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Posted: 1/23/2017 8:16:23 AM EDT
[#1]
For the price of the Grizzly you should be able to get a really nice South Bend 9" or Light 10" (same bed casting as a 9").
I picked up my SB Light 10" for $300 and put about $500 into it and it's a solid lathe now... |
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Posted: 1/23/2017 8:40:19 AM EDT
[#2]
South bends can be good. With any old lathe you will need to learn some things about the machines before buying, or risk getting a worn out one.
I have a south bend 9" predecessor to the A model. I also have an atlas (craftsman badged) 618, which i would recommend also. The other craftsman 6 inch lathe based on a european lathe is junk. 618 commentary Either will make suppressors, small projects, and teach. Neither will thread barrels due to the small spindle size. However, to get up to that job, you are talking about 2-6k for a good heavy 10 in my area. Back east lathes are cheaper. |
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Posted: 1/29/2017 4:37:51 PM EDT
[#3]
Op instead of the grizzly look at the precision Mathews 10x30. Its got many more features.
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Posted: 1/30/2017 2:48:56 PM EDT
[#4]
I ran some good sized lathes for a while through my teens and into my early 20s.
I picked up a small lathe for the house. The 2 things I always wish I had was a larger spindle bore, an adjustable (height) tool post, and jaws that bolt on instead of slide out to replace. A steady rest could come in handy too, be it that my spindle bore is so small. |
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Posted: 1/30/2017 7:56:06 PM EDT
[#5]
Creep around Craigslist in your area. Odds are you'l find something already tooled up for about the same money as a new Grizzly.
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Posted: 2/3/2017 4:03:08 PM EDT
[#6]
Pretty hard to beat an SB9A for a home lathe. Lots of pitches, power feed both ways, TONS of info abound and metric change gears are available.
For general info- the biggest downside to any small machine tool is lack of rigidity and with a small mill you're just hosed. However, a small lathe's performance can be vastly improved simply and cheaply by bolting it to a heavy base. Back in WW2 many many small SB's were used to make critical wartime parts and so war dept put out a standard build it yourself base for these lathes. They involve locating some sole plates and forming/casting concrete, but a properly mounted and adjusted SB can make some very nice parts. |
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Posted: 2/9/2017 2:15:16 PM EDT
[#7]
I have a 9A but a Heavy 10 would be a better machine for the home gunsmith. There are some really good deals on used lathes if you take the time to look and I see used South Bend, Harding, Clausing, Atlas etc machines from time to time. Price varies a lot by location but if you are in the northeast and midwest regions they are much easier to come by and usually cheaper as well. If you do go with something used, try to get as much tooling with the machine as you can. Otherwise you'll probably spend as much or more for the tooling.
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Posted: 2/9/2017 5:07:15 PM EDT
[#8]
King - WOW!!! That is a beautiful SB!
Did you restore it yourself? I picked up a used Craftsman/Atlas 12x36 for relatively cheap ($400 - finding machinery in AZ is insane, and so are the prices - a POS babbit bearing Atlas is listed at 1200 right now on CL - and it will sell at that..AZ - sunshine yes, machinery no....I've never seen a SB listed on CL over the last year and a half.) I'm working on restoring it....it's a mess, but little wear where it counts. If you did the resto yourself, what paint did you use? Did you scrape the bed, it looks freshly scraped...? Very impressive. I picked up a Benchmaster vertical mill as well and intend to restore it as well. |
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Posted: 2/10/2017 12:21:15 AM EDT
[#9]
Creep around Craigslist in your area. Odds are you'l find something already tooled up for about the same money as a new Grizzly. Problem is, you'd better know what you are looking for/at or you can get burned....there is a lot of worn out crap being peddled on CL. |
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Posted: 2/15/2017 1:08:08 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I have a 9A but a Heavy 10 would be a better machine for the home gunsmith. There are some really good deals on used lathes if you take the time to look and I see used South Bend, Harding, Clausing, Atlas etc machines from time to time. Price varies a lot by location but if you are in the northeast and midwest regions they are much easier to come by and usually cheaper as well. If you do go with something used, try to get as much tooling with the machine as you can. Otherwise you'll probably spend as much or more for the tooling. http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/South%20Bend%209A%20Lathe/SAM_7371.jpg Beautiful A. I just finished one almost identical last night. 
I snagged a Heavy 10 last week I'm going to do next. |
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Posted: 2/18/2017 10:56:58 PM EDT
[#11]
Is that 9A table factory? Mine came on a table nearly identical.
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Posted: 2/25/2017 5:57:26 PM EDT
[#12]
Mine? I have no way to tell. There's no branding/tags/etc on it anywhere to know. Someone's coming to buy it tomorrow so I'll look before it heads out the door.
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