advice on the patriot.

[instructor37]

smallblock I was wondering on what your input would be on the patriot. I saw some pictures on here of where you did a jockey style shifter for a motorcycle. Do you think it is possible the patriot has enough of a capcatity to do some machining on motorcycle engines and trannys.Thanks the help.

Bcross-
If you are talking about the ubiquitous V-twin motors, it will be a stretch. We've had some as student projects, and it takes some clever setup to do most of the work. I would say that if you have other work that fits the Shopmaster size better and only want occasional use for the engine/tranny stuff, go ahead. But if you are thinking of setting yourself up as an engine re build shop- you will need more specialized equipment.

[Ntpro]

Does anyone have anything new to say on the patroit, looking to buy. Looking for current comments

[instructor37]

Does anyone have anything new to say on the patroit, looking to buy. Looking for current comments

I can give you some indirect comments on the new Patriot model. We purchased the earlier patriots with the AC motors and gear diven power feeds. In general thay are rugged units- heavy castings, big handles etc. Good for a student environment. Be prepared to do some of your own tune-up, even though Shoptask does a fairly thorough inspection before shipping. Once in place you will need to get it levelled and probably re-trammed, depending on the type of accuracy you are looking for. The early models were pretty complex, with 3 seperate power feed gearboxes, a hi-lo shifter and spindle brake combination and multi-sheave speed selections. When they brought out the new VFD model last year, I got to thinking about them and we did a conversion on one of our units. After stripping away all the gearboxes, belts sheaves etc. we had a huge pile of parts. The VFD system works nice and has good power through its speed ranges. The entire process is simplified, but retains all the original functions. If the factory ones work this well, then you won't be disappointed.
The Mach III software , Gecko drive CNC and Jenix DRO are flawless. If small parts production is in your plan, then go for the ball screw option- it will increase your speeds by a factor of 2.

[wormwood]

I'd agree with instructor37, I have a 2008 & 2010 patriot, they both require work to get them setup right. The 2010 is really limited unless you have some sort of CNC installed on it.

Wormwood