Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

This forum is dedicated to those hobbyists with the 3-in-1 metalworking machines. Mill-Drill-Lathes. Tips, techniques, modification and use of these machines is topical.

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ken572
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Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:11 pm
Location: Mesa, Arizona. 85201-1517

Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by ken572 »

Regardless of what you hear, if you talk to any Journeyman
Tool and Die Machinist, Journeyman Millright, or Journeyman Machine
Repairman, They will tell you that if you want to make good quality
precisian parts, time and care must be spent prepping, leveling,
shimming, setting and tighting down from the base to floor, and on up
with a good machinist level, and then check alignments, hense the more
precision your final machined piece's will be. You will be amazed at how
good you can make any 3 in 1 work for you if you spend quality prep
time on it. Back in the day we wrote into our 6 month PM system
to relevel, reshim, resecure, and realign, all machine shop machines so
we could do .0001 tolerance's. That being said, The machine is only as
good as the man in front of it. A good machinist will always, Install, clean,
Maintain, and Lube his machine before he makes parts, and then PM it at
least every 6 months.

Now.. (CLICK ON THIS LINK)

http://armurerieduroi.com/pages/lathe/l ... eling.html

Enjoy.
Ken.
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
16WhiteColly
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Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by 16WhiteColly »

Agree with everything that ken572 above said. I have done a lot of tweaking and upgrading on my 9729 since 2004 and it is a much better machine now. Also the cleaning an lubing idea is absolutely correct.
40 year retired machinist.
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tornitore45
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Location: USA Texas, Austin

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by tornitore45 »

What my Chinese lathe and mill lack in power, rigidity and accuracy is offset by their intelligence and ability to learn because they have learned to turn out better and better parts since the the day I bought them. They still screw up occasionally but not as nearly as they were brand new.
Mauro Gaetano
in Austin TX
16WhiteColly
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Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by 16WhiteColly »

If you’ve ever done machining on a shop lathe or Mill, you can have a tendency to expect the same great results when you buy a 3 in 1 machine. As long as you do not let yourself fall into that mindset, you will be happy with the 3 in 1. It did not take me long to figure that out after shop machining for 40 years.
40 year retired machinist.
16WhiteColly
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Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by 16WhiteColly »

I have since been able to tweak the G 9729 a very nice accurate machine since purchasing it in 2004. A good cleaning and many adjustments, makes it a good machine for the price.
40 year retired machinist.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by Bill Shields »

My personal problem with machines of this type is that when I need a lathe it is set up as a mill..and when I need a mill it is set up as a lathe...and I spent more time transitioning the machine than making parts.

That and half nuts ..no matter how well made -> do not lend themselves to driving a milling table..

Bought my first and last 3 in 1 machine darn near 50 years ago...a maximat something and ended up using it only as a metric lathe as soon as I had the $ to get a small tabletop knee mill.

I still have it but have no idea where the milling head is located..took it off to move the machine 40 years ago and never put it back on.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
16WhiteColly
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Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by 16WhiteColly »

I have no problem with quick changeover from lathe to mill on my 9729. Remove the original square tool post one screw slide it off, open the compound vice, I have a Palmgren vice mounted on a 1” solid block that clamps right in the compound vice and ready to mill. The height is even perfect for the mill quill location. That’s my two main setups. Occassionally, I remove the entire compound to mount a chuck or a rotary table straight on the cross slide.
40 year retired machinist.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by Bill Shields »

Giggle...you are reinforcing my point about why I will never purchase another..but then I have the blessing of floor space.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
toolroom
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Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:12 am
Location: Portland (area) Oregon

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by toolroom »

Ken, Very true, but to take your post one step further, I retired from the machinists trade after 30 years as a dimensional metrologist, calibrating measuring instruments, and many younger guys start out buying lesser expensive measuring tools, and asking if it will last. My reply always was, ... "A measuring tool will last as long as how well you take care of it." Thanks for the thread
RSG
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by RSG »

toolroom wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:57 am Thanks for the thread
Wow it's been a long while since anything from Ken has surfaced. Toolroom, thanks for refreshing this thread as a reminder of members past, not sure if you are aware but Ken past away about five or more years ago.
Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.
pete
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Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:04 am

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by pete »

Yep Ken was a real helpful and knowledgeable guy for sure Ron. There's a definite hole left in this forum without him.
MAC3-1
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Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:57 pm

Re: Your 3 in 1 (Any Brand) will be as good as YOU make it.

Post by MAC3-1 »

Old post but Im new here,
I acquired a smithy 3-1 1220 XL
It has needed extensive cleaning and set up. What was supposed to be tight was loose what should move freely was binding. Everything was out of whack. Im a auto mechanic not a machinist but I could see this machine needed love and attention. I started at the tail stock and moved to the left on cleaning and adjusting.
Its so much better now than when I picked it up.
I will need a precision level to go to the next step of precision.
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