Looking at Metal Lathe's. Would like some input.

[Hozzie]

I think I am going to get a metal lathe to start playing with.  Looking at the Grizzly G0768.  Any of you who know more about this than me have an opinion on it?  This is just for hobby use.  Looked at the Harbor Freight 7x10 Mini Mill, but think I want something a bit bigger.  I would rather spend a little more to start rather than wish I had gone bigger later.

I will probably get a mill after this as I have heard it is better to have two machines.  I see you can buy combo's as well.  Any opinion on those?  
 

Thanks.

[MacGyver]

I've got one of the MicroMark 7x14's that you're welcome to come and play with if you want to try it out. 

[quietguy]

I can't comment specifically on their metal working machinery, but the Grizzly woodworking tools are pretty good for the price.  I researched a lathe a few years ago, and the Grizzly was high on my list.  

There is a Jet-920-N on Craigslist for $800.  

[Sidecarist]

I have a friend with a grizzly 14x30 gear head lathe. He's pretty happy with it,  but it doesn't compare to his old Bradford, or my Colchester of similar size. The older machines are MUCH heavier and in any machine tool mass is your friend.

Buy the biggest machine you can possibly fit. The same goes with mills too, but with a mill get a knee mill not just a mill/drill. Being able to move the table in the Z axis (up & down) opens up lots of capabilities.

WhIle a new machine has its appeal, there are many great old machines out there to be had. I'm looking at a larger Leblond for $2500 including a bunch of tooling, 4 chucks, & taper attachment. 

As far as imports go grizzly is one of the better ones and they have pretty good support, but if possible think about a bigger machine... 

[DaveTN]

You might want to go talk to any Machine Tool Dealers in your area. They probably won’t have much single phase stuff, or stuff in the price range you are looking; but they know who has what for sale in their area and they may put you onto a shop that has that great deal sitting in a corner you are looking for. I can’t count the number of good machines I’ve seen that were free if someone would haul them out.

[Hozzie]

Thanks for the input guys.  I guess I should have been a bit more informative myself.  I am not interested in a large, non movable lathe (although I will probably build and mount this to some type of table is a small area in my shop).  This is just for fun and maybe creating something like bore guides or other small work.  I have a workshop full of good woodworking equipment and this is just to play with.  Same with a mill.  I am not expecting to build parts to accuracy of 10,000th's of an inch.  

I guess I was more looking for comments on Mini Lathe's.  The Jet one posted looks good for the price, I just don't want to deal with something that big. 

[Sidecarist]

I ran a little Myford ML7 7x16 for a while it was a very nice machine and reasonable size. the biggest problem I had with it and other small lathes suffer this as well is that they can twist a bit. This makes it impossible to turn a straight piece, everything will be tapered to some small degree. Rigidity is everything as is getting the machine level in both axis. This sort of rules our a portable/moveable lathe for any high accuracy work. If you are happy with +/- .002/.003 then go for it.

Small machines cant take big cuts and are prone to chatter so proper tool bit grinds are important. I found that HSS tool bits that I ground worked better on small machines than carbide because they are sharper. Its also easy to touch them up or alter them to suit your needs.

Grizzly or Jet are both reputable brands for this sort of thing I would look on the used market as well. Craigslist etc these machines get out grown by people and frequently are for sale. Brokers will also know about them but usually don't have them in their stock but they may be able to send you to someone that they know has one.

Good luck just work within the machines limits and you will be fine for that sort of work.

[Hozzie]

I did a search this morning and found this Infinity 7x14 which should be fine for me.  From what I can gather, all of these are made in the same plant in China with some minor differences between them.  This one has a 550 watt motor which is the biggest one I think anyone puts on this size and it has the digital readout which is nice.  For $475 including some cutters, I think it was a good deal.  I need to get a live center and drill chuck, but that isn't a big deal.  I will take it apart and make sure everything is good and clean and then start playing.