A few weeks ago I had to make a decision. I've got an older Southbend 13" that I've been using part time at the Gunsmithing business. I was getting tired of working around it's short comings and decided I needed to either get the Southbend rebuilt or buy a new import. I opted for the Grizzly G0509G along with treating myself to all new Dorian tooling, including a new CXA tool post. First things first, I've had the Phase 2 quick change on the Southbend since I purchased it 10 years ago. I've never used a quick-change tool post and was somewhat impressed with the Phase 2. The Dorian is leaps and bounds ahead of the import. The smooth operation and solidness of the whole set-up was worth every cent. Spent about $3k on the tooling and gotta say it again, Dorian makes a first class setup.
Now to the lathe. First impression was somewhat worrisome as the pallet was broken and the lathe was riding for who knows how long cocked to one side. Luckily nothing was damaged, just a rough road somewhere between Arizona and wherever Grizzly is. Got it home and set up and realized this thing is massive compared to my Southbend. Grizzly says it weighs 3k pounds which is twice as heavy as the 13". I used the same static converter that powered up my old lathe and it worked perfect on both speeds. Fit and finish were decent, but not great. The paint seems pretty tough but the actual paint job isn't what I would call first class. There was oil covering the bottom of the chip pan, I can see the carriage is leaking already. The chucks are, well import chucks. Seem heavy enough for it but not nearly as smooth as the older Southbend chucks im used to using. The carriage, cross, and compound feeds are fairly smooth. A little backlash but a third of what the old lathe had. The brake is a nice feature which I'll need to incorporate into my routines in the near future. The gears are somewhat hard to get in that perfect spot to actually engage. Again I'm used to belts, another area I'll figure out in time. Has a great slow speed of I believe about 40 RPM and the max is right around 1900. The coolant system works great but does make somewhat of a mess. My first project was making a draw bar type collet closer for a friend of mine. Impressive cutting power on this puppy. A .200 cut on mild steel and this thing barely grunts. I'm assuming the new tooling has alot to do with this but still impressive compared to the Southbend. After letting it sit for a few days after initial leveling the headstock end has settled in a bit, I'll re level it and let it sit for a few more days. My first action/barrel job is scheduled for next week. I've always chambered between centers so it'll be a new process for me to actually go through the headstock. I have no doubts this thing will work perfect.
Besides the little things like the leaks, the crappy masking job at the factory, the carriage lock that I had to "fix" on the Bridgeport and the spider cover on the headstock end that won't close tightly because the closing bolts don't line up, I'm happy with the purchase. It's an $8k import lathe, so going in I knew i wasn't gona receive a new Monarch. Hopefully it'll last me till I retire. So I've got an old Southbend 13" with tons of accessories if anybody's interested??
Now to the lathe. First impression was somewhat worrisome as the pallet was broken and the lathe was riding for who knows how long cocked to one side. Luckily nothing was damaged, just a rough road somewhere between Arizona and wherever Grizzly is. Got it home and set up and realized this thing is massive compared to my Southbend. Grizzly says it weighs 3k pounds which is twice as heavy as the 13". I used the same static converter that powered up my old lathe and it worked perfect on both speeds. Fit and finish were decent, but not great. The paint seems pretty tough but the actual paint job isn't what I would call first class. There was oil covering the bottom of the chip pan, I can see the carriage is leaking already. The chucks are, well import chucks. Seem heavy enough for it but not nearly as smooth as the older Southbend chucks im used to using. The carriage, cross, and compound feeds are fairly smooth. A little backlash but a third of what the old lathe had. The brake is a nice feature which I'll need to incorporate into my routines in the near future. The gears are somewhat hard to get in that perfect spot to actually engage. Again I'm used to belts, another area I'll figure out in time. Has a great slow speed of I believe about 40 RPM and the max is right around 1900. The coolant system works great but does make somewhat of a mess. My first project was making a draw bar type collet closer for a friend of mine. Impressive cutting power on this puppy. A .200 cut on mild steel and this thing barely grunts. I'm assuming the new tooling has alot to do with this but still impressive compared to the Southbend. After letting it sit for a few days after initial leveling the headstock end has settled in a bit, I'll re level it and let it sit for a few more days. My first action/barrel job is scheduled for next week. I've always chambered between centers so it'll be a new process for me to actually go through the headstock. I have no doubts this thing will work perfect.
Besides the little things like the leaks, the crappy masking job at the factory, the carriage lock that I had to "fix" on the Bridgeport and the spider cover on the headstock end that won't close tightly because the closing bolts don't line up, I'm happy with the purchase. It's an $8k import lathe, so going in I knew i wasn't gona receive a new Monarch. Hopefully it'll last me till I retire. So I've got an old Southbend 13" with tons of accessories if anybody's interested??
