Grizzly G0750G metal lathe preliminary observations

[george wilson]

I had a Sharp brand lathe in the shop at work. It is one of the best Taiwan brands. Sharp never succeeded in identifying their own product. I think I ended up making the parts I needed. The lathe was exactly the same model that MSC sells as the "Prince" lathe. I can nearly guarantee that the Prince's parts would not have fit my Sharp. Even though Asian machines can look identical,they are most usually different inside.

I hope Grizzly gets it together. They have always given me good service. But,the last 2 lathes I bought from them were in 1986. They didn't have as many different models back then.

 

[kd4gij]

Can you sylicon the cover so you can use it till thay get the right parts. Hit them up for a cift card or store credit for the hassels.

 

[Ray C]

Yeah... I'd be inclined to just seal the existing lid or make one out of some scrap sheet metal. This way, you can start using the darn thing already. I don't think they'll even ask for the old lid -they'd be wasting money to process an RMA and pick-up the shipping. Whatever you do, unless you really like the taste of oil, don't run that machine w/o the lid...


Ray

Can you sylicon the cover so you can use it till thay get the right parts. Hit them up for a cift card or store credit for the hassels.

 

[billooms]

I bought some silicone-based gasket sealant from NAPA and I'm going to give that a try. I'm thinking that should hold up for a while.

I've had more oil on the floor in the last few weeks than in the preceding 10 years.

For those of you with a 4003 or other similar gear head lathe -- with that drain plug on the side, how do you drain the oil without causing a total mess?

When this is over, I'll definitely hit them up for a credit or major discount (maybe on a Bison 5C chuck).

 

[Ray C]

Not sure about your particular setup but, I have a drip/chip pan. When I set the lathe down, I slathered both sides of the drain pan at the mating areas with silocone sealer.

When its time to drain the oil, I unscrew the plug and watch it drain into the chip pan. The chip pan has a few low spots and one of these days, I'll insert some mini-plugs in there but for now, the clean-up is not horrendous.

Ray

I bought some silicone-based gasket sealant from NAPA and I'm going to give that a try. I'm thinking that should hold up for a while.

I've had more oil on the floor in the last few weeks than in the preceding 10 years.

For those of you with a 4003 or other similar gear head lathe -- with that drain plug on the side, how do you drain the oil without causing a total mess?

When this is over, I'll definitely hit them up for a credit or major discount (maybe on a Bison 5C chuck).

 

[drs23]

I bought some silicone-based gasket sealant from NAPA and I'm going to give that a try. I'm thinking that should hold up for a while.

I've had more oil on the floor in the last few weeks than in the preceding 10 years.

For those of you with a 4003 or other similar gear head lathe -- with that drain plug on the side, how do you drain the oil without causing a total mess?

When this is over, I'll definitely hit them up for a credit or major discount (maybe on a Bison 5C chuck).

Credit for this idea goes to raross61:

Here are some things that might help you I have had mine for 2 or so years now. Here are the things other people told me and I came up with on my own. The machine needed quite a bit of cleaning both on the inside and out! Be careful when you clean the outside painted surfaces, the paint was pretty fresh on mine, and will come off if you are not really careful! I put a 3/8" 45 deg, pipe nipple on the headstock gearbox

drain right out of the gate! When you get it you will see what I mean, it is hard to get a funnel under there while draining! I have a HF suction tank and I used that last time to drain it and vacuum particles out of the gear case. I am using AW 68 hydraulic oil in both my headstock, and apron with good luck. Some guys are running AW 100 in the headstock, and AW 68 in the apron, in Oregon the temperatures are pretty mild here 9 month's out of the year. I also added a large, about 3" round magnet to the RH lower corner of the headstock gearcase. I think one off the HF welding magnet, or there cheap SS parts tray. I also used epoxy to glue a small magnet, from a pin type screwdriver, to the appron drain plug.

I did the same thing after he suggested it and it's a MUCH cleaner way to get the job done.

Dale

 

[Ray C]

Oh, forgot to mention... when I drain the large/main gearbox, I remove the lid and use a pump siphon. They're simple devices (about 5 bucks) sold in the kerosene heater section of the hardware store. I use them for all kinds of things. It drains it pretty much dry and I wipe out the bottom with a rag. The threading gearbox only holds a pint which is not a big chore to clean out of the pan... Anyhow, I like to pull the lid off once a year for a visual inspection and check the magnet.

Ray

 

[billooms]

Thanks for the good ideas on draining the gearbox.

 

[Gr8fullAmerican]

Got my G0750G about 6 weeks ago but was only able to get it set up and the break in procedure done before having to leave town for over a month. Anyway, got back cut a test bar and was right on. Initially I had a lot of noise coming from the drive belts and a lot of belt debris like previously mentioned. Adjusted the belts , cleaned it up, and the racket went away. The only problem I had, not being a professional machinist, was that I didn't notice the protractor for the compound zeroes parallel to the spindle, not perpendicular, so I set the compound zero mark to 29.5 degrees. After watching these bizarre looking threads form I spent a few hours googling , cutting, scratching head, repeat.... then I found it! The protractor needed to be set toward the 60 degree mark not the intuitive 30. I changed the compound, picked up the threads, straightened it all out and threaded my part right on! I did not have any issues with leaks, gear, headstock, etc.. The only problem I had was the faceplate casting that had a large crack/casting flaw through its centerline. I called Grizzly and had a replacement within a week. Have bought a lot of Grizzly tools over the years and have found customer service and quality to be excellent. Barring any major failures in the future I believe that I will be very satisfied.with this lathe.

 

[billooms]

Friday update: Grizzly says they now have a replacement headstock cover and will send it out on Monday. They say the new cover is plastic! I'm not sure why they changed from a metal cover to plastic. I'll make another post when I receive it.