Tell us abut your smithy...

[chollopeter]

Hey Guys,
Just replaced the switch in my 1340, I noticed that the coil on the relay is marked 50hz, I asked them about it and they said not to worry it would work. Well it does work but I'm concerned that it may not last very long. I've made several trips to Europe and had several 60hz power supplies give it up after a few uses on the 50hz over there. I've spent more years than I would like to admit to in electronics and have found that most 50hz coils/relays don't like 60hz and vice versa.
Anybody have any thoughts or input?

Carl

[philbur]

It's all in mind.

Phil

Hey Guys,
Just replaced the switch in my 1340, I noticed that the coil on the relay is marked 50hz, I asked them about it and they said not to worry it would work. Well it does work but I'm concerned that it may not last very long. I've made several trips to Europe and had several 60hz power supplies give it up after a few uses on the 50hz over there. I've spent more years than I would like to admit to in electronics and have found that most 50hz coils/relays don't like 60hz and vice versa.
Anybody have any thoughts or input?

Carl

[pjensen]

Off the top of my head, I think a 50Hz coil on 60Hz power won't reach the rated current, and so the relay might not trip when it is supposed to. It shouldn't fry the relay, however (less current --> less heat --> shouldn't matter). If the relay is, in fact, tripping when it should, then all is probably ok.

A 60Hz coil on a 50Hz power line, on the other hand, will have more current then intended, and may eventually fail do to overheating.

I'm going on first-principals and my understanding of how these relays works, so if somebody chimes in with some "real world" experience, then weight their input more than mine.

[metal-chips]

Hello,

I purchased a new Granite 1340 Max (110V) in the Fall of 08’. It’s a great machine and paid for its self a couple times over. I’ve racked up a lot of hours on it and produced several garbage bags full of aluminum chips. There are some things I think they could improve on: a 3 or 5 speed pulley set up to speed up the head would be great, it’s a little slow for my taste, a direction change lever on the auto feed while its running would also be very use full along with some inspection ports on the X/Y to get at any FOD that can make its way to the gears.

If your limited on floor space the smaller foot print is important. After doing some projects on Jett, Mitsubishi and Bridgeport machines the quality of the Smithy is on par, there’s just more set up involved because it’s a 3 in 1. The accuracy of the scales is spot on, rigidity, quality and design features of the machine are great.

If your interested in getting one make sure you have a game plan together for getting the box to your house and getting it set up. An engine hoist is a must and taking the mill head off helps a lot, this is a big machine. Also don’t neglect the oil ports; it will keep everything running smoothly.

Spencer

[djdjo1]

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I recently ordered a smithy 1220LTD. I hope I made a good choice, but I've never don't any decent machining before on a good machine so I'll be learning. I'll post pictures when I recieve my crate and set it up.

I recently purched 1200LTD, when I started to use the machine I found that it would go into neutral. I placed a call to smithy web site, they told me that I would have fix this problem myself, it is in the manual. I told these people it is brand new, they told me I could ship back to them for another 300.00. So took this new machine and pulled it apart, and cutoff the cluch sleve, so after about 2 hours, this machine is working. After this mess I would not recomend this company or there tools.

[MichaelHenry]

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I recently purched 1200LTD, when I started to use the machine I found that it would go into neutral. I placed a call to smithy web site, they told me that I would have fix this problem myself, it is in the manual. I told these people it is brand new, they told me I could ship back to them for another 300.00. So took this new machine and pulled it apart, and cutoff the cluch sleve, so after about 2 hours, this machine is working. After this mess I would not recomend this company or there tools.

Just curious - what did you expect them to do?

Mike

[GITERDUN]

Just curious - what did you expect them to do?

Mike

Realistically he problably didn't expect much more than he got. What's interesting is that they told him the fix was in the manual. That says they have known of the problem long enough to have put it in the machine manual.
That whole system of running one motor and driving the mill through a bevel gear and dog clutch was a copy of the the old Shoptask machines from the early 80's. Shoptask dumped the whole concept more than 20 years ago. I think it's indicative of the lack of imagination at Smithy that they continue to sell these outdated designs.

[jwms]

I bought a CL1220 some five years ago. Has done everything I have put to it. Found I should have gone with a longer bed. I solved that by getting a longer bed from a machine that had a broken mill head (and "made" by a different company). Be aware- most machines are really made in China for a number of companies. I had to make a few changes to the bed to take the control panel/covers, but the important parts were there. The new lead screw was some work, but all said and done- .0002 for 36 inches of length is pretty darn good. PS- Played around with small 100# table model for a bit before I got the Smithy, so making the conversion to the longer bed was first big job. One way to learn i guess. Has paid for itself in projects for myself and friends by not having to pay a machinist or gunsmith. Next big project will be to add cnc hardware. Do not think it will be that bad.

[spositer]

Does the Smithy 1240 CNC do manual or is it just CNC? And any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

[jwms]

I would think a quick call to Smithy would get you an answer. My plan is to build the cnc to run tandem with the manual controls. I have plenty of motors and drivers are really inexpensive now. Have the pc to run it but want to put it in a cabinet to keep it free of oil and metal contamination.

[Norvil l]

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I recently purched 1200LTD, when I started to use the machine I found that it would go into neutral. I placed a call to smithy web site, they told me that I would have fix this problem myself, it is in the manual. I told these people it is brand new, they told me I could ship back to them for another 300.00. So took this new machine and pulled it apart, and cutoff the cluch sleve, so after about 2 hours, this machine is working. After this mess I would not recomend this company or there tools.

I just browsed through their website for the first time in a while and notice they have dropped some products- they used to sell a Chinese made bulldozer, not surprised that didn't last long. Also no longer selling the Shopsmith copy- wonder if that was some issue over the patents of the original american made machine. Other than that they still sell the same 3 in 1 they sold when they were in Oregon, but have now added a Tormach copy mill to the line.

[MichaelHenry]

To my eyes, the Smithy CNC mill looks a lot more like the Novakon than the Tormach mill.