# Grizzly DF1237G Purchase and restoration.  (Also a shout out for help)



## tonmarchelli (Apr 25, 2021)

Hello all

First post here after joining.   So much valuable and useful information on here. Cant wait to learn from all the previous posts and experiences. 

Ive jumped into the home fabrication game after finishing up my masters degree and having some extra time to fulfill my home fab shop bucket list.  Ive always wanted a Lathe and a Mill.   

i found a great deal on a PM728V-T vertical mill with DRO.   It was in great shape and is ready to go. 

Lathes however were tough to find.  After some searching and waiting i pulled the trigger on a bit more of a project than I had originally wanted but figured what better way to learn these machines than tear one apart and put it back together. 

I purchased a Grizzly DF1237G gear head lathe.  Used, neglected for some time.  The owner bought it new in the 80s.  Very low hours but lots of sitting.   

I purchased the lathe for about $2000 with a bunch of tooling and attachments.  The lathe was about 2 hours from my home.   The seller lived down a 12 mile desert dirt road.   It was a very slow trek to get back to pavement.   And of course drama ensued as my trailer got a flat on the freeway as I was driving home, thankfully its a tandem axle trailer and new tires were sourced very quickly.  

It spins smooth and true (to my inexperienced eyes). Ive turned a few parts since completion.   Still getting used to a threaded spindle. 

I took a good chunk of pics as I went through the restoration process.  I left the spindle assembly and thread gears pretty much alone but everything else I took down to its individual parts.   Stripped and painted.    

A Bench grinder with brass and steel wire wheels and the wire wheel attachments for a 4.5in grinder was my best friend through this.   Judicious use of WD40 to degrease and cleans eh parts once down to bare. 

Once everything was apart, I decided to give the lathe a refresh and went with a black/white theme rather than grizzly green. 

I think the lathe came out pretty good.  the project took me about 2 weeks working on my days off.   

I appreciate any feedback or other areas I should be looking in this lathe to make sure it is accurate and reliable.   


Regarding the help:   

The lathe was nearly complete.  One piece that was missing was the Worm for the power crossfeed.   The gear is there, but the worm that the feed rod goes through in the back of the apron is missing. 

I’m assuming it’s something I can make myself once i get some experience.  The manual for the lathe has a part number but there hasn’t been much help from Grizzly on finding a replacement or even dimensions of the worm so I can turn one myself.  

Anybody happen to have this lathe who would be willing to measure pitch and TPI of their worm in the back of their apron?   Would be much appreciated.   

Thanks again for looking.  Here’s a bunch of pics of the restoration.   I wish I had more during the cleanup part but alas, I do not.


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## tonmarchelli (Apr 25, 2021)

Few more


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## Aukai (Apr 25, 2021)

I like it


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## markba633csi (Apr 25, 2021)

Looks very spiffy!  

-Mark


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## Nogoingback (Apr 25, 2021)

Nice job on the lathe!, and welcome to the forum.


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## mikey (Apr 25, 2021)

Welcome to HM! You did a wonderful job on your lathe. Sorry I cannot help with the work gear issue but hopefully one of the guys will be along ...


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## Mitch Alsup (Apr 25, 2021)

Maybe you could come over and do mine..........


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## brino (Apr 25, 2021)

You certainly have the right vehicle for that desert trail!

I like the new colours.
Well done.

Welcome to the group!

-brino


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## hman (Apr 25, 2021)

Welcome to the forum.  Very nice restoration job!  I have a Grizzly DF1224G (aka G1003) that appears to be identical to yours, except for bed length.  A couple of photos of my lathe are attached below, as well as an "impoved" metric threading chart and a speed chart sorted by speeds, for your dining and dancing pleasure.  I assume you have the proper set of change gears for the head - two 40, one 30 and one 32 tooth gears.

I'll take a look at my power crossfeed in a couple days ... need the lathe for a project until then.  You're also more than welcome to come for a visit and to check out details on my lathe.  I live in Chandler, about an hour's drive from Surprise (101, I10, 202).  I visit Surprise about once or twice a month, as I'm doing some projects for a company there.


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## hman (Apr 25, 2021)

PS ... if you're in need of any manuals, I have several (from various versions of the 12x24, 12x36, Grizzly and others).  PM me and I can send them to you, either in a reply PM or by mailing you a thumb drive.


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## tonmarchelli (Apr 26, 2021)

hman said:


> Welcome to the forum.  Very nice restoration job!  I have a Grizzly DF1224G (aka G1003) that appears to be identical to yours, except for bed length.  A couple of photos of my lathe are attached below, as well as an "impoved" metric threading chart and a speed chart sorted by speeds, for your dining and dancing pleasure.  I assume you have the proper set of change gears for the head - two 40, one 30 and one 32 tooth gears.
> 
> I'll take a look at my power crossfeed in a couple days ... need the lathe for a project until then.  You're also more than welcome to come for a visit and to check out details on my lathe.  I live in Chandler, about an hour's drive from Surprise (101, I10, 202).  I visit Surprise about once or twice a month, as I'm doing some projects for a company there.


Hey thanks, I appreciate it.   Lathes look identical at the headstock your right.    If you were able to get some measurements on the worm I would really appreciate it.  knowing Pitch and TPI along with other relevant measurements would go miles in finding a replacement or making one of my own once I get the skill.  

What kind of oil do you use for the bearings?    the apron?


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## mattthemuppet2 (Apr 26, 2021)

that's really awesome and what a fabulous story. You weren't kidding about the desert track!


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## Morley (Oct 16, 2021)

I just bought the exact same lathe your rebuilt.  It is the Grizzly DF-1237G.  I assume you have your questions answered, but if you need something measureed, get back to me. (Though, be warned, I am a newbie).


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## tonmarchelli (Oct 17, 2021)

Morley said:


> I just bought the exact same lathe your rebuilt.  It is the Grizzly DF-1237G.  I assume you have your questions answered, but if you need something measureed, get back to me. (Though, be warned, I am a newbie).


Hey thanks!   I actually have not had any luck yet getting the measurements on the worm in the back of the apron.    Would love any and all measurements you could get on that worm.


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## javman (Nov 29, 2021)

I am not sure if this is the worm that you are referring to or not but this is from my Busy Bee version of a Grizzly DF1237G lathe. Sorry about being in metric. I took the pictures a while ago but just came across your thread.


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## Nogoingback (Nov 30, 2021)

javman said:


> I am not sure if this is the worm that you are referring to or not but this is from my Busy Bee version of a Grizzly DF1237G lathe. Sorry about being in metric. I took the pictures a while ago but just came across your thread.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum!


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## tonmarchelli (Dec 3, 2021)

that's great Javman! thanks so much.  That is the exact part I was referring to.  this is the most information I've been able to get on that worm after doing months of research.  those measurements help a ton.  I've called grizzly and they cannot support that machine at all.  I've tried sourcing another worm from a later machine but nothing seems to match up.    This will go miles to help getting my power crossfeed up and running.  

I wonder if there is a BusyBee part number for that worm and if BusyBee could source one?


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## javman (Dec 4, 2021)

BusyBee will not even be as helpful as Grizzly unfortunately. You might look through McMaster Carr to see if they make something close enough.


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