I've owned my PD 400 lathe for 2 years now; it was the first metalworking tool I have ever owned or used. I purchased it from Dan Kautz (who has been very helpful to this newbie, and with great customer service of his own) via his online store here in Texas, https://thehobbyistmachinestore.com/store/home.php
The PD 400 is a small metric lathe, with 6.7" (170mm) swing, 15.76" (400mm) distance between centers, does metric and imperial threads, and a very complete accessory kit to get started with. Also available are quite a few optional accessories. It is extremely accurate, and finely made. I have recommended it to several people in need of a very precise lathe. All have been very satisfied. It also comes in a CNC version, but I work with computers all day at work, so I prefer something manual right now.
The lathe had one problem, but I was never sure whether it was my inexperience, or a real problem with the lathe.
Trying to drive the carriage with the lead screw (either powered or by using the lead screw hand wheel) resulted in very severe binding of the carriage. I even broke some of the included brass shear pins in the lead screw drive train trying to diagnose the problem.
As I got more experienced with the lathe, I realized that there was an actual manufacturing flaw in the lathe, but by then, I had already owned the lathe for over a year. So, I assumed that I would have to purchase any replacement parts. Since I wasn't exactly sure what the problem was, I did not want to blindly buy a set of parts hoping one of them would fix the problem.
It wasn't too critical at first, first because I wasn't ready to try threading, and second, I haven't actually needed to do any threading till recently. But a project came up that needed much more precise threading than I could I do with taps and dies, encouraging me to finally get this problem resolved.
So, I wrote to Prox-Tech here in the states, and described the problem in as much detail as I could. They forwarded my email to the engineers in Austria, who then emailed me directly with suggestions and things to try.
However, the next day, before I could even attempt to implement their suggestions, I got another email from the engineer saying that one of the senior technicians remembered similar problems with the prototypes in 2000. Therefore, they were shipping me a complete apron assembly, with hand wheel, gears, half nut and lever, a new rack gear, and some more shear pins, all at no charge to me. ;D
They arrived yesterday, installation took me about 15 minutes, and the new apron completely solved the problem. Power feed and threading work perfectly now, the carriage moves smoothly and precisely.
One cannot ask for better customer service than that!
(I have no connection or financial interest in Proxxon, other than being a very satisified Proxxon customer. I do own some of their other products, the IB/E rotary tool, the KT 70 X-Y table, and some others, all are excellent value in their class).
The PD 400 is a small metric lathe, with 6.7" (170mm) swing, 15.76" (400mm) distance between centers, does metric and imperial threads, and a very complete accessory kit to get started with. Also available are quite a few optional accessories. It is extremely accurate, and finely made. I have recommended it to several people in need of a very precise lathe. All have been very satisfied. It also comes in a CNC version, but I work with computers all day at work, so I prefer something manual right now.
The lathe had one problem, but I was never sure whether it was my inexperience, or a real problem with the lathe.
Trying to drive the carriage with the lead screw (either powered or by using the lead screw hand wheel) resulted in very severe binding of the carriage. I even broke some of the included brass shear pins in the lead screw drive train trying to diagnose the problem.
As I got more experienced with the lathe, I realized that there was an actual manufacturing flaw in the lathe, but by then, I had already owned the lathe for over a year. So, I assumed that I would have to purchase any replacement parts. Since I wasn't exactly sure what the problem was, I did not want to blindly buy a set of parts hoping one of them would fix the problem.
It wasn't too critical at first, first because I wasn't ready to try threading, and second, I haven't actually needed to do any threading till recently. But a project came up that needed much more precise threading than I could I do with taps and dies, encouraging me to finally get this problem resolved.
So, I wrote to Prox-Tech here in the states, and described the problem in as much detail as I could. They forwarded my email to the engineers in Austria, who then emailed me directly with suggestions and things to try.
However, the next day, before I could even attempt to implement their suggestions, I got another email from the engineer saying that one of the senior technicians remembered similar problems with the prototypes in 2000. Therefore, they were shipping me a complete apron assembly, with hand wheel, gears, half nut and lever, a new rack gear, and some more shear pins, all at no charge to me. ;D
They arrived yesterday, installation took me about 15 minutes, and the new apron completely solved the problem. Power feed and threading work perfectly now, the carriage moves smoothly and precisely.
One cannot ask for better customer service than that!
(I have no connection or financial interest in Proxxon, other than being a very satisified Proxxon customer. I do own some of their other products, the IB/E rotary tool, the KT 70 X-Y table, and some others, all are excellent value in their class).
