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It isn't EXACTLY a fabrication question, but it is a fabrication tool so this seems like as good a place as any to ask for advise.
I'm looking for a bench top metal lathe and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations.
I'm not interested in the HF lathes, they are too small and their HP is vastly over stated. Right now I'm leaning toward a Grizzley 9" x 19" for about $1000.
Any input will be appreciated, especially if you have experience with the tool you are recommending.
Eric
I'm not familiar with the metal lathes but I purchased MANY Grizzly woodworking machines in the past, and I'm here to tell ya, their equipment is far superior than most machines out there. Not sure if the lathe you are looking at is Made in Taiwan or not, but the machines I've bought are tough as he** and HEAVY! I noticed that lathe weighs close to 300lbs. Tells me that it's build pretty tough. JMO
It isn't EXACTLY a fabrication question, but it is a fabrication tool so this seems like as good a place as any to ask for advise.
I'm looking for a bench top metal lathe and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations.
I'm not interested in the HF lathes, they are too small and their HP is vastly over stated. Right now I'm leaning toward a Grizzley 9" x 19" for about $1000.
Any input will be appreciated, especially if you have experience with the tool you are recommending.
Thanks,
Eric
That's a cute little machine.
What are you intending on using it on ?
The smallest machine I'd use is an older southbend with a 9" swing, 36" table. Auto threader mandatory.
Some of the craftsman/atlas lathes are ok for small jobs, aluminum work.
To begin with, I need to cut some grooves into 6" long 7/8" diameter aluminum bar stock. The grooved section need to have a .250" OD. and be about .250" wide. I expect a cut off tool will work for this.
I'm sure I'll come up with other uses once I figure out how to use it. I seem to always need small bushings and linkage parts.
I've been watching CL for used machines, but nothing has turned up yet.
Eric
I'm not familiar with the metal lathes but I purchased MANY Grizzly woodworking machines in the past, and I'm here to tell ya, their equipment is far superior than most machines out there. Not sure if the lathe you are looking at is Made in Taiwan or not, but the machines I've bought are tough as he** and HEAVY! I noticed that lathe weighs close to 300lbs. Tells me that it's build pretty tough. JMO
Just watch out for the one Grizzley sells for $500 and looks like a HF lathe. They claim it is 3/4HP but it is really about 1/4. But lots of places (including HF) sell that same lathe with the manufacturers mis-stated HP figures. Since the manufacturer mis-stated it, I guess "Plausible Deniability" is good enough for their legal department.
Having both a CNC Lathe(250mm Swing x 500mm long, $30k when new, has a runout of 0.0001mm) and a Center Lathe (350mm swing x 1000mm long, $10k when new, has a runout of 0.001mm) I would ask what kind of work you are doing and what you expect to do in the future, Chuck bores arn't terribly huge (my Center Lathe has 38mm bore for example) so you cant get a big piece of stock through them. With the smaller units, cutting a long piece (say your 6" in length) will generally have a variation from the edge of the stock to the other end held in the chuck, you would probably have to use a travel steady + tail stock for such.
Most lathes come out of China / Taiwan anyway and most are of a similar build quality to each other, the crucial part is the dialling in of the machine. Without it you wont get quality work.
Value for money the Grizzly unit looks quite good as it , i don't know what the usa market is like however but the Grizzly does come with all the necessary accessories, i.e. steadys + live/dead centers + chucks etc....
Read some reviews on the net about the units, take them with a grain of salt as lots of problems can be put down to user error.
Do you have the opportunity to look at a grizzly in person ???
It would be very interesting to see how much backlash the units have.
My center lathe has a bit of backlash however the digital readout compensates for it.
My CNC lathe has 0 backlash in the leadscrews.
Either way i reckon the grizzly from what i've read + a digital readout addon would make a great easy to use unit to do most small to mid size parts.
No, I have no way to look at one in person. They are mail order only.
I don't expect it to be a GREAT lathe, but I hope that it will be serviceable for parts that do not require a particularly high level of precision. It says that it can cut threads (inner/outer and forward/reverse). If it can do that OK, then I should be fine.
The actual employment related task, that is the excuse for buying it, is particularly simple and hardy requires any precision at all. So I'm sure it can do that. Once I have it, I'm sure I'll start finding all sorts of things I want it to do.
Compared to most small lathes i've seen it does look like one of the better units.
Thread cutting can be done regardless of backlash due to the thread indicator located to the right of the of the carriage, when you start threading via the power feed, when you get to the end of the cut you reverse the power feed back across(not the spindle reverse), you don't take it out of power feed until your done machining the full thread depth.
A digital readout will only make it easy for manual machining of items, It doesn't need to be a super kit or anything, i've seen a few good diy kits that seem pretty accurate and a lot cheaper than the bigger units.
Your right, it is not really big enough for major components, but it is plenty big enough for the parts that I need right now and it will also work for a lot of other stuff.
A lathe that IS big enough for brakes and axles would be many times more expensive (at least twice). As with almost everything, it is a compromise, but it should be a good place to start.
I Have a mini lathe (7x10) I payed $500 for it and it has payed for it self in less then 5 parts I turned on it. I would like a larger one but the amount I would use it and the space it would take up doesn't make it justifiable. I do plan on converting it over to CNC later on.
I Have a mini lathe (7x10) I payed $500 for it and it has payed for it self in less then 5 parts I turned on it. I would like a larger one but the amount I would use it and the space it would take up doesn't make it justifiable. I do plan on converting it over to CNC later on.
See. I find the exact opposite. More times than not, I need to turn something that won't fit in my bench top. (8x18)
It would be nice to be able to make custom rotor modifications, or to make my own wheel hubs for brake conversions. but the number of times I would do that would never make up for the cost of the lathe, or the space that big of a lathe would take up in my garage.
I'm leaning toward a $1000, 9x19 as a compromise. It will be more than big enough to make the parts I need right now and small enough that it won't dominate my garage.
Slightly off topic, but about a lathe. What type of bit would people suggest for turning down the brake rotors to hubs for the big brake swap. I am working with an old gunsmithing lathe with a 1/4" bit size. It's not mine, but my Grandpa's (will be mine eventually, hopefully not in the near future...) and his HSS bits did nothing but remove the rust and dulled immediately. I tried the lone cobalt bit he had, but he didn't have the proper sharpening tools for it and it was dull as heck (probably never sharpened) and did nothing.
Slightly off topic, but about a lathe. What type of bit would people suggest for turning down the brake rotors to hubs for the big brake swap. I am working with an old gunsmithing lathe with a 1/4" bit size. It's not mine, but my Grandpa's (will be mine eventually, hopefully not in the near future...) and his HSS bits did nothing but remove the rust and dulled immediately. I tried the lone cobalt bit he had, but he didn't have the proper sharpening tools for it and it was dull as heck (probably never sharpened) and did nothing.
11-10-2015, 11:08 AM
