Grizzly Gunsmith Lathe Break

Grizzly

alinwa said:
OK.... old guys look away cuz dude gonna' blaspheme here.

First of all, I'm not a machinist by trade so alla' YOU'SE guys look away too...... and

secondly I'm not "Ford/Chevy/Dodge" supportive of ANYthing.

I left gunsmithing school and gunsmithing almost 40yrs ago because I couldn't afford it. It took me 20 of those yrs to be able to buy a lathe..... a Grizzly. From Shiraz' very first boatload of gunsmithing lathes.

Ever since I got it it's been completely satisfactory....... MUCH the better machine than I expected, doing everything I'd learned in the gunsmithing machine shop, better....... BUT...."Machinists" have always badmouthed Grizzly while extolling the virtues of the mighty "Heavy Ten" claiming the South Bend is completely adequate for barreling work.

AND, I'll admit to also extolling the virtues of the Heavy 10 as a home lathe for all those years before I bought my Grizzly, but for different reasons. For SAFETY reasons. I'll still recommend a Heavy 10 to learn on. I feel the Heavy 10 is a SAFE lathe to learn on cuz you get wrapped up in it the lathe will stop before turning you into pulled taffy.

Well, not taffy exactly, more like pulled pork.....

but anyway

Safety Rant OFF



So, I hadn't touched a South Bend since the early 80's..... and I always wondered.....so I bought one. A GOOD one. Maybe paid too much, and,

I'll say this once. It's quiet..... I LOVE that..... but can it do anything better than the Grizzly G4003G????


Sorry, IMO it's not even in the same ballpark. Yeahh, the Grizzly's a noisy cheap lathe. Running it sounds like running logging roads in a '76 Ferd Three-on-the-Tree........and you in the back......

But it does good work. And when I DO have to trust it or risk ruining the part, It hasn't let me down.

(I still don't trust it much, but that's ME... and I don't much trust ME neither LOL!)
Click to expand...

Thanks Al. That is what I was asking. Way back in machine shop class we were trained on South Bend belt driven lathes; might have been Heavy 10's or 10 K's, not really sure. They were very forgiving as I remember some students accidentally allowing the feed to drive the carriage into the chuck. The belts slipped and no real damage done other than a screwed up tool bit.
 
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THIS is what i use today.
great job threading/chambering

it weighs 2000 lbs..that is a good thing
https://www.southern-tool.com/store/...40gh_lathe.php


YCL-1440GH-1 - BIRMINGHAM ENGINE LATHE - 14X40 D1-4, 8 SPD, 1-1/2 BORE, 3HP,220V, 1PH (8-SPEEDS ONLY ON 220V/1 PHASE UNITS)
"DUE TO TARIFFS PRICES GOOD ON IN STOCK INVENTORY ONLY - CALL 800-458-3687 X1 FOR AVAIABILTY"
Mfg. item #: YCL-1440GH-1
CPTYCL-1440GH-1
lease to own for as little as:$126 per month!
Call for freight quote on this item or we will confirm freight charges before shipping.

if you get a 3ph version it is 16 speed and you have to deal with 1p/3p conversion.
i use a rotary converter, straight up easy wiring
 
The one thing lacking from the Taiwanese Lathes

is a slip clutch! A good clutch that would slip like on the South Bends, would make them a better machine. I've been thinking all winter how to adapt one to my lathe. I have seen slip clutches on other things in the past but haven't done any research. I suppose folks who work every day with their lathe don't need such things but hobbyists and old hobbyists aren't in that category.

Another feature that would be nice is a variable feed mechanism. Old Tubalcain has a gear motor on one of his lathes that looks pretty good but retrofitting anything usually turns into a mess. Most lathes for the stuff we do could use slower feed rates.

Pete
 
70 years old and lived without a slip clutch.
being retired, means most feed rates on my machine are just fine.


Pete Wass said:
is a slip clutch! A good clutch that would slip like on the South Bends, would make them a better machine. I've been thinking all winter how to adapt one to my lathe. I have seen slip clutches on other things in the past but haven't done any research. I suppose folks who work every day with their lathe don't need such things but hobbyists and old hobbyists aren't in that category.

Another feature that would be nice is a variable feed mechanism. Old Tubalcain has a gear motor on one of his lathes that looks pretty good but retrofitting anything usually turns into a mess. Most lathes for the stuff we do could use slower feed rates.

Pete
Click to expand...
 
Yes I have chambered several barrels with the Lathe and all have been for competitive use and done through the headstock but one.
 
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The reason

retired said:
70 years old and lived without a slip clutch.
being retired, means most feed rates on my machine are just fine.
Click to expand...

i would like a variable feed mechanism is the lathe I have requires gear changes to slow the feed rate way down. It's just a PIA but can be easily done. I just don't want to change the gears is all. Anyway, I would like to thread slower than the lathe I have wants to for the selected pitch.

Pete
 
pete do a search online for inverted threading
cutting rh threads going away from the headstock

speed if no longer a crash issue
 
I've always done em that way

retired said:
pete do a search online for inverted threading
cutting rh threads going away from the headstock

speed if no longer a crash issue
Click to expand...

I have always done then inverse. What I would like to do is to keep the half nuts engaged but because the speed for threading tennon threads on my machine is quite fast, it's very difficult to stop the momentum when one wants to. A break would be a plus.

My lathe was built before they started putting the conventional gear box with levers on so gear changes are necessary.

Pete
 
front
in reverse
invert a lh tool in a tool holder for rh threads.
just have to stop before i run out of 40 inch bed.
i use both a carriage stop and my DRO at the headstock side
no more sweating stopping and backing out before i ruin something.
alinwa said:
When you thread out do you prefer front or back?
Click to expand...
 
savet06 said:
With respect to the need for an overly large VFD for a particular motor this isn't true for the units I purchased. I spoke with the manufacturers directly because I read this on various sites and it seemed counter to the websites advertising the drives. I have an automation direct drive on my mill and an Hitachi on my lathe. Both drives are matched to the motor HP within 1/2hp. According to the manufacturer there is no need, anymore, to oversize your drive. The hobby machines we are running just don't pull that much amperage, and as long as the unit you are buying covers the max amps of your motor (i.e my 2.2kw 3phase motor has a 10 amp max draw which calculates out to my hitachi drive drawing something on the order of 25 amps +/- at the breaker.) I doubt I will ever approach that level of draw and have programmed my VFD to ramp slowly over 5 seconds to avoid just that situation.
I am not the end all when it comes to the rest of the electronics, but I did talk to the source when it comes to this particular subject. Two separate companies.
Click to expand...

Braking loads (current and voltage) have a rather loose connection to motor ruining current.

The voltage especially has almost nothing to do with the running voltage.
It is determined by the rate of collapse of the magnetic field in the motor and is actually more tightly related to the locked rotor current.

Advertised values are almost always exaggerated.
It is call 'advertising puffery.'

The newer VFDs do have some newer drive devices, and may have added additional protection circuitry against voltage transients.
When they start bragging about that and showing schematics with values I might listen.

Thirty-five plus years in electronics design for EW fro power supplies to oscillators makes me VERY skeptical of claims without actual backup data.
Until then they are selling you a pile of Bovine Scatology, AKA 'advertising.'
 
I appreciate the follow up, and the information. It is so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, sometimes, when you are a lay person. I read as much as I could and tried to glean as much good information as possible before making my decision. So far I have not been disappointed, but I wonder when the demon will rear up.
I am actually more familiar with the inner workings of the bovine and others so maybe I'll just stick with them!
Mike
 
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