Small lathes (12 x 24 perhaps up to 13 x 40)

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I'm looking a small to medium sized lathe.  These Grizzly models are among some of the models I'm considering:http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x...ed-Lathe/G4002http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x...ed-Lathe/G4003http://www.grizzly.com/products/13-1...-w-Stand/G4016Any comments would be appreciated, particularly if you have used any of these model or similar ones before.  My shop space is limited and I don't see myself needing to work on large workpieces (over 3' long) so am hoping to get a small to medium sized good quality model with tight tolerances for under $2500.Electronics Engineer (embedded controls)Miller 200DX w/ Coolmate 3Thermal Dynamics 82 plasma cutterGrizzly G0678 8x30 millPM1440BV 14x40 latheHF 6x12 surface grinder
Reply:After looking at the prices of Grizz machines you're considering, I recommend that you look for a well tooled, older US of A lathe. The lathe itself is only a part of the total cost of doing machine work.....the tooling and work holding items can add a significant amount of $$. Atlas, South Bend, Logan and others made great machines, and they turn up on Craig's List fairly regularly. I would not be surprised if you found a very decent lathe with a good bit of tooling for significantly less than the lowest priced GrizzHere's a couple of links to check out:http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.htmlhttp://www.lathes.co.uk/Rex
Reply:Hi, In my opinion, it would depend on many factors, first of all, the differences between the G4002  and the G4003 is $100,  which when you consider you are looking at the price of $2850 to $2750, there is nothing in it so I would go for the G4003, you get a larger HP motor and an extra 12" bed length. However it also depends on what you think you may want to do with a lathe, I personally buy equipment larger than I have an immediate need for. There is nothing worse than buying a piece of equipment and then you get a job which requires a bigger machine. In a welder you sometime can get around a under powered machine by grooving out the metal for the joint, multiple passes, preheat ect. However on a lathe that has 24" center to center and you get a job that is 36" long, well there is not much you can do with it easily.  Also, the other lathe is a G4016 and it is about 25% dearer, however it has a larger bed(40" between centers), much faster top speed which will give you a better finish on certain materials (2100 rpm vs. 1400 rpm), jog and emergency stop function, thread dialer ect. So, if you wanted to buy new and the shop size and the price of the G4016 wasn't an issue, then out of those 3 lathes that you specified I would get the G4016, however as I said before, it depends on what you anticipate you need in a lathe, the larger one would give you more work options and features and would enable you to get a bigger variety of work due to its capabilities. If you are making money using it and pay tax, then it should be a tax deduction anyway.Now after all that, if room wasn't a problem and you didn't mind buying a used lathe, for the same sort of dollars you could buy a much larger but older good used production lathe, it would give you much more capacity, it would be built better and should outlast the small lathes, some of the older production lathes are still running 50 years later, just make sure you get it checked out so that it hasn't got any issues, as they won't have any warranties, as well as the electricity power requirements they require to run on. You don't want to buy problems. But you should be able to pick up a good one for those dollars that is only 5 years old or so. Especially with all the manufacturing businesses going down the drain, plus as an added bonus you could pick up a heap of tools with it, and tools are not cheap, the lathe cost is only the starting price, tools could cost in the hundreds to the thousands of dollars depending on what you need. Give it some thought!You did say that you had limited shop space but if you intend to do a fair amount of work on a lathe then you might want to reorganise your shop a bit if possible and get a larger lathe should one come up, the differences in length between your 3 choices is I think about 20".Last edited by Ed.; 04-26-2010 at 09:01 AM.Miller Auto Invision 456 + S-62 wire feederC6240B1 Gap bed lathe16 ft3 air compressor16 speed pedestal drillHafco BS-912 Bandsaw
Reply:I have had a 4016  for the last 3 years.  Very happy with it.