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.
If its not made in Taiwan my advice is don't buy it, period. I could be the king of made in China Grizzly machines on the forum given the number of them I have purchased and sold over the last 2 years. I currently own a G4003G lathe. But if I were starting over today I would avoid China at all costs.
There is the odd exception to this rule of course, the made in China Grizzly G0696x 12" table saw was a BEAST, very high quality, over the top design, $1,000 less than the Powermatic 10" yet it destroyed the Powermatic in every category. That's the only machine I really regret having to sell to make room for metal working.
If I were buying a lathe or mill today I'd contact Matt at Precision Mathews (Quality Machine Tools) and compare his made in Taiwan to Grizzly's made in Taiwan. Jet to me is WAY over priced. If you shop other brands don't be afraid to ask if 100% of the machine is made in Taiwan because some are actually packed full of components made in China.
Having owned two RongFu 45 style square column mills I would go with a knee mill over a RongFu 45 variant if possible. Lathes I think you have more options. For gunsmithing you don't 'need' a big ass 16" lathe, probably something in the 1340 to 1440 size would be fine. Pay particular attention to the carriage travel, a 40" lathe doesn't necessarily mean the carriage will actually travel 40 inches. Consider these two 16x40 Grizzly lathes. The carriage travel on the G0670 is 40 inches, but the carriage travel on the G0509G is only 33 inches. That's not a little less its a lot less. Quill travel 6 inches on the G0670 vs 4.75 inches on the G0509G.
Take your time, research the machines, read through the instruction manuals, compare photos, study the photos closely. Not only is this enjoyable and should be savored since you don't get to purchase machines like this that often but you will find features and notice things that will drive your decisions. I have gone so far as to use Grizzly on-line store gadget, its like google maps for their showroom, you can virtually walk through the store and zoom in on machines. Only works for the two east coast showrooms though, last I checked it wasn't available for their WA showroom.
