Hey guys,
I posted this earlier on the forum but I think I put it in the wrong spot...
New here and new to machining. Well, I did do some machining as a mechanic doing brake rotors and drums but that was just cleaning up the surface. I plan to make parts for my automotive hobbies and other future stuff.
I am looking at 2 lathe machines, one from Grizzly and one from the Little Machine Shop (LMS).
Grizzly lathe: G0602Z
LMS lathe: 3540
I know that the Grizzly is slightly bigger and comes with a DRO setup but my lack of experience is getting the best of me. I am focusing on the brushless motor (assuming the brushless motor is better than the TEFC motor that comes on the Grizzly) that comes with the LMS and am having a hard time distinguishing between the two as to which one is the better buy. I have also never purchased anything from LMS or Grizzly and do not know how their customer service is. It does seem like LMS has done a better job making it easier to get everything you need (kits).
Anyway, if someone could help shed some light on two units for me that would be great. I have spent the past couple of weeks researching nomenclature and features but am not quite there, yet. Again, very new to the hobby.
Thanks
I have the 602. No experience with the LMS lathe buyt a few observations. The 602 has a 1" spindle bore vs. .8" for the LMS. It has the 10" (actually about 9.9") capacity with 22" vs. 20" center to center. It has a 4MT headstock taper and 3MT tailstock taper vs. 3MT and 2MT for the LMS. The cross feed travel of the 602 is 7" vs 3.9", the compound travel is 3.4" vs. 2.8" and the compound ways on the 602 are considerably longer which means increased rigidity and less free play. All of these increases will be appreciated at some point in working with the lathe.
Additionally, the 602 comes with 4 jaw chuck, faceplate, follower rest and steady rest in the package whereas for the LMS machine, these are purchased accessories. Grizzly support has always been great and they have had any replacement parts in stock (I have multiple Grizzly machines).
My 602 has had some issues. A set screw on the cross feed nut was missing. Grizzly sent one immediately. The drive belt was not properly adjusted, making it hard to change the belt. Grizzly sent two slightly larger belts. There was an improperly assembled key on the lead screw input shaft which caused a cracked bushing. The key for the tailstock consisted of a set screw, resulting in point contact which will cause a burr in the tailstock keyway under a heavy drilling load and subsequent binding. I replaced the setscrew with a pin, which eliminated that problem. The threading dial was improperly made which could cause being a thread off on the lead screw engagement. I made a new threading dial which solved that problem. I also changed the compound clamp from the 2 bolt OEM clamp to a 6 bolt clamp which greatly increases the rigidity. A commercially available clamp based on my design can be purchased for around $130. I added Yurei's Touch DRO on the x and z axis and the tailstock as well as a carriage stop and spindle work stop.
In addition, I added a reversing tumbler to the change gear set which permits easy shifting of the lead screw thru forward/neutral/reverse. I also modified the drive belt tensioning to make belt changing easier. The 602 uses step pulleys and an intermediate pulley to achieve its speed range of 150 to 2400 rpm. Although it is more cumbersome than a VFD, I like the fact that the pulley option gives you the torque multiplication along with the speed reduction. On its lowest speed, the torque is almost 12 x the native motor torque. I'm not familiar with the brushless DC motor torque but I doubt that it will even come close to that value at 150 rpm.
On the plus side for the LMS, it has both power longitudinal and cross feed. It has the option of reversing the change gear train for left hand threads, although slightly less convenient that a reversing tumbler. It does not have a thread dial and if it did, it would be for metric threads only due to the metric lead screw. This requires somewhat more time when threading but is not a show stopper. The spindle mounting appears to be via three bolts as opposed to the threaded spindle on 602. This is good with regard to being able to reverse the spindle. The 602 has two spindle locks which permit safe reversing of the spindle. I'm not sure how available backing plate for the LMS would be but it should be easier to make your own, if needed. The 602 uses a 1.75"- 8 tpi spindle thread which isn't common but I obtained a replacement one from Grizzly for mounting a collet chuck at a very reasonable cost.
There is a comparable range in the available threads on the two machines. Although Grizzly only lists 33 inch thread options, there are actually 53 with the included change gears.
Overall, I have been satisfied with the value given by the 602. There have been some dificiencies but generally, it has been a solid machine. Most of the modifications thatI have made have been documented on this forum.
