New Machine Build- GOT MY NEW SHOPMASTER PATRIOT

[smallblock]

I got my new patriot machine last week. Spent saturday getting it out of the crate and setup on the bench. Was going to try some work on Sunday, but got involved in the Super bowl. So far the machine looks real good- I had a 2000 model shoptask which I used for doing hobby engine and hot rod stuff. I built some special fixtures to do valve guides and thread in studs. I also have built a ton of suspension pieces on the old Shoptask. JT had offered me 80% trade in on the new machine, but the freight back to Vegas was too high, so I am going to sell the old machine on E-Bay. At first glance I can see a lot of improvements over the old yellow machines and the larger mill table and longer center distances are what I needed. Probably won't get back into the shop until this weekend, but will post more as I start working.

[fastlanecafe]

Smallblock,
I would like to see pictures of your Patriot and any work you do. I do some engine stuff as well- just putting together a 383 stroker. In response to the other thread, I already bought a used 2000 model with quadra lift.

[smallblock]

No pictures or chips yet, but here are some first impressions
Bench- It has 6 legs and a set of sheet metal sides and back panels plus 2 opening front doors. All the panels were pre-drilled and marked and fit up nice. There is also an instruction sheet on using the wooden crate material to make the shelves, but i think I am going for some nice 3/4" plywood. There is a pre-drilled hole for the coolant drain and a drain tube included. Nicest feature are the 4 big casters that let you roll this thing around.
Accessories- Pretty much the same stuff they always came with except for the vise which is a really nice milling vise- not the old drill press vise like before.
Controls- This is a huge improvement over the old machines. All the handles are chromed and all steel- no more of those screw on plastic caps. The levers all have a center screw to keep them fitting tight and gives them that nice "click" The handwheels are the biggest improvement here- they are twice the size of my old machine and have really big grips. This makes the turning effort a lot less.
Color- This is a personal thing, but I like the red white and blue design- maybe I'm just sick of yellow. The main shield was white in the picture, but mine is stainless steel. JT told me they made the change because the shield takes a lot of abuse and white paint starts to look bad real quick.
More later

[sharpshooter90]

Here is a little project we did in the many off hours- dont ask what it does

[smallblock]

Was there supposed to be a picture?

[sharpshooter90]

Smallblock,
I'm a bit uncertain how to post on here. I have some pictures on a disc-
any hints?

[fastlanecafe]

Sharpshooter,
I saw your pictures on the delphi forum. Those are some nice parts- did you use CNC to do the work or manual? You could probably just post the address of your posting here if you cant load the pictures directly.

[sharpshooter90]

Here is the link- parts were made with CNC

http://forums.delphiforums.com/TRIPO...ages/?msg=55.1

[smallblock]

Sharpshooter-
I posted some pictures of a project I did on my old machine- here is the link

http://forums.delphiforums.com/TRIPO...ages/?msg=55.1

Still haven't made anything on the patriot, seem to be stuck with honeydos .
Also took time time out to watch Junior win the clash last night- he is the best on restrictor plates bar none.

A few more notes on the patriot as I got a few minutes to wipe it down. Moving the carriages back and forth is a lot smoother than my old machine. Some of it could be from the larger handles, but looking up under the cross slide I can see that the machining is much smoother. The old unit looked like it had been fly cut at high speed, while the new machine looks to have been ground. The material appears to be of a much finer grade, as the unfinished parts have no porous areas. The quill fits much tighter in the head than the old machine, and even at full extension it doesnt have a lot of play. The new machine uses a different quill lock than the old ones, which clamps around the quill rather than sqeezing the head. This is probably where the improvement comes from. It also has a full 4" of travel as oppossed to the 3" on the older units. The mill auto stop mechanism was pre-adjusted, and it shuts the drive off just before it reaches its limits up or down. The manual drive works smooth too. I moved the mill head up and down its full travel a couple of times and its real easy on the down stroke, but a little harder going up. I am already thinking of a power drive motor for this, since the mount, drive pulleys and a sheet metal cover are all included with the accessory box.

[norvil1]

smallblock: how about measuring the backlash in your ballscrews and post that?

[smallblock]

I didn't order the ball screw option. On my old machine it had the spring loaded acme screws on X and Y axes, and by fiddling around you could get them down to about 0.003-0.005". The real isuue on the old machine was the Z axis which ran through a worm gear and rack drive. It was hard to get under 0.010" because of all the lash in the various gears. The patriot made a big improvement here with a direct drive to the quill by an acme screw. This screw is nicely machined and has very little lash right out of the box- mine measured at 0.002". They also improved the double nuts on the X and Y by getting rid of the spring and making one nut with a flange and 2 set screws. Now you clamp one nut tight and leave the flange one loose and by tightening the set screws it spreads the nuts apart to reduce the lash- you have to be easy on the set screws, because just a little turning will tighten the nuts too tight and you can't turn the handle. After a couple of trys I got my X and Y under 0.001" while keeping the handle resistance at a reasonable level. On this machine I doubt that most CNC guys would even need the ball screw option.

[smallblock]

Just an update, I am very pleased with the carriage movements on my machine. I have the DRO option, so any backlash in the handles is not an issue, but even reading the dials, its about the same as most lathes on the market. My machine has very little lash, so the factory adjustment was pretty good, I can see how the gear mesh can be adjusted if necessary. The handle locations are convenient also allowing you to use both hands. I re-located my DRO display though. In the factory location, it felt too close for me, so I removed the mount and sheet metal cover and put the display up on the top of the 5th column lock.