[Newbie] Advice On Machines

Milehimachine

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Ok not sure if this is the right place for this but I'll throw it out there. To start my experience level with machining is beginner to some experience. I am equiping a home shop and I need advice on best mills and lathes for the buck I have a 10k budget for machines and tooling for both. I know the obvious answer is get a Bridgeport and a old SB, Logan or any other US made machines and trust me I would if those were falling off trees in the area of Denver Colorado but there are no machines like that available. I have even reached out to all the shop owners and friends my dad worked with over the years and most have used those machines into the ground and scrapped out and have switched over to CNC models so again American iron not available. My question is how good are the Grizzly, Jet, Rong Fu machines, I am looking to machine one offs, prototypes and gunsmithing no real production. I was looking at the G0704 mill and the G4003G gunsmith mill, and yes I know these are coming out of the same factory in China. I am just wondering has the quality improved I havent seen any current reviews on forums for the last couple years. Any and all constructive comments are appreciated.
 
I do some gunsmithing and general 'just making stuff' and I'd be a bit cautious about the 704. I have a PM-25 mill (very similar) and ended up getting a larger mill to make things a bit easier. All of my machines are Chinese with the exception of my 1340GT which came from Taiwan.

I can hold to a thou, sometimes better, on all of my machines. IMO the quality of your work is more operator dependent than which machine you're driving.

Just my $0.02. :)

EDIT: the G400g lathe has a large user base here and seems to do just fine. And I wasn't putting down my little PM-25, as it gets used almost every weekend. It just does the smaller stuff now.
 
Most modern day Asian machines will hold tenths on small parts, if you do your part. That is the most important factor.

Always remember that when buying new you get that you pay for, you won't find any amazing deals from a third or fourth owner like American iron.
 
Hi. I'm still very new to machining so please take this with a grain of salt.

I purchased a GO755 and have been extremely happy with it. It is far more precise than I expected it to be. I have a good friend in the aerospace industry, and I've hung out in his shop drooling over his machinery and while my little Grizz is not suitable for his shop, it has done a far better job in my garage shop than I could have ever expected.

I recently had a small "crash", which knocked quite a few things out of calibration. It was rather easy to tune it back up. I learned not to push it too hard... with a 7/8" roughing EM I was taking 1/8" passes off of a piece of steel. I bumped the powerfeed dial accidentally and increased the feed rate to high.. not fun.

I seem to have damaged something in the gearbox or quill/spindle.. I mentioned my crash only because I am not sure if on a higher end machine a crash usually causes damage beyond the tool.

Other things that I can mention... the table on my model was large enough to mount 2 swivel vises and a rotary table. The table is stout, but of course not a BP. The powerfeed is a huge plus and offers plenty of precision for my needs. The oiling locations and table locks are in good locations but are China cheep. The oil balls have all failed. There is a bit more backlash on the handwheels which may just be a result of my lack of experience.

I learned that it is beyond crucial especially with the Chinese machines to clean and lube them regularly. I probably overdo it, but oil is faster and cheaper than fixing things.

I have found using good tooling vs. cheap tooling allows the machine to perform better.

Lastly.. I have been on the phone with Grizzly 3x regarding my machine. They keep excellent notes, and actually called me back a month later to follow up on a question I had, and if the help they offered solved my problem.

Sorry if this is not much help, and too beginner of a response for you. Overall I am very happy, but if I did it again I would have picked up a used BP and spent the time tuning/fixing it.

-Kory


Sent from my SGH-T599N using Tapatalk
 
One additional bit of information; Grizzly seems to have a reasonably good customer service department, based on my limited experience. I bought a G0602 lathe and had some problems with the drive belts and they sent out two new belts immediately. Also, another issue with a missing setscrew for the backlash adjust on the crossfeed, a call, and a part by return mail.
They claim to have an aggressive quality control program but I have reason to doubt that based on some defects that I found. Granted, they were not items that would normally be caught during a final inspection but it indicated to me a lax manufacturing system.
My experience is base on purchasing two lathes, a mill, and two Grizzly DRO's over a period of eleven years.
 
Thanks. Wish my father hadnt got rid of his bridgeport and logan lathe. Fortunately I still have some of the tooling I will just get the new stuff and keep my eyes open for the old American iron
 
Not really. Most of the stuff I've seen in the Denver area is WAY overpriced clapped out crap. I am continually amazed at how people act like everything that's ever posted is a good machine/deal? Maybe if I had full restoration capability and wanted to rebuild machines instead of using them.
 
I have made some decent finds on "bidspotter' but I also have a car hauler and do the driving. It's a daily search if you are really serious. The good stuff will go in hours to a day at times. Not sure that helps any? But it is a lot of fun and will blow the bank in no time if not careful. a LOT of grreat tooling out there for pennies on the dollar.
quick example: auction 20mins from the house. Picket up a 8x14 Walker elctromagnetic chuck for $80..... LOVE IT. Best and keep us posted.
CG
 
After some serious research looks like im going to go with the precision mathews pm-25v mill and the grizzly 4003g lathe. I am also lucky I still have some of the tooling from my dad's machines, so I'll only need some quality collets and vise which ill get from hardinge and kurt. I'll continue my search for bridgeport.
 
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