I guess I'll start a build thread, or more like a "can you help me out thread" I just received my PM-25MV last Friday, and was also fortunate enough to get a nice raise and landed a couple big side jobs so i ordered a PM-1020G lathe and had them delivered together.

The PM has changed in design recently, which would have been nice to know since I had already made half of the mounts that I will basically scrap. However, the design changes are for the better. The column to base attachment seems like it will be much more rigid. Also the base, table, saddle and column have all been beefed up. Also the way the mounts attach to them have changed as well. Hence scraping my parts but it's no biggie, just a little more time.

I wasted no time tearing it down. First broke in the spindle then some test cuts in aluminum and SS just to see how it would handle it, much better than my LMS SX2.

One thing I still haven't gotten an answer on is how I'm supposed to tighten the draw bar when there is no way to hold the spindle other than with your hand , which isn't very safe or would i be able to fully tighten the drawbar. Hopefully the QMT guys get back to me soon about this or maybe some of you may have the answer for me.

For the build i'm designing and making all the mounts myself, the controller i had CNC Router Parts build for me because i know nothing about electronics and I'd rather not have to deal with that end of it. I'm using Nema 43 906 oz steppers on all 3 axis solely because the controller was being built by someone else and an extra $100 at this point doesnt really matter. And if i ever decided to upgrade down the road, then i'd be able to re-use all the electronics.

Here's some pics so far. Hopefully i'll get a lot more finished this week....