buying a new lathe

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looking at grizzly 13 1/2 x 40 # g4016 $2995.00and 13 x 40 # g9036 $3995.00 do you need a foot brakeand what extras should i get i plan on $800.00 or so to get started Attached Images
Reply:get a foot brake, they come in quite handy.  the one at the shop im working at has no foot brake and it gets old real quick.get some carbide cutters, threading tools, knurler, live center, quick change tool post and holders
Reply:In that size range you ought to check out Enco's 13 x 40.  Seems like they sell for about $1000 less, and would be of the same exact Chinese quality.  We bought one here at Panoz in 1996, and it's had a never ending line of of idiots that know nothing about how to use a lathe abuse it ever since.  Plus, for about 2 years we had a guy lease a corner of our shop to run his machine shop out of.  He had all CNC stuff, but used this lathe day in day out as well.  I would never have thought a low dollar chinese machine would have held up to what this one has...
Reply:Oh - and I have run many lathes, none of which had a foot brake.  I'm sure it's nice, but wouldn't make it a determining factor in buying.  If you get one that's 3 phase you've got reverse as a brake...
Reply:I've read on other sites that Grizzly has just about the best customer support out there as far as imported stuff goes.A gap bed would be handy if you ever need a larger swing for a workpiece."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Depending on what kind of work you're doing, you might consider a collet closer. They allow more precision work than the average chuck. I have seen some larger Aloris QC tool holders on Craigslist for fairly decent prices. They are small and light enough that if you could arrange for shipping from areas further away, it might be worth looking there.[I know, CL is 'supposed' to be for local dealings, per CL]If you don't know how to search CL across the country, I can tell you. Just pm me. I'd expect EBay prices to be more.
Reply:I have the 12x24 Grizzly lathe and it has no foot brake. I have had no problems with it. As far as additional items, a quick change tool post and tool holders come in very handy. I bought one to go with my lathe and I love it. The tool holder shown with the lathe you are looking at dose not have an adjustment up and down (mine was the same way). You have to space under the tooling to set your tool hight. The QC tool post I bought was an import brand, I couldnt afford an Aloris.
Reply:I did a lot of research a couple of years ago looking into lathes....I bought a used South Bend thinking I would save a few bucks...nothing could have been further from reality. The import lathes are almost all the same...some have more extras and usually those are reflected in the total price. I'm not saying Grizzly takes a Harbor Freight lathe and goes thru it,but pretty close. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43681 Some lathes are belt driven and some are gearheads ...this is a matter of choice,although the gearheads are the most sought after.Watch out for shipping charges...they can be costly. Jet lathes are on par with Grizzly. Enco carries similar products,but I usually find them higher priced (they have everything though) You didn't say what your usage might be... guns? light industrial? home shop? That might make a difference in machine choice. If you care to say perhaps I could suggest options other than Grizzly. They have a good reputation & don't mean to short them,but there is usually more than one way to skin a cat. There are two types of quick change tool posts a wedge & a piston...I have a brand new piston type I bought,but it's too big for my 9" SB,but would fit a 10" up swing lathe.I loaned a bunch of my catalogs to a friend(need to get them back) or I'd suggest some other machine choices. Bottom line it's your money and you know what you want or need.....but you did askLast edited by mudbugone; 09-19-2008 at 09:36 PM.
Reply:RE: The Southbend.Bought an old Atlas/Clausing.  Be out probably a bunch of money before I get it into shape.  But just looking at the castings is a pleasure.  No sharp edges, no residual sand.  The people that made it cared about what they were doing."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:That was my thinking with the South Bend I bought....Then the shipper or the freight co. or the place I had it delivered to (one of um anyway) hit it with a forklift...So my pretty good $375 lathe with $350 shipping has progressed somewhere into the "grand" arena ...I quit counting when it became obvious I had lost the "deal" I started with. It's been fun all in all and I've learned a lot about the machine. In all fairness I should say I bought stuff I didn't really need ..just wanted... and I bought some items over & over until I got what I thought was an excellent replacement part...don't even ask how many end covers I bought to replace the crushed original one. I can of course sell the extras and get that money back.Where I really got carried away was the misc. tooling.... the stuff is very expensive and I still didn't get a taper attachment.I must add, I got side tracked when I decided to build a stand from an old steel office desk. That involved welding and misc. materials collection and design to put together a self contained, moveable lathe stand. I haven't finished the thing yet,but I think it was a more ambitious project than I had time or room for at the time. Anyone that has a lathe though knows they are heavy suckers and even a 9" swing lathe with all the accessories will be up in the 5-6 hundred pound area...this one with stand & accessories will be a bit more..LOL The stand became a necessary item once I discovered (1) The lathe needed to be mounted (2) It's very heavy (3) I needed to be able to move it around without disassembling the thing (4) I had to design levelers that would support 1000# safely (5) I wanted everything self contained (6) Including an overhead lighted shelf.  It's about 6' long 3' deep & will be about 7' tall when finished....I wouldn't call it compact,but it's a self contained lathe work station for sure. It's on casters and will have 1&1/2"  all-thread 13" bolts at each corner as levelers(part of the misc. collection & design) scrap yard find.I hope it's finished enough in the next month or so to post some pics of my progress in the forum.
