New To The Forum & I Am Sure This Has Been Debated

I have seen/run one of those lathe/mill machines (Not Smithy) in person and it had one motor and a transmission to switch between lathe and mill. It was very loose and full of vibration due to the transmission. For that reason if you go this route try to get something with a separate motor for lathe and mill.

The closet machine to the smithy that had separate motors was the ShopMaster. The last version was the Patriot. They have since gone all CNC and as far as I know the manual version is no longer available. A friend of mine did a rigidity test on both machines and the results were almost identical. The patriot used an overhead gantry for the mill head vs. the round column of the Smithy.

One thing to consider is the new price of the Smithy Imax 1340 From what I can see $4500 to $5000. With that budget you could have two good quality separate machines. Or else with that budget could consider something beside Smithy 3 in 1 for similar price but more precision tool. For example and I just typed in "Lathe mill combo" on eBay.com to get this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-11-x-28...694810?hash=item3ac87c55da:g:pvoAAOSwZVlXkpRW

I have a good friend with a Griz lathe similar to the one linked to above and found the milling capacity/rigidity to be far less than the Smithy with the mill column being bolted to the lathe bed. A standard lathe V bed does also not have the same rigidity for milling as a dovetail bed.
 
Also I meant to add that the power transmission on the Smithy is switched via a dog gear on the lathe spindle. A bevel gear drives a sub shaft in the column of the mill head. The mill spindle is driven off the sub shaft via v-belt/pulley. The bevel gear on the spindle is steel and the driven gear is nylon and works well. The mesh of the bevel gears is adjustable. The only looseness I have felt in the Smithy Granite machine I had and others I have encountered was the fit of the spline in the mill head. This is no different that any of the Chinese bench top column mills.
 
The people at Smithy are good to deal with. I have met them and though I do not own a 3 in 1 machine, nor have I ever used one, if I thought a 3 in 1 was for me it would be Smithy for sure. They have a long history, travel to China on regular basis to check on production and support their products. If you really think this is the tool for you, I would contact them and arrange for a personal visit to their business in Ann Arbor MI and try the machine out yourself before purchasing. I recently saw them at a show, I was there to look at a small CNC mill they import, while there I looked at the Granite, and fiddled with it a bit, did not run though. I was impressed at how tight yet smooth the slideways operated. Fit and finish of parts seemed very nice. If you are not experienced with checking out used machinery and like the compact nature of a 3 in 1, and realize their limitations it might be a fine choice.
 
These are great posts. I have researched the Smithy Granite 1340 extensively. It appears to be the recommended model when it comes to 3 in 1 machines. I am strongly considering one. The Smithy people have told me I would have 90 days to try it out and if unhappy, I can send it back for a full refund. Of course I would have to pay about $200 for the return shipping. That said, it might be worth it.

I have also examined the Grizzly and Precision Mathews machines, thinking I would go with independent machines, PM does not have the stock of their mills that I need. Anyways, I am hoping to make a decision to purchase the 3 in 1 or the two machines very shortly. I do not do a lot of metal machining so I am questioning if I want to go the multiple machines scenario. I am mainly a woodworked who may need to do some metal machining once in awhile.

These forums are extremely helpful to someone like me!
 
Hi and welcome to the site. It's not the machine that makes the part it's the machinist that's using it. If your happy with the machine you will make it do everything you need. Lots of amazing things are built with small home shops with limited resources . Good luck with the smithy , have fun but be safe.
 
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