New member with lathe question

[jsedds]

I am thinking of buying a Grizzly 10x22 lathe. I have used my trusty Taig for 7 years and recently sold a Prazi 5x12. I need/want a bigger unit.

Opinions on this lathe are most welcome or any related information.

Thank you for your help.

John

[Carld]

My opinion is a 10" lathe with 22" between centers is not good enough. You really need at least 36" and better with 40".

[Willy]

From the several that I've seen I would have to say for $1100 it's a lot of lathe for the buck.
A decent work envelop, MT4 headstock with a 1" spindle bore, MT3 tail stock, and a pretty comprehensive range of threads both inch and metric that can be cut. It's definitely a giant leap above the traditional entry level 9 x 20 lathes.

Short comings are a way too fast low speed at 150 rpm, try cutting a coarse thread up to shoulder at 150 rpm, yikes! Also it seems to have a somewhat flimsy toolpost mount clamping arrangement.
But hey throw a couple of hundred bucks of improvements at it and all of a sudden there's not so much to pick at.

Comparing you former lathe's work envelop to the 10 x 22 you can see that there is a huge increase in room. The big question is how much room do you need? Everybody wants a 20 x 120 lathe with all the bells and whistles but what's practical and what are you going to use it for is all that matters.

Personally I'd compare them to the ubiquitous 4 x 6 metal band saw, not perfect but a lot of bang for the buck!

[philbur]

Grizzly have a good reputation in the low end market. It's a modern design. It comes with all the necessary standard equipment. If the size is right for your needs then buy it.

Phil

[Deus Machina]

Have one of my own, very impressed with it for the money. A little small for what I would like to work on, but big enough for what I can reasonably expect to trust myself to, for now. I had a 7x14 before this, and mostly moved up for the swing, not the length.

If I had access to 3-phase, I would have saved up some more and gotten larger. But since I'm currently stuck at 110 power in the garage, it's about as good as it gets.

Everything on it can be redone. I am going to add another pulley to it to try and cut that 150 minimum speed to 75 or 100 or so, for threadcutting.

[gunrunnerx]

I too have one. Just picked it up last Monday. So far Im happy with it. Though I havent cut chips with it yet. Just finished doing electrical work and a bench. I felt it was the best bang for the buck.

[jsedds]

Thank you all for your feedback. How about a collet setup on this Grizzly 10x22? Does anybody have a setup for collets and, if so, what kind of collets? Thank you for your help.

Sincerely, John

[gunrunnerx]

John,
Join this group. There is a member that did a 5C collet conversion for his lathe. I havent fully looked into how he did it but there is good info here nonetheless. Free to join and has a lot of members with good knowledge.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=42879/*ht...zzlyandthelike

[airsmith282]

My opinion is a 10" lathe with 22" between centers is not good enough. You really need at least 36" and better with 40".

might want to try asking what he needs to do with it first bigger is not always better

[Alistair Hosie]

I have to agree with airsmith I have a 10 24 and it is easily big enough for myself and is quite a good size for most people hobbiests as well as pro's.I suppose you cannot suggest a size till you find out what the new guy want to do.Incidently JSEDDS welcome, welcome, welcome .
There are great people here I hope you enjoy our group .Alistair