Reply:I have a 'small' 10" x 36" South Bend mounted to the floor, but I put my Bridgeport (Series I with 9 x 42" table) on a "dolly" so I can move it when needed. My floor has a very slight grade, but 2000 pounds doesn't need much grade to want to roll downward, or fight going 'uphill'....On the dolly, I have leveling screws screws at the corners, and a smaller one in the center front; I adjust the back two and the front single one to get the unit level, then make contact with the front corner two and finally turn those two down an additional turn or so.The South Bend Quick Change gear boxes usually have a better range of gears than the newer imports, which can be useful if you do lots of uncommon thread cutting. I think the headstock design on the newer ones, including the imports, can be sturdier.I should be out there finishing a project right now; see what you've made me do instead!Mudbugone, can you post a shot of your 'work station' when it's finished?Farmersamm, does your Atlas/Clausing have brass plates for the name tag or ??, also what size is it and what do you need to get it fully refurbished?Last edited by Oldiron2; 09-20-2008 at 02:11 AM.
Reply:Oldiron2-- I'll put up pics for sure--LOL  Farmersamm posted a pic of his Clausing in another thread...it's on CI legs probably like your SB 10...my little SB 9" is a bench lathe. Another imported lathe is a Birmingham ( www.AmericanMachineTools.com ) to view them in print (don't know the company,just posting a link to the lathes) There is little difference in the larger lathes & they seem to come from just a few factories in China.Birmingham seems to be one of the better quality manufacturers there,but like all things imported buyer beware. You didn't indicate where you are located...shipping will be a costly factor usually,so try a distributer that's close or that offers inexpensive S&H no matter what you decide to purchase.  The biggest deciding factor will probably be what items are included with the original package... any extra items you need after the fact will cost you dearly in most cases...so make sure you balance out price--included extras--S&H as well as quality. In light of the economy,I'm betting you could make a sweet deal on a new lathe with whatever you need in the way of extras delivered to your location.
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2I have a 'small' 10" x 36" South Bend mounted to the floor, but I put my Bridgeport (Series I with 9 x 42" table) on a "dolly" so I can move it when needed. My floor has a very slight grade, but 2000 pounds doesn't need much grade to want to roll downward, or fight going 'uphill'....On the dolly, I have leveling screws screws at the corners, and a smaller one in the center front; I adjust the back two and the front single one to get the unit level, then make contact with the front corner two and finally turn those two down an additional turn or so.The South Bend Quick Change gear boxes usually have a better range of gears than the newer imports, which can be useful if you do lots of uncommon thread cutting. I think the headstock design on the newer ones, including the imports, can be sturdier.I should be out there finishing a project right now; see what you've made me do instead!Mudbugone, can you post a shot of your 'work station' when it's finished?Farmersamm, does your Atlas/Clausing have brass plates for the name tag or ??, also what size is it and what do you need to get it fully refurbished?
Reply:For now anyway, I think I've got all the parts lined up, but I really haven't had time to tear it down yet."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I would check out the Precision Matthews lathes this guy sells-http://www.machinetoolonline.com/He has a good rep for even better customer service than Grizzly or Jet, and he knows a LOT about the chinese and Taiwan stuff.Just because the lathes look alike, doesnt mean they are- Not only are there 50 or 100 different factories, but you can buy the same casting with different quality bearings, electrics, and gears. So two lathes that look a lot alike can be totally different.I have a big, heavy, expensive made in Taiwan lathe, and it is great- and it happens to be a Jet. But I would not take a Jet 9x20 if you paid me. The expensive, highest end models from Jet and Grizzly are usually pretty good, but their low price stuff is made to be cheap, and it is.I live right near the Grizzly world headquarters, and after a few bad experiences there, I wont buy anything from Grizz that uses electricity. Woodworking stuff, maybe. But I dont trust their metalworking stuff much- although I am VERY hard on tools, and expect high quality.Anyway, give Matt at Quality a call, and see what he has to say, and what kind of package he can offer you. He is a straight shooter.
Reply:Victor/Fortune is a good brand of Taiwanese lathe.