Is there anyone who has experience with 3-in-1 tools? I would like to hear from them.
I am considering getting one, choosing between Smithy and Shoptask. If you think there's a machine that is also a good candidate(the term is that the lathe must be able to handle a rifle barrel, 26"+ between centers), I'd be happy to know.

The Smithy one :
http://www.smithy.com/midas1239.htm

It has 39" lathe, much more expensive than ShopTask, and no gimmicks.

The ShopTask one(Gun Master) :
http://www.shoptask.com/machine2.htm

It has 32" lathe, less expensive, with gimmicks.

The gerneral opion seems to be that these machine while having the capablities of doing the work of three different machines don't do any of the operations well. Its like the saying, A jack of all trades and a master of none.

While you can mill, turn and drill on them your capablities are limited in these operations. And you cant have it setup for both milling and turing at the same time. You have to reset the machine every time. You would probably be better of with getting two different machines.
Ray

I'll put my thoughts in before the real gunsmiths have a chance to comment on this too.

If you are planning on doing any quantity of barrel work you will be getting a lathe. Now you may buy a 3 in 1 machine first before you get one, but eventually you will. None of the machinists that I know ever says anything positive about them. If you are not looking for precision I'm sure they would work, but for gun work you are really painting yourself into a corner. I think you are better off getting a lathe and using it for milling too until you can afford a separate milling machine.

I totally Agree with M1carbine. I have been a machinist for 12 years and can tell you that setup time is the key to getting a job done. You will spend more time setting the thing up for separate jobs then you will making chips. These machines are great for the tinkerer but if you plan to get serious then you need to get a serious machine. The parts you make will only be as good as your machine. Now you don't have to spend a lot of money to get a goo machine either.
Smithy makes a BZ-239. This I would consider to be the minimum lathe for the home user/ hobby gunsmith. It has a 1.44" through hole in the spindle and is 39" between centers which will turn almost all the barrels you will work on. Jet machine makes a nice lathe and mill but they go for about $5,000.00 each.
And here is something to think about. I don't care what kind of work you do on machines, you will use a mill twice as much as a lathe so put your money in the mill and get a decent but less expensive lathe if money is a problem. You can always up grade the bearings in the lathe to get better accuracy at a later date. And I say bearings because all things being equal it's the grade of the bearings that you pay for in a high quality lathe compared to lesser quality. The grade of bearings control the runout of the parts, Grade 5 minimum grade 7 preferred but not available on less expensive models and grade 9 or 10 reserved for Swiss type or CNC machine of ultra high accuracy (ie .00002 max runout). Grade 5 runout .0005, grade 7 runout .0002".
If you need any more info let me. I'll help you all I can.
Kerry

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If you can't hunt, fish. If you can't fish, Hunt

Thanks for replies.

The tool is not really intended for gunworks, but I thought I can have a longer lathe if I ever need to turn a barrel.

The machine is for prototyping inventions. I have build up so many projects for being tool-less.

Honestly, setup time never was in my mind, but now it is. Too bad my space only allow one machine, so it really has to be a 3-in-1.

How often do you plan on doing milling? If you don't plan on doing much milling you could get a better lathe and a millling attachment for it. You can do both then and would prabably better then a 3-in-1 any way.
Ray

I just looked at the two machines you mentioned and would have to say that neather looks all that great. The both look under powered and don't seem to go slow enough to make threding practical for most required setups. Of the two I would have to say that the smithy looks better but not much. So if you can only have a 3-in-1 I would look for other options.
Ray