Any recommendations for NEW lathes or lathe/mill combo for some home work? I don't intend to do any barrel work, just receivers/parts.

I have also seen one that allows the barrel to pass thru the chuck, allowing finishing, but not being the full distance between centers required for barrel turning, etc.

I don't have a lot of room. THis is just for my personal stuff.

do NOT buy a lathe/mill combo for gunsmithing .. those make fine drill presses and case polishers ..

my advice is to go take some vo-tech classes on lathes, and undertand what a dangerous and powerful thing they are.

then, if you really want to, get the smaller grizzy gunsmithing lathe ,... though the larger one is much better

I looked at the Grizzlys, probably the best choice for what I want. I just don't have the space and wanted to spend less. I might try a local workshop I can rent or something, but that takes the fun out of it.

I used BIG lathes years ago while in college getting my engineering degree. Built a dill press in a lab class - all on a lathe. The lathe was the size of a small car.

Then get a small South Bend lathe. Takes up about a 2X4 foot spot.

How much room do you have??

i bought the grizzly, new, in 1999 ...
mill didn't reach the "vise" , weight limit on table, nylon toothed maine drive gears that strip out the first time you cut threads,take an interupted cut or a heavy bite .. i replaced the gears three times, and a nonstop hassle .. i sold mine for 40cents on the dollar...
g9729

sounds great, didn't work for CRAP for gunsmithing

I just picked up a used ENCO 13x40. Paid about one third what they cost new.

I looked at a Precision Mathews 11X27, might be a good fit for what you want. Just enough machine to do barrel work, but still on the smaller side.

I agree about the mill/drill/lathe combo machines. They just don't have what it takes for serious work, and even small work is serious if you want it to be precision.

take it from a seasoned Tool & Die maker.

Combos suck.
It mill, drill, and turns. but doesn't do any of them well.
Not to mention they are loose as a goose in every axis. have very limited mill ability. And as mentioned Undersized gears, undersized motor, Over sized price.

They also take way to long to switch from lathe to mill. I can step from my lathe and be at my mill. There is a price for convenience.

Look for a used lathe, mill, or drill press but not all three in one.

My Bridgeport mill, South bend lathe and K.O.Lee surface grinder cost $2000 combined. Good deals are out there just bide your time and be ready to jump on deal when it comes by.

Thanks - I'll stick with a straight lathe.


It's incredible that the Grizzly came with nylon gears. Maybe they have changed since then, but that's unbelievable!

call them .. pot metal gears with nylon teeth .. and FIVE hours to replace them ..

the mill head can't reach the vise .. or even close to it, and you can't put anything bigger than a 4" vise on it, due to weight ..

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
call them .. pot metal gears with nylon teeth .. and FIVE hours to replace them ..

the mill head can't reach the vise .. or even close to it, and you can't put anything bigger than a 4" vise on it, due to weight ..

= Not a real machine

Big problem with a lathe is radial run out.

Therefore when buying a lathe for precision work I would take my magnetic base dial indicator and not buy anything with a runout greater than .005mm. (0.0002")

But where are you putting that indicator??

Not on the chuck I hope.
Measurements need to be taken on the spindle flange if nothing else And really this tells you little of the true running surfaces.

This is being facetious But the only way to get a true representation of the spindle run out is with a precision test bar. But how many of us have one of those in our back pocket??

What I'm getting at is don't take measurement on a surface that has wear on it.

quote:

I don't have a lot of room.

Your cup 'o tea.

I have a couple of close friends who use these lathes . They build scale engines Complete running Radial's

V8's hit an miss fairbanks and even an Offy . to the tune of 1/25 scale in some cases and they all RUN !.

Jack is working on a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Wasp motor currently a twin row of 7 cylinders or 14 cylinder radial

and he Builds EVERYTHING including spark plugs !!!. It also requires a Mill and he has a Dandy !!!.

http://www.sherline.com/ http://www.hardingeus.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbc8TNueE8w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...FKtA&feature=related

I'm pretty sure kcstott has been here ; It's an interesting place as they have many working models as well as

Originals which still work !. http://www.gasenginerow.com/

I got some good recommendations offline from Les - thanks!

Also, someone mentioned Precision Matthews above.

Looks like this package would do nicely aswell. Bigger than I want, but very complete.

http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1027Lathe.html