Grizzly lathe & milling machine

R

rusty dog

Guest
Hey guys i need a little help.
I am considering the purchase of a grizzley lathe and milling machine for centerfire and rimfire projects. Does anyone have or use the grizzley g4003g or the 16x40 gunsmith lathe. What additional tooling and indicators are need to make a good product?
I am also looking at a grizzley milling machine g3616 and wondered does this machine hold tollerance???
Any help or input will be greatly appreciated

bill t ph 814-848-7258


:) happy holiday to all:)
 
Bill,
I think if you get this video it will answer a lot of questions about what tools are needed to chamber a barrel. You don't necessarily need to use Gordy's method but it is an interesting and informative video.

http://grizzly.com/products/H8396

As Mike said there is also a lot of information posted here and on 6mmBR.


James
 
Understand that the lathe is the cheap part! It's the tooling you spend the money on.

I have the G4003G lathe and it holds tolerance fine. Setup, adjustment, maintenance and operator ability are more important than better machinery.

I say "more important" :) .......... another way to say it is that machinery will never compensate for skill, while a skillful and careful operator can overcome machine deficiencies.

I feel that the G4003G is sufficient for gun work.

freeopinionsby


al
 
rusty dog said:
Some one please help me
thank you bill t
Click to expand...

=========================================================
Rusty;
I've been in machining since 1964... I purchased the 16X40 Grizzly at last years Shot Show...I could not be happier.. It is a fine machine, and bigger is better. Very smooth and accurate. It's been up and running since July, so I have had enough time to test it .. I turn and grind .22 barrel liners on it; machine 1911 barrels from blank barrel stock, and do the occassional rifle barrel.. I am pistolsmith, and the large heavy machine is an advantage . I have a 13x40 lathe which is about 20 years old...great machine, but it can't compare to the big Grizzly...A very good friend and fellow pistolsmith in Ga., who happens to be quite renowned, has a very large South Bend, I believe it is a Model 450..(could be wrong about the model ) 60 inch bed, very heavy..machine . He also swears by the large heavy machines.
With the 10 HP rotary converter, Accurite 300S DRO, I have approx. 10,000. in a very productive machine...

Somewhere on this forum, I believe I posted pictures..or, maybe on the Practical Machinist forum... I still have them if you'd like..

Good luck

Jerry
 
Someone on here

not long ago took delivery on a Matthews Lathe and it looked super in the pictures he posted. It is an Asian lathe as well.

I visited a friend a few days ago who has a Grizzley I think or at least it is an asian lathe. he has had it a few years. He showed me how the headstock was leaking oil all ovet the floor; terrible mess. this should never happen with a well made machine. I believe he told me he was going to have the bearings replaced so the leak would be fixed at that time.

Heck, the old black Permatex would last longer than a few years :D.
 
i use a pm1236. it has done everything i have asked it to and quite well i think. a bargain for the money but you will eventually want a cadillac and not a chevy. that is human nature.

chuck
 
I have a 16x40 Grizzly lathe, a 17x40 Webb, and a 13x 40 Jet. I just chambered a 300 WSM on the Grizzly using Gordy's method with very good results. I taper bored before reaming which was a first for me. The run out was a tenth or less. The Grizzly is a good lathe, but some things are crudely made like the engraved marks to read your settings off the micrometer dials on the cross slide and compound. My Jet even has well defined nicely engraved lines for reading your settings. I have corrected these items, but I should not have to on a $8000 lathe.
 
Grizzly lathe

I would to thank every one for there help
and have a mary chirstmas and a happy new year
bill t
 
woodbutcher said:
I have a 16x40 Grizzly lathe, a 17x40 Webb, and a 13x 40 Jet. I just chambered a 300 WSM on the Grizzly using Gordy's method with very good results. I taper bored before reaming which was a first for me. The run out was a tenth or less. The Grizzly is a good lathe, but some things are crudely made like the engraved marks to read your settings off the micrometer dials on the cross slide and compound. My Jet even has well defined nicely engraved lines for reading your settings. I have corrected these items, but I should not have to on a $8000 lathe.
Click to expand...

Hi Wood butcher;

I bought a new 13 X 40 Jet about 20 years ago.. It has been reliable and has produced every well for me. Athough, it required quite a bit of extra work to get into precision mode. The tail stock was out by a mile...and I had to remachine the base to get lined up.It doesn't like to stay level either. I attributed that to its light weight and not being as rigid as it could be.... I still use it every day..The feel of the compound and cross slide is somewhat rough (day & night) compared to the big grizzly. I was most impressed when Gordy had me try the controls at the shot show. Felt like I was running my buddies' Nardini..
The dial on my machine are very distinct.. How old is your machine..??
I never paid much attention until you mentioned it, as I am DRO addicted/dependent... :)
As I have mentioned in the past...the 16X40 Grizzly is really a German Knuth..clone or copy..
So far, I have no negative issues with mine...

Take care

Jerry
 
Jerry,
I have owned my Grizzly since August. I have the dro for the z and x and also one for the tailstock. None of these are installed yet, because I had some projects that I really wanted to get done before hunting season. The 16x40 has enough mass to do really accurate work. As stated in my previous post I was a little disappointed in the marks for resolution of the micrometer readings; they looked liked they were filed instead of milled. I do not know of another new lathe that can do gunsmithing operations like this one in its price range.
 
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