- Joined
- Nov 14, 2016
- Messages
- 3,274
Your biggest issue is going to be length. the 6" referred to in size is the total working length including any tooling.
The 3 jaw chuck is going to take up probably 1" of that 6", if you put a drill chuck in the tail stock you lose maybe another 1-1/2"-2", and then the drill bit stick out is probably another 2" leaving you about 1" for your actual work piece.
It looks like that lathe has about a 3/8" spindle bore so golf tees and pens would probably fit, allowing you to run most of the length into the head for drilling operations. Golf tees are fairly short, and pens usually made from multiple sections so those will likely fit within your limits for turning operations. Rings of course are usually quite short.
Small lathes will cut just about any material the big ones will, they just take little bites. Some steels are kind of nasty to work with regardless of the lathe size. Aluminum is nice to work with, and if you need steel, stress proof / stress relieved or 12L14 is easier to machine than most cold roll or hot roll steels.
There is a market for tiny lathes, so they hold their value well. If you use this one and later decide you want something bigger, you could probably get $200-300 back from selling it. Little lathes are also little, so they don't take up much room as a second lathe which can be handy.
If you decided to return it, there really isn't much even on the used market for mini-lathes under $500. The usual suspects at or under $1000 are the various Chinese 7x12" and 7x14" lathes (all basically the same, just different colors for the different sellers), and closer in size to this one are the Taig and Sherline lathes, both of these are US made (AZ and CA).
Something else to consider is the availability of accessories, like chucks, drill chucks, steady rests etc. I'm not seeing any accessories listed for this on the Grizzly site. It looks like you get what it comes with and anything else is guess and hope or DIY (and you will find that you make a lot of DIY machine parts, you have a lathe so often have the option of buy, make or modify).
For your stated purpose, I think this little one will work for you. However if you decided you could bump your budget up another $500 or so (machine tools are great at blowing budgets), I think you would end up with a machine that is more than twice as useful for you in the long term.
The 7x12/14", Taig and Sherline lathes are very popular so there is a lot of support for them, both accessories and info. Sherline in particular has a huge variety of available bits and bobs to cover most any need. The larger budget would also put the Chinese 8x16 and 9x20 lathes, and small vintage American lathes like the Atlas / Craftsman 6x18" lathes within reach if you are patient. Of course you could find the smaller machines used as well, but what typically happens is rather than cheaper you find them with more tooling keeping them at or above the bare bones new price.
I have a Sherline and personally I think it is probably the best value mini-lathe available for small projects. The entry level Sherline 4000 is a 3.5x8" lathe. You trade off a little bit of swing (diameter) but add a couple of inches to length which at this size is very useful. The bare bones lathe with a chuck (basically what you are getting with the Grizzly) would run about $700. They also have some very good package deals, to help you blow your budget with additional tooling. The 4400 is their long bed "deluxe" model which is a 3.5x17" lathe, the longer bed adds $100 to the price.
If you do decide to return the 4x6" and look at something a little bigger / better, the members here are always happy to help others spend money.
The 3 jaw chuck is going to take up probably 1" of that 6", if you put a drill chuck in the tail stock you lose maybe another 1-1/2"-2", and then the drill bit stick out is probably another 2" leaving you about 1" for your actual work piece.
It looks like that lathe has about a 3/8" spindle bore so golf tees and pens would probably fit, allowing you to run most of the length into the head for drilling operations. Golf tees are fairly short, and pens usually made from multiple sections so those will likely fit within your limits for turning operations. Rings of course are usually quite short.
Small lathes will cut just about any material the big ones will, they just take little bites. Some steels are kind of nasty to work with regardless of the lathe size. Aluminum is nice to work with, and if you need steel, stress proof / stress relieved or 12L14 is easier to machine than most cold roll or hot roll steels.
There is a market for tiny lathes, so they hold their value well. If you use this one and later decide you want something bigger, you could probably get $200-300 back from selling it. Little lathes are also little, so they don't take up much room as a second lathe which can be handy.
If you decided to return it, there really isn't much even on the used market for mini-lathes under $500. The usual suspects at or under $1000 are the various Chinese 7x12" and 7x14" lathes (all basically the same, just different colors for the different sellers), and closer in size to this one are the Taig and Sherline lathes, both of these are US made (AZ and CA).
Something else to consider is the availability of accessories, like chucks, drill chucks, steady rests etc. I'm not seeing any accessories listed for this on the Grizzly site. It looks like you get what it comes with and anything else is guess and hope or DIY (and you will find that you make a lot of DIY machine parts, you have a lathe so often have the option of buy, make or modify).
For your stated purpose, I think this little one will work for you. However if you decided you could bump your budget up another $500 or so (machine tools are great at blowing budgets), I think you would end up with a machine that is more than twice as useful for you in the long term.
The 7x12/14", Taig and Sherline lathes are very popular so there is a lot of support for them, both accessories and info. Sherline in particular has a huge variety of available bits and bobs to cover most any need. The larger budget would also put the Chinese 8x16 and 9x20 lathes, and small vintage American lathes like the Atlas / Craftsman 6x18" lathes within reach if you are patient. Of course you could find the smaller machines used as well, but what typically happens is rather than cheaper you find them with more tooling keeping them at or above the bare bones new price.
I have a Sherline and personally I think it is probably the best value mini-lathe available for small projects. The entry level Sherline 4000 is a 3.5x8" lathe. You trade off a little bit of swing (diameter) but add a couple of inches to length which at this size is very useful. The bare bones lathe with a chuck (basically what you are getting with the Grizzly) would run about $700. They also have some very good package deals, to help you blow your budget with additional tooling. The 4400 is their long bed "deluxe" model which is a 3.5x17" lathe, the longer bed adds $100 to the price.
If you do decide to return the 4x6" and look at something a little bigger / better, the members here are always happy to help others spend money.
