Any opinion of Smithy 3in1 machines?

H

HansenCE

Guest
I am not a gunsmith or a machinist. I am an Engineer/Product Designer and I occasionally like to prototype small parts for my current projects. At my skill level it usually takes 3-5 blanks for me to make one good part. Do any of you have any experience or opinion on any of the Smithy products? The 3in1 machines are particularly attractive for my purposes. If you could be model specific that would help.

Thanks in advance.

Carl
 
Had one during my tenure in Baghdad for repair work on M-4's and such.

I'd avoid and get something better. JMO
 
Smithy 3 in 1

Carl,

The one I played with actually took more skill to make good parts than doing work on individual machines. The change over from lathe to mill to drilling machine requires a lot of time and a great deal of thought as to what process is next. In order to get all the features into one package a compromise in convenience was necessary. The lathe part of the 3 in 1 doesn't have a quick change gear box. The feeds are not powered as in a dedicated machine. If you have the money, separate machines will serve you better. Just my opinion.

Randy
 
Not questioning whether individual standalone machines can do better work or have a better set of features... but can decent work be done by a patient individual who doesn't have the space for separate machines of similar size/capacity?
 
Anything is certainly possible, but everyone here has made excellent points as to why these machines don't lend themselves well to all but the most very basic machine operations.

They are extremely limited in their capacity and one of the cardinal rules when buying equipment is to get the largest machine you can possibly afford/fit in the shop because you will ALWAYS have that "one job" where you wished you had a little more travel, capacity, etc.

It is a buyers market right now for machinery. A little patience and diligent shopping can tool a guy up very reasonably with very respectable equipment.
 
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