Grizz or Smithy lathe.........

I don't have neither...but if I was spending my own money for my own purposes, it would be the Grizzly.

Wally
 
The Grizzly looks like it will cost you $300 to $400 more by the time the crate is sitting in your shop. Just looking at the specs and features it looks like the Grizzly would be way more cost effective since it already has lights, coolant system, spider, and the foot brake is a nice feature. The slide out chip tray would definitely ease the cleanup chores. This lathe does not appear to have the roller tipped steady and follow rests that my 4003G features.
 
Sailhertoo,

It is going to be difficult to get any first hand experience with that particular model Grizzly. It hasn't been shipped yet. It is a new model.

I have had one on order for the past three months and it has been back ordered three times. The latest date they gave me is June 25th, but Grizzly is not giving me any confidence it will show up then.

I am cancelling my order and going with a different lathe.

Good luck.

Jim
 
Thanks for the replies. I think I'll try to wait for the new Grizzly.
 
sailhertoo

If you have $10,000 to $12,000 to spend on a lathe & $7,000 to $9,000 to spend on a mill I would recommend the Grizzly gun smithing lathe & a South Bend mill.
You really do need both. I have taken two of Gordy Gritters gunsmithing classes, he was the gunsmith that helped to design the Grizzly lathe, it really does have good features. Now on the other side I have owned a Smithy Granite 1324 for 10 + years and have been able to do all the gunsmithing work I have needed with a little creative setup. I have had some issues with my Smithy but they have greatly improved that machine I believe in 2003 or 2004.
If you have limited funds I would recommend the Smithy Granite MAX series 1340, it has a larger head stock hole (1.6”), will accept longer material (40”) and more speeds. They also have increased the distance from the mill center to the lath head to allow larger work pieces. The only small inconvience is that you have to change speed ranges by changing belts but I haven’t found that to be that bad. The thing I like is the variable speed control in each speed range for both the lath and mill head and in low range you can slow right down to 20 or 30 RPM with a lot of power for chamber reaming, the variable speed control lets you instantly change speed if you start getting chatter or any other type of machining problems.
For $3,600 to $3,800 depending on where you buy it’s a lot of machine for the money, I wish I had the MAX 1340.
Hope this helps
 
In response to kraayenb, I wouldn't buy a new mill.There are just too many good used Bridgeports being sold now days at very reasonable prices to buy new. You might have to go a ways to get one, but on line auction sites are selling them all the time.
 
The Grizzly G4003G is a nice lathe for gunsmithing .... I have the G4003 w/DRO and it's super nice and since the G4003G is the same thing with a few modifications for gunsmithing I'd wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Word of caution ... when you get your lathe make sure the outboard spindle runs true ... when I received my Grizzly G4003, UPS damaged it during shipping and bent the outboard part of the spindle slightly and it doesn't run true (didn't notice it till I installed my drawbar collet closer) and now I either need to replace the spindle (loads of work and expensive) because I can't use my drawbar collet closer or buy a 5C collet chuck to get around this problem (machine other wise runs perfectly fine).

As for buying a used Bridgeport, South Bend, etc.... it's been my experience that your paying for the name. Grizzly, Enco, etc. are nice mills and produce great results. Unless you can actually inspect the mill first hand ... don't buy a used mill because you could get burnt bad. I'd take a new piece of equipment over a used and worn out eBay deal any day. Just my two cents.
 
I went with the Griz.

All I can say is I am very pleased. And the tech's at Grizzly are top notch and very helpful and pleasent.

Don't find that often these days.

ETA - the tech's speek english and are in the US.
 
FarmMachinist said:
The Grizzly G4003G is a nice lathe for gunsmithing .... I have the G4003 w/DRO and it's super nice and since the G4003G is the same thing with a few modifications for gunsmithing I'd wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Word of caution ... when you get your lathe make sure the outboard spindle runs true ... when I received my Grizzly G4003, UPS damaged it during shipping and bent the outboard part of the spindle slightly and it doesn't run true (didn't notice it till I installed my drawbar collet closer) and now I either need to replace the spindle (loads of work and expensive) because I can't use my drawbar collet closer or buy a 5C collet chuck to get around this problem (machine other wise runs perfectly fine).

As for buying a used Bridgeport, South Bend, etc.... it's been my experience that your paying for the name. Grizzly, Enco, etc. are nice mills and produce great results. Unless you can actually inspect the mill first hand ... don't buy a used mill because you could get burnt bad. I'd take a new piece of equipment over a used and worn out eBay deal any day. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

just a note about Bridgeports and their clones. I've rebuilt more than a few of them over the years and a Bridgeport is no better than the others. But there is one that's better than a Bridgeport by a wide margin. It's a clone that have a much heavier quill. Hard steel ways and turcite covered slides. It even has a ball screw option as well as a CNC option. I saw them at the Chicago tool show, and was very impressed with them. But even then it had one thing going for it that left the others in the dust. It uses #40 Erickson tool holders instead of the Bridgeport taper. These tool holders run truer and come in almost an infinite varity. Plus I think it uses knob retention tooling to end the draw bar problems once and for all. If memory is right it's a Winslow or Wilson. Cost about 2/3rds of what a Bridgeport cost to boot and is easilly rebuildable. Another good one to look at is a Southwest Trac. It's better than the others, but would still take the Winslow over it just for the quill alone.
gary
 
a further note about Bridgeports mills incase you all didn't know. They have not built a Bridgeport mill in the United States in over twenty years! We bought a half dozen of them, and found out they were made in Singaphore.
gary
 
squeakie said:
a further note about Bridgeports mills incase you all didn't know. They have not built a Bridgeport mill in the United States in over twenty years! We bought a half dozen of them, and found out they were made in Singaphore.
gary
Click to expand...

it looks to me like the Winslow or Wilson Bridgeport clone went out of business. They're not listed for the Chicago Tool show this year. That's sad as they really did build a good machine.
gary
 
A little advice on the Grizzly - not to bad mouth them - but a friend has one and the carriage drive shaft and gear "wobbled Out" and he has been 6 or 8 months and a bunch of returns made trying to get the correct parts. He bought the machine new, and has all the paperwork on it, gave them the numbers of the parts and they keep sending him the wrong parts . . he is really frustrated - to say the least !! He is down to making the parts - or I will . . !! We are still trying to see if they will get the correct parts or not to him . . . .

He ended up making the shaft and they finally got the correct gear for it . . A brass gear !
 
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phantom496 said:
A little advice on the Grizzly - not to bad mouth them - but a friend has one and the carriage drive shaft and gear "wobbled Out" and he has been 6 or 8 months and a bunch of returns made trying to get the correct parts. He bought the machine new, and has all the paperwork on it, gave them the numbers of the parts and they keep sending him the wrong parts . . he is really frustrated - to say the least !! He is down to making the parts - or I will . . !! We are still trying to see if they will get the correct parts or not to him . . . .

He ended up making the shaft and they finally got the correct gear for it . . A brass gear !
Click to expand...

Before he goes nuts trying to make a gear, let me help! Find a Marten or Browning gear book that you can order gears out of. He'll need to know exactly what the pitch is and the pressure angle. Then just order a blank. After that he needs to bore it to fit (is it splined?). Sometimes you can sleeve the gear and rebore it to fit. If it uses a keyway in it he'll have to find away to broach the keyway, or have it done. The issue with spare parts from Asian suppliers is very common, and and more often than not they don't stock spare parts
gary
 
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