Are smithy lathe combo s all there cracked up to be?

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walterk

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I'm looking to get my first lathe/mill at the first of the year, I like the smithy but not sure it will live up to the hype! I have been a machinist for 4 years but have gotten out of the work environment do to better job offer closer to home in the oilfield! But I miss machining and am ready to do so work of my own! Any thoughts or suggestion would be great!


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Personally I would invest in a separate lathe and mill. I had the larger Smthy CB1239 for the past 15+ years and I made it work for my application until I finally decided to upgrade. The unit was a fair lathe but a poor milling machine. The round column being only one of the issues. Its' size is very limiting and setup takes a lot more time because the toolpost needs to be removed from lathe mode to put work on the table for mill mode.

The nicest feature of the unit is its space savings ability.

Mike.
 
If I answer this,Smithy owners will be offended. I have seen some good work done on them. A good machinist can make nearly any machine work,though. The time factor usually is not considered in a home shop situation. I always have had separate machines,and lathes with quick change gear boxes.
 
Smithy's seem to be something that nobody ever wants to talk about.

I bought a Smithy Granite 1324 brand new because I needed a machine that could go to work right out of the box and make some parts. Space was very limited and I had no room for two machines. The Smithy did all that it was advertised to do. It was a pretty damn good lathe and the mill aspect of the machine turned out some fine quality parts as long as I worked within the machine's limits.

You can't push the mill like its a knee mill and set ups take some time to configure the machine to do what you want. If you can live with the fact that things take longer to do, and you cant hog off massive quantities of metal in a single pass, the Smithy is a quite accurate machine and is capable of making high quality parts. If space is limited and you are willing to work within the constraints of a 3-in 1 machine, the
Smithy is a good machine and more capable than a mini lathe and mini mill for just a few $$ more. I would buy one again if it fit my needs.
 
rmack898 said:
You can't push the mill like its a knee mill and set ups take some time to configure the machine to do what you want. If you can live with the fact that things take longer to do, and you cant hog off massive quantities of metal in a single pass, the Smithy is a quite accurate machine and is capable of making high quality parts. If space is limited and you are willing to work within the constraints of a 3-in 1 machine, the
Smithy is a good machine and more capable than a mini lathe and mini mill for just a few $$ more.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.

Mike.
 
I'veonly seen a couple of these Machines and the Smithy was by far better quality than the otherone can't remember what it was. I agree with what others have said about limits but all of our machines have limits, My 10x22 lathewould not work for some here and would be to big for others but it works great for my needs. so if it fits what you need then it is a good machine.
 
I have a granite 1324. It is my first machine and I really like it. It has done most everything I have wanted to do (couple things were too big) I really have nothing else to compare it to other than a grizzly combo lathe mill. It was a hunk of junk. I bought it brand new and it wouldnt work right out of the box. Fit and finish was bad and just overall cheap made, customer service was crap too. I sent it back. I found my smithy used and it was instantly and noticably better built. I called smithy to purchase a couple replacement parts and they were very friendly and I actually spoke with a real person after the 2nd ring. Grizzly I have automated crap phone systems and long hold times.

While google searching them, it seemed most everyone that talked bad about them were pro machinists that were used to large expensive indrustrial machines. Just remember this is a home/hobby grade machine and treat it as such and I bet you will like it.
 
Thanks y'all for the input! It makes me feel better about it!


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Being a newbie, I know that 3:1 machine owners seem to be something of a special breed! And that it seems that most who own them can work w/i their expectations. I did a lot of post trolling before I bought my Shopmaster (www.shopmasterUSA.com) patriot. There are comparisons between the two out there.... Not sure if CNC is on your list or not? I have a 2010 used model, but non-the-less I love the 3:1 concept and for Hobby work is sure did save space. hope that helps and send Pics! Enjoy the process and your purchase most of all.
 
All in all if the OP only has the room or funds to buy a 3N1 then the Smithy is among the best choices for a machine. Bolton Harware is also a good place to call and look if you haven't pulled the trigger on the Smithy yet. I have a machine very similar to the Basic Granites and even though it is HF I still manage to get it to do meaningfull amounts of work for me. Hope this helps. We all have to start with what we can afford and justify to the ministry of Finances. He heh heh...

Bob
 
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