- Joined
- Aug 12, 2013
- Messages
- 858
The cross slide travel is only 6.4" and not the 7-1/2" in the specs. This one irritates me the most as a 14" swing lathe should have at least 7" of cross travel.
My 14x40 G0709 has 6.5" of travel. I only think you will find lathes with more cross slide that have a significantly wider bed.
Even the Jet 1440W (10.5" bed) has on 6.5".
The Grizzly G0509G does manage 8.5" travel (10.5" bed), and the Jet 1440ZX (13.375" bed) has 9" of travel.
I know it is irritating to be expecting something different based upon the spec sheet, but you will be hard pressed to find an asian lathe of this size (i.e., 7.5" bed) with more than 6.5" of travel.
The G0509G was on my short list. I think it is a lot of lathe for the money. 1500 lbs heavier, one-piece cast iron base, 10" ways, D1-6 spindle, 2" spindle bore
Every time I stop by the Grizzly showroom, I kick myself for not spending another $3K and getting the G0509G.
I suspect that the fit and finish on your lathe is a lot better than the G0509G. And I am under the strong hunch that the Grizzly showroom machines are all the original manufacturers, and what comes out of the crate now days is nowhere near as nice as what is on the show room floor. IIRC< grizzly changed the manufacturer of their gunsmith lathes about 4 years ago.
Would be awesome if Matt started offering one piece cast iron bases as an option. It would be an excellent upgrade.