Interchangeable Parts: Y,N or maybe?

[Dunc1]

An earlier post about the similarities of a Grizzly & a Busy Bee mill has me wondering if "look alike" is a reasonable basis to expect that repair parts are interchangeable? Would a chinese lathe or mill from a given manufacturer be the same - paint scheme excluded - regardless of the retailer?
Some look very similar but there are differences in, for eg., motor power (hp), table dimensions/travel, weight (shipping & net) to make me wonder if,
down at the nitty-gritty level, there are differences. Anyone have any experience with, for eg, using Grizzly G0704 parts on a Busy Bee CT129N - not an
immediate need but more of a "when" not "if"?

Are all the mini-lathes (here, I know there are a few manufacturers) built with interchangeable parts? Are Little Machine Shop repair parts good for all or only certain manufacturers?

While retailers carry parts for their machines these parts are labelled only with a part number & a description, not actual dimensions. Excepting trial & error, is there a workaround?

 

[Rbeckett]

Most of the mills are also manufactured by the same factory. I think it is either sieg or Rong Fu. If the LMS idea doesn't work, Grizzly might be th e fastest way to go. They do offer express on pars and they do stock a bunck, as well as LMS. Chris at LMS is a walking repository of info and will gladly help you if you ask. He is a real decent and standup guy with the technical savvy to fix it up for you if it is possible. Hope this helps.
Bob

 

[Dr.Fiero]

I was a parts guy for a machinery importer (Jet) for 10 years...
I found out a little trick (that may or may not still work!).

The actual source manufacturer will supply drawings and parts lists to the importer. Usually, we (they) will use the drawings since they're too hard to redo. Then we will type out our own internal parts lists, recycling some/all/none of their part numbers, but retaining the reference number (like, #56 - screw). This also gave us a chance to translate the chinglish to english.

So, the trick is/was to get the "wing fu" parts list for your machine, then a 'grizzly' (or whoever) parts list, and make sure all the reference numbers line up, and the pictures are the same.

Remember too, that the runs on a particular model are sometimes quite short. We would have our RW375 (a small air ratchet) get replaced by the RW375B in a year or so (just to keep up with the jones', and keep us looking fresh). Some things would cross over to the next revision, some not. That's another one where you hope the importer retained the OEM's part number or part of it.

 

[rgray]

I have a M1112 shop fox 12x36 lathe(gunsmith version). I was set to buy a 4003g grizzly but they were waiting for them to come in and it was going to be months.
I assumed the parts would be interchangable.
I needed a cross slide gib and ordered from grizzly...It was not the same part ...close but about an inch longer.
I also ordered a coumpound gib just to have and it also is a different lenght.

They are both reworkable and it would save some time to modify them to fit as oposed to starting from sratch.

All the pictures and features of the two lathes sure made them look identical but apparently there are differences sometimes.