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want to get a lathe
- Thread starter cooltyme
- Start date
- Replies 4
- Views 1,521
ezduzit
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2013
- Location
- Marina del Rey, California
If you have a lot of money to blow, buy new. Best bang for the buck is a used one, in excellent condition, with a comprehensive set of tooling.
Adwcali
Aluminum
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2015
- Location
- Central Coast
Just a little hint to help in your decision making process. Discussion of Grizzly machinery is banned on this forum.
awake
Titanium
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Location
- Angier, North Carolina
Cooltyme,
Be aware that this forum is geared towards professional machinists. It is very accommodating of us hobby / amateur / student types, but one cardinal rule is that discussion of home-shop grade machines is strictly forbidden, and will generally get a thread locked. The brand you have mentioned falls into this category. See http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/machinery-discussion-guidelines-137724/ for details.
That said ... there is a very big difference between a 7x14 or 9x20 machine of this or similar brands, vs. a 14x40 machine of this or similar brands. If you are looking at the former, you will probably find the home-shop machinist forums more helpful, since many more people there will have similar machines. (The Home Machinist! - Index page or http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/activity.php).
If you are looking at something like a 14x40, you are right on the edge of home-shop grade. The quality of these machines can be inconsistent / iffy ... but many folks have started out with such machines, and some have made money with them. If you do some searching on the General forum, you will find some strong defense of going the route of an import machine on the part of some posters (e.g., Forrest Addy) ... along with a large number of rather impatient rejections of such machines.
There is a strong argument to be made for a newbie getting a brand-new machine with warranty - a newbie doesn't know how to evaluate, much less fix, any issues that may arise with a used machine. But at the same time, the newbie doesn't know when an issue encountered may be due to the quality of the machine rather than to problems with technique, so it's a bit of a catch-22. I was fortunate enough to have an experienced machinist acting as a mentor, who helped me to evaluate a used machine and to fix the problems it came with. I wound up with a very, very good deal on some "old American iron" -- well-worn, but still capable of making good parts -- and some good instruction on how to use it. This may be the ideal route, IF you can find that mentor - I spent quite a few years looking for that mentor!
Regardless of whatever machine you wind up getting, you can certainly ask questions here about technique and procedures and such, so long as you conveniently omit the type of machine when it doesn't match the guidelines.
Be aware that this forum is geared towards professional machinists. It is very accommodating of us hobby / amateur / student types, but one cardinal rule is that discussion of home-shop grade machines is strictly forbidden, and will generally get a thread locked. The brand you have mentioned falls into this category. See http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/machinery-discussion-guidelines-137724/ for details.
That said ... there is a very big difference between a 7x14 or 9x20 machine of this or similar brands, vs. a 14x40 machine of this or similar brands. If you are looking at the former, you will probably find the home-shop machinist forums more helpful, since many more people there will have similar machines. (The Home Machinist! - Index page or http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/activity.php).
If you are looking at something like a 14x40, you are right on the edge of home-shop grade. The quality of these machines can be inconsistent / iffy ... but many folks have started out with such machines, and some have made money with them. If you do some searching on the General forum, you will find some strong defense of going the route of an import machine on the part of some posters (e.g., Forrest Addy) ... along with a large number of rather impatient rejections of such machines.
There is a strong argument to be made for a newbie getting a brand-new machine with warranty - a newbie doesn't know how to evaluate, much less fix, any issues that may arise with a used machine. But at the same time, the newbie doesn't know when an issue encountered may be due to the quality of the machine rather than to problems with technique, so it's a bit of a catch-22. I was fortunate enough to have an experienced machinist acting as a mentor, who helped me to evaluate a used machine and to fix the problems it came with. I wound up with a very, very good deal on some "old American iron" -- well-worn, but still capable of making good parts -- and some good instruction on how to use it. This may be the ideal route, IF you can find that mentor - I spent quite a few years looking for that mentor!
Regardless of whatever machine you wind up getting, you can certainly ask questions here about technique and procedures and such, so long as you conveniently omit the type of machine when it doesn't match the guidelines.
