How do you like your Grizzley G0602 10x22 lathe?

I have done many mods too. 6 bolt compound clamp, VFD- I can go down to 8 rpm and if I wanted to die, +4000 rpm, electronic lead screw (no more change gears). Switched the tapered spindle bearings to Nachi. A bunch of small things as well. My only wish, it were heavier/more rigid. That's not so much a G0602 problem, more so a small lathe issue. I bought it when Grizzly sold for $1800 but I got the G0602z (I think 2K for DRO "Z" version.)
 
I have the G0752Z which is a G0602 with a DRO and a VFD. I have made a couple of mods on mine now. I made a 6 bolt compound clamp which helped a lot, made a nicer bracket for the cross slide DRO head, and just recently added an Electronic Lead Screw. I designed the ELS from scratch, using a Teensy 4.1 processor and wrote my own code. The ELS has a touchscreen to control it. Today, I successfully single pointed a 40 TPI thread and a 16 TPI thread using the ELS for the first time. This ELS is a great mod. It took me 4 months to do. I have not packaged everything up, and have quite a few things to complete, but am really happy at how well this has turned out. Just looked at the box of greasy gears tonight and smiled, as I will never have to change them again.
 
Looks like I'm the new (old) kid on the block, just got a g0602 for my expensive hobby fix. So far I like it better than the old Atlas lathe I had a few years ago. A few mods I'm looking at are adding a QCTP (currently trying to figure out threading to make a new post for it), a tailstock mod read about on here, and at some point I want to add a VFD and ELS but that will be down the road a bit.

(seeing some of these older posts that list what the price was then makes me cry a little inside!)
 
DexterTripod said:
Looks like I'm the new (old) kid on the block, just got a g0602 for my expensive hobby fix. So far I like it better than the old Atlas lathe I had a few years ago. A few mods I'm looking at are adding a QCTP (currently trying to figure out threading to make a new post for it), a tailstock mod read about on here, and at some point I want to add a VFD and ELS but that will be down the road a bit.

(seeing some of these older posts that list what the price was then makes me cry a little inside!)
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Welcome to the club.

I have had my G0602 for ten years. I bought it because I had purchase a G4000 for work and was impressed by the overall quality and performance for a small lathe and the 602 was essentially a big brother for about $100 more. IIRC, the 602 was about $1500 at the time.

Some of the additions and modifications that I have made include a six bolt compound clamp, a rear mount for the compound to add 5 inches to the cross slide range, a variable speed drive, an electronic lead screw, the aforementioned quick release tailstock clamp, a spindle stop, a carriage stop, 7/8" risers under the lathe to provide extra clearance for cleaning and an improved mounting system for leveling the lathe, a 5C collet chuck, and a QCTP. I also modified the belt tightening mechanism, making a new mount for the idler pulley and changing its location. The thread dial was wonky as the markings weren't concentric which made use of the thread dial difficult so I made a new thread dial.

The biggest limitation of the G0602 that I have found is the drive train uses a 3L belt which limits the available delivered torque. The 3L belt limits the delivered torque to 10 -12 lb-ft which can be a problem when making heavy cuts or parting. This is something that can't be fixed easily. It would require making all new pulleys. Were I to embark on this journey, I would likely elect for gear belts instead of the 3L belt.
 
GunsOfNavarone said:
@RJSakowski can you go more into detail about the 5" extra travel on the compound? I have no idea what rear mount is.
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When I had my cross slide off for some other machining, I used the opportunity to duplicate the holes for the compound and clamp at the rear of the cross slide. This provides a secondary location for the compound extending its range. When not used, I plug the six tapped holes and the hole for the compound boss to prevent chips from clogging. This is useful if I ever want to work from the back side of the spindle.

Here is a picture from the SolidWorks model. The back of the cross slide is at the top. I seated the oil ports slightly below the surface. I had moved the central oil port to permit oiling the lead screw when the compound was at the rear but it turned out to be innecessary as I could oil the lead screw from the front hole for the compound boss.
602 Compound Assembly.JPG
 
OMG, I so would like to be able to part from the backside, but I run out of threads on the compound. This would fix that, correct?
 
GunsOfNavarone said:
OMG, I so would like to be able to part from the backside, but I run out of threads on the compound. This would fix that, correct?
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On the 602, yes it will. The cross slide is machined flat across the full top surface. I can position the center of my QCTP 7.5" to the rear of the spindle center line.
 
I also built a traditional reversing banjo which was removed when I added the ELS.

Another device was an autostop for the carriage that could stop consistently with a thousandth. Useful for threading or turning to a shoulder. The addition of the DRO and ELS, along with the ability to stop precisely by virtue of a variable speed drive that can slow to a controlled stop eliminated the need for an autostop. Consequently, the autostop design will remain on the drawing board.
 
A couple of items that I missed. I trimmed the T bar on my 3 jaw chuck wrench to 5.6". The original length would hit the headstock housing and chip the paint, much to my annoyance. The wrench is now able to turn a full 360º with no interference.

The second thin that I did was to make a hook type spanner for the spindle. The OEM method of using a tommy bar was chowdering the holes on the spindle. Bonus, the wrench allows bucking up to the ways, freeing both hands for the wrench on the chuck. For tightening, I replaced the socket head cap screw holding the backsplash at 1 o'clock to the spindle axis with a stop for the wrench so both hands are free to tighten the chuck.Spanner .JPG
 
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