Grizzly Lathe/Mill Combo

Does anyone have one of these?

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If so, I'm having a hard time believing the cross slide travel is only 3¾" when the identical Harbor Freight model claims 7¾" / 7.8".

Any compare/contrast insights between the Grizzly and the Harbor Freight models from people who have seen or used both?

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- Steve

Reply to
Steve Ackman
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I can't comment on the technical specs, bur if you are looking into a low budget machine I would suggest you stay with Grizzly, as their customer service and tech support is far better than Harbor Freight. However, if you are a self reliant type who can solve your own technical issues, Harbor Freight can save you some $$. If you want the top of the line combo machine take a look at the Shopmaster Tri Power at

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its a better machine and also has good support.

Reply to
JimInsolo

I own one of the harborfreight machines in question. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of good things to say about it.

The cross slide is only good for 3" on mine. The x-y table will move about 8" in the y direction.

As a lathe I find it useable with some patience, but it gets to be extremely frustrating when turning larger pieces on it. The motor it comes with spins far too fast for large items. I've since retrofitted mine to a PWM controlled DC motor which has made the machine much more useable. I've also found it very difficult to avoid getting large amounts of vibration and chatter when turning large pieces on it. The belts slip too easily at the feed rates and cutting depths that seem to get rid of the chatter. However I am an amateur when it comes to metalworking so it may be that I'm doing it wrong...

The mill portion of this machine has been nothing but frustration. The quill is the only way to get the cutter down to the table and it doesn't reach nearly far enough. I'm always having to raise pieces up high on blocks. especially when using smaller size cutters. It is also severly lacking when it comes to how rigid it is. It works alright for me when cutting aluminum but when cutting steel I've had to take very very light cuts.

Also the grizzly model comes with more accessories like a steady rest or a follow rest. I ended up purchasing these as extras through grizzly since harborfreight doesn't seem to carry these at all for their model.

All in all if I had to do it again I would definitely not get an all in one machine again.

Hope this helps with your decision.

Reply to
seant79

I don't have the model G9729, but I'm relatively sure that the short travel spec is a misprint, probably from the specs of earlier versions of that machine, which may have had the small, almost-square cross table.

You can find numerous comments about this brand/model, and the other brands of 3in1 machines on the Chaski Home Machinist forum 3in1 Metalworking Machines section

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Many of the current 3in1 machines have a big swing spec, and this mat appear to be a beneficial characteristic, but it also diminishes overall machine rigidity, on a machine from China.

The other issue that Sean mentioned, is the distance from mill spindle to table. These machines with elevated lathe spindle heights (16" swing) will require various rigid auxilliary tooling to raise small workpieces up to the mill head.

I have a 12" swing 3in1 machine, and generally need to raise small workpieces 4" or more, to avoid having the mill quill over-extended.

WB metalwork> Does anyone have one of these?

Reply to
Wild Bill

It seems unfathomable to me to build a machine capable of chucking up something with an 8" radius yet able to face less than half that.

Thanks. Looks like lots of experience with these machines there, yet still nothing more than speculation on that < 4" cross slide travel spec.

I've been frustrated bidding on lathes on ebay, losing out by $10 on the last Logan I bid on, and sometimes just want to "get something soon" rather than biding my time for the right deal to come along.

Yeah, the milling capability of these machines is obviously limited. Seems like you'd spend more time figuring out the setup than doing the milling.

I still have some patience left, so will keep watching ebay a while longer... but one of these days my patience will run out, and the impulse may be to get a 3-in-1.

Reply to
Steve Ackman

If you could get to speak to someone at Grizzly that actually knows the machines, you could get a definitive answer. That person may be the warehouse mechanic-type that disassembles new machines for replacement parts, and probably located far from the incoming calls phone staff. I've probably heard of 6 potential buyers recently, that didn't buy the Grizzly because the specs list that short cross travel.

If they had a Free Shipping sale, and the machine only had 3 1/2" cross feed, you could just tell 'em you wanna return it, since it wouldn't be the same as the one pictured in their ads.

There has been a time for nearly every regular participant of RCM, when they've determined that having a drill motor, hacksaw, and files aren't an effective (or particularly fun) way to make parts.

We've got ideas, plans/drawings and ambition/enthusiasim, and need machines to implement our ideas.

Some limited milling operations can be performed on lathes, but then again, making fixtures/jigs and suitable holding accessories gets in the way of the final workpiece.

I had a small lathe, and bought a used 12x20" 3in1 with the extra long travel cross slide, for added machining versatility. I'm glad I didn't buy a new one, especially a 16" swing 3in1, although I didn't realize it at the time. With a good assortment of rigid accessories, setup is reasonably simple for milling.

Depending on your location, checking newspaper and free penny/trader-type ads might help you locate a local machine.

WB metalwork>

Reply to
Wild Bill

you can face large diameter pieces you just have to use the x-y table to move the cutter instead of the cross slide.

Reply to
seant79

Copy'n'pasted from the grizzly web page.

  • Cross slide travel: 3-3/4" * Top slide travel: 2-1/2"
Reply to
Steve Ackman

I'm not sure what they're referring to as the top slide travel. But I've faced 9" pieces of steel on it before with room for much larger pieces if I needed it.

I do it using the x-y table which has almost 8" of travel in the y-direction on mine. I can only assume that the Grizzly model is the same as my HF machine in that regard they look nearly identical.

I think that this is the spec from the grizzly website for travel on the x-y table.

  • Swing over bed: 16-1/2"
  • Swing over cross slide: 11-1/2"

you'll definitely want to replace the motor with something variable speed if you plan on facing pieces that large though. Using the motor it comes with, even with the pullies at their lowest speed the outer radius will have enough SFM that the turnings will come off blued and very hot. it made for very short cutter life even with carbide tools.

Reply to
seant79

My half-baked impression is that the Grizzly G9729 photos show a long rectangular cross table (with 2 T-slots). This table is the same scale as the one on my 12x20 machine, approximately 6" wide and 16" long, travel-wise). The handwheel travels with the table, meaning that the feedscrew is very likely the full length of the table, and supported at both ends. This would ensure that the table travel is nearly 8".

I'd be curious to find out if the G7929 actually has the capability of power crossfeed, listed as one of it's features.

The earlier models of these machines (from various manufacturers/distributors) had a nearly square table (about 6" wide x

7" long, travel-wise), and the cross travel spec was listed as under 4". About 3-4 years ago, most of the dealers started making the longer crossfeed table models available. There have been comments here in RCM and the Chaski board about the older models.

I agree with Sean's comments concerning the variable speed drive for the lathe spindle. This is probably the single most significant modification for most lathes, and especially the ones that require 1 single, or 2 drive belts and a third intermediate/idler speed pulley.

WB metalwork> >>

Reply to
Wild Bill

I would venture to say that it does. My Harbor freight one which looks identical to the Grizzly model has power feed on the X and Y directions of the table. As far as I can tell from the pictures the controls that are on mine to do it are present on the Grizzly model as well.

Reply to
seant79

I would venture to say that it does. My Harbor freight one which looks identical to the Grizzly model has power feed on the X and Y directions of the table. As far as I can tell from the pictures the controls that are on mine to do it are present on the Grizzly model as well.

Reply to
seant79

No but the first thing that jumped out at me is there is a fair amount of swing with too fast a low spindle speed.

Wes S

Reply to
clutch

inconvenient setup where you must stop and reverse the motor to reverse the carriage.

Reply to
JimInsolo

I've read that these things are a pretty good start of a metal spinning lathe. Other than that the nicest thing I've heard or read is that they will allow your sense of humor to remain well exercised.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

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