed how well it cut stainless.

 

[Jason Silliker]

Playing around with some different ideas for most often used tool storage. I was gonna use PVC pipe, but decided to use a lot of thin wall tubing I have laying around and I have various thin wall square and rectangle tubing from treadmills that have been junked. Started with a piece of 1/8 plate bent two 1” sides and started playing around. I removed two of the bolts in the top cover of the gearbox and used two longer bolts to hold this in place. Just put a few things in the back row for now that’s why the rest of it’s not painted until I finish adding what I want to add.

 

[Susquatch]

Pretty impressed how well it cut stainless.

This is a complaint I hear often. I really don't understand it. I've never had a problem with any grade I've turned. Maybe just lucky. Sounds like you might be too!

 

[Brian H]

I have a King 1236 lathe that I purchased new just over 1 year ago. It has been a really good machine for my needs (all hobby work). I have been really happy with it. Recently I had the lead screw transmission pile up due to casting sand in the oil ports and King looked after sending all the new pieces I required. Got it all back up and running again in about 6 weeks (Canada post strike).
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.