Which lathe between the two?

E

eddief

Eddie Fosnaugh
Bigger isn't better with gunsmithing lathes. I'd buy the small grizzly and lots of tooling, gauges, reamers etc. Maybe upgrade the motor with a VFD.

Or, get a milling machine and small lathe.
 
Don't want the small Grizzly but, that Whacheon looks nice except the headstock looks pretty deep.
 
Grizzly's head honcho is a shooter

Thus I vote for the Grizzly, and kudos to Shiraz Balolia (Grizzly founder). :D
 
I am impressed that Grizzly makes an inboard, cam lock spyder to be used in place of a chuck when barrel length vs. headstock depth is an issue. Who else makes one of these?
 
Boyd Allen said:
I am impressed that Grizzly makes an inboard, cam lock spyder to be used in place of a chuck when barrel length vs. headstock depth is an issue. Who else makes one of these?
Click to expand...

I'd be even more impressed if they made it with out the long exposed bolts to grab clothing and meat (aka hands and arms).

Like this one for example:

Doneopenflush1RS.jpg


I find I have my hands and arms in the vicinity of the reamer all the time when chambering and those exposed bolts would be spinning around just waiting for a chance to grab something.

Fitch
 
I agree the grizzly cathead is dangerous, but it works well and is reasonably priced. A better one can be built when time and wallets affords.

As mentioned, the used lathe market is good right now, and that is a good route to go, but a novice beware. Know what your getting meets your needs.

Ben
 
I have the PM 13 x 40 and love it.
Better deal then the grizzly which I was going to buy.
 
Which lathe between the two

Mrgunslinger,
I own the 1340t lathe also.
I have no way to drain the gear box oil from the headstock. I was told by Matt I would have to remove the whole gearbox and ship back to him to drill the hole unless i wanted to just remove and drill myself.
Also, I have no drain for the coolant to go back to the sump pump in the back.
Did your lathe have a drain plug hole for the gearbox and also some way to send the coolant back to the pumb in the back to be recirculated?
John
 
A friend bought one of the 16x40 Grizzlys last year and asked me to come down to help him select tooling for it. I went down and showed him how to cut threads with it, and was impressed with its rigidity & smoothness, compared to my 2000lb. 13x40 chicom.

I had been in the market for a 2nd lathe at the time, and had one of the small Grizzly gunsmithing models on backorder. After seeing & running the 16x40, I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied with a lathe both smaller & lighter than the 13x40 I already had, but balked at the notion of having to buy another dozen or more 300-series toolholders to fit the 16x40's QC toolpost. I wound up purchasing a 14x40 chicom that came equipped with an installed DRO, taper attachment, QC toolpost, & collet closer - along with the usual accessories - instead.

Have regretted that decision ever since - and every time I read about a really good used lathe for sale like the Whacheon in the link posted above, it makes me feel a little more disgruntled. If the Whacheon wasn't 1300+miles away, I'd pay the $5k he's asking for it, and worry about finding another home for my 2nd chicom machine later. We just don't see deals like that one out here in the middle of the country where there's little manufacturing, which is why so many of us have made do by purchasing chicom machines.

OTOH, I have to agree with Bill & Boyd's posts - kudos to Shiraz for offering machines that are much closer to what most of us really want & need. And if you're willing to pay more, he at least gives his customers the option of purchasing Taiwanese machinery. Whatever - I'd be a lot happier if I'd never read through the linked thread about the Whacheon - I've lusted for a Mori Seiki for years.
 
Well, I like all the comments you guys have given and take them all in as honest advice.

With me being a novice as far as the workings of a lathe and reparing one, I believe that buying a new one will be in my best interest.

Any more comments or pm's would be great. As I will be buying one within a month.

I will be purchasing a used mill also. Thanks again!
 
I have a Whacheon or Webb and a 16x40 Grizzly. If you buy the Grizzly you can go to work immediately, because it is packaged with almost everything you need to chamber barrels. The Whacheon is more lathe and it is really smooth, but is long through the headstock. You will speed a lot of time making fixtures and possibly repairing worn parts.
 
Grizzly spider backplate

If I recall correctly, the discussion about Grizzly making these spiders was promoted on this forum to Shiraz. He made what was requested by forum members. I don't think we need to ding him for responding to these requests. I can see this criticism resulting in him being more skeptical in responding to ideas from this community. My lathe has D1-4 mounts so I can't use these anyway so I'm building my own and will probably use shorter bolts as well.
 
If I remember correctly the 16" Grizzly is 24" from chuck to end of spindle, the cathead will reduce that measurement but the spyder on the off side will add some of it back.

I'd go for a quality used lathe with a shorter headstock. I've bought two quality lathes this year, a Harrison M300 tooled and a Nardini MS-1440E with most tooling (no taper attachment) and paid less then a 12" Grizzly without collet closer, taper attachment, Aloris etc. Considering that I've had no luck with the chucks, motors, tool posts, accuracy etc. on the China lathes I believe the used market is a gold mine......at least for now. A guy here has a 1967 Monarch 10EE square dial, high precision model, loaded and in great shape for $3500 and can't sell it. The Monarch is not what I'm recommending for a gunsmith lathe but a new one is $80,000 puts the used one market in perspective.
 
Bnhpr said:
I agree the grizzly cathead is dangerous, but it works well and is reasonably priced. A better one can be built when time and wallets affords.

<snip>

Ben
Click to expand...

Ben,

Arms, hands, and fingers are priceless.

I built the spider chuck in the picture in less than an afternoon for about eleven bux (for the bolts) out of scrap metal I had lying around and bolted it to the back plate off my 4J. Almost can't get any cheaper than that.

I swap the chuck and the spider on the backplate. If I was doing barrels for money I'd have a seperate backplate for the spider.

One could be built out of a 6" square piece of 1" thick aluminum plate in about half an hour and bolted to a back plate that is traded between the chuck and the spider.

I wish Grizzly sold one that at least used set screws so they didn't poke out of the body of the spider. Maybe purchasers can replace the bolts with setscrews in the name of safety.

I'll say it again, those Grizzly spiders are seriously hazerdous and they don't have to be.

I do like the big Grizzly gunsmith lathe. I've seen it's sister lathe in the Grizzly showroom at the Lycoming mall. I drive by that mall on my way to visit my sister and my youngest daughter in Rochester. The car just seems to turn into the Grizzly parking lot and stop. Funny how that happens.

Fitch
 
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