[gofastscottb]

I had one of the Tri Power machines on order & John called me & told me the new Patriot machines arrived early. It is supossed to be from a different manufacturer in China. John says there are a lot of upgardes, higher quality bearings, bushings replaced by needle roller bearings bigger handles in new positions. Also Red, White & Blue instead of yellow. So I stepped up for the extra $500 to get the improved version.

Check it out:

http://www.shoptask.com/

Regards,
Scott

[digitalmdj]

The only difference is the x axis feed and the paint job. Trust me they are not going to change much. The spindle housing is the same one since 1990. I can tell you for a fact that it has not changed.I am using a 1990 spindle housing I got from JT on my tri power since the original was a piece of junk. All the castings are made at the same foundry. JT is filling you full of bull. Where are the needle bearings located. And are the spindle housing bearings p5 or better? Ask JT for a complete list of upgrades and make sure he is telling you the truth before you buy. A fancy paint job and a different x axis feed is all I see. We can convert our machines once we see what they have done. The fact is the first machines were machined much better than the ones now. Also I paid $2400 for my machine you are paying way to much for a few upgrades as for the manufacturer it's a lot of crap. The same kind of people are assembling the machine. The parts are still being casted at the same foundry.

[sharpshooter90]

Hey Digital,
First you whine on about some little leak in your casting and now you whine more about this new machine. Have you ever seen it in person? You claim its the same machine from the same place- can you name the factory? I suggest you be careful before you flap your lips right into court. For your information, I contacted JT over a year ago and told him I was going to get a machine when I rotated home. He told me then that he was working on a new design from a new factory and to be sure and call when I was ready. I said it before and I will repeat it now- if you are unhappy, return the machine, buy something else and get on with your life.

[grandscale]

Hey Scott,

Congratulations on the purchase of your new Patriot machine. I've looked at the link and am anxious to hear your feedback. As a long time owner of a 1720XMTC (16 years), I've been very satisfied with my purchase. This little machine has cut everything from 1/8" stainless steel plate to 1/4" thick angle iron and 1/2" thick billet aluminum. It's made everything from door hinges to hood hinges, headlamp bezels, exhaust parts, etc. Sure it's not Mazak caliber. But that's not what I expected (it's a hobby machine). And so long as you keep an open mind to what you will receive, I believe your buying experience will be a pleasurable one. It's good to see that JT has certified his company for ISO9001 standards. With audits conducted every couple of years, maybe some of the quality control issues others have experienced will be reduced substantially. Obviously none of their issues have been significant enough to file a complaint with the BBB. I just looked and they have a clean record (that's right 0 complaints). I shake my head when somebody claims another person is paying too much for an item. The $500 up-charge seems like a small price to pay for all the extra features and a new stand. Along with what could be a much improved machine. I'm sure others will be hoping to hear a "thumbs up" from you in the future.

[digitalmdj]

JT has not replaced my cracked mill head yet . He is not going to so good luck. As for sharpshoter you don't own a machine do you. So how do you know anything. When he gets the machine he can tell us what exactly has changed. But it is not a thousand dollars worth. I would love JT to try and sue me. And let a judge see what he sells as new . A welded repaired casting cannot be sold as new. But JT sold one to me. As for JT suing me he cant. I have only stated facts backed up by pictures. And the old poorly machined parts. I have three machinest to state that the parts were defective. I have all the emails from JT promising a new casting . But nothing has happened. JT is getting what he deserves for not standing behind his product. All he had to do was supply me with good castings but he couldn't even do that. If JT wants this to go away he can simply replace the cracked castings.

[fastlanecafe]

DUDE- WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?
This forum has deleted most of your posts for violating the policies you agreed to when joining. Your endless crying about this stuff is boring. Any reasonable person with an IQ of more than 2 digits can recognize that your issue is far deeper than a defective part.

[digitalmdj]

The posts are not gone they were moved . All I am saying is find out what exactly has been done with the machine before getting excited. I have found over half of the parts on my machine not machined to specs. Threaded crooked. Nuts that are to loose like the locknuts on the mill and spindle shaft and the lift screw nut to loose and the bearing retaining nut threads on the lift screw shaft threaded crooked so the bearing binds up and makes it hard the raise the collum. Then the shaft that holds the gear that raises the collum is out of wack that I would have to rework if I wasn't going to use a lift motor. The lift screw has to be remade because it can't be repaired. Also the mill gearbox has to be shimed to take up the tremendous back lash it has in the manual feed.Well I can go on but you will have to find out for yourself. If you do not have alot of money to do the necessary changes to this machine you will be hurting .

[fastlanecafe]

At least your last post had some information that was useful, which is what these forums are suppossed to be for. Maybe you got a lemon- it happens. Anything made by human beings is subject to mistakes. Its almost weekly news that some big auto maker recalls hundreds of thousands of cars for some defect. Even BMW, who brag about their "ultimate German engineering" had to recall cars for defective brakes. You should have simply sent the machine back for a refund. If not, try to make something positive out the experience by posting your solutions to the various problems for the benefit of others on this forum.

[digitalmdj]

Don't you understand John Taylor has not atempted to replace my bad housing except with another cracked housing that cost me 175.00 dollars to repair. He painted over the cracks with that lead paint so I could not see them. When I bead blasted the paint off to inspect the casting the crackes showed up around the shifter area. The casting would have leaked badly. I dont need another machine I need good housings and he will not take care of it. He blames the chinese for being slow. And it would cost to much to ship alone. That was two shipments ago. He still owes me a new mill head casting. I would not spend another cent on shipping because of this and he had to pay to send the other junk housing back to himself. He cannot use it because it is welded and machined wrong. But he has a heavy paper weight to sit on his desk. I told him that I did not care if anything else was bad but bad castings need to be replaced. So if you buy a machine that has problems and you dont have alot of money and time send it back and dont tear it down let JT do that. He will have to make it right if it starts costing him to much money at his end.

[sharpshooter90]

Fastlane,
No point in arguing with this guy-he's just a crybaby. I've been in places and seen things that many people would not believe. I've been in situations in which all I wanted was to come out alive. Once you've experienced that, silly stuff like machine problems seem completly ridiculous. Every day I wake up and see the sun shine is a great day.

[digitalmdj]

You sound like John Taylor. Just ignore the problem it will go away. So what machine do you own sharpshooter and Fastlane. I would like to know where you get your information? Since we are talking from experience here you need to back it up with facts.

[DISCONNECTED]

3 IN 1 machines are junk and that patriot machine retails for $5,000 and on sale for $3500.Give me a break.Go buy some halfway descent dedicated machines.Do not make the same mistake I did.If you can find a good quality used lathe or mill that is still tight go that route.If you look hard enough bet you can find an industrial quality used lathe and mill for $5,000.