7 by 14 mini lathes , 368 shipped

[cgish]

Be known guys you can Easley spend way more on these little lathes that you could buy something much better for the money, been there done that. gears extended bed chuck,. quick change. and tooling get ready.  this is a addiction as bad as airguns. David

http://www.grizzly.com/metal-lathes?rankBy=price+asc

Do you have a specific recommendation, or is the grizzly link just an 'anything from this link would be better than a cheap option from eBay' statement?

Just glancing through the list, it looks like a similar grizzly lathe is about twice as much as the one from ebay.

Thanks,
Cody

[Rob M]

I cant speak for david but i do know the grizzly machine is the exact same machine from the same seig company in china.

[WhatUPSbox?]

But space restrictions limit what I can buy/move myself... 

Exactly

The 7x12 or x14 is around a 100 lbs. From the Grizzly site the popular next size up, the 9x19, is pushing 300 lbs. Even if you ignore the extra (gulp) $1000, that weight difference changes it from just another power tool in the garage to more of a fixture. The same is true for the mini mills.

Unless you buy a used lathe setup bundle from someone, you will be spending money on tooling for any new lathe you buy.

[ss23]

Used one for years, did what I needed you have to improvise a lot, did spend a lot of dollars on upgrades lol!! enough I could have bought the lathe I now have but for limited space, they work well. David

David,
What lathe are you using now?
Dennis

[Rocker1]

http://www.grizzly.com/products/11-x-26-Bench-Lathe-w-Gearbox/G9972Z

Honestly this is overkill for what i use it for, the biggest draw back on the little lathes is spindle bore,  David

[Rocker1]

I had a g062 which is a good lathe wish I would have kept it, as I said for working on airguns which is all I do I have more than I need.  next will be a milling machine lol!! I just have a little harbor freight mill which serves the purpose well.   One thing I will say about the Grizzly  bigger lathes they come with a lot of extras,  David

[Privateer]

I had a g062 which is a good lathe wish I would have kept it,

Trade you even up for the Grizzle!
 

[Taso1000]

I just wanted a lathe to get my feet wet and see if I would enjoy making mostly airgun related stuff.  And to get me off my butt and tinkering again making poppets, barrel crowns, transfer ports etc.   

I had inquired about a year ago but got overwhelmed with all the videos I watched plus the prices were in the $600 range then.

Is this lathe rigid enough to take advantage of the steel quick change tool posts versus the aluminum ones?  The steel ones are like 4 times more expensive.  I was also curious if there is enough stress to where the aluminum tool post would stretch and or deflect?

Thank you!

Taso

[Privateer]

I have Rocker1's old Lathe. So given he worked the heck out of it, and I'm working the heck out of it? I'd say it's a good buy.
I'd stay with the aluminium posts until you see a problem. No reason to toss money at a non-issue when you'll need tooling first.
I'd bet you'd dog the lathe down before you'd mess up the aluminium posts anyway.
Rocker1 did put the steel gears in this one so I can't say if you'd dog down or strip the plastic gears 1st.
And YES! I have dogged this one down a few times!

[WhatUPSbox?]

The A2Z tool post I have, was US made and cost more at the time and is also aluminum. I have not had any issues.

[WhatUPSbox?]

I use a height gage to initially set the tool height to centerline...easy to make and saves some frustration, especially if you are shimming the stock tool post. This one happens to have a magnetic base.

[Rob M]

I just wanted a lathe to get my feet wet and see if I would enjoy making mostly airgun related stuff.  And to get me off my butt and tinkering again making poppets, barrel crowns, transfer ports etc.   

I had inquired about a year ago but got overwhelmed with all the videos I watched plus the prices were in the $600 range then.

Is this lathe rigid enough to take advantage of the steel quick change tool posts versus the aluminum ones?  The steel ones are like 4 times more expensive.  I was also curious if there is enough stress to where the aluminum tool post would stretch and or deflect?

Thank you!

Taso

People often remove the compound and add a solid steel block to the carriage to mount the tool post. This works for every day operations except when you need a taper. It will be super rigid in this arrangement but you simply lack the HP to need that level of rigidity. It is nice for parting off though where rigidity is huge .

[Taso1000]

Huh?   

Can you translate that to noob for me?   

Thanks!  you're the best!

Taso

[Rob M]

What i meant to say is that the rigidity is fine with the aluminum china toolpost 😄

[Taso1000]

LOL that's too noob but I appreciate it though!   

Taso

[GP2004]

I cant speak for david but i do know the grizzly machine is the exact same machine from the same seig company in china.

Is there a need for cutting threads? The Grizzly will cut threads, but the listed mini lathe won't. Is it worth the ~$200 to get threading ability?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-12-Mini-Metal-Lathe/G8688
https://www.ebay.com/itm/G8688-Grizzly-7-x-12-Mini-Metal-Lathe-/272454782169?hash=item3f6f920cd9

[Rob M]

the lathe for 368 will cut threads and has all the gears included for a variety of threads.

look at the external panel on the left side of the machine, that's the thread and gearing chart for threads

[Rob M]

yes, cutting threads is paramount , but also an acquired skill that becomes a lot of fun when you first get it down pat

[Rob M]

the machine doesn't display the imperial thread settings on the side panel , the good news is the chart for imperial can be printed from Grizzly .com or littlemachineshop .com
LMS is a valuable resourse since they also have a threading calculator on their website designed around this machine.. In other words, if u needed a really weird thread like garden hose threads, LMS will tell you the gear combo to get 11.5 tpi.

[GP2004]

I found this on here:
https://jumboindustrial.com/products/mophorn-metal-lathe-precision-mini-lathe-variable-speed-2500-rpm-550w-mini-metal-lathe-micro-metal-milling-bench-top-lathe-machine-7-x-14-inches?gclid=Cj0KCQjwquTbBRCSARIsADzW88xJzeLxCfYSlidcNATGzqrphYCYA-WS6grTZZplGMl9AShzRdw0nXUaAitWEALw_wcB
"This micro lathe has no significant functions, electronic control system for the general control system, to synchronize the gear drive."
Am I reading this wrong? This seems to me, to say that it won't cut multiple passes synchronized